Samak the Revisionist

[GWR]

Samak sees himself as lucky PM

Samak Sundaravej on Friday portrayed himself as a lucky prime minister who got the job by chance and defended his ousted predecessor Thaksin Shinawatra as a victim of a frame up for being unroyalist.

Samak spoke at a meeting with Buddhist preceptors at Wat Sam Phraya to update senior monks on the current situation.

"I admit I became prime minister because of the September 19 coup," he said.

He said the December 23 election brought about political normalcy once again and that the coup was a mistake and a costly lesson.

He said his leadership would aim to unite the citizens on the three pillars of nation, religion and monarchy.

The Nation
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2008/02/15/politics/politics_30065481.php

What was Samak thinking?

http://www.asiasentinel.com/images/stories/smoothgallery/JAN2008/thai-oct6.jpg
[Photo: Asian Sentinel]

The pictures show that Thailand’s new prime minister is delusional if he thinks nobody died at Thammasat in 1976 (http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1047&Itemid=31)

In a recent interview with CNN, new Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej made the stunning claim that only one person was killed in the October 6, 1976 bloodbath at Thammasat University.

Here's the exchange between Samak, an avowed rightist, and CNN correspondent Dan Rivers:

Rivers: Would you like to take the opportunity now to condemn what happened in 1976?

Samak: Actually it's a movement of some students. They don't like the government.

Rivers: But dozens of people, maybe hundreds of people died.

Samak: No, just only one died. There are 3,000 students in the Thammasat University.

Rivers: The official death toll was 46, and many people say it was much higher than that.

Samak: No. For me, no deaths, one unlucky guy being beaten and being burned in Sanam Luang. Only one guy by that day.

Rivers: So there was no massacre?

Samak: No not at all, but taking pictures, 3000 students, boys and girls lined up, they say that is the death toll. 3,000.

Rivers: People say that your very right-wing rhetoric inflamed the situation.

Samak: What's wrong to be the right wing if it is? The right wing is with the king. The left wing is communist.


In 1976, students from various universities began to protest the return of Field Marshall Thanom Kittikachorn, a military dictator who was removed from power and exiled three years earlier after a bloody crackdown on students. The protests initially started at Sanam Luang, a traditional protest ground, but soon shifted across the street to Thammasat University.

To commemorate three student protestors hanged in Nakhon Pathom province, the students at Thammasat staged a mock hanging. In what remains disputed to this day, some say that newspapers doctored a photo of the hanging to make the victim look like Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn. When the photos were published, the rightist militants unleashed their fury. During the incident, Samak, then the deputy interior minister, tended to fuel the pro-royalist, anti-Communist rhetoric that created the environment for the pending massacre.

Branding the students Communists who wanted to destroy the monarchy, the pro-palace Village Scouts and the Border Patrol Police, as well the Red Gaur and Navapol—two ultra-rightist groups trained by the Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc)—stormed the university with heavy weapons.

Some students tried to flee into the Chao Phraya Rver but were shot at by Navy vessels, according to Paul Handley's book The King Never Smiles. Others were beaten, hung from trees or set ablaze. Female students were ordered to strip and some were reportedly raped.

All in all, as Dan Rivers pointed out, officials acknowledged that 46 people died in the attack. Witnesses claim that hundreds died, although it's unclear if the truth will ever be known.

Either way, the pictures presented here show that Samak’s memory has failed him. The pictures on this site— as well as here and here — show clearly that he is flatly wrong.

The comments to CNN represent not just terrible judgment, but also a blind dogmatism that hardly bodes well for democracy in a still deeply divided country. Just a few weeks into his term, Samak is already proving his staunchest critics right.
http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1047&Itemid=31

[GWR]

STUDENT MASSACRE
Historians reject PM's 'distortions'
Published on February 18, 2008
Thammasat University will stage discussion of tragedy to put record straight on 'unlearned history'

Historians will hold a discussion in Thai and English to counter what they call Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's distortion of the facts over the October 6, 1976 student massacre.

Akkharaphong Khamkhun, a lecturer in Southeast Asian Studies at Thammasat Univer-sity, said a panel discussion on "From October 14th, to the 6th, and Bloody May: The Unlearned Lessons of Our History" will be held tomorrow afternoon from 1pm at Thammasat University's Tha Phrachan Campus.

The panel is organised not only to counter the PM's distortion of the facts of the October 6, 1976 student massacre which took place at the campus but also to encourage Thai society to learn more about the incident, he said.

"It's not only about Samak's distortion, but we see that the incident has been unlearned history in Thai society for over three decades," Akkharaphong said.

