Giles Ji Ungpakorn
The current military government is being run by generals with blood on their hands. Generals Prayut Chan-Ocha and Anupong Paojinda were responsible for the shooting down of unarmed pro-democracy demonstrators in 2010. At the time the military had appointed Abhisit Vejjajiva and Sutep Tuaksuban to lead an unelected civilian government. All four of them are responsible for this cold-blooded state crime.
All investigations show that the bullets that killed the protestors came from the military. No weapons were discovered on the dead protestors. Reliable eye-witnesses reported that snipers were being used to indiscriminately shoot down civilians. There is photographic evidence to prove this. Some of those killed were sheltering in a Buddhist temple. One was a nurse. The military had also declared a “free-fire zone”.
Yet a few days ago the murder cases against Abhisit Vejjajiva and Sutep Tuaksuban were dismissed by the courts. Thai courts have a long history of serving military juntas and the elites. Generals Prayut Chan-Ocha and Anupong Paojinda were not charged because the Yingluk government was hoping to do a deal with the military so that Taksin could return to Thailand from exile. The deal collapsed and eventually led to the May 2014 coup.
Today relatives of those who died at the hands of the military and Abhisit’s government staged a small protest. They have been arrested and charged with “libel” because they named the four key murders in the 2010 bloodbath.
It is a crime to tell the truth and seek justice in Thailand today. But it is not deemed to be a crime for the state to kill unarmed citizens who seek democracy.
Uglytruth-Thailand 