The art of deception is at the core of Lab Luang Prang V, the latest work of non-fiction by Wassana Nanuam, a veteran reporter who's been covering the military beat for this newspaper for more than 20 years now.
Lab Luang Prang V: Suek Ching Amnart Pah Paen Patiwat Lued (Secrets, Lies and Masquerade, Part 5: Anatomy of a Coup d’Etat) By Wassana Nanuam Matichon, 2012, 432 pages, 295 baht
Wassana has already had several books published dealing with our armed forces and their penchant for toppling elected governments, plus biographies of former army chiefs Gen Prem Tinsulanonda, now president of the Privy Council, and the socially ostracised Gen Suchinda Kraprayoon, driving force behind the junta which overthrew the Chatichai Choonhavan administration in 1991.
Wassana's books have done much to point the spotlight at obscure corners of the Royal Thai Army and shed light on the motivations for previous putsches. Her latest work again stirs the local political pot and while she doesn't actually come out and state in so many words that another coup is in the making, one can read between the lines when she explains that the army _ and its present leader, Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha _ "has to prepare" for any movement _ she could be referring to the red-shirt camp or left-leaning intellectuals or some other group _ that might try to undermine the monarchy.
The writer lists various scenarios which might pitch the army against the present government: a reshuffle of high-ranking army officers to flush out and sideline monarchists is one she discusses; another is an excessively zealous public campaign to revise Section 112 of the Criminal Code (which outlaws lese-majeste).
For those seeking to understand the relationship between the Thai army and national politics, this book will serve as a good introduction.
Sounding at times a bit like Mario Puzo in one of his Mafia novels, Wassana gives a lively account of the two major factions within the army at present. The dominant Burapha Payak clique, which includes army chief Prayuth, is so close to the monarchy that members are often referred to as taharn sua Phra Rajini (soldiers of HM the Queen). Its influence currently eclipses that of Wong Thewan, a faction comprising scions of ultra-elite families, which once controlled the army.
Fed up with what they regard as mistreatment at the hands of Burapha Payak personnel, whom they accuse of power-grabbing and jumping the queue for promotions, Wong Thewan stalwarts such as Gen Prin Suwannatat and ACM Sukumpol Suwanatat have sided with former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, apparently in hopes of boosting their career prospects. And, as a result of this perceived alliance with the red-shirt movement, they've been labelled taharn tangmo ("watermelon soldiers" i.e. (army-uniform) green on the outside, but red inside).
Gen Prayuth, a man said to be quite docile when out in the company of his graceful wife, is apparently not above trying to charm the country's first female prime minister. "The army is all yours," the commander-in-chief has been quoted as assuring Yingluck Shinawatra; telling her, on another occasion: "The army is willing to work for you 24 hours a day."
The highlight of the book are the hints about a possible coup. While Wassana does not reveal her source(s), which is understandable, she does state that in this hypothetical putsch the army will make use of logistics it developed and connections it forged with various communities last year when troops were deployed to assist victims of the devastating floods. Wassana suggests that those plotting a coup may assume that the goodwill soldiers earned as a result of the sterling relief work they did in Bangkok and the provinces has gone a long way towards repairing the damage done to the army's public image by the way it handled the red-shirt protests in Ratchaprasong.
But she goes on to predict that, in the event of a coup, the red shirts will take centre stage in any resistance, using Molotov cocktails and human shields to block the advance of tanks.
The author devotes a whole chapter, entitled "Red America", to claims that the United States is giving support to those who are seeking to revise Section 112. This move is supposedly part of a geopolitical strategy to reclaim US dominance over our region and offset the increasing influence exerted by China.
Wassana does not hide her disdain for coup-makers who, she says, may win the battle, but will lose the war. She makes it clear that a coup d'etat, even if staged for supposedly noble intentions, will undermine "the revered institution" in the long run.
She offers an interesting insight into the shooting of soldiers at Kok Wua intersection on Ratchadamnoen Avenue in April last year by mysterious men dressed in black and armed with heavy weapons. The ambush, she says, was the result of a personal vendetta by an unspecified force of militants against Burapha Payak.
A senior army officer and several other promising members of this faction were killed in the incident and this so outraged their colleagues, Wassana says, that it led to the use of live ammunition, a few weeks later, when troops were sent in to disperse the red-shirt encampment in central Bangkok.
The Democrat Party is perceived by the armed forces as ungrateful, Wassana claims, while the Peua Thai Party has managed to garner more support for itself in military circles by returning favours. As an example, she cites the previous Democrat-led government's failure to approve a Royal Thai Navy request to buy second-hand submarines from Germany. This refusal irritated naval officers, she says, and may have triggered a switch in political allegiances.
All this deadly serious material is leavened, on occasion, by gossipy anecdotes. Khunying Potjamarn, Thaksin Shinawatra's ex-wife, is portrayed as a compulsive matchmaker who is always trying to marry friends of hers off to influential military men. We are told that Panthongthae, Potjamarn and Thaksin's only son, is currently dating the daughter of Gen Prin of the Wong Thewan clique.
An entire chapter of the book is dedicated to superstitious beliefs and predictions. We are informed that a soothsayer has told army commander-in-chief Prayuth that he is the reincarnation of a warrior who served the 16th-century King Naresuan the Great and that he has been reborn for the express purpose of saving our nation.
Lab Luang Prang V is a rather voluminous work. It contains a copious amount of redundant material which if excised would probably cut its length by a third. Still, it is a useful and entertaining look at a very important subject. The writing style is sufficiently objective to avoid antagonising readers of opposing political views.
Wassana allows us to see politics in Thailand for what it really is _ a high-stakes game in which ideology is a mere cloak for those whose principal goal is the accumulation of power. Perceptive readers may also pick up the subtle implication that the average citizen ventures into politics at his/her peril. For the winners in this cut-throat contest will always be the Machiavellian princes, civilian or military, who succeed in making us believe that they are working selflessly for the common good.