Samak recently gave an interview to CNN, stating he was not involved in the massacre as accused and only one unlucky student activist was killed in the incident.

According to an official report, there were 46 deaths.

Akkharaphong said he had sent an email to the prime minister inviting him to listen to the historians on the panel.

Historian Thanet Aphornsuvan, dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts, will give a talk on "The Painful History and the Unlearned Lesson".

The panel will be held in Thai with an English interpretation in order to counter the prime minister's distortion during his interview with the foreign media, Akkharaphong said.

Former student activists from the 1970s yesterday issued an open letter to condemn Prime Minister Samak.

The former student activists gathered at the October 14 Memorial for a symposium titled "Facts of October 6, 1976" organised by the October 6 Heroes' Relatives Committee and Network to Protect the Spirit of the October Activists.

Among former activists of the 1970s who took part in the symposium were historian Suthachai Yimprasert, a lecturer at Chulalongkorn University, Wasan Sitthiket, leader of the Artists Party, Pichian Amnartvoraprasert, a member of the Matchima Tipataya Party, and Veera Somkwamkid, secretary-general of the Anti-Corruption Network.

The activists said in their open letter although it was not the anniversary of the uprising, they had gathered to show up Samak.

The letter said it was perfectly clear that many students were killed in the compound of Thammasat University on that day.

It reminded Samak that when he was interior minister at that time, he told foreign reporters that 48 students were killed.

"So why did Samak, who is now the prime minister, give different information to the CNN reporter in a way that makes it seem he regards the incident as a small political accident.

"Isn't this a lie by the prime minister?" the open letter said.

"Samak as of now cannot play the role of an outspoken politician who can make irresponsible statements. We do not believe that Samak has received limited information regarding the incident and we don't believe that Samak has already forgot what happened," the letter said.

"The only thing that can heal us is to tell the truth to society and correct history by accepting the status and cruel truth of the October 6, 1976 incident."

Thai historian Thongchai Winichakul of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, wrote an article condemning Samak for distorting the facts and urging former student activists and others to go beyond the political agenda in criticising Samak.

"Going beyond Samak is the way to make the criticism of him worthwhile for the October 6 cause and to distinguish our criticism of Samak from those opportunists who attack him for the benefit of the anti-Thaksin political camp which includes the real criminals of October 6," he wrote.

Thongchai was among student leaders who were arrested and detained for two years.

The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2008/02/18/headlines/headlines_30065677.php

[GWR]

A more commonly-acknowledged version of events, perhaps:

http://www.prachatai.com/english/news.php?id=525

From the city, via the jungle, to defeat:: the 6th Oct 1976 bloodbath and the CPT
Ji Giles Ungpakorn
18 February 2008
Article

We all know that Prime Minister Samak Sundarawej was lying to the CNN when he claimed that he was not involved in the 6th October massacre and that only one person died. Before the event, he was closely associated with the Tank Corps Radio Station, which called for right-wing thugs to kill left-wing students. Samak was also very close to the Royally sponsored "Village Scouts". After the event, and the coup on the same day, he became Minister of the Interior and has lied about the massacre to this day. For those who are unaware of the details of the event, this is part of a chapter on the 6th October.

Follow link above for full article or download entire article from the link below

The entire chapter can be read and down-loaded for free at http://wdpress.blog.co.uk/

[Wisarut]

AI Samak has applied mudsliding and smear campaing AGAINST Khun Surin Matsadit (fater of Khunying Suphttra Massadit) as "Communist with Democrat party" as the way to gain the seat with Democrat Party Board (Back Stabbing for sure) .... However Mom Ratchawongse Seni Pramote and Democrat Party Board had to kick Ai Samk out ...

http://www.oknation.net/blog/naiman/2008/02/19/entry-1

Khun Sutthiichai Yoon has pointed out that Politicians have NO right to DISTORT the historical records to whitewash themselves whcih suit their favors ... It is jsut a matter of time people within PPP and people without to turn theri back or SPIT the faces of Ai Samak since he is constantly LYING the public

http://www.oknation.net/blog/black/2008/02/16/entry-1

[nganadeeleg]

Looks like he's angling for an appointment to the Privy Council and practicing his Puu Yai-ism's.

