Army commander-in-chief General Sonthi Boonyaratglin said yesterday he had apologised to the Privy Council president for remarks made by Samak Sundaravej during a recent TV show.

Sonthi said he was responsible because the case involved a programme on TV5, which belongs to the Army.

Privy Council president Gen Prem Tinsulanonda understood the Army’s link to the matter was unintentional, Sonthi said. He had ordered the director at TV5 to cut the number of live programmes, he said, because they were harder to control.

Meanwhile, more than 1,000 people turned out yesterday to welcome Prem’s return to his home province, following a public backlash against Samak’s criticism of the elder statesman.

Prem visited Songkhla to preside over a graduation ceremony at his alma mater, Mahavajiravudh School.

Samak criticised Prem on the talk show “This Morning in Thailand” last week.

The former Bangkok governor accused Privy Council president Prem of taking sides in a political dispute by discussing the topic of ethical leadership at a seminar at Suan Dusit Rajabhat University.

Samak and his co-host Dusit Siriwan later quit the programme on the Army-run Channel 5 following a public furore over the remarks.

Prem’s supporters greeted him with placards that offered encouragement and called for a public apology from Samak.

But Prem’s aides asked them to keep the posters out of view so as not to fan the row.

Samak and Dusit have yet to apologise to Prem for the remarks.

Democrat MP for Songkhla Praporn Aeku-ru said Songkhla MPs had agreed to call on Samak and Dusit to apologise to Prem within two days.

And Songkhla residents insisted they would press Samak and Dusit until both apologised.

“If two days pass and they continue to ignore the call, we will mobilise Songkhla people to rally at TV5, where Samak and Dusit previously hosted their television show,” Praporn said.

Samak’s refusal to apologise to the Privy Council president had aroused suspicions that his behaviour was being encouraged by political figures, he said.

In Nakhon Ratchasima, a group yesterday rallied outside the Provincial Hall to demand that Samak and Dusit apologise to Prem. The protesters burnt effigies of the former talk-show co-hosts.

They issued a statement praising Prem and condemning Samak and Dusit. It demanded the pair apologise to the Privy Council president. It was submitted to Nakhon Ratchasima’s deputy governor.
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Investigation into ‘lost signal’
PM’s Office Minister Suranand Vejjajiva yesterday appointed the head of a fact-finding committee to look into why a radio programme went dead for 10 minutes while its guest, Senator Sophon Suphapong, was criticising TV commentator Samak Sundaravej.
During the programme Sophon denounced Samak for his criticism of Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda’s speech.
Suranand assigned PM’s Office deputy permanent secretary Jadul Apichartbutr to head the committee and said the director-general of the Public Relations Department would also be a member. A neutral academic and representatives from the Army Radio station should also be invited to join, he said.
He said he wasn’t involved in the “lost signal” and will let the investigation committee seek find out the truth.
Sophon sent an open letter to Suranand, who is in charge of the Public Relations Department saying that the signal from FM 94 MHz was lost for 10 minutes on Saturday while he was commenting on the former Bangkok governor’s criticism of Prem during a live interview. He said he wondered if the signal had been blocked or censored.
The radio station claimed the lost signal was due to an electrical fault.
Piyanart Srivalo
The Nation