Thailand Freezes Accounts to Hit Red Shirts

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Thailand's military-backed government has frozen bank accounts belonging to wealthy suspected supporters of Bangkok's bloody insurrection, amid fears that the Red Shirts are plotting revenge after their bamboo barricades were crushed and 90 people died.

More than 80 prominent Thais were publicly named in a government-issued financial blacklist, alongside details of how much money they allegedly withdrew from their bank accounts during the failed two-month-long protests.

Officials demanded explanations for the monetary transfers -- totaling an equivalent of millions of dollars -- and alleged that the cash enabled thousands of protesters to survive behind barricades in the heart of Bangkok.

The protesters had electric generators, ate fresh food, slept under tents, created an open bazaar, and depended on other rustic comforts in their sprawling encampment out in the streets, surrounded by five-star hotels, luxury malls, offices and residences.

"I insist that the government has never intended to persecute anyone," said Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Sunday (June 20) after freezing the accounts.

One suspected Red Shirt leader, whose accounts were frozen, denied financing the protest and said her bank account showed large transfers because she sold her house and then withdrew some of the deposited money to pay for a factory.

The prime minister, however, remained wary.

"I still believe that there are attempts to financially support [the Red Shirts] by a network of supporters," Mr. Abhisit said.

He promised to put Red Shirt leaders and activists on trial as "terrorists," which could result in death sentences or lengthy imprisonment.

The anti-government United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) is popularly known as the Red Shirts, because of their favored red clothing.

Critics of Mr. Abhisit's crackdown said the government was exaggerating the Red Shirts' actions in an attempt to dodge responsibility for the 90 people -- 79 of them civilians -- who died during clashes between protesters and the military, which also injured 1,800 others.

The Reds have demanded that the prime minister and other top government and military leaders be put on trial for "murder" because they allowed the army to use U.S.-built M-16 and Israeli-made Tavor assault rifles, plus armored personnel carriers and other weapons against protesters.

The government said while most of the thousands of Red Shirts were relatively peaceful, a secretive unidentified group among their supporters used rifles and grenades against the military, prompting the army to deploy thousands of troops and use force in "self-defense."

Comparing Thailand's worst political uprising with Northern Ireland's Bloody Sunday killings, the anti-Red, English-language Bangkok Post reported on Sunday (June 20):

"The two events are dissimilar in many ways, but as in Belfast in 1972, there is little doubt that at least some of the recent casualties in Bangkok were also innocent bystanders."

A forum at Bangkok's prestigious Thammasat University on Saturday (June 19) accused the army of using excessive force against the Red Shirts, and said the government committed human rights abuses.

"What the state has done is in violation of the United Nations' principles on human rights," Krittiya Archavanikul of Mahidol University's Human Rights Center said at the forum.

"The state has used the term 'terrorism' to clean the dirt it is hiding," she said.

The Reds' have widespread support in Thailand's north and northeast, and among the urban poor in Bangkok and other cities.

The Reds are angry that the military staged a bloodless coup in 2006, toppled popularly elected prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and then arranged an amnesty for the coup leaders to avoid prosecution.

In contrast, the military and Mr. Abhisit's government are pursuing Mr. Thaksin, who became an international fugitive after being convicted for corruption and sentenced in absentia to two years imprisonment.

The Reds complain that the government's different responses to the coup and to Mr. Thaksin's acts, along with other judicial procedures, display a "double standard."

The financial blacklist includes Mr. Thaksin's divorced wife, two of their adult children, and four other relatives.

Pojaman Damapong, Thaksin's former wife, appears on the blacklist for allegedly withdrawing 54 million baht (1.6 million U.S. dollars) during September 2009 to May 2010.

More noticeable were their son Panthongtae Shinawatra, and unmarried daughter Pinthongta Shinawatra, who made combined withdrawals totaling nearly 11 billion baht (330 million U.S. dollars).

More than a dozen politicians, who are perceived as supporting Mr. Thaksin and the Reds, are also on the list alongside seven Red Shirt leaders.

Among the politicians, the biggest withdrawals appeared to be by Sudarat Keyuraphan, who had been an executive in Mr. Thaksin's party.

After the 2006 coup, she was among 101 people banned from politics for five years, due to a ruling against their now-dissolved Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) party for election violations.

