Army tries to evade questions on Bt2 billion fund

Natthawut said after he had disclosed the existence of a document used during a meeting at the Army headquarters in early January, Army spokesman Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd and other military officers failed to clarify the issue of the alleged secret funds.

Army chief of staff General Prayuth Chan-ocha presided over the opening session and his assistant Lt General Daopong Ratanasuwan led the discussion with about 500 to 600 unit commanders on a plan to counter the opposition movement, he said.

Some officers at the meeting leaked the information, including a copy of the PowerPoint presentation document, he said.

The plan was dubbed the strategy to build the solidarity of the people - but it actually outlined countermeasures against the red shirts, Natthawut said.

He claimed that under the plan, the Army would earmark Bt15,000 per village to sway the sentiment in 74,000 villages nationwide.

He said certain officers in the meeting raised objections on the grounds the Army was taking the government's problem as its own. Many questioned whether the plan was practical because of the Army's limited manpower to cover every village.

He said the Army should directly respond to his question about the authenticity of the document, instead of trying to explain expenditure to promote the theory of a sufficiency economy - an issue about which he did not ask.

He said he would forward the document in his possession to the House committee on military affairs to open a hearing into the matter. The committee is chaired by Pheu Thai MP Somchai Phaetprasert.