Unanswered questions about attack on PM

Photo : Sakol Sandhiratne

It all started before noon that day when key leaders of the Democrat-led coalition had a meeting at the house of PM's secretary-general Niphon Promphan.

A decision was made at the meeting to declare a state of emergency in Bangkok and its adjacent areas and someone suggested that the premier make the announcement at the Interior Ministry.

While heading to the ministry, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti called Niphon and asked him to be careful as he had noticed unusual movement by the red shirts.

There is still no proof, as suggested by some sources, whether Newin Chidchob was trying to trap Abhisit but doubts have been raised why the Interior Ministry was chosen as the command centre.

While probing the sequence of events, I got some interesting information. Someone attending the meeting admitted to me that they were confident about the premier's safety because Newin's brother Saksayam had guaranteed that he could control the situation. Saksayam is head of a working group with Interior Minister Chaovarat Chanweerakul.

But the riot at the ministry was a failure for Saksayam. Hundreds of red-shirt protesters attacked Abhisit's Mercedes and Niphon's BMW while they were leaving the compound.

It was probably an unlucky day for the premier. He should have been able to leave in his car before the attack but for a technical error during his declaration of the state of emergency.

When Abhisit had finished reading half his statement, he was informed that his speech was not on air yet. This required him to re-read his statement.

But for that glitch, the premier should have left the ministry earlier, before the red shirts could mobilise more protesters. However, it remains a mystery whether the technical error was part of a plot or purely an accident.

Fortunately, the premier was in the bulletproof car and his life was saved. Had his driver been delayed in leaving the place, the premier might have faced the same fate as his secretary-general as the Mercedes started to crack after the attack.

 Unfortunately, Niphon found himself in a worse situation than Abhisit. He declined to sit in the Mercedes with the premier and Deputy PM Suthep Thaugsuban despite being urged by one of the PM's guards. Niphon was quite optimistic. He did not expect the kind of violence that happened.

The attack was the worst incident Niphon had ever encountered. He even thought for a moment he might die because of the damage to the car and his own injury. Niphon was helped out by a policeman, who disguised himself as a red-shirted protester. The man yelled that Niphon had a broken rib so the protesters allowed him out of the scene. The secretary-general later was sent to a hospital.

During his physical examination, he received a phone call from "a high-ranking figure" asking Niphon to meet him immediately. Niphon then left the hospital without paying the bill.