Thaksin taunts Thai officials from Russia

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Thaksin taunts Thai officials from Russia 
Bangkok Post: 31 Mar 2010
'I'm in Russia,' taunts Thaksin

Ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra has told his supporters he is in Russia on business and has not been expelled from Sweden as rumoured.

Thaksin last night mocked the Foreign Ministry, which is trying to track down the fugitive former prime minister, by telling his red shirt supporters at Phan Fa Bridge of his whereabouts.

"I tell you [the ministry], I'm in Russia now," he said, speaking via video link. "I came from Sweden. But I wasn't kicked out of Sweden, contrary to what the Foreign Ministry said.

"Don't waste your time searching for me. You'd be better off using it to work for the country."

He said he was in Russia to meet a billionaire who wanted to invest in Asia.

Thaksin said he wanted to stay in contact with the billionaire to encourage him to invest in Thailand once he returned to the kingdom.

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya yesterday ordered all Thai envoys in Europe to check on Thaksin's whereabouts.

The order came after the minister received confirmation that Thaksin had left Sweden on Monday for another European country, Mr Kasit's secretary, Panich Vikitsreth said.

Mr Panich said Thaksin entered Sweden from Dubai with two other people on the weekend using a passport from a third country. He left for another country in Europe on Monday night after making a video call to his supporters in Thailand.

"We don't know where he went to after that," Mr Panich said. The Swedish government has told the Thai embassy in Stockholm it will not allow anyone to use its country as a base for political activities which could damage bilateral ties with another country, he added.

"The Swedish government told us that it could not bar Thaksin from entering the country because he is not on a blacklist," he said, adding that it was unclear whether Thaksin had been expelled from Sweden.

Pongpanu Svetarundra, director-general of the Comptroller General's Department, said within two days the agency will notify six commercial banks by letter to transfer 46.37 billion baht held by Thaksin and his family in about 30 accounts to the state's revenue account, following the Supreme Court's ruling to seize the assets.

The National Anti-Corruption Commission has authorised the department to act on the Supreme Court's order and seize the assets immediately despite the Shinawatra family's appeal against the ruling, he said.

A total of 56 of the family's bank accounts were frozen prior to the court's verdict.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/35305/i-m-in-russia-taunts-thaksin
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Reds rejects talks, to intensify protests

Truce talks between the government and the red-shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) are over, because the two sides have totally different standpoints, UDD co-leader and opposition Puea Thai Party MP Jatuporn Prompan said on Tuesday.

There would be no more negotiations and the red-shirts would not hold talks with the government behind the people's back. The sides just cannot end their differences, Mr Jatuporn said.

During talks late Monday, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva offered the UDD a compromise, saying he was willing to call a general election by the end of the year, one year ahead of schedule.

"We want the government to dissolve the House in 15 days, but the government said it needs nine months.

"The government and the UDD are like water and oil. We just cannot get along together," Mr Jatuporn said.

The government also cannot ask for further talks in exchange for the revocation of the Internal Security Act, he said.

"The red-shirt rally will now be intensified, from pressuring the government for a dissolution to expelling the government, but we will continue to protest peacefully," Mr Jatuporn said.

However, if the government would consider dissolving the House in three months, the UDD leaders would discuss it and ask for the people's views on it.

Mr Abhisit on Tuesday expressed regret at the collapse of the talks.

"It's a pity that protest leaders have swiftly rejected the government's offer and signalled the immediate end of talks. Despite this, the government is still open for negotiations," Mr Abhisit said.

The cabinet on Tuesday agreed to extend the use of the Internal Security Act (ISA) in Bangkok and two adjoining provinces for another week, Deputy Interior Minister Boonjong Wongtrairat said.

The security law, invoked in Bangkok, Nonthaburi and Samut Prakan to ensure peace and order during the anti-government rally, had been due to end today.

The cabinet has approved a plan to impose the ISA in Petchaburi’s Cha-am district and Prachuap Khiri Khan’s Hua Hin district during the Mekong River Summit, Deputy Education Minister Chaiwut Bannawat.

The Mekong River Commission will meet from April 2 to 5 in Hua Hin, Prachuap Khiri Khan.

The invocation of the security law is to ensure security for foreign leaders attending the meeting.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/173270/reds-rejects-talks-to-intensify-protests

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UDD sets another rally for Saturday

The United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) will hold another major rally on Saturday to pressure to oust the government after the talks between it and the government failed, Jatuporn Prompan announced on Tuesday.

The UDD leader said this after a meeting of core members of the red shirts.

Mr Jatuporn, however, declined to give information on the rally in detail.