[GWR]

Interesting comments in this article on the role of Chamlong Srimuang over the decades:

From October 14th to October 6th to Bloody May:The Unlearned Lessons of Our History
CJ Hinke
20 February 2008
Article

Report on the Seminar and Personal Reminiscences, Thammasat University

Coordinator

Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT)

http://facthai.wordpress.com

email: facthai@gmail.com

I was fresh to Thailand in 1989 and attended the democracy demonstrations at Sanam Luang against a Thai Army general self-appointed to Prime Minister, Suchinda Krapayoon, in May 1992. Although many people saw Chamlong Srimuang as their leader, I only ever saw him as a political opportunist. I saw Chamlong arrested to safety with his followers at Phanfa Bridge. This was when I sent my Thai family home.

An interesting point raised at today's seminar was that Chamlong was identified disguised in sunglasses among the Village Scouts who were party to the lynchings and atrocities at Thammasat in 1976; politicians, particularly those coming from the police or military, are rarely completely clean. Did he take part in the bloodshed?

We shared water and fruit with the soldiers through the razor wire. Firing from automatic weapons began in the air. Then the guns in Ratchadamnoen were were levelled at us. The soldiers were all so young and all from upcountry. They were told the demonstrators were c/Communists--sound famiilar?

In various situations, I was in groups of people who were fired upon five times. I managed to crawl and run to safety, my clothing stained with the blood of the fallen. I was alone in a Banglampoo side-street with soldiers closing from both ends. Several foreign onlookers from Khao San were killed and I might have joined them had not a shophouse grate been slid back and a local resident hauled me literally by the neck to safety until they had passed; there would have been no witnesses.

I saw the fallen heaved onto canvas covered army trucks (dead, wounded? dead now) just past Phanfa Bridge. Three lorries and one waiting, dozens of bodies certainly, perhaps more than 100. I saw the Ratchadamnoen Nok police station and the Lottery Bldg set ablaze. From the safety of the Rattanakosin Hotel, we saw loaded hijacked buses attempt to breach the lines--all aboard were shot dead. Even a petrol truck, which didn't go off.

Having medical training, I helped Sirira Hospitalj and Mahidol medical volunteers tend the wounded. A Thai photog friend on the next balcony was killed by a shot to the head, probably occasioned by his flash. Perhaps the most horrifying for me were the courageous and stupid young people marching up Ratchadamnoen carrying the Thai flag and pictures of the king and queen; they were shot and killed by soldiers through these symbols of the Thai nation. Their blood was on the Thai flag and the Thai monarchs.

We tried to hide about 20 people in our bathroom but the searches were too thorough and we saw them kicked and rifle-butted down the stairs to be arrested. I need to honour compatriots and longtime journos Bertil Lintner and Philip Blenkinsop for their determination on this.

I don't believe the official dead and missing figures; they just don't tally with what I saw with my own eyes. Black May was the catalyst when I decided I was committed to this country because Thai people could be counted upon to defend their freedom. Pretty simplistic, eh, but I still seem to hold a lot of hope for this country, though to no apparent reason.

The conclusions of today's Thammasat seminar is that Oct 14 and Oct 6 live on (thanks to Uncle Samak!) because these were mass movements formed from the educated classes. The perception is that Black May was a movement of the common people; that was not my experience: I think that most May 1992 demonstrators were middle-class Bangkok. In fact, Black May was propagated by mobile phones; this was not an assembly of poor people. Most people think the lessons and sacrifices of Black May have been forgotten; unfortunately, I think this is a true statement, with the possible exception of those of us who lived it.

Today's seminar was attended by several hundred veterans of 1973, 1976 and 1992 and, after all the intervening years, many of us were still moved to tears. Many of my friends and colleagues over the years had been gaoled, exiled overseas or fled to the Isaan and Southern jungles. I, certainly, lost several good friends in 1992 and some of myself, too.

It took more than 30 years for the October Memorial on Ratchadamnoen to become a reality because government does not want to acknowledge its shame. This signifies a basic lack of recognition for historical truth. Writing history is a political struggle to which the power elite will never yield. Thai people, and people everywhere, need access to their history without distortion or censorship.

Rather, politicians seek to reinvent history by deluding a gullible public. Most politicians try to spin their roles in important historical events as greater than they may have been. In Thailand, our Prime Minister is trying to convince us that history never happened. Such statements trivialise the struggle for social justice in Thailand by relying on propaganda.

If the PM saw the death of "one unlucky guy", it puts him at the scene of the massacre. He has eyes to see and ears to hear so he could hardly be unaware of the firing of heavy weapons into the Tha Prachan campus. He saw, he heard and he did made absolutely no attempt to stop the violence.

