Army chief Gen Udomdej Sitabutr found himself uncomfortably in the spotlight again when rumours swirled that the government would form an administration of national unity and he was among those tipped to become prime minister.
Both Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and Gen Udomdej denied the reports.
Adding to Gen Udomdej’s discomfort is talk of a cabinet shake-up and talk that he would be promoted from deputy defence minister to defence minister.
Udomdej: Lots of talk
These rumours are doing Gen Udomdej more harm than good as they tend to pit him against Defence Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwong, who is also deputy prime minister.
A source close to the prime minister has ruled out the possibility of Gen Prawit losing the defence post.
It must not be forgotten that Gen Udomdej and Gen Prawit are like brothers who have enjoyed close ties for a long time.
“But there is still a chance that Gen Udomdej will become defence minister if Gen Prawit is not in good health and is willing to give up the post and opt to remain only a deputy prime minister,” the source said.
Observers say the conjecture over a change of defence minister could be linked to the upcoming annual military reshuffle, particularly the appointment of the new army chief.
If Gen Udomdej were appointed defence minister before the military reshuffle takes place, it would mean him having a final say on the military shake-up.
Gen Udomdej, who retires as army chief at the end of September, is known to support assistant army chief Preecha Chan-o-cha — Gen Prayut’s younger brother — as the next army chief, whereas Gen Prawit backs assistant army chief Gen Thirachai Nakwanich, another potential candidate vying for the top army post.
However, the source said that in the final analysis, a change in defence minister before the military reshuffle would be unlikely as it could have Gen Prawit seen as being sidelined and excluded from the consideration of the armed forces make-up.
That might humiliate Gen Prawit, whom many powerful top brass look upon as the big brother of the armed forces.
Gen Prayut will let Gen Prawit remain as defence minister in charge of the armed forces anyway, the source said.
Gen Prayut recently came out to quash the rumours.
“It’s not just anyone who can become defence minister. It’s not about influence. It’s not about being brothers because I myself have hundreds of brothers. But it depends on the situation, appropriateness and ability,” the prime minister said.
After Gen Udomdej retires as army chief in September, he is expected to at least keep the post of deputy defence minister, the source said.
But it remains to be seen whether he will stay on as secretary-general of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), or whether Gen Prayut will appoint a replacement.
But the source said Gen Prayut will feel the need to bring in military leaders who get promoted in the reshuffle to the NCPO to maintain unity between it and the armed forces.
Whether Gen Prayut will appoint newly-promoted armed forces leaders to positions in the cabinet in a cabinet reshuffle, if it should occur, is also piquing observers’ curiosity.
Watching each other’s back
If Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and deputy Prawit Wongsuwon have anything in common, it’s their obvious and growing impatience with the media.
The two generals have been close since they were young army officers. Gen Prayut looks up to Gen Prawit as a big brother, as the ties between the old comrades run deep.
Gen Prawit says the military style of running the country, characterised by swift and decisive policy-making and implementation, does not seem to go down too well with the media.
With the prime minister and reporters often at loggerheads over current issues in the daily press briefing, critics say Gen Prayut should be more composed and not let certain questions thrown at him by the media get under his skin.
Gen Prawit says he and Gen Prayut do not find meeting reporters so hard to swallow, but what bothers them the most is that many reporters ask the same questions over and over.
That explains why the prime minister gets visibly peeved and does not hide his impatience, according to Gen Prawit.
A source close to Gen Prawit said the deputy premier understands Gen Prayut’s frustration at being hounded by reporters.
They have been “brothers” in the military for a long time and have swapped places as boss and subordinate.
Gen Prawit was appointed defence minister previously, which made him Gen Prayut’s direct superior when he was in the army.
However, now that Gen Prayut is prime minister, Gen Prawit addresses him as “your excellency”.
The source said when Gen Prawit speaks, Gen Prayut listens, which may well be the reason why Gen Prawit has been named advisory chairman to the National Council for Peace and Order.
However, Gen Prawit explains that the prime minister has several advisory teams. He and his particular team do not “monopolise” the role of advising Gen Prayut just because he has close ties to the prime minister.
