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Published on February 14, 2008

A group of activists from uprisings in the 1970s yesterday condemned Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej for "distorting the truth" about the October 6, 1976 massacre at Thammasat University.

A meeting was called by Amorn Amornrattananont, former secretary of the Student Federation of Thailand, at the October 14 Monument to discuss retaliation against Samak for claiming in an interview with CNN that only one person had died during the drama.

The group alleged Samak, then a veteran politician with an ultra-conservative record, was involved in inciting right-wing mobs into believing students protesting at Thammasat were Vietnamese communists who wanted to destroy the country's revered institution.

They said the distortion created conflicts among Thais and led to the mowing down of at least 41 leftist students and activists in Bangkok on that tragic day.

They also distributed to the media copies of the list of victims prepared by the Attorney-General's Office after the event.

Dr Kusol Prawitpaiboon said he was a medical student who joined the protest on October 5 and clearly saw many bodies piled up on staircases of buildings at the university.

"There were also pictures as evidence. Samak is the country's leader: he shouldn't whitewash history. These people have families. How would they feel? I want him to be questioned and investigated," he said.

In an interview with CNN screened on February 9 and 10, Samak distanced himself from the controversial incident, saying he was just an outsider.

However, Thaweep Kanchanawong, who had joined the student uprising, said Samak played a major role in instigating opposition through a military radio channel.

"If there were no Samak,

no Army radio station

and others who stirred up hatred against the students, there would not have been

any violence," he said.

"There has never been killings as brutal as those on October 6," he said.

Udomsak Rattanachai said if Samak always warped the facts, some people could be willing to die to protect dignity. "How can he be our country's leader when he distorts history?"

He said his group was not demanding an apology from Samak but wanted society to know the truth.

Samak got angry on Tuesday when asked by a Government House reporter to confirm his statement only one person died in the massacre.

"The incident happened 31 years ago. I don't want to talk about it. Every time I say something about this, there's a quarrel. "If I had been involved, I would not have got all the support to come this far," he said.

The Nation