Use Thaksin's money to get red-shirt leaders

Kanchanalak elegantly said on Thursday, "Sometimes, time is all we need. And sometimes we run out of time". She should have added, time is money. The current crisis was triggered by the court decision against Thaksin's assets. His money was transferred to the government coffers last week, including over B2.8 billion in interest alone. So far 24 