Here are the numbers. In the October 14, 1973 period, 77 people were killed and 857 wounded. On October 6, 1976, around 500 were killed and 11,000 arrested. These figures come from Phuket resident Nicholas Bennett, a member of the Coordinating Group for Religious Studies in Society. CGRS had become the first indigenous human rights organisation in Thailand and completed its report.

Not only do these lies eliminate the Prime Minister's chances for effective leadership of Thailand, but they poison any aspirations he may have for appointment to His Majesty's Privy Council. It takes a big man to retreat from a lie, to say he was wrong, to apologise to the Thai people, the Royal Family and Buddhism. It would befit his position for the Prime Minister to do so.

When I lectured at Peking University in the summer following Black May, my students took me to quiet places to talk about Ratchadamnoen. The world, of course, remembers only Tiananmen and the young man who stopped a tank. Our Ratchadamnoen was at least 100 times worse and no one remembers but us who were there.

Why does this foreigner care what happens in Thailand? Because my heart is Thai and this is where I take a stand. Because I care about the future of my country.

There are October heroes and there are May heroes. I shall never forget the young man gunned down before Democracy Monument, his blood soaking through our country's flag.

We need to thank Uncle Samak for reminding us how important our freedom is, and that Thai means free. When history is censored, our future is predicated on a lie.

Addenda. This is a link to the original CNN interview:

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/02/18/talkasia.samak/index.html

This is a link to the Prime Minister's further comments to Al-Jazeera on the massacre at Tak Bai in Patani:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuoqLiLSgnI&feature=related

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/FCFBA8C6-4B98-4913-84F6-9C8DA2E7B273.htm
.
http://www.prachatai.com/english/news.php?id=531

[GWR]

http://www.2bangkok.com/08/samak-prapas.jpg
[Photo: Manager]

Samak becomes pale when shown his picture taken with Prapass


Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej became pale when reporters showed him his pictures which he took with Field Marshal Prapass Jarusathien following the massacre of student activists on October 6 1976.

"Is that me? I didn't know I took this picture. I didn't know when I post for this picture and why," Samak exclaimed when seeing the picture.

Reporters showed him the picture when he was giving a weekly interview to Government House reporters.

The reporters asked him to comment on the opposition's plan to demand him to tell the House of his role during the October 6 event.

Samak insisted that only one student was killed at Sanam Luang and said he could not remember why he told Thai students in France that many students were killed.

The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/read.php?newsid=30066176

Alien Thoughts. See the whole article. Amusing rather than penetrating!:

So the question we must ask today is whether the passage of time and the slow death and decay of his grey cells has led Samak to his bizarre statement that only one ‘unlucky' student does on Oct 6, 1976.

Or do we have a PM with a penchant for telling porkies?

Deluded or deceitful? Muddle-minded or malevolent?

The omens are not good. For a start, there is documentary evidence that Samak once said something else. Now 40-odd deaths may still be a wild underestimate, but that was the official count at the time, and Samak was part of officialdom and that's what he said then.

[GWR]

Chaturon urges Samak to stop talking inaccurately about Oct 6 death toll


Former Thai Rak Thai Party leader Chaturon Chaisang Saturday called on Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to stop talking inaccurately about the death toll in the October 6 1976 student massacre.

Chaturon said over 40 students were killed, not just one as Samak claimed.

"Samak should gather accurate information before speaking about it," Chaturon said.

He said the October people or former student activists from the 1970s, who are working in the government, should give accurate information to Samak.

The Nation



So when exactly are the Octoberists going to begin wresting control of PPP from the unreformed fascist/greedy capitalist faction that currently controls it? Sometime never in all probability. Just empty words from Chaturon! All current indications are that the Octoberists in PPP have compromised their former ideals to the point where they no longer have any real idea WHAT they believe in.

Related thread on one unrequited left-winger's view on the lack of integrity and honesty in Thai politics:
http://www.angkor.com/2bangkok/2bangkok/forum/showpost.php?p=19998&postcount=15

[Wisarut]

There are 2 types of Octoberists whcih can be classified as follows:

1. First Genneration: They had become Heroes by Special Circumstance -> October 14, 1973.
2. Second Generation: They attempted to be Heroes by instigate the Special Circumstance which had turned into bloody tragedy ... Both Ai Samak as well as those Octoberists who have SOLD OUT their comrades to be butchered by the right wingers and become bloody stairways to become heroes ....


http://www.manager.co.th/Daily/ViewNews.aspx?NewsID=9510000023775


The web that curse AI maew and His Wife - better translate these curses so you can use them when you are REALLY in need! ;):p:D
http://birthdaycurses.blogspot.com/

