Surayud Chulanont

Surayud Chulanont สุรยุทธ์ จุลานนท์
File:Surayud.jpg
24th Prime Minister of Thailand
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 October 2006
Preceded by	Thaksin Shinawatra
Personal details
Born	August 28, 1943 Phetchaburi Province, Thailand
Spouse	Chitravadee Chulanont

General Surayud Chulanont (Thai: สุรยุทธ์ จุลานนท์, RTGS: Surayut Chulanon, Nickname: Big Add) is the current Prime Minister of Thailand and head of Thailand's Interim Government. He was a former Thai military officer, Army Commander, Supreme Commander, and Privy Councilor to King Bhumibol Adulyadej. He was appointed Premier on 1 October 2006 by Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, the head of a military junta that had overthrown the elected government of Thaksin Shinawatra less than 2 weeks earlier. His government was a controversial one, and he was accused of economic mismanagement, rampant human rights abuses, allowing the escalation of the South Thailand insurgency, and flip-flopping on numerous policies. He has been accused of forest encroachment and illegally acquiring train carriages for display in his resort home although not proven. He is married to Chitravadi Santhadwet Chulanont (Thai: จิตรวดี สันทัดเวช) and has three sons, Nam(Jul), Khao(San) and Captain Non (Thai: นนทร์).

Family and education

Surayud came from a long line of military leaders. His maternal grandfather was Phraya Sri Sitthi Songkhram (Din Tharab), a royalist leader during the failed Boworadej Rebellion. Surayud's father was Lt. Colonel Phayom Chulanont, a Royal Thai Army military officer who, as "Comrade Too Khamtan" (Thai: สหายตู้คำตัน, RTGS: sahai tu khamtan), became a member of the Central Committee Communist Party of Thailand and Chief of Staff of the People's Liberation Army of Thailand.

Surayud completed his early education at Saint Gabriel's College and Suankularb Wittayalai School in Bangkok. He graduated from the inaugural class of Armed Forces Preparatory Academy.

As a boy, Surayud's father left his family to go underground to join the Communists. Phayom explained his defection by citing corruption in the army and its inability to defend the powerless. His father's defection to the Communists had a large impact on Surayud. Surayud's son, Non, noted that, "My father always told me that we must help each other redeem the tarnished family name of Chulanont so that Thais can look up to it."

Surayud entered the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy (CRMA) and graduated from Class 12.

Military career

Early in his army career, Surayud served in several Army divisions including a light artillery unit, a paratrooper unit. He conducted operations against the Communist Party of Thailand (CPT) while his father was a leader of the CPT. From 1972 to 1978, he was an instructor at the Special Warfare School. He was a close aide to General Prem Tinsulanonda when Prem was appointed Army Commander and later Prime Minister of Thailand. Surayud was appointed Commander of the Special Warfare Command in 1992, where he was the commanding officer of Sonthi Boonratklin.

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General Surayud wearing the black beret of the Cavalry Corps

During Bloody May, the violent crackdown 1992 on anti-government protestors, Surayud's men were seen shooting protesters and dragging them through the bloody lobby of the Royal Hotel. He later claimed that he never gave orders for his soldiers to shoot. According to a later interview, "It convinced me that the army should never be involved in politics." Days later he told a national television audience that he deplored the loss of life and that he had not given any orders to shoot. In 1994, he was appointed Commander of the 2nd Army Region.

Surayud was promoted to Army Commander in late 1998. At the time, his promotion was controversial, as Surayud had been promoted above the heads of several officers more senior to him. Surayud appointed several of his classmates from Class 12 of the CRMA to key lucrative positions. Among these were Lt Gen Sompong Maivichit, who he made head of Army controlled Channel 5 television station, replacing Gen Pang Malakul na Ayudhya, and Lt Gen Boonrod Somtap, who he promoted to a key subordinate position to replace Gen Charn Boonprasert. He also ended a policy of deporting Burmese refugees, especially ethnic Karens, back to Burma. "He's been a friend to us," said Pastor Robert Htway of the Karen Refugee Committee. Under his term, Thai soldiers took part in the United Nations Peace Keeping Force, assisting UN-PKF efforts in East Timor.

