Veera Musikapong

Veera Musikapong ( Thai วีระ มุสิก พงศ์ , RTGS : Wira Musikaphong; official first name Veerakarn ; born May 24, 1948 in the Amphoe Ranot , Songkhla Province ) is a Thai politician. Between 1980 and 1988 he was a member of the cabinet in various positions, and from 1986 to 1987 he was also Secretary General of the Democratic Party . He was later a MP for the Thai-Rak-Thai Party . Since the 2006 coup he has been a leader of the “red shirts” movement .

Life

Veera Musikapong comes from southern Thailand . He graduated from Thammasat University in Bangkok in 1972 with a law degree . He began his political career with the Democratic Party , for which he was elected to parliament in 1975. In 1975 and 1976 he was government spokesman for Prime Minister Seni Pramoj . Between 1980 and 1988 he was Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Transport and the Interior in the Prem Tinsulanonda cabinets . 1986 to 1987 he was Secretary General of the Democratic Party. Veera led an intra-party wing that rivaled that of party chairman Bhichai Rattakul . He accused Bhichai of favoritism for nominating his son, Pichit Rattakul, as minister. Bhichai's wing then ensured Veera's replacement as general secretary by Sanan Kachornprasat .

In 1988 Veera was sentenced to four years imprisonment for lese majesty . At an election rally in 1986, he said that he would have preferred to be born a prince and publicly imagine how comfortable and effortless his life would have been. The army commander in chief, General Arthit Kamlang-ek and the royalist politician Samak Sundaravej testified against him, while his party friend, who later became Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai , testified in his defense. In the first instance, the Buriram court acquitted him. However, the Supreme Court found him guilty. After a month in prison, the king pardoned him. The background for Veera's indictment was probably the dispute over the extension of General Arthit's term of office as chief of the land forces and his pursuit of governance. Veera was considered a close confidante of the former Prime Minister Prem, who was an opponent of Arthit's efforts.

Then he left the Democratic Party, founded the small Prachachon party and lost his seat in parliament. In 1990 he joined the New Hope party of Chavalit Yongchaiyudh , of which he became vice chairman. The party went in 2001 in the Thai-Rak-Thai party (TRT) of Thaksin Shinawatra , for which he won a parliamentary seat again in 2005. After the military coup in September 2006 , which ousted Thaksin, Veera, like the other leading members of the TRT, was expelled from political office for five years by the “constitutional tribunal”.

He became one of the most important leaders of the "Red Shirts" movement and became chairman of its umbrella organization United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD). He was the CEO of Thaksin-affiliated People's Television and one of the three presenters of the political talk show Truth Today .

Web links

Tunya Sukpanich: Veera going against the flow, again . Bangkok Post, March 4, 2007

Individual evidence

↑ Surin Maisrikrod: Thailand's Two General Elections in 1992. Democracy Sustained. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore 1992, pp. 15-16.
↑ Jungug Choi: Governments and Markets in East Asia. The politics of economic crises. Routledge, 2006, p. 59.
↑ David Streckfuss: Truth on Trial in Thailand. Defamation, treason, and lèse-Majesté. Routledge, 2013, pp. 218-222.
^ Roger Kershaw: Monarchy in South East Asia. The faces of tradition in transition. Routledge, 2001, p. 235.
↑ Suchit Bunbongkarn: The Military in Thai Politics, 1981-1986. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore 1987, p. 44.
↑ Chairat Charoensin-o-larn: Redrawing Thai Political Space. The Red Shirt Movement. In: Cleavage, Connection and Conflict in Rural, Urban and Contemporary Asia. Springer, 2013, p. 212.
^ Mark R. Thomson: Class, charisma and clientelism in Thai and Philippine populist parties. In: Party Politics in Southeast Asia. Clientelism and electoral competition in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. Routledge, 2013, p. 75.

personal data
SURNAME	Veera Musikapong
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Veerakarn; วีระ มุสิก พงศ์ (Thai)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	thai politician
DATE OF BIRTH	May 24, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH	Ranot District , Songkhla Province

[1] Surin Maisrikrod: Thailand's Two General Elections in 1992. Democracy Sustained. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore 1992, pp. 15-16.

[2] Jungug Choi: Governments and Markets in East Asia. The politics of economic crises. Routledge, 2006, p. 59.

[3] David Streckfuss: Truth on Trial in Thailand. Defamation, treason, and lèse-Majesté. Routledge, 2013, pp. 218-222.

[4] Roger Kershaw: Monarchy in South East Asia. The faces of tradition in transition. Routledge, 2001, p. 235.

[5] Suchit Bunbongkarn: The Military in Thai Politics, 1981-1986. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore 1987, p. 44.

[6] Chairat Charoensin-o-larn: Redrawing Thai Political Space. The Red Shirt Movement. In: Cleavage, Connection and Conflict in Rural, Urban and Contemporary Asia. Springer, 2013, p. 212.

[7] Mark R. Thomson: Class, charisma and clientelism in Thai and Philippine populist parties. In: Party Politics in Southeast Asia. Clientelism and electoral competition in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. Routledge, 2013, p. 75.