Defiant general treads the pad's boards again

The chief of the advisory council to the Armed Forces, Pathomphong has been the subject of an internal investigation after Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej signed an order to look into his controversial act by making an anti-government speech at the PAD protest site in uniform.

Deputy government spokesman Nattawut Saikua said the probe would take about one week and would result in Pathomphong being prosecuted under the military criminal code for disobeying superiors' orders.

Samak's order stated that Pathomphong had violated the military criminal code and Article 74 of the Constitution.

The order also sought a standard procedure from the military in case of similar acts in future.

Supreme Commander Boonsrang Niumpradit said under the Armed Forces' rules, Pathomphong could not be suspended or discharged, because he held the ceremonial rank of five-star general.

Pathomphong cannot be transferred to an inactive post either; the most severe punishment for a five-star general is a written warning, Boonsrang said.

He said Pathomphong had been issued with a written warning, which he said was severe enough for officers in the highest ranks.

He said Air Chief Marshal Weerawit Khongsak, a deputy supreme commander, had given assurances that no military officer would address the PAD protest, whether in uniform or not.

Reacting to Boonsrang's comment about Samak having no right to dismiss Pathomphong from an active position, security expert Assoc Prof Panitan Wattanayagorn of Chulalongkorn University said the prime minister still had "considerable weight" in determining who went where simply because he was the head of the reshuffle committee.

In the past a proposed reshuffle would be handed to the prime minister to revise as he saw fit, but the premier is now required to sit with top brass in a committee to decide changes collectively. This arrangement has some what weakened his hand, Panitan said.