In March 2002, Surayud ordered one of Thailand's largest military operations in recent times, when Thai troops moved deep into Myanmar territory to destroy drug labs and military bases controlled by the United Wa State Army.

In 2003, after over 4 years as Army Commander, Surayud was promoted to the position of Supreme Commander, a loftier but less influential post, during the government of Thaksin Shinawatra. He was replaced as Army Commander by Somthad Attanan. His promotion was rumored to be the result of a conflict with the Prime Minister.

Privy Councilor

Upon his retirement from the Army, Surayud briefly joined the Buddhist monkhood. On 14 November 2003, King Bhumibol Adulyadej appointed Surayud to his Privy Council of personal advisors. From retirement, Surayud and Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda played a key role in the promotion of General Sonthi Boonratklin to the position of Army Commander.

Facing an escalating insurgency in the south of Thailand, Surayud urged the media to paint a more positive picture of the violence. "Truthful words that may not be beneficial should be avoided," noted Surayud to the Press Council of Thailand. He was contradicted by Deputy Prime Minister Chaturon Chaisang, who noted that he couldn't think of any news about the conflict in the South that could or should not be reported by the media.

In response to numerous claims made by anti-Thaksin activist Sondhi Limthongkul that his People's Alliance for Democracy was "fighting for the King", Surayud resonded by saying that "Recent references to the monarchy were inappropriate. The institution should not be involved in politics. Political disputes should be solved in a political way."

Surayud was already considered a strong candidate for appointment as civilian prime minister premiership immediately after General Sonthi overthrew the government of Thaksin Shinawatra in a coup in 2006.. Indeed, Surayud was appointed as Prime Minister on 1 October 2006.

Environment

Surayud was chairman of the Khao Yai National Park Protection Foundation.

However, after becoming Premier in 2006, he was accused of breaching the Forestry Act and the National Forest Reserves Act by illegally owning forest land in Yaithiang Mountain of Nakhon Ratchasima province. He vowed to resign and return the land (which he did not deny owning) if found guilty.

Prime Minister of Thailand

Main article: Thailand 2006 interim civilian government

See also: Policies of the Surayud government

Surayud's appointment to the Premiership was confirmed by junta leader Sonthi Boonyaratkalin on the morning of Sunday 1 October 2006. Sonthi had a formal audience with King Bhumibol Adulyadej at 4 pm that day to nominate Surayud's name to the monarch. "Security and social unity" were cited by Sonthi as the key reasons for appointing Surayud.

Surayud announced that as Premier, he would "Focus on self-sufficiency, more than focusing on the GDP numbers. I will focus on the happiness of the people, more than the GDP." He also claimed that he would be "Friendly to every party, trying to receive information from every side and meeting people as much as possible. I will lead a government based on justice."

Popularity

The Surayud government's initial nation-wide approval rating in October 2006 stood at 60%, with 8% disapproving. By early November, this fell to 55% approving and 15% disapproving. For comparison, a nation-wide poll in July 2006 found that 49% of respondants would have voted for Thaksin Shinawatra in the cancelled October elections.

The 2006 Bangkok New Year's Eve bombings caused Surayud's popularity to drop to 48.5% according to Assumption University's polling arm - and just 11% said they had "full confidence" the government can handle the crisis.

The 2007 Chinese New Year Bombings, which saw 38 bombing attacks, 26 cases of arson, and seven ambushes within a single day, caused Surayud's popularity to drop even further. 53.7% of respondents living in Bangkok and other major cities in felt the government and the CNS could not put an end to problems in the country. Only 24.6% thought that the situation would improve in 6 months.

By 24 February 2007, his popularity among Bangkokians had further dropped to 34.8%, although he was still more popular than Thaksin Shinawatra, whom 28.8% of Bangkokians favored.

The US government decided to continue holding "Cobra Gold" joint military exercises with the Thai government. Immediately after the coup, Washington had all military cooperation and aid with the junta. US law forbade assistance to governments of a country where an elected leader has been deposed in a coup.