Arisman Pongruangrong, a UDD leader, said if barricades and other obstacles were still left around parliament the red shirts would on Wednesday go there and remove them.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/173277/udd-sets-another-rally-for-saturday
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Grenade hurled at Prem Foundation

A hand grenade was thrown into the compound of the Gen Prem Tinsulanonda Foundation last night, a police source says.

A motorcycle pillion passenger hurled the M67 grenade into the foundation on U-thong Nok Road at 8.05pm, said the source from the explosive ordnance disposal unit.

Nobody was injured but a car and an electrical transformer were damaged, causing a blackout.

The foundation is located near the privy council president's Si Sao Thewes residence. Gen Prem was not home at the time.

At about the same time, an explosion was reported at Sanam Luang near Thammasat University where monks had set up an exhibition tent. The explosion generated thick smoke, but no injuries were reported. Police suspect a ping-pong bomb was used.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/35298/grenade-hurled-at-prem-foundation
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Bomb investigation homes in on Class 20 army officers
Investigations into a spate of bombings and gun attacks across Bangkok have homed in on several groups including powerful retired army officers who studied together at the Royal Military Academy, a Crime Suppression Division source says.

The financial movements of specific groups of ex-military officers were being traced to see if there were any unusual transactions that could be linked to the attacks in Bangkok, said a CSD source.

The investigation had narrowed down the suspects to a few groups of ex-officers, including one comprised of Class 20 alumni from the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy.

The retired Class 20 officers still exerted significant influence within the army and had established networks of men who were ready to carry out attacks, the source said.

CSD acting commander Supisarn Pakdinareunart yesterday said he has assigned Pol Col Pornsark Surasit, chief of the CSD's Division 1, and deputy chiefs Pol Lt Col Theeradet Thammasuree and Pol Lt Col Adinan Chaiyanand, to conduct in depth investigations at the sites of the bomb and gun attacks.

The source said CSD investigators have established that there are three different groups of men carrying out the attacks in Bangkok - one that fired at government offices with M79 launchers and hurled other bombs, another which fired guns at government offices and some branches of Bangkok Bank, and a third group which used fireworks to try to create chaos throughout the capital.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/security/35302/bomb-investigation-homes-in-on-class-20-army-officers
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Govt woos farmers, reds with debt shelter plan

The government is introducing a debt moratorium scheme for farmers worth 80 billion baht which is seen as a strategy to appease grass roots people as political divisions continue to widen.

The plan was released as tension mounted after a second round of negotiations between red shirt demonstrators, most of them farmers in northern and northeastern provinces, and the government failed on Monday.

A government committee on easing farmers' debts is planning to submit the scheme to cabinet next month.

The ad hoc committee met on Monday to discuss a debt moratorium scheme for about 80,000 farmers who are members of the Farmers' Reconstruction and Development Fund (FRDF) and 430,000 farmers who are not FRDF members.

The committee is chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Sanan Kachornprasart.

The 510,000 debtors in the farm sector have a total principal debt of more than 80 billion baht.

The debt moratorium will be limited to 2.5 million baht each, said Khunying Supatra Masdit, an adviser to the prime minister, who sits on the committee.

She said the new debt restructuring scheme will help clear farmers' debts owed to financial institutions within 15 years.

Under the proposed scheme, the FRDF will act as a go-between for the creditors and the debtors, who will reach agreements to repay debts.

Farmers will be offered a debt reduction of 50% on their principal and all interest on their loans will be exempted.

Under the debt restructuring procedures, financial institutions must sign an agreement to assure that they will not seize land plots placed as collateral by farmers and that farmers will be allowed to make use of the plots to make a living.

However, Khunying Supatra said if farmers failed to repay the other half of their debts within an agreed timeline without a good reason, the agreement would be cancelled.

She said farmers eligible to take part in the proposed debt restructuring programme must have debt of no more than 2.5 million baht.

Prapat Panyachartrak, adviser to Agriculture Minister Theera Wongsamut, said the panel had told the fund to find out the exact figures of the debtors and the amount of debt they owed and submit them to the panel for consideration before forwarding the details to the cabinet.

He said the FRDF will discuss the details for debt repayment with the Finance Ministry and the Bank of Thailand.

The final details will be submitted to the cabinet in the middle of next month, Mr Prapat said.

"The farm debt moratorium is a subtle issue and requires more than 90 billion baht. Details of the matter are still sketchy," Mr Prapat said.

Mr Prapat has been assigned by the agriculture minister to sit on the committee to find ways to ease farmer's debts.

He said the committee has worked together with the FRDF to restructure farm debts for a long time and that there was no intention to exploit the debt moratorium scheme to build popular support for the government or to convince the red shirts to end their anti-government demonstration.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/35299/govt-woos-farmers-reds-with-debt-shelter-plan