Thousands rallied in Bangkok yesterday to demand the resignation of Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, part of the brewing political turmoil set off by a leaked phone call with former Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen.
Paetongtarn faces growing dissatisfaction over her handling of a recent border dispute with Cambodia involving an armed confrontation on May 28. One Cambodian soldier was killed in a relatively small, contested area.
The recorded phone call with Hun Sen was at the heart of the demonstration yesterday and has set off a string of investigations in Thailand that could lead to Paetongtarn’s removal.
Photo: Reuters
Outrage over the call mostly revolved around Paetongtarn’s comments toward an outspoken regional army commander and her perceived attempts to appease Hun Sen, the current Cambodian Senate president, to ease tensions at the border.
About 6,000 protesters joined the rally as of early afternoon yesterday, according to an estimate by the Bangkok police. Despite a downpour, they held national flags and placards around the Victory Monument in central Bangkok, as speakers took turns blasting the government. The participants chanted slogans, sang and danced to nationalist songs.
“From a heart of a Thai person, we have never had a prime minister who is so weak,” said Tatchakorn Srisuwan, 47, a guide from Surat Thani province. “We do not want to invade anyone, but we want to say that we are Thai and we want to protect Thailand’s sovereignty.”
There were many familiar faces from a conservative, pro-royalist group known as the Yellow Shirts. They are longtime foes of Paetongtarn’s father, former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who reportedly has a close relationship with Hun Sen and who was toppled in a military coup in 2006. Rallies organized by Yellow Shirts also helped oust the elected government of Thaksin’s sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, in a 2014 coup.
Hun Sen yesterday said the border action by the Thai army was a serious contravention of Cambodia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, despite the country’s good will in attempting to resolve the border issue.
“This poor Cambodia has suffered from foreign invasion, war and genocide, been surrounded and isolated and insulted in the past, but now Cambodia has risen on an equal face with other countries,” Hun Sen told an audience of thousands at the 74th anniversary celebration of the founding of the Cambodian People’s Party in Phnom Penh.
The scandal has broken Paetongtarn’s fragile coalition government, costing her Pheu Thai Party the loss of its biggest partner, the Bhumjaithai Party. Its departure left the 10-party coalition with 255 seats, just above the majority of the 500-seat house.
Paetongtarn also faces other investigations that could lead to her removal from office.
Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission secretary-general Sarote Phuengrampan on Wednesday said that his agency is investigating Paetongtarn for a serious breach of ethics over the Hun Sen phone call.
He did not give a possible timeline for a decision.
The prime minister on Tuesday said she was not worried and is ready to give evidence to support her case.
“It was clear from the phone call that I had nothing to gain from it, and I also did not cause any damage to the country,” she said.
The Philippines is working behind the scenes to enhance its defensive cooperation with Taiwan, the Washington Post said in a report published on Monday. “It would be hiding from the obvious to say that Taiwan’s security will not affect us,” Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilbert Teodoro Jr told the paper in an interview on Thursday last week. Although there has been no formal change to the Philippines’ diplomatic stance on recognizing Taiwan, Manila is increasingly concerned about Chinese encroachment in the South China Sea, the report said. The number of Chinese vessels in the seas around the Philippines, as well as Chinese
‘A SERIOUS THREAT’: Japan has expressed grave concern over the Strait’s security over the years, which demonstrated Tokyo’s firm support for peace in the area, an official said China’s military drills around Taiwan are “incompatible” with peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Takeshi Iwaya said during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi (王毅) on Thursday. “Peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is important for the international community, including Japan,” Iwaya told Wang during a meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN-related Foreign Ministers’ Meetings in Kuala Lumpur. “China’s large-scale military drills around Taiwan are incompatible with this,” a statement released by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday cited Iwaya as saying. The Foreign Ministers’ Meetings are a series of diplomatic
URBAN COMBAT: FIM-92 Stinger shoulder-fired missiles from the US made a rare public appearance during early-morning drills simulating an invasion of the Taipei MRT The ongoing Han Kuang military exercises entered their sixth day yesterday, simulating repelling enemy landings in Penghu County, setting up fortifications in Tainan, laying mines in waters in Kaohsiung and conducting urban combat drills in Taipei. At 5am in Penghu — part of the exercise’s first combat zone — participating units responded to a simulated rapid enemy landing on beaches, combining infantry as well as armored personnel. First Combat Zone Commander Chen Chun-yuan (陳俊源) led the combined armed troops utilizing a variety of weapons systems. Wang Keng-sheng (王鏗勝), the commander in charge of the Penghu Defense Command’s mechanized battalion, said he would give
‘REALISTIC’ APPROACH: The ministry said all the exercises were scenario-based and unscripted to better prepare personnel for real threats and unexpected developments The army’s 21st Artillery Command conducted a short-range air defense drill in Taoyuan yesterday as part of the Han Kuang exercises, using the indigenous Sky Sword II (陸射劍二) missile system for the first time in the exercises. The armed forces have been conducting a series of live-fire and defense drills across multiple regions, simulating responses to a full-scale assault by Chinese forces, the Ministry of National Defense said. The Sky Sword II missile system was rapidly deployed and combat-ready within 15 minutes to defend Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in a simulated attack, the ministry said. A three-person crew completed setup and