[GWR]

There are 2 types of Octoberists whcih can be classified as follows:

1. First Generation: They had become Heroes by Special Circumstance -> October 14, 1973.
2. Second Generation: They attempted to be Heroes by instigate the Special Circumstance which had turned into bloody tragedy ... Both Ai Samak as well as those Octoberists who have SOLD OUT their comrades to be butchered by the right wingers and become bloody stairways to become heroes ....
http://www.manager.co.th/Daily/ViewNews.aspx?NewsID=9510000023775


Not to mention Type 3, Dead Octoberists! Indeed, this article looks at the Pre-October 1976 Victims:


Thailand's dirty history
By AWZAR THI
Column: Rule of Lords
Published: February 28, 2008

HONG KONG, China, The new prime minister of Thailand has outraged many by refusing to admit that an infamous massacre ever occurred. In two separate interviews Samak Sundaravej claimed that only one person died on Oct. 6, 1976, when police and paramilitaries stormed Thammasat University, killing at least 46 and forcing thousands into hiding. He denied that he provoked the violence along with other rightists, saying that it is "a dirty history."

He's right about that. But there's a lot more to this dirty history than a single day of bloodshed or the marginal role that the prime minister may have played in it. Violence on the scale of Oct. 6 does not erupt unexpectedly. It is the finale to a thousand other lesser events. It is the day-to-day writ large.

In a doctoral thesis submitted to Cornell University last year, Tyrell Haberkorn follows one of the trails of repeated, silent incidents that culminated in the mayhem of 1976: the unsolved murders of dozens of farmers' leaders in the north of Thailand.

The farmers became targets in part because they were trying to organize their fellows when their country was a hot spot in the Cold War. With communist neighbors and ideologues calling for the downfall of Bangkok, modest demands for rent relief and land reform were enlarged and distorted.

But that they made demands at all, Haberkorn argues, was already cause to aggravate landholders who felt that "the farmers' claims challenged their public, and self, image as generous individuals who took care of the people who worked their rice fields." By expressing their needs as rights, rather than privileges, the farmers crossed the line from acceptable request into unacceptable protest.

The response was calculated and unforgiving. In mid-1975, 21 leaders of the Farmers' Federation of Thailand were killed, eight in Chiang Mai alone. Using the same methods as those of the 2003 war on drugs, the killers came in broad daylight, unconcerned to hide themselves. And like in 2003 the official response was to treat the dead not as victims but as persons who somehow deserved whatever they got, a category of people to which ordinary rules didn't apply.

The story of Intha Sribunruang, which Haberkorn retells in detail, is illustrative. Intha was a 45-year-old gardener who had sold his paddy fields to pay the school fees for his five children. He had served as a local government official and was keenly concerned for the welfare of other villagers in Chiang Mai.

After a new land rent control act was passed in 1974 Intha travelled around the province to inform others of its terms and how farmers could exercise them. His work angered sub-district officers and landholders who were doing their best to prevent people from knowing about the new law and how to use it.

On the morning of July 30, 1975, Intha was at home alone when two men on a motorbike stopped outside. One dismounted and asked to buy some cigarettes from the family's small general store. As Intha was giving the man his change, he pulled a pistol and killed Intha instantly.

Again as in 2003, the police in 1975 cited a lack of evidence and uncooperative witnesses as among the reasons for closing their inquiries. The provincial commander demanded to see proof not with which to catch Intha's killers but rather with which to show that the target was really a farmers' leader.

Of the 1975 killings, only in Intha's case was anyone ever arrested. But despite admitting to having been paid to do the job, the accused later reversed his statement in court and walked free shortly thereafter.

The killings had the desired effect. Support for the farmers' federation waned. The public was obliged to bear witness to crimes on which the state declined to act and refused anyone else the opportunity to do otherwise. The stage was set for the following October.

Haberkorn's question is not so much about why it was that the killers could not be found in 1975 but why up to today, over three decades later, they and the persons behind the murders still cannot be named, let alone tried.

The answer lies in the nature of dirty history itself. Acknowledged histories are not dirty. Secret histories are. Thailand's history is dirty not because stuff happened, but because even now nobody is able to tell the truth about what really went on, or name names.

This inability is largely the result of police, prosecutors and judges altogether failing to do their jobs. Without criminal procedure, no official records exist from which to draw a coherent picture of what occurred or why. Without this much, even a prime minister can cast doubt on established facts before a global television audience. No one was caught, so was there anything wrong? And did it really happen anyway?