The seven Red Shirt leaders on the list allegedly deposited large sums of money into their own accounts during September 2009 to May 2010, but information about withdrawals was described as "not available."

The seven Red leaders included three who were very outspoken during the protests: Veera Musikhapong, Kwanchai Praipana, and Weng Tojirakarn.

A handful of former police and military officers, plus several companies, round out the 83 names.

Companies on the list included S.C. Asset Corporation, P.T. Corporation, S.C.K. Estate, S.C. Office Park, and other Thai financial management services.

No evidence was made public linking any individuals' withdrawals to other people's deposits.

No paper trail was offered to show where the withdrawals went.

The government, however, said the large sums involved were suspicious.

Prime Minister Abhisit earlier indicated a willingness to hold nationwide elections later this year, but after destroying the barricades and crushing the Reds' demonstration, he cancelled that offer.

According to the constitution, he must hold elections before the end of 2011.

The frozen accounts may make it difficult for the Reds' preferred Puea Thai party to organize and campaign later on.

The immediate focus of the blacklist, however, appeared to be an attempt to link those names to the Reds' illegal barricading of central Bangkok, and take action against anyone found guilty of funding the siege.

"This is clearly a double standard," said prominent Red Shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan, who was not on the list and who currently has immunity from prosecution because he is a Member of Parliament in the Puea Thai party.

Mr. Jatuporn said the government should also freeze the accounts of people who earlier led and supported rival Yellow Shirt protests against Mr. Thaksin and his candidates.

Those Yellow Shirts' protests began in February 2006, and culminated in blockading Bangkok's two international airports in November 2008, stranding more than 300,000 passengers worldwide.

"Why don't you reveal the sponsors of that alliance?" Mr. Jatuporn said.

"That protest was more than three times longer than that of the Red Shirt people."

"There will be no problem if they can explain the transactions to the authorities," Mr. Abhisit said.

"So just follow the procedures and report to the authorities," he said, indicating that the blacklisted people will be summoned for questioning.

"Was that money funding a terror attack?" said Deputy Prime Minister for Security Affairs, Suthep Thaugsuban.

"Those who are found to have supported terrorism will be prosecuted," Mr. Suthep warned.

The government hopes the Red Shirts will be neutralized if their finances are cut off, after insisting many of the protesters were "paid" to attend rallies.

Red Shirt supporters said they did receive free transportation from the countryside to Bangkok, and free food behind the barricades, but had risked their lives not for money, but for "democracy."

They want an immediate election because they are confident Mr. Thaksin's favored candidates will win, especially because Mr. Abhisit came to power through a coalition formed in Parliament.

More than 400 suspected Reds are meanwhile currently in jail, awaiting various charges.

Bangkok and 23 of Thailand's 76 provinces are still under "emergency rule" -- one step below martial law -- which empowers the military and other authorities to arrest, secretly detain and interrogate suspects, and censor TV and radio broadcasts, newspapers and Internet websites, along with other forms of control.

On the surface, life in Bangkok is relatively normal, though many businesses are struggling to survive in the aftermath of the March 12 to May 19 street protests.

Tourism, foreign investment and the real estate market are among the biggest sufferers.

In response, the government has launched a massive, expensive public relations campaign to convince Thais and the international community that this Buddhist majority, Southeast Asian nation is back on track.

Not everyone follows the official script.

"That's where the government killed Seh Daeng, bang, bang, bang," a taxi driver told passengers as his car passed an intersection where Maj. Gen. Khattiya "Seh Daeng" Sawatdiphol was shot by an unknown sniper on May 13, after he helped the Reds strengthen their barricades and defend themselves against the military.

"I hate Abhisit, he is a bad man," the driver said, referring to the prime minister.

Other Thais, and many foreigners resident in Bangkok, openly curse the Reds and express little pity for their plight because the protests crippled the capital and endangered innocent people.

Richard S Ehrlich is a Bangkok-based journalist who has reported news from Asia since 1978. He is co-author of "Hello My Big Big Honey!", a non-fiction book of investigative journalism. His web page is

http://www.asia-correspondent.110mb.com

(Copyright 2010 Richard S Ehrlich)

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