Gen Prawit bemoans the frequent misinformation which goes viral on the internet about the government and Gen Prayut. He cited the rumour that recently circulated on social media alleging Gen Prayut had wired 10 billion baht of his personal money to Singapore.
Police traced the rumour to a woman in Pathum Thani and arrested her. She insisted Gen Prayut was a public figure who should answer to scrutiny by people curious about his conduct.
But her critics slammed her for passing on an allegation without checking the facts and which turned out to be baseless.
What is “reported” in the social media about the government and Gen Prayut is mostly inaccurate. “It does no one any good,” said Gen Prawit.
The money transfer allegation was unfounded and should never have been reported or published in the first place.
The media, as the gatekeeper, should carry constructive news. The government is trying to communicate correct information about its policies and performance to journalists and reporters.
Gen Prawit said he had no plans to invite members of the media to meet military officers over their news reports, fearing it would make the government a target of the media.
What the government wants is to exchange suggestions with the media about the pros and cons of state policies.
“We’re all ears,” Gen Prawit said.
Prasitchai Nunuan, left, and Akradej Chakjunda: A small victory over the power station.
Hunger strike moves govt
Aprotest against the controversial Krabi coal-fired power plant and deep-sea port project did not gain much traction until recently when protest leaders decided to change tactics and take their campaign to the capital.
Anti-coal activists from the Save Andaman from Coal Network, Prasitchai Nunuan and Akradej Chakjunda, began a hunger strike on July 10 in front of the Tourism and Sports Ministry, and early this week moved it to the front of Government House.
After two weeks their efforts bore fruit: they won wider media coverage and attention from Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who initially responded to the hunger protest with scepticism. Much better than that, the interim government on Thursday agreed to set up a joint committee on the project.
The committee was one of the key demands submitted by the anti-coal protesters to the government. It is supposed to comprise all stakeholders who can work at turning Krabi into a 100% renewable energy province.
The other two demands are to halt approval of the plant’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report, as well as stop the deep-sea port’s Environmental and Health Impact Assessment (EHIA).
They also want to defer the bidding for the projects by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) which is scheduled to take place early next month.
Some observers see the government’s latest move as a good sign for the anti-coal activists. Mr Prasitchai and Mr Akradej have now ended their hunger strike.
This is because Gen Prayut and Energy Minister Narongchai Akrasanee have argued all along that more power stations are needed to support increasing demand for electricity in the southern provinces and prevent power shortages in the region.
The government also has doubts about the potential of renewable energy sources to fill the fossil fuel gaps.
The activists, by contrast, prefer renewable energy sources such as palm oil biomass out of concerns about adverse impacts on health and the environment.
The government’s concerns seem to be based on a massive power blackout in May 2013 that hit 14 southern provinces when a transmission failure in Prachuap Khiri Khan cut off supply from the Central region.
The outage, described as the biggest in the country’s history, hit several key business towns and popular tourist destinations including Hat Yai in Songkhla, Koh Samui in Surat Thani and Phuket.
Following the outage, the then energy minister, Pongsak Raktapongpaisal, declared the southern region was in need of coal-fired power plants. Egat held six public gatherings in 2013 on the 59-billion-baht Krabi power station and deep-sea port.
Amid the controversy, the absence of one group of people is being watched closely. None of the former Democrat Party MPs for Krabi, especially Pichet Panwichartkul, Arkhom Engchuan and Sakorn Kiewkong, have spoken a word, either for or against the project.
However, political observers are focusing more on Mr Arkhom and Mr Sakorn rather than Mr Pichet, who last year announced his retirement from politics, on Feb 5 — his 70th birthday.
It was felt by many observers that he was upset that the Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva had decided to boycott the general election.
Mr Arkhom and Mr Sakorn are known to be influential figures in the province and their silence on a project of this magnitude is adding weight to rumours about a trade-off.
It is being said that if the coal-fired plant and sea port project falls through, Krabi will see a large-scale hospital and a university.
It is reported that an investor from Bangkok has visited the province regularly to drum up support for the power plant project and he has approached two key politicians for help.
Given their outspokenness, Mr Arkhom’s and Mr Sakorn’s silence is conspicuous.