Thailand's dirty history is an example of what arises when the rule of law is willfully and consistently undermined. It is an example of what happens when constitutional order is shamelessly displaced and parliamentary authority trivialized, both from without and within. For as long as these practices continue so too will there be dirty history, not only in the past, but also into the present.

Haberkorn's thesis can be downloaded in PDF format from: http://ratchasima.wordpress.com/files/2008/02/haberkorn-cornell.pdf

(Awzar Thi is the pen name of a member of the Asian Human Rights Commission with over 15 years of experience as an advocate of human rights and the rule of law in Thailand and Burma. His Rule of Lords blog can be read at http://ratchasima.net.)
http://www.upiasiaonline.com/Human_Rights/2008/02/28/thailands_dirty_history/2449/
http://ratchasima.net/

[GWR]

Not to mention Type 3, Dead Octoberists! Indeed, this article looks at the Pre-October 1976 Victims:
http://www.upiasiaonline.com/Human_Rights/2008/02/28/thailands_dirty_history/2449/
http://ratchasima.net/

http://ratchasima.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/haberkorn-cornell.pdf

APPENDIX C
FARMERS’ FEDERATION OF THAILAND (FFT) LEADERS VICTIMIZED BY VIOLENCE, 1974- 1979
1. Sanit Sridej (นายสนิท ศรีเดช)
Farmer representative
Phitsanulok province
Shot and killed on 31 March 1974
2. Methha (Luan) Lao-udom (นายเมตตา [ล้วน] เหล่าอุดม)
Farmer representative
Bang La Mung district, Chonburi province
Shot and killed on 11 August 1974
3. Bunthing Srirat (นายบุญทิ้ง ศรีรัตน์)
Farmer representative
Shot and killed in October 1974
4. Bunma Somprasit (นายบุญมา สมประสิทธิ์)
FFT committee member
Ang Thong province
Shot and killed in February 1975
5. Hieng Limmak (นายเฮียง ลิ้มมาก)
Farmer representative
Surin province
Shot and killed on 5 April 1975
6. Aaj Thongtho (นายอาจ ธงโท)
FFT committee member
Baan Ton Thong district, Lamphun province
Shot and killed on 10 April 1975
7. Prasert Chomomret (นายประเสริจ โแมอมฤต)
FFT village president
Hang Dong district, Chiang Mai province
Shot and killed on 19 April 1975
8. Ngon Laowong (นายโหง่น ลาววงษ์)
FFT village committee member
Nong Wua Saw district, Udonthani province
Strangled and beaten to death on 21 April 1975
9. Charoen Dangnok (นายเจริญ ดังนอก)
FFT committee member
Chomphuang district, Nakhon Ratchasima province
Shot and injured in April 1975
10. Tawin (last name unknown) (นายถวิล ไม่ทราบนามสกุล)
Farmer leader
Taphanhin district, Phichit province
Shot and killed in April 1975
11. Mongkhol Suknum (นายมงคล สุขหนุม)
Farmer leader
Nakhon Sawan province
Shot and killed in May 1975
12. Bunsom Chandaeng (นายบุญสม จันแดง)
FFT central committee member
Sanpatong district, Chiang Mai province
Shot and injured on 8 May 1975
13. Phad Muangmalao (นายผัด เมืองมาหล้า)
FFT district president
Hang Chat district, Lampang province
Shot on 11 May 1975
14. Tawin Mungthanya (นายถวิล มุ่งธัญญา)
Farmer representative
Nakhon Ratchasima province
Shot and killed on 26 May 1975
15. Phut Ponglangka (นายพุฒ ปงลังกา)
Farmer leader
Chiang Rai province
Shot and killed on 22 June 1975
16. Kaew Pongchadam (นายแก้ง ปงซาคำ)
Farmer leader
Chiang Rai province
Shot and killed on 22 June 1975
17. Cha Chakrawan (นายจา จักรวาล)
FFT village vice-president
Mae Rim district, Chiang Mai province
Shot and killed on 3 July 1975
18. Bunchuay Direkchai (นายบุญช่วย ดิเรกชัย)
FFT district president
Fang district, Chiang Mai province
Shot and injured on 8 July 1975
19. Prasat Sirimuang (นายประสาท สิริม่วง)
Farmer representative
Surin province
Shot and killed on 8 July 1975
20. Buntha Yotha (นายบุญทา โยทา)
FFT committee member
Muang district, Lamphun province
Shot and killed on 18 July 1975
21. Klieng Mai-iam (นายเกลี้ยง ใหม่เอี่ยม)
