Former protest leader Suthep puts out a new book, but refuses to return to civilian life - Police reform is a high priority, and a new paper explains how it can be done - Rumours run wild about whether Yingluck will do a runner before her trial
Phra Suthep Prapakaro has been in the monkhood for more than six months — comparable to the length of the anti-Yingluck Shinawatra street protests that ended with the May 22 military coup. And there is no sign of him shedding the saffron robes anytime soon.
Suthep: Sleeping well at night
A source close to the protest group, the People’s Democratic Reform Council (PDRC), has the impression that Phra Suthep is in it for the long haul.
“I guess he is staying longer [in the monkhood] than he originally planned to. It’s possible that he will not leave until the interim government completes its job,” said the source.
A general election is expected to be held early next year, provided the National Reform Council approves the final draft of the constitution and the all-important organic laws are in place.
The source bases his opinion on Phra Suthep’s overwhelming list of activities inside and outside Suan Mok, Wat Than Nam Lai, where the former protest leader is staying during his time in the monkhood.
Despite being a phra navaka, a novice monk, Phra Suthep has initiated a number of events ranging from merit-making to temple restoration, fund-raising to mass ordinations. These activities always draw large crowds, mostly PDRC supporters who are curious about how their ex-leader has been faring these days.
A number of protest leaders and PDRC supporters have followed in his footsteps by being ordained, including Issara Somchai, Witthaya Kaewparadai, and Chavanond Intarakomalyasut. Several have left the monkhood while others remain.
Phra Suthep’s religious activities mostly take place in Surat Thai and the southern provinces, except for one event early this week. He travelled to Bangkok to collect alms at Ramkhamhaeng University and joined activities organised by San Saengthong Party, the student’s version of a political party. He received a warm welcome from university students and PDRC supporters amid tight security.
There was a little “excitement” prior to the alms collection, but nothing triggered a security scare. Unknown groups of people raised banners on a pedestrian bridge attacking Phra Suthep and likening him to a parasite exploiting Buddhism for personal gain.
When he was leading the mass street protest, Phra Suthep raised several million baht from his day-long marches around the city. As a monk, his fund-raising skills remain in top form.
Prapakaro, his new book which has a cover made of wood, is selling like hot cakes even though the price tag is a cool 9,999 baht. His previous book, Power of Change, which recounts his private and political life, is among the country’s best sellers.
The new book is an archive of Buddhadasa, the founder of Suan Mok and a revered monk, and activities at Suan Mok. There are pictures of Phra Suthep thrown in for his supporters. Only 1,000 copies of this “limited edition” are available.
Phra Suthep’s entry into the monkhood caught PDRC supporters off-guard, and many of them are still looking forward to a proper reunion with him.
But it will be months before the Prayut administration leaves office and any large gatherings are technically banned under martial law.
On Feb 22, Rangsit University will award Phra Suthep an honorary doctorate in liberal arts for his contribution to socio-economic politics when it holds an annual commencement ceremony for its graduates.
Phra Suthep says one of the benefits of a life as a monk is that he is free of worries that used to keep him up at night.
“As a layman, I had a lot to think and worry about. I hardly got any good sleep. Especially when I was a protest leader, I couldn’t go to bed without worrying about the protesters being attacked by grenades. Now I have really good sleeps,” said Phra Suthep.
They cop a lot of flak
As national reform details start to become clearer, one call is clamouring above most — police reform. Many people are demanding that the police force be streamlined and made impermeable to political meddling.
The men in khaki — or the boys in brown (BIBs) as many refer to them — have been accused of contributing to the political discord and social conflict over the past decade.
Piya: End to political interference
Senior commanders have been frequently accused of failing to carry out their duties properly because of their political leanings. In recent years, the term “tomato police” has been coined to describe officers who support the red-shirt movement either overtly or covertly.
Calls for police reform have never been more vocal, and Pol Maj Gen Piya Uthayo, deputy chief of the Royal Thai Police Office’s (RTPO) human resources office, is well aware of the urgency of the issue.
He recently compiled and distributed guidelines on internal police reform issued by a committee on police administration development.