Drafting of a permanent constitution and elections

The junta's 2006 Interim Constitution authorized the junta to appoint a 2,000 person National Assembly which would select members to become candidates for a Constitution Drafting Assembly. From the onset of his appointment as Premier, Surayud Chulanont was urged by academics to override the junta's control of the constitution drafting process. Somchai Siripreechakul, Dean of Law at Chiang Mai University, urged Surayud to call a general election as soon as possible and hand the task of drafting a charter to an elected parliament. Banjerd Singkhaneti of Thammasat University noted of the constitution drafting process, "I think it will be a mess and the next constitution will be just that."

After the coup, the military junta had originally promised to draft a permanent charter within eight months and to hold elections in October 2007. However, Prime Minister's Office Minister Thirapat Serirangsan later announced that elections might not occur until one year and five months.

Cabinet appointments

Prem Tinsulanonda, President of the King's Privy Council, played a significant role in picking the members of Surayud's Cabinet. General Boonrawd Somtas, a former CDRMA classmate and longtime friend of Surayud, was appointed Defense Minister. former Interior Permanent Secretary Aree Wong-araya was appointed Interior Minister, former Energy Policy and Planning Office director Piyasvasti Amranand became Energy Minister, central bank governor Pridiyathorn Devakula became Finance Minister, and Bangkok Bank Chairman Kosit Panpiemras became Industry Minister. Michael Nelson of Chulalongkorn University noted that the Cabinet was dominated by bureaucrats and that "It's very strongly guided by military ideas combined with some technocrats, some people in economic areas and some former bureaucrats."

Pridiyathorn later resigned on 28 February 2007. His resignation shocked the political world as well as the business community. He cited reasons for resignation included,

• Surayud's decision to appoint Pridiyathorn's rival, former Thaksin-government Finance Minister Somkid Jatusripitak, as a self-sufficiency economy special envoy. Somkid resigned from his position after less than a week.
• Prime Minister's Office Minister Thirapat Serirangsan's alleged preference to certain private media interests. Several analysts speculated that he was referring to the preferential treatment the junta gave to leading anti-Thaksin critic Sondhi Limthongkul, who was also a long-time critic of Pridiyathorn.

Pridiyathorn was replaced by Chalongphob Sussangkarn, an academic who led the Thailand Development Research Institute. Chalongphob had previously criticized the junta's capital controls policy.

Key policies

Telecommunications

• The planned merger of state-telecom companies TOT and CAT.
• The cancellation of plans to list TOT, CAT, and Thai Post on the Stock Exchange of Thailand.
• The cancellation of the Thaksin government's telecom excise tax policy. The Thaksin government imposed an excise tax on privately offered fixed and cellular services, and then allowed telecom companies to deduct the amount they paid in excise tax from concession fees they had to pay to state concession owners TOT or CAT Telecom. The total amount paid by the private telecom firms did not change. The Surayud government's excise tax cancellation meant that TOT and CAT Telecom would receive their full concession payments. However, TOT and CAT were then forced to increase their dividends to the Ministry of Finance to account for their increased income.
• Changing the publically-listed state-enterprise media company MCOT's policy from focusing on monetary benefits to social benefits. MCOT's stock prices dropped 5.13% to an 11-month low as a result.
• Surayud reversed policies many times regarding the fate of the iTV TV station. Surayud first announced that it intended to take over the station and promised that the station would not be taken off the air no matter what happened regarding its concession controversy. However, in early March 2007, PM's Office Minister Dhipawadee Meksawan announced that the station would be taken off the air on midnight on 6 March 2007, following the Cabinet's revocation of iTV's concession. Surayud apologized for not keeping his word. Then on 7 March 2007, Surayud reversed his decision yet again and ordered that iTV continue broadcasting after the deadline had passed.

Culture

• The planned ban against all forms of advertising for alcoholic beverages.
• The banning of all "sexually-arousing dances" (locally called "coyote dances") during the Loy Kratong festival.
• From March 2007 onwards, requesting that all Thai citizens dress in yellow every day until December 31 2007, in order to display loyalty King Bhumibol and celebrate his 80th birthday.
• Urging Chulalongkorn University to take action against its fourth-year psychology student Pemmika Veerachatraksit, for having broken university discipline by having an affair with another person's husband. The Culture Ministry claimed that as a student, being accused of having an adulterous affair should be taken as guilt. The student was sued for 27 million baht by Alisa Thomthitchong for allegedly having an affair with her husband, Dr Prakitpao Thomthitchong.

