Published in Washington, D.C.
September 12, 2006
Premier Fights Belief a Plot to Kill Him is a Hoax
By Richard S. Ehrlich
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is struggling to persuade the Thai public that a foiled assassination attempt last month was not a hoax designed to elicit sympathy ahead of Oct. 15 elections.
At least 10 military counterinsurgency officials have been charged since officials announced on Aug. 24 that an explosives-laden car had been found and defused near the prime minister's residence.
But opponents of the pro-American prime minister -- including Bangkok's wealthy elite and pampered middle class, most of the media, white-collar business executives, students and others -- remain highly skeptical.
A Bangkok University poll found that 49.8 percent of residents living in and around the capital believed the plot was a hoax. Only 20.5 percent of the respondents said they believed it was a serious assassination attempt.
Nevertheless, the billionaire prime minister remains highly popular in the countryside where most of this Southeast Asian nation's 65 million people live, thanks to populist policies that include cheap health care, soft loans and other government giveaways.
The episode has had far-reaching ramifications for the Thai security apparatus. Mr. Thaksin fired the military's Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) deputy chief, Gen. Pallop Pinmanee, immediately after the general's former driver was arrested in the rigged car.
The tough-talking Gen. Pallop reportedly had trained in the United States and worked alongside the CIA in America's "secret war" in Laos more than 30 years ago.
He has repeatedly denied involvement in any plot.
Police also arrested five other ISOC officers and last Friday began hunting for several more. ISOC, Thailand's secretive counterinsurgency center, is tasked with combating Islamist separatists in the south.
Authorities claim that one of those arrested, army Sgt. Chakrit Chantra, has confessed to participating in "some stages" of the plot.
"Army Sgt. Chakrit has confessed to committing wrongdoing," said Lt. Gen. Montree Jamroom, head of the police Central Investigation Bureau, at a press conference on Thursday.
Sgt. Chakrit reportedly said the conspiracy's mysterious mastermind known as "General P" was actually Gen. Pallop, a charge the general denied.
"If police summon me, I won't run away. I will wait at home to see what they do. I'm not guilty and have no idea why I should plan to kill the prime minister," Gen. Pallop said late last week.
Each apparent break in the case immediately brings twists of intrigue, lies, incredulous media reporting and other problems, making it difficult to determine who is telling the truth.
The Bangkok Post reported on Friday, a day after Sgt. Chakrit's purported confession, that a "source" in the Central Investigation Bureau claimed the sergeant had been threatened with death if he did not do so.
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Richard S. Ehrlich's Asia news, non-fiction book titled, "Hello My Big Big Honey!" plus hundreds of photographs are available at his website http://www.oocities.org/asia_correspondent