FFT district vice-president
Hang Chat district, Lampang province
Shot and killed on 22 July 1975
22. Intha Sribunruang (นายอินถา ศรีบุญเรือง)
FFT national vice president, FFT northern president
Saraphi district, Chiang Mai province
Shot and killed on 30 July 1975
23. Sawat Thatawan (นายสวัสดิ์ ตาถาวรรณ)
FFT village vice-president
Doi Saket district, Chiang Mai province
Shot and killed on 3 August 1975
24. Mi Suanphlu (นายมี สวนพลู)
FFT committee member
Fang district, Chiang Mai province
Disappeared on 8 August 1975
25. Ta Kaewprasert (นายต๋า แก้วประเสริฐ)
FFT committee member
Fang district, Chiang Mai province
Disappeared on 8 August 1975
26. Ta Intadam (นายตา อินต๊ะคำ)
FFT committee member
Fang district, Chiang Mai province
Disappeared on 8 August 1975
27. Nuan Sittisri (นายนวล สิทธิศรี)
FFT member
Mae Rim district, Chiang Mai province
Shot on 11 August 1975
28. Phut Saikham (นายพุฒ ทรายดำ)
Farmer leader
Fang district, Chiang Mai province
Shot and killed on 11 August 1975
29. Chuan Niemwira (นายช้วน เนียมวีระ)
FFT committee member
Uthong district, Suphanburi province
Shot and killed on 12 August 1975
30. Sawaeng Chanthaphun (นายแสวง จันทาพูน)
FFT village vice-president
Fang district, Chiang Mai province
Shot and injured on 27 August 1975
31. Nuan Kawilo (นายนวล กาวิโล)
Farmer leader
Serm Ngam district, Lampang province
Killed by a bomb on 12 October 1975
32. Mi Kawilo (นายมี กาวิโล)
Farmer leader
Serm Ngam district, Lampang province
Injured by a bomb on 12 October 1975
33. Bunrat Chaiyen (นายบุญรัตน์ ใจเย็น)
Farmer leader
Serm Ngam district, Lampang province
Shot and killed on 21 October 1975
34. Chanterm Kaewduangdee (นายจันเติม แก้วดวงดี)
FFT village president
Sanpatong district, Chiang Mai province
Shot and injured on 5 December 1975
35. La Suphachan (นายลา สุภาจันทร์)
FFT committee member
Serm Ngam district, Lampang province
Shot and killed on 12 December 1975
36. Pan Sunsai (นายปั๋น สูญใส)
FFT village vice-president
Chiang Dao district, Chiang Mai province
Shot and injured on 20 March 1976
37. Kham Thamun (นายคำ ต๊ะมูล)
Farmer leader
Serm Ngam district, Lampang province
Shot and killed on 31 March 1976
38. Wong Munai (นายวงศ์ มูลอ้าย)
Farmer representative
Serm Ngam district, Lampang province
Disappeared on 13 April 1976 and reported as dead by the Northern Student Center on 19 May 1976
39. Phut Buawong (นายพุฒ บัววงศ์)
Farmer representative
Serm Ngam district, Lampang province
Disappeared on 13 April 1976 and reported as dead by the Northern Student Center on 19 May 1976
40. Song Kawilo (นายทรง กาวิโล)
Farmer representative
Serm Ngam district, Lampang province
Disappeared on 13 April 1976 and reported as dead by the Northern Student Center on 19 May 1976
41. Duangkham Pornhomdaeng (นายดวงคำ พรหมแดง)
Farmer representative
Wieng Pa Pao district, Chiang Rai province
Shot and killed on 28 April 1976
42. Nuan Daotad (นายนวล ดาวตาด)
FFT village president
Doi Saket district, Chiang Mai province
Shot and killed on 9 May 1976
43. Sithon Yodkantha (นายศรีธน ยอดกันทา)
FFT northern region president
Doi Saket district, Chiang Mai province
Injured by a bomb on 17 July 1976
44. Chit Khonphetch (นายชิต คงเพชร)
Farmer Leader
Mae La Noi district, Mae Hong Son province
Shot and killed on 18 August 1976
45. Sod Thani (นายทรอด ธานี)
FFT northeastern region president, FFT national vice-president
Nong Bua Daeng district, Chaiyaphum province
Shot and killed on 5 July 1978
46. Chamrat Muangyam (นายจำรัส ม่วงยาม)
FFT eastern region president, FFT national president
Baan Dan district, Rayong province
Shot and killed on 21 July 1979

[GWR]

Samak gets testy: 'I am the real PM'

After several weeks of peaceful co-existence, Samak Sundaravej was his old self this morning with the media.

