Tayakorn Yos-ubon, father of two children killed in Sunday's bomb attack on an anti-government protest site in Bangkok, at a hospital where he collected their bodies, on Monday. CreditWason Wanichakorn/Associated Press

Thailand’s Army Chief Cautions Antigovernment Protesters

International New York Times | 24 Feb. 2014

BANGKOK — The head of Thailand’s army, one of the most powerful institutions in the country, appeared to distance himself from the goals of antigovernment protesters in a nationally televised speech on Monday that analysts said was a signal to the Thai public.

After assiduously seeking to remain neutral in Thailand’s three-month power struggle, Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, the army chief, repeatedly called for adherence to the Thai Constitution.

He said many sides in the crisis would like to see the use of force to settle the stalemate, an apparent reference to the coup d’état advocated by protesters.

“I would like to urge you to reconsider, compose yourselves and ask yourselves whether this would end peacefully,” General Prayuth said.

Protesters who control a number of major intersections in Bangkok are seeking to oust the Thai government and are allied with shadowy gunmen who battled the police last week, killing one officer and wounding several dozen. A second police officer died on Monday of injuries sustained during the same fighting.

Violence escalated over the weekend, with attacks on protest sites by unidentified gunmen that left four people dead, including three children.

The country’s political deadlock centers on the concentration of power by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her political movement, which has won every election since 2001. Ms. Yingluck’s brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, the founder of the movement, was prime minister when he was overthrown by the military in 2006 after being accused of corruption and abuse of power.

In his address on Monday, General Prayuth issued a stark warning about the fragility of the nation, saying it would “permanently stop functioning” if the situation were not urgently addressed.

“If there is any further loss of life,” he said, “the country will definitely collapse, and there won’t be any winners or losers.”

The general cited military intelligence that there were many armed groups and said that the situation was more complex than a political standoff four years ago.

Although he said the military and the police did not support either side, General Prayuth used the word constitution nine times in his 10-minute speech and underlined that it was still in force.

The protesters, who are seeking to banish Ms. Yingluck and her family from Thailand, say they want to set up an unelected “people’s council” that would replace Parliament.

Surachart Bamrungsuk, a professor at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok who is a foremost expert on the Thai military, said General Prayuth’s speech was “a signal to the elites who are pushing for a coup.”

The message, Mr. Surachart said, was “that the military is not getting involved and that the military is trying to obey the law.”

“It’s also a signal directly to the demonstrators,” he said.

The protesters, led by a former deputy prime minister, Suthep Thaugsuban, appear to have powerful backing and financing, and they remain defiant despite declining numbers of supporters in the streets.

Even as General Prayuth was urging the government to stop protesters from invading government offices in his speech on Monday, hard-core elements of the protest movement invaded the Foreign Ministry and ordered staff members to go home.

Gothom Arya, one of Thailand’s leading constitutional experts, said in an interview on Monday that the army chief’s speech suggested “he’s leaning a little toward the government” but that other forces remained opposed to the government.

“Roughly speaking, the law is on the government’s side,” Mr. Gothom said. “But the people who are enforcing the law, especially the judiciary, may have another idea.”

The country’s constitutional court has issued a number of decisions favorable to government opponents, and a court last week declared that protesters were peaceful and that the government had no right to disperse them. Thailand’s election commission has also been at odds with the government and has yet to set a schedule for the completion of general elections that were disrupted by protesters this month.

Protesters have vowed to chase Ms. Yingluck from office, and she is now working from what the government calls a safe location outside Bangkok.

Ms. Yingluck told reporters on Monday that she would “perform her duty to the last minute.” Resigning from her current caretaker position, as protesters are demanding, would mean “paving the way for a power vacuum and allow the tearing up of the Constitution,” she said.

“I am the head of this government,” she said. “I have to guard democracy and pass it to the new government.”