Public health

• Making the 30-baht universal healthcare program completely free. The Budget Bureau criticized the move. The government later cut the universal healthcare program budget by over 3.8 billion baht, providing a subsidy of just 1,899 baht per head, compared to the previously proposed figure of 2,089 baht. The number of eligible people was cut from 48 million to 46 million people.
• License the production and sale of patented HIV and heart disease drugs without the permission of the foreign patent owners. Lack of public health budget was cited as the reasons for breaking the patents. "It has stunned our industry," said the President of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association (PReMA). The Minister of Public Health claimed that pharmaceutical industry was reaping "colossal" profits. Under World Trade Organization rules, a government is allowed to break patents under after declaring a "national emergency." Breaking the patents of Abbott's HIV treatment Kaletra and Sanofi-Aventis' blood clot drug Plavix was estimated to save Thailand US$24 million a year.
• Abbott Laboratories said it would stop launching new medicines in Thailand in protest at the army-backed government's move to override international drug patents. "Thailand has chosen to break patents on numerous medicines, ignoring the patent system. As such, we've elected not to introduce new medicines there," an Abbott spokesperson told reporters. The seven withdrawn drugs include the new version of Kaletra, an antibiotic, a painkiller and medicines to fight blood clots, arthritis, kidney disease and high blood pressure.

Energy

• The indefinite delayal of the previous government's policy of converting all octane 95 gasoline sales to gasohol.
• The cancellation of state electricity company EGAT's guaranteed 50% share in all new power plant construction.
• The prevention of EGAT from participating in bidding for new electricity plants under the Independent Power Producer (IPP) program.
• The cancellation of plans to import hydroelectric power and natural gas from Myanmar.

Security and the southern insurrection

Tom Yam Kung

• An increase in military spending. Since 1999, military spending had remained stagnant at approximately $2 billion in 2000 dollars.
• Issuing a formal apology regarding the the Tak Bai incident.
• Revealing for the first time to the public that the insurgency was being finance by a network of restaurants and stalls selling Tom Yam Kung in Malaysia. Surayud claimed that the Tom Yam Kung network collected money from local businessmen through blackmail and demands for protection fees and channelled the sum to the separatists. Malaysian Deputy Security Minister Fu Ah Kiow described the revelation as "absolutely baseless," and "very imaginative."
• Appointing Seripisut Temiyavet as Police Commissioner General, replacing Kowit Watana
• Allowing the Malaysian government to help mediate in the South Thailand insurgency, contradicting a statement by Foreign Minister Nitya Pibulsonggram made just 2 days before.

Education

• The cancellation of Thailand's participation in the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) program.. The project has been criticized as unrealistic for an impoverished country like Thailand.
• The cancellation of plans to install personal computers and broadband internet connections in every public and secondary school in Thailand.
• Forcing 430 prestigous schools across the country to accept half of their students from the local neighborhood. All other schools would be required to accept all applicants; if applicants exceeded seats, a random draw would choose which applicants would be accepted.
• The continuation of the Thaksin Shinawatra government's "One District, One Scholarship" program under the name "Scholarships for Community Development]]. The maximum annual income for eligible recipients' families was rased from 100,000 baht to 150,000 baht.
• The proposed cancellation of the guarantee of 12 years of free education in the next constitution of Thailand.