When a reporter asked him about the return of ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, and wondered if Mr Thaksin was again the boss of the government, Mr Samak lost it.

"I am the real prime minister!" he snapped at the press.

"Is that all you can think of? How shameful. How dare you say that there are two prime ministers? I am not anyone's nominee."

Reporters saw Mr Samak twice on Friday, both times as he was involved in foreign affairs.

At Government House in the morning, he received the US assistant secretary of state Christopher Hill, where the exchange took place about "the real prime minister."

Mr Samak gave Mr Hill an invitation to the US president to visit Thailand. He said he told the American visitor that Mr Thaksin’s return will not lead to divisions in Thai society.

Later, Mr Samak spoke with reporters as he left on an official visit to Laos. In that exchange, he refused to confirm he has removed the national police chief. (See story here (http://www.angkor.com/2bangkok/2bangkok/forum/showpost.php?p=20152&postcount=14))

Link may expire:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=126231

Thai PM tells US official "Today is my day"

BANGKOK, Feb 29 (TNA) – Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej on Friday assured a visiting US top official that he is the real head of government amid criticism that he was merely a nominee and that the premiership could possibly remain under the control, or at least the influence, of his predecessor Thaksin Shinawatra.

During a one-hour courtesy call at Government House by Christopher Hill, US Assistant Secretary of State, Mr. Samak was quoted as telling his American visitor, with a laugh, that: ''Today is my day.''

Deputy government spokeswoman Supharat Nakbunnam disclosed that Mr. Hill expressed support for Mr. Thaksin's return to Thailand to fight for justice in court as well as his appreciation of the fact that this country had returned to democratic government.

The high-level US official did by no means raise any concern regarding Mr. Thaksin's homecoming, the spokeswoman said.

The US government has lifted its previous suspension of military aid for Thailand after Mr. Samak was named prime minister in early February.

US military aid was suspended in response to the military coup which toppled Mr. Thaksin in 2006.

The US Assistant Secretary of State told Prime Minister Samak that US President George W. Bush is interested in visiting Thailand later this year, details of which are yet to be discussed.

Meanwhile, Mr. Hill asked the Thai prime minister to help with his official visit to Myanmar, scheduled for March. The Korea issue was not discussed, however. (TNA)-E008

http://enews.mcot.net/view.php?id=3049

[GWR]

http://www.prachatai.com/english/news.php?id=548

So back to Samak. Lying or losing it?

Well, this past week he started the round of ASEAN capitals that every new PM has to do. And in Lao he decided to reminisce about how long it was since he'd last been to Vientiane. Then, to a collective intake of breath by both his hosts and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials who had prepared the briefing paper he'd not bothered to read, he announced he was very pleased to be back in the Kingdom of Laos.

Does anyone out there know a good nursing home?

I sometimes get the impression that Samak throws in such blooters to reassert his 'Devil may care' persona. When dealing with insignificant people he is prepared to operate in bulldozer mode, while in dealing with more significant people he feigns just enough respect to just get by. In other words, he has no real respect for anything other than his own intuition. Perhaps we could picture him as the court official who has long lost any real respect for the organization he works in, but who is still adept at going through the motions when it is truly necessary. In this case, he may well have figured that Laos needs him more than he needs them. If he has no respect for the ordinary street-level lefty, it is almost a cert that he is prepared to occasionally put 'inferior' neighbors in their place in a rather sly manner. Far from senile in my opinion. Just constantly manipulative, arrogant and obnoxious in an environment where it is usually possible to get away with it.

[Wisarut]

http://www.prachatai.com/english/news.php?id=548



I sometimes get the impression that Samak throws in such blooters to reassert his 'Devil may care' persona. When dealing with insignificant people he is prepared to operate in bulldozer mode, while in dealing with more significant people he feigns just enough respect to just get by. In other words, he has no real respect for anything other than his own intuition. Perhaps we could picture him as the court official who has long lost any real respect for the organization he works in, but who is still adept at going through the motions when it is truly necessary. In this case, he may well have figured that Laos needs him more than he needs them. If he has no respect for the ordinary street-level Communist, it is almost a cert that he is prepared to occasionally put 'inferior' neighbors in their place. Far from senile in my opinion. Just constantly manipulative, arrogant and obnoxious in an environment where it is usually possible to get away it.


Ai Samak is definitely a cunning politician ... becoming a cat with 9 lives without doubt!