The guidelines cover efforts to decentralise power from the police force, give the public more say in police administration, promote non-commissioned officers in career advancement, and increase police salaries and allowances, as well as improving welfare.
Pol Maj Gen Piya said a committee on legal and judicial reform under the National Reform Council has devised a set of proposals to improve the police force, including efforts to rid it of political influence.
However, the more immediate problem confronting the RTPO is the increasing number of ageing police officers operating on the streets, officers who are more than 40 years old.
These ageing officers are part of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, the nine provincial police regions and the police units working in the three southernmost provinces.
The growing number of older officers is a result of a drop in the number of young non-commissioned officers produced each year by 10 police schools nationwide from between 700 and 800 to 100 each.
The sharp decline in younger manpower needed to reinvigorate operational-level units has begun to take its toll.
Many traffic officers directing vehicles on the stressful streets of Bangkok and the provinces are more than 50 years old.
Pol Maj Gen Piya said the average age of Thai officers is 42.58. Officers in Provincial Police Region 5, which is based in the North, have an average age of 47.75, while the average age of border patrol police officers is 46.76.
Pol Maj Gen Piya said other, little-publicised information on the police force should be made available to the public, in addition to other proposals for police reform.
He said the average budget for the police force per head per year is smaller than for other agencies in the justice system.
On average, a police officer receives an annual salary of 322,361 baht compared to 989,745 baht given to an officer at the Department of Special Investigation and 2.39 million baht allocated to a prosecutor, Pol Maj Gen Piya said.
Thai police earn low salaries in comparison with their counterparts in developed countries.
A new recruit earns a minimum monthly salary of 9,000 baht, while an officer in a similar age bracket and rank in Singapore receives a minimum monthly salary of 37,863 baht, Pol Maj Gen Piya said.
He said improvements to police welfare should be considered and implemented alongside reforms.
Efforts to restore the public’s faith in the police force will not succeed if the plight of officers is not addressed, he said.
Should I go, or should I stay?
The rice-pledging scandal continues to drag on, but something of a turning point was reached when former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra was dealt a double blow on the same day.
Prosecutors agreed to indict her in the Supreme Court for looking the other way to the loss-ridden scheme while she was prime minister.
Yingluck: Denied overseas travel
The indictment decision came only hours before the National Legislative Assembly voted overwhelmingly to impeach her. That effectively ruled her out of the right to conduct or engage in political activities for the next five years.
However, it is the indictment that is the major cause for concern for the former premier. Dereliction of duty carries a prison term.
The prosecutors’ decision brings back memories of what happened to her brother, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in the military coup back in 2006.
So now arise the crucial questions of what plans Ms Yingluck might have and what options are available to her as prosecutors prepare to formally indict her in the Supreme Court on Thursday.
She might seek to delay her first appearance in court by several weeks and then turn up for the first session. In that case, her trial will officially begin and if by chance she is not in the country for the remainder of the case, she will be tried in absentia.
There has also been strong speculation about her leaving the country before the first session in court and not returning to face trial. That would effectively put the trial on hold, although such a move might complicate a third option of her requesting asylum in another country. That country is reported to be the United States.
A source at the US consulate in Chiang Mai, Ms Yingluck’s home province, has denied the former premier has applied for asylum.
A source in the Pheu Thai Party has given an assurance Ms Yingluck will stay and fight the charges against her in court and wait to see how the trial proceeds. As the case continues, the former prime minister might give serious thought about what to do next.
Earlier, Singthong Buachum, a former Pheu Thai member, said Ms Yingluck’s only son, Suppasek Amornchat, had planned to further his studies in the United Kingdom at the end of the year. This could have a bearing on whether Ms Yingluck will stay on for the duration of the trial, according to a party source.
Ms Yingluck has been denied permission by the National Council for Peace and Order to travel to Hong Kong from Wednesday to Feb 22 to meet Thaksin.
She was previously allowed to make two trips, the first to Europe and then to Japan and China in October last year.
She made the trips amid concern by the authorities about a possible political rally by her supporters against the coup. Her vacations were anything but low-key events.
This time round, though, the NCPO refused to grant her permission, deeming the Hong Kong trip as ill-timed with the rice-pledging trial set to open next week.