Economy and agriculture

• A budget deficit of 147 billion Baht for fiscal year 2007. This was the first budget deficit since 2003. Fiscal deficits were also expected for 2008.
• Capital controls in an attempt to reverse a massive appreciation of the Thai Baht. The moves caused a crash in the Thai stock market, with a one-day loss of 820 billion baht (approx. US$22 billion) in market value. The move resulted in harsh criticism both within Thailand and abroad. "My definition of what's going on is 'Welcome to amateur hour,'" said Donald Gimbel, fund manager for Carret & Co. Korn Chatikavanij of the Democrat party noted of a policy reversal, "That can't repair the damage that was caused in one historic day."
• Elimination of subsidies for rice farmers. The price of rice, set at 30% above market prices during the deposed Thaksin Shinawatra government, was dramatically lowered. It was claimed that the high price of rice seriously affected farmers and caused social burdens.
• The cancellation of the Million Cows project. Under the project, the government lent five million cows to one million farming families. The families were allowed to sell milk and calves for profit. The program was highly popular among politicians.
• The rebranding of Thaksin Shinawatra's "SML" village development scheme as the "sufficiency village development scheme." Villagers wishing to draw down funds under the scheme were now required to draft projects based on the King's self-sufficient economy principles. The self-sufficiency scheme was given a budget of 10 billion baht.
• The cancellation of the Assets Capitalisation Bureau, the administrator of the Thaksin-government's asset capitalization program. The program allowed people owning assets not accepted by banks as collateral (e.g., machinery, intellectual property rights, or land rental rights) to capitalize those assets and get loans. According to the government, the abolition of the Assets Capitalisation Bureau was based on its policy not to encourage people to go into debt. Critics claimed the program was cancelled due to its association with the deposed premier.
• In order to punish Thaksin Shinawatra for his sale of Shin Corp to a Singaporean company, Surayud altered regulations concerning foreign ownership of companies. This impacted the legality of thousands of local subsidiaries of foreign companies operating in Thailand. However, Finance Minister Pridiyathorn noted that, "If they (foreign investors) had seen the details (of the foreign investment law), I am sure that they would be happy." Brokers and analysts criticized the move as a political intervention that hurt the economy. The governments of the United States, Canada, Switzerland, Japan, and European Union protested the move.
• The approval of debt-relief measures for farmers. This prompted Northeastern farmer leaders from cancelling a planned protests in Bangkok.
• Surayud appointed Thaksin-government Finance Minister Somkid Jatusripitak to head of a government committee charged with promoting King Bhumibol's self-sufficient economy policy to a foreign audience. The appointment provoked great controversy, as critics claimed that the populist economics czar had no role promoting a key principle of the Surayud-government's economic policy. Somkid appointment was supported by General Saprang Kalyanamitr, a powerful member of the junta, and Sondhi Limthongkul of the People's Alliance for Democracy, a long-time colleague of Somkid's. Somkid later decided to resign from the committee, which was then dissolved. Somkid's long-time rival, Finance Minister Pridiyathorn Devakula, denied any role in Somkid's resignation.
• After the coup, Surayud announced that all free trade agreement negotiation and drafting be immediately stopped. However, in February 2007, it gave the go-ahead for the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement (JTEPA). The policy U-turn was criticized by many, including Saneh Chamarik of the National Human Rights Commission, Kraisak Choonhavan, Greenpeace Southeast Asia, FTA Watch.
• Surayud's economic policies failed to stem a slowdown of the economy. In the last quarter of 2006, the economy expanded 3.9%, a drop from the 4.7%recorded before the coup. Applications to build new factories and other facilities dropped 24% in 2006. In February 2007, Thai consumer confidence fell to the lowest point in 5 years.

Suvarnabhumi Airport

Surayud ordered the reopening Don Muang Airport for domestic and international flights. This decision came after allegations that the newly opened Suvarnabhumi Airport alone was incapable of handling future traffic volume and that the airport was unsafe. The decision met with strong opposition from Airports of Thailand, the Civil Aviation Department, the Board of Airline Representatives in Thailand (BAR), the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the Thai Airways International labor union, and many domestic and international airlines, including Thai Airways and the Star Alliance. 60 airlines threatened to halt flights to Thailand if they were forced to move back to Don Muang airport.

A two-week investigation led by Tortrakul Yomnak, a chief engineer for Airports of Thailand and prominent supporter of the anti-Thaksin movement, found that the runway was safe, and that cracks could be repaired in as little as a few hours. At the beginning of the investigation, Tortrakul had warned that the airport might need to be closed for three years. However, Admiral Bannawit Keng-rien, chairman of the National Legislative Assembly's airport committee, urged Surayud to close down Suvarnabhumi. Surayud's decision to reopen Don Muang was based on his personal advisors, without waiting for the Ministry of Transport or Airports of Thailand to finish their studies.

