HM the Kings 1992 post coup speech on TV
You cannot win sometimes Received email from an idiot complaining I am wasting his time with cut and paste . Another complaining I do not include the Nation in my post. I am interested in keeping up with what is happening. If you dont like it , ignore . It is a free service.
Bangkok Post and Nation articles follow. Posted at Tuesday midnight GMT
Both camps say Black May royal footage supports them
POST REPORTERS
Opponents and supporters of caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra interpreted the message behind the release of the post-Black May royal footage differently yesterday, each claiming it shored up their own positions. Mr Thaksin yesterday said that Sunday night's airing of His Majesty the King's post-Black May speech was coordinated by the Royal Household Bureau after the government had encouraged efforts by many parties to find a peaceful solution to the current political situation.
''It's good for everyone to understand that conflicts do no good because there can be no winner and the country and its people will lose.
''All parties concerned must bear in mind His Majesty the King's remarks,'' the Thai Rak Thai leader told a rally in Ubon Ratchathani.
Sources also told the Bangkok Post that the Royal Household Bureau was behind the release of the broadcast. However, the decision appears to have caught senior officials off guard.
Lord Chamberlain Keokhwan Vajarodaya did not see the footage when it was aired on Sunday night and only learned about it from reporters.
At Government House, he told reporters he disagreed with televising the footage because the current situation was calm and should remain this way.
''Why do they need to mess things up? We, the Thai people, love living in peace,'' he said.
A source close to Gen Prem Tinsulanonda said the Privy Council president was surprised by the broadcasting and learned of it from a newspaper yesterday. Gen Prem asked his subordinates to find out who was behind the airing.
''Gen Prem was not comfortable [with the footage],'' the source said.
The 15-minute footage, in which His Majesty the King addressed former Palang Dharma party leader Chamlong Srimuang and ex-prime minister Gen Suchinda Kraprayoon in the aftermath of the May 1992 bloodshed, was aired by TV Pool of Thailand without prior notice.
Maj-Gen Chamlong said all leading members of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD)watched the footage and agreed that it was aimed at warning those in power to take responsibility if any bad events occurred.
But Maj-Gen Chamlong, who led the May 1992 pro-democracy demonstration which ended in bloodshed, still vowed to move ahead with today's rally.
Government spokesman Surapong Suebwonglee urged those with questions to ask TV Pool since the government had never ordered it to air the footage which could not have been broadcast without royal permission.
He said it was possible the broadcast had been made without the knowledge of Lord Chamberlain Keokhwan since it was the responsibility of His Majesty's principal private secretary, Asa Sarasin, and not the lord chamberlain.
Army spokesman Lt-Gen Palongkoon Klaharn said the Supreme Command did not order the footage to be televised, saying the decision rested with TV Pool's board members
[size=18]From The Nation
POLITICAL CHAOS
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PM reportedly pondering temporary exile from politics as tens of thousands of anti-govt protesters set to march on Govt House
With tens of thousands of protesters poised to surround Gov-ernment House in a bid to force his resignation, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was believed last night to have devised a tactical retreat, including an option to announce, over the next day or so, a break from politics.
This followed a meeting with key members of the Thai Rak Thai Party yesterday at Ban Phit-
sanulok before the premier headed out on the campaign trail to Ubon Rachathani ahead of the April 2 election.
Among those present at the meeting were Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak, Industry Minister Suriya Jung-rungreangkit, Agriculture Min-ister Khunying Sudarat Keyu-raphan and Thaksin's wife, Khunying Pojaman.
A key TRT member said Thaksin would be prepared to let Deputy Prime Minister Pol General Chidchai Wannasathit succeed him as caretaker prime minister.
Such an arrangement, though, has been rejected by the People's Alliance of Democracy, which claims Thaksin would hold on to power behind the scenes.
Should the protest in front of Government House turn violent, Thaksin would consider option two - appointing his No 2 on the party list to succeed him as prime minister. Once the constitutional reform process was completed, though, Thaksin would be ready to return to politics.
The Thai Rak Thai member said this would mark a major concession from Thaksin, because even if the TRT were to win on April 2, he would still make the political sacrifice.
The last option would be to announce over the next day or two that he would take a break from politics after the April 2 election, though he would keep his caretaker role until the election. Thaksin would then try to strike a compromise with the People's Alliance for Democracy and the opposition parties by postponing the date of the election to allow the opposition parties to stand. The Democrat, Chat Thai and Mahachon parties have boycotted the April 2 election.
Meanwhile, Government Spokesman Surapong Suebwonglee yesterday denied reports that Thaksin had decided to step down.
A core member of the People's Alliance for Democracy said that if Thaksin left office, its members would be ready to take it into consideration and the protesters could call off the demonstration.
Meanwhile, Thaksin said the Royal Household Bureau - not the government - had requested the Television Pool of Thailand to replay His Majesty the King's mediation over the Black May 1992 uprising on Sunday night.
The footage shows His Majesty advising the then prime minister Suchinda Kraprayoon and protest leader Chamlong Srimuang to end their confrontation and work together to rebuild the nation, which was being torn apart by political violence.
Thaksin said the King had given good advice. "Everyone must understand that conflicts are not good [for the country]. Nobody wins. In the end the country and the people suffer the heaviest defeat,'' he said.
He added that some government ministers are trying to hold talks with the other side. "We have yet to know how the dialogue will go. I support peaceful means." He said the government was pushing for a negotiation to be organised by a neutral body such as the University Rectors of Thailand.
He did not reject a proposal from former prime minister Suchinda to have an arbitration committee find a way out of the political impasse.
Army chief General Sonthi Boonyaratglin said he would instruct the media under the Army to re-run the TV footage at an appropriate time.
Surapong said the government did not want talks to be broadcast live because it wanted to avoid confrontation, neither did it want the talks to become a debate. "We have to talk in an atmosphere that helps lead to a solution,'' he said.
He added the government did not mind that other parties would be invited to join the talks and denied the government was behind the re-run of the TV footage, saying it cannot do so without Royal approval. He said the University Rectors of Thailand would meet with the opposition and the People's Alliance for Democracy to discuss the talks.
"We believe it is inappropriate that anyone would interpret the King's speech in other ways, because the speech was clear that the King would like all Thais to turn to each other,'' he said.
Demonstrators plan prolonged siege
The number of protesters gathering at Sanam Luang rose into the tens of thousands last night as people continued to stream in to prepare for a long siege of Government House starting this morning to pressure Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to resign.
The government has mobilised about 5,000 policemen to prevent any untoward incidents during the protesters' march from Sanam Luang to Government House and during the long stay they have planned outside its compound. Some 1,000 policemen were stationed at Government House alone.
Thaksin, speaking at an election campaign stop in Ubon Ratchathani province, warned members of the general public to keep away from Sanam Luang last night to avoid any possible incidents, saying he had learned that people were possibly plotting violence in an effort to trigger widespread turmoil.
Despite the emotionally charged nature of the anti-Thaksin rally, protest leaders called on the crowd to exercise maximum caution and tolerance to avoid possible violence.
"There will definitely be no violence. You must be most cautious about this. There will be no clash, no combat," one of the protest leaders, Chamlong Srimuang, addressed the protesters last night.
The People's Alliance for Demo-cracy (PAD) is set to lead a huge march from Sanam Luang to Gov-ernment House today to keep up the pressure against Thaksin, brushing off a possible chance for negotiations after he repeatedly refused to quit over his questionable legitimacy to continue to govern.
With strong momentum from the TV Pool replay of His Majesty the King's mediation of the May 1992 bloody political turbulence, which the PAD interpreted in its favour, some 100,000 people were expected to join the rally today, according to PAD coordinator Suriyasai Katasila.
The alliance will organise a mass protest in front of Government House with the sole demand to have Thaksin quit, he said.
"We will not go there to negotiate with him," he told reporters. Thaksin will not be at his office today but in Ubon Ratchathani and will hold a teleconference for a Cabinet meeting from the northeastern province.
Protesters will not block the gates of the Government House compound to enable Cabinet members to get in for the routine meeting, their leaders said.
As the political confrontation remained tense, many groups proposed that Thaksin and the PAD - together with opposition parities which boycotted the April 2 snap poll - sit together to find a solution.
Suriyasai said the PAD would consider "dialogue" with Thaksin only in a transparent manner and on live television, rather than a closed-door negotiation as the government proposed.
At Government House, Thammasat University's mock court will deliver a verdict on Thaksin in his "trial" on charges of corruption, abuse of power and human-rights violations. "The ruling from the mock court is the people's verdict on the political fate of Thaksin," Suriyasai said.
The rally will begin at about 7am today at Sanam Luang and proceed along Rajdamnoen Road. It is expected to arrive at Government House two hours later.
Thousands of police have been coordinated in advance not to block the rally, Suriyasai said.
The protesters will occupy Phitsanulok Road in front of the Prime Minister's Office and at least one lane of Rajdamnoen Road. Thaksin's supporters, if any, would be blocked only at the Royal Plaza, a few metres away. "We will stay there in peace until the end of Thaksin," Suriyasai said, noting that the PAD would employ non-violence in its struggle in accordance with national reconciliation, as HM the King advised.
The PAD has held a series of protests to oust Thaksin since last month. It led a huge rally to Government House on March 5 to put pressure on Thaksin but failed to deliver the knockout punch.
Thaksin has been under constant attack after selling his family's stake in Shin Corp to a Singaporean investment fund that made Bt73 billion for his clan with a tax exemption.
The middle class in Bangkok has joined the rally in increasing numbers but many might not be able to prolong the protest at Government House as the PAD wants.
Major protesters today will be members of Maj-General Chamlong Srimuang's Dharma Army, workers from state enterprises, farmers, teachers who oppose the government's plan to transfer them to local administrative bodies and students, Suriyasai said.
Vilaiwan Sae-tea, head of the Worker Solidarity Committee said labourers from Bangkok and its outskirts stayed overnight at the Sanam Luang and will also stage a protest rally against the government.
But workers could not commit to stay until Thaksin resigns as many of them could only take leave for a few days, she said.
Supalak Ganjanakhundee,
Piyanart Srivalo
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