More Red-Shirt Infighting: Jatuporn vs Panlop

Peua Thai MP and red-shirt key man Jatuporn Promphan (photo credit: Thai-blogs.com)

With only less than three weeks to go until the potentially earth-shattering assets ruling, the last thing ex-PM Thaksin needs now is infighting within ‘his’ army of red shirts. Yet, after a meeting in Dubai attended by some of the most unsavoury individuals in the movement, it seems the red shirts are once again preoccupied with internal bickering.

First, perhaps immediately after the Dubai gathering, Peua Thai member General Panlop declared that the red shirts would be establishing an armed splinter group. From The Nation:

In a telephone interview on Wednesday, Panlop said that the red shirts, with Thaksin’s blessing, had agreed to form the new armed wing and that Chavalit would lead the red shirts to victory. In the same interview, Khattiya said the organisational structure of the opposition movement was now complete with Pheu Thai as the party, the red shirts as its front and the new unit as its armed force. Many are reminded by that structure of the communist insurgency during the Cold War.

However, it did not take long for leading figures in the Thaksin camp to come out and deny Panlop’s claim. General Chavalit in AsiaOne:

Pheu Thai Party chairman Chavalit Yongchaiyudh yesterday brushed off news reports that he was poised to become the supreme commander of the People’s Army for Democracy under His Majesty the King, a newly formed offshoot of the red shirts.

“I resumed my political activities because I aspire to bring about social unity, and peace by peaceful means,” he said.

Chavalit rigorously denied condoning a violent struggle designed to trigger political changes.

But perhaps the most forceful rebuttal came from red-shirt key leader Jatuporn Promphan, who said that “the planned establishment of the people’s army is not related to the Red Shirts” and that “the idea did not represent the view of the Red Shirts” (source).

Gen Panlop’s response was predictably bitter. The 73-year-old told the press that he would end his involvement with the reds. MCOT reports:

A staunch supporter of convicted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Friday said he would not join any move with the anti-government Red Shirts activists after his idea about the people’s army was shunned by its key leader.

Gen Panlop Pinmanee, retired deputy chief of the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) and a member of the opposition Puea Thai Party, announced his decision after key leader of United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) Jatuporn Prompan had said the planned establishment of the people’s army is not related to the Red Shirts.

Yet there seems to be much more in this friction than mere differences of opinion. The latest report in Matichon reveals that Jatuporn has never fully trusted Gen Panlop:

[My rough translation]

When asked by reporters on whether he had consulted former PM Thaksin Shinnawatra about his decision not to apologise Gen Panlop, Jatuporn replied that he had already been in touch with Thaksin and Thaksin also wanted to see an end to this matter. All these people used to side with those who wanted to kill Thaksin. Nobody knew their true purpose of being here with the reds.

[Original]

ผู้สื่อข่าวถามว่า ได้หารือกับพ.ต.ท.ทักษิณ ชินวัตร อดีตนายกฯ ถึงการตัดสินใจไม่ขอโทษ พล.อ.พัลลภ หรือยัง นายจตุพร กล่าวว่า ตนได้สื่อสารกับพ.ต.ท.ทักษิณแล้ว และพ.ต.ท.ทักษิณ ก็ต้องการจะเคลียร์ทุกอย่างให้จบเหมือนกัน เพราะคนพวกนี้เคยอยู่ฝั่งที่จะฆ่าพ.ต.ท.ทักษิณ มาทั้งนั้น ไม่รู้เลยว่า ที่เข้ามาอยู่ที่นี่ใครจัดวางใครมาอย่างไร

Well, is anyone really surprised by all this?

Related posts (automatically generated):

1. Somsak Jeamteerasakul on Red Shirts and Thaksin
2. Thaksin ‘Does Not Trust Chavalit’ – PAD Spokesman
3. The Hardliners
4. Meet The ‘Traitors’
5. Petition to Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats, Regarding the Violence in Thailand