A completed study by the AoT showed that the cost of fixing 60 identified problems at the airport would be less than 1% of the total airline cost and the problems could be fixed in up to four to five years. Dr. Narupol Chaiyut, a member of a committee overseeing service problems at the new airport, estimated that 70% of the problems would be fixed within 2007.

Surayud and AoT Chairman General Saprang Kalayanamitr refused to authorize urgent repairs on the airport tarmac, despite warnings from engineers. Karun Chandrarangsu, president of the Engineering Institute of Thailand noted, "Suvarnabhumi is like a patient in a coma who continues to suffer from severe bleeding. Stopping the blood flow now is more urgent and important than debating what caused the injury." The Engineering Institute of Thailand sent a formal warning to AoT in November 2006 about the urgent need to drain water from beneath the tarmac, and that immediate action should be taken. "The AOT did nothing about the problem," Suebsak Promboon of the EIT noted. "The situation might not have become this bad if the water had been drained then." Suebsak Promboon, a senior foundation engineer and a member of the Tortrakul Yomnak-led airport tarmac inspection panel, accused the AOT of refusing to take any actions to solve the problems at the airport.

Human rights

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• Censorship of broadcast television. Troops were dispatched to all television stations on the night of the coup and remain there as of late December 2006. An interview with the late Nuamthong Phaiwan broadcast by television channel iTV came to an abrupt end after the Director of Army-owned Channel 5 called the station to warn them against the broadcast. Additional troops were dispatched to "keep order" at the station. Broadcast media were to stop airing news about former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his associates.
• Censorship of community radio. Thousands of community radio stations were shut down after the coup. Community radio operators were only allowed to rebroadcast if they reported in the "spirit of national unity." The junta retained the authority to shut down any station at any time.
• Massive censorship of the internet. Pre-coup, the government blocked 2,475 websites, while as of January 2007, the government blocked 13,435 websites - an increase of over 500%. In addition, the popular Midnight University web board was shut down for what the government claimed were posts offensive to the monarchy.
• Strict execution of the CNS's ban against all political activities.
• The establishment of a 14,000-strong special operations force with a mandate to control anti-junta protests. The 556 million baht fund allocation came from a request by the Council for National Security. The rapid deployment force began operations on 1 December 2006. Surayud refused to explain why his Cabinet approved funding of the force after it had already started, which was contrary to PM's Office directives. Government spokesman Yongyuth Mayalarp promised that the force would be dissolved in 30 September 2007, along with the CNS. The funds would be diverted from the Defense Ministry and Police Office, but if those two agencies lacked funding, they would be diverted from the government's reserve fund for emergency situations. Yongyuth revealed that no Cabinet members questioned the use of the fund. General Saprang Kallayanamit, assistant Secretary-General of the CNS, was appointed Commander of the force.
• The torture of suspected insurgents by the military in the South. The Asian Human Rights Commission accused soldiers of seriously harming suspects by beating them, burning their genitals with cigarettes, smashing beer bottles over their knees, and chaining them to dogs.
• Censorship and manipulation of the media. The government cancelled the most popular program on state-owned broadcaster's MCOT's Modernine TV, Khui Khui Khao. The anti-Thaksin movement claimed the program's host, prominent political commentator Sorrayuth Suthassanachinda, was a supporter of the overthrown premier. A daily slot was given for anti-Thaksin crusader Sondhi Limthongkul's "Yam Fao Paen Din", a show that media reformers called a junta "propaganda tool." Lese majeste charges against Sondhi filed prior to the coup were dropped, admittedly for no legal reason. Seri Wongmontha and Boonyod Sukthintai, both prominent members of the anti-Thaksin People's Alliance for Democracy, were given program slots.
• The approval of a law that would imprison anyone found guilty of forwarding a pornographic email up to three years.
• A crackdown against public displays of affection, like kissing, among teenagers. The government claimed the crackdown against such "inappropriate behavior" was fitting with Buddhist values of modesty and manners.
• The repeal of junta restrictions against organizing protests on 9 November 2006. However, martial law has been lifted in most of the country.
• Censorship of Somtow Sucharitkul's opera Ayodhya. It was thought that the on-stage death of the demon-king, Thotsakan, would constitute a bad omen. Somtow, a harsh critic of the deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, criticized the move but agreed to modify the scene.
• Arresting 26 Bo Bae Market illegal vendors protesting their forced relocation following a major fire. The protestors were charged with participating in an illegal gathering attended by more than 10 people. They later refused to air an interview that Thaksin had earlier made.
• January 15, 2007: The military government has censored the interview of Thaksin Shinawatra on CNN in Thailand. [2]

