Shinawatra clan withdraw 1 billion baht in cash
Bangkok Post: 29 Mar 2010
Shinawatras withdraw B1bn cashAccounts siphoned 'to avoid tax levy'
Almost one billion baht has been withdrawn from several commercial bank accounts held by the Shinawatra family since the Feb 26 Supreme Court verdict on the assets seizure case, Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij says.
The family of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra began withdrawing their money in parcels of 10 million to 100 million baht a time after the court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions ordered the state to seize 46.37 billion baht in assets owned by the family, Mr Korn said on Sunday. The state had earlier frozen 76.6 billion baht in assets.
Between 800 million baht and one billion baht has been withdrawn from the share of assets which the court had decided could be returned to the Shinawatra family.
The Revenue Department intended to freeze this money as part of a retroactive tax levy. But it might have a problem getting its hands on the money now some has been withdrawn.
The department wants the son and eldest daughter of Thaksin to pay 12 billion baht in income tax and fines.
It wants to tax Panthongtae and Pinthongta Shinawatra on proceeds from the sale of shares in Shin Corp in 2006.
Although the withdrawn money had yet to be taken out of the country, Mr Korn said, he was worried the balance left would not be enough for future confiscations.
In the end, the Revenue Department might not be able to confiscate the remaining assets of Mr Panthongtae and Ms Pinthongta because these assets were now mostly shares, jointly held with third parties who were not involved in the alleged tax evasion case, Mr Korn said.
A certain number of shares held by the two had also been sold in what could be an attempt to avoid the possible retroactive tax charge, he said.
Following the Feb 26 verdict, the government encouraged state agencies such as the Revenue Department to file civil suits to demand the Shinawatras pay for damages done to the state in relation to the same criminal case, he said.
Those agencies were still assessing the amount of damages.
No cases had been filed to date, although Mr Korn fears it may be too late for them, too.
The court ruled that Thaksin and his former wife had concealed their declarable assets and that Thaksin abused his position as premier to enrich their Shin Corp business empire.
"I'm wondering if the withdrawals are an attempt to leave the least amount of money in the accounts to avoid a future confiscation," the minister said.
"The bank account owners have every right to withdraw their money, but will those banks be able to explain later why they did not try to withhold the money in question?"
The Revenue Department had notified the banks about the bank accounts of the Shinawatra family which it was considering confiscating, Mr Korn said.
The Finance Ministry had also sent a letter to notify Mr Panthongtae and Ms Pinthongta and the concerned banks that withdrawals from those accounts could be deemed a violation of the Criminal Code, Mr Korn said.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/35205/shinawatras-withdraw-b1bn-cash----------------
Grenade attack at Banharn's home
Bangkok Post * Published: 29/03/2010 A grenade attack at the Bangkok home of a former Thai prime minister wounded a woman late on Sunday, the latest in a series of explosions during mass anti-government protests, police said.
The blast occurred shortly before 10:30 pm by the house of Banharn Silpa-archa. The woman, who was walking along the street nearby, suffered minor injuries, police said.
Banharn, who was premier from mid-1995 to late-1996, is now chief adviser to Chart Thai Pattana, one of the parties in the government coalition led by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.
Street demonstrations under way for more than a fortnight to demand snap elections have passed off peacefully but the capital has been hit by a string of blasts at government and army buildings.
A dozen people were injured over the weekend when grenades were lobbed at the gate of the barracks where Abhisit has been living and working since the protests began.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/173101/grenade-attack-at-banharn-home------------
Four hurt in bomb blast at regiment
Bangkok Post * Published: 29/03/2010 The 11th Infantry Regiment has come under early morning grenade attack, injuring four soldiers.
Two rocket-propelled grenades were fired into the compound at 4am yesterday and landed in a football field where soldiers from Nakhon Sawan were camping.
The compound serves as the government's temporary headquarters.
The football field is about 800 metres from Phahon Yothin Road. Officials believe the grenades were fired from the Bang Bua community, which is separated from the regiment only by Bang Bua canal. Four soldiers were injured, and a military truck damaged.
Almost 20 bomb attacks have taken place in Bangkok and other provinces over the past two weeks. Many targets are military compounds. On March 15, four grenades were fired into the 1st Infantry Regiment on Vibhavadi Rangsit Road, injuring two soldiers, and a Molotov cocktail was thrown into the 2nd Cavalry Regiment.
On March 20, a rocket-propelled grenade was fired at the Defence Ministry. It missed the building and injured two passersby.
On Saturday, an M67 hand grenade was thrown at army-run Channel 5, injuring two soldiers and five civilians.
"Places which are symbols of the bureaucratic elite and the armed forces are being targeted," said army specialist Khattiya Sawasdipol, who supports the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship's protest against the government.
After the attack on the 11th Infantry Regiment, army chief Anupong Paojinda deployed 34 companies of soldiers to the regiment. Twenty companies are guarding the compound to prevent red shirt demonstrators from entering. The others patrol its vicinity to prevent more grenade attacks.
Gen Anupong said the soldiers would gather to form larger groups, which would improve their ability to stand up to large crowds of demonstrators.
Bangkok police chief Santan Chayanont said police had taken over checkpoints from soldiers in inner Bangkok but still operated checkpoints together with soldiers in outer zones of the capital.
Meanwhile, a gunman opened fire on Bangkok Bank's Saphan Khao branch at 4pm yesterday. Police found five bullet holes in the bank's front door.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/35208/four-hurt-in-bomb-blast-at-regiment--------------
Talks enter second day
Bid to defuse rising political tensions
Bangkok Post * Published: 29/03/2010The government and the red shirts are holding a second round of talks on Monday after they failed to thrash out their differences over conditions leading to a dissolution of the House.
Today's meeting, also at King Prajadhipok's Institute, will take place shortly after the return of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva from his one-day visit to Brunei.
The talks yesterday, which were broadcast live, were held to defuse political tensions after two weeks of United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship rallies in Bangkok to call for new elections.
The issue was taken up from the streets to the negotiating table with three representatives from each camp.
Mr Abhisit was accompanied by his secretary-general, Korbsak Sabhavasu, and Democrat Party deputy secretary-general Chami Sakdiset. The UDD was led by its chairman, Veera Musikhapong, and two other negotiators, Jatuporn Prompan and Weng Tojirakan.
Mr Veera, a former Democrat member, appeared to be the more open-minded of the three UDD members, while Mr Jatuporn stood firm on the demand for a dissolution.
The prime minister repeated he had no objections to dissolving the parliament to clear the way for new polls. But he stressed the need for all parties to resolve all problems before the legislative body was dissolved to ensure that new elections would bring an end to political divisions in the country.
The problems spelled out by the premier included the clear stance on when and how the constitution had to be amended and pledges by all political parties to accept the results of the new polls.
Banners reading ‘‘Stop Protests, Want Normal Life Back’’ are put up at the Chan Road intersection in Yannawa district.
The UDD representatives, however, made clear their demand for the immediate dissolution. Protesters did not want the 2007 constitution as it was a product of the coup which deposed former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in 2006.
Mr Jatuporn put forward a timeframe for Mr Abhisit to dissolve the House of 15 days, a condition that the prime minister considered the biggest stumbling block to negotiations yesterday.
Mr Jatuporn later told demonstrators at the UDD stage at Phan Fa Bridge that if the prime minister refused to dissolve the House within 15 days, red shirt protesters would continue with their movement and would not return to negotiate with the government.
Natthawut Saikua, another red shirt leader, threatened that protests would be intensified if the talks did not lead to the quick end of the House.
Sources in the coalition parties yesterday welcomed the first round of the talks, saying they showed the sincerity of both sides to try to find a way out of the political problem.
The prime minister said at the beginning of the negotiations that he had the mandate of other parties to sit down and talk with the UDD.
The talks were made possible after Mr Abhisit contacted all key figures in the coalition parties, sources said.
Somsak Prisnananthakul, a senior Chart Thai Pattana Party member, and Newin Chidchob, the de facto leader of the Bhumjaithai Party, told the prime minister their position was clear. They did not want the prime minister to dissolve the House until the charter was amended, sources quoted them as saying.
Suwat Liptapanlop, a key adviser to minor party Ruam Chart Pattana, wanted the next budget bill to sail through the parliament before the prime minister ordered the dissolution.
Ekkachai Srivilas, director of the Office of Peace and Governance at King Prajadhipok's Institute, was optimistic about the first round of talks as both sides wanted to end the political problem.
Both sides did not oppose the dissolution but the way to reach that goal was different, he said.
Gen Ekkachai called for the need to bring in a mediator to settle the differences of the two sides.
Meanwhile, Senate Speaker Prasopsuk Boondej also applauded the move to solve the long-running dispute between the government and the UDD through talks. However, he did not agree with any decision to dissolve the parliament at this moment.
The economy is being restored and this requires the government to continue its actions to rescue Thailand from a sluggish economy, Mr Prasopsuk said.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/35200/talks-enter-second-day-------------
Scholars join demands for dissolution of the House
Bangkok Post * Published: 29/03/2010 Academics and activists are adding their voices to calls for the government to dissolve the parliament.
A group of 245 scholars and professionals yesterday submitted an open letter to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and leaders of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) in which they expressed their deep concerns about the confrontation between the two groups and its possible consequences.
The group said there was a need to dissolve the government in three months' time and call a new election.
Although the red shirt rally over the past two weeks has been peaceful, there could still be "an invisible hand" wishing to take advantage of the situation to crack down on the red shirts to end the rally and place the blame for the attack on the government, the group said in its letter.
"The government should not treat a dissolution as a defeat," the letter said.
"More importantly, to dissolve parliament is to hand back power to the people in a time of political deadlock.
"The UDD should also refrain from demanding the immediate dissolution of parliament and give the government a grace period [during which] to arrange the framework for elections and to implement urgent policies.
"It is the best solution to end all conditions with the potential for violence."
The local and foreign academics who signed the letter included Charnvit Kasetsiri, Nidhi Eowseewong, Charles Keyes and Andrew Walker.
Sirote Klampaiboon, a political scientist at the University of Hawaii, said any dialogue between the two groups should lead to concrete and meaningful steps towards political reform.
Future elections should be held in a democratic environment, not under the pressure or influence of other institutions such as the armed forces or under any law affecting human rights.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/35211/scholars-joindemands-for-dissolution-of-the-house
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