Other

• The granting of unprecedented salaries for the leaders of the military junta.
• Expanding Bangkok's mass transit rail network by 5 new routes, using the same amount as budgeted by the deposed Thaksin government.

Thaksin Shinawatra

Surayud warned deposed Premier Thaksin Shinawatra several times against returning to Thailand, calling his return "a threat". During a November 2006 trip to China for the ASEAN-China Summit, Surayud refused to meet Thaksin, who was also in China at the time. Surayud later denied Thaksin the opportunity to return to Thailand to contest in eventual elections, and said that the appropriate time for him to return would be "after a year," when a newly elected government was already in place.

Thaksin's diplomatic passport was revoked by the Foreign Ministry on 31 December 2006 after the government claimed he had engaged in political activities while in exile. Thai embassies were ordered not to facilitate his travels. Traditionally, all former prime ministers and foreign ministers of Thailand were permitted to hold on to their diplomatic passport for life.

Thaksin later publicly announced that he was quitting politics. Surayud's Defense Minister later announced that the junt would refuse Thaksin's reconciliation offer, claiming that Thailand was being threatened by "ill-intentioned people" and capitalism.

Council for National Security

The Surayud government allowed the Council for National Security to interfere with many government responsibilities, including the transfer of civil servants. The CNS was allowed to control a nation-wide reshuffle of the civil service in April 2007 in order to weed out officials "clinging" to the deposed "Thaksin-regime".

Surayud also authorized the removal of police chief Kowit Wattana from his position in early February 2007. Kowit had also been police chief under the ousted government of Thaksin Shinawatra.

Criticism

Besides being heavily criticized for gaining power through the 2006 coup, Surayud has been accused of forest encroachment and corruption.

Land encroachment

Surayud has been accused of breaching the Forestry Act and the National Forest Reserves Act by illegally owning forest land in Yaithiang Mountain of Nakhon Ratchasima province. He vowed to resign and return the land (which he did not deny owning) if found guilty. He was defended by Interior Minister Aree Wongarya, who claimed, "Gen Surayud purchased the land from someone else so the question has to be posed to the first owner whether the land is reserved."

National Human Rights Commissioner Jaran Ditthapichai noted, "I cannot agree to have someone call himself a man of morality and sufficiency if he built a fancy house in a forest reserve."

Corruption

Surayud, an avid collector of model trains, was accused of illegally acquiring four train compartments for his resort home in Nakhon Ratchasima. Surayud claimed that he had more than 4 compartments, but they were all in Bangkok and were acquired legally.

However, Thai-language newspaper Khaosod published a photo on the front page of its 26 December 2006 edition which showed a building resembling a railway carriage near Surayud's resort home. The National Counter Corruption Committee was petitioned to scrutinise the land at Surayud's retreat residence.

Surayud faced worsening perceptions of corruption. A poll conducted in January 2007 found that 66% of business people thought that local corruption would increase, with only 10.5% thinking that it would decrease.

Unusual wealth

Upon appointment as Premier, Surayud revealed to the public that he and his wife had assets of over 90 million Baht (approx US$2.6 million, as of 12 December 2006). An activist group asked the National Counter Corruption Commission to investigate the wealth of the family, noting that the lifelong civil servant should not have been able to legally accumulate such great wealth.

External links

• Template:En icon News articles related to Thai Coup 2006

Further reading

• Janes Defence Weekly, Interview with Gen Surayud Chulanont, 3 November 1999
• TIME Magazine, Asian heroes: Surayud Chulanont, 2003
• BBC News, Profile: Surayud Chulanont, 1 October 2006
• The Nation, Editorial questioning Surayud's judgement in reopening Don Muang Airport, 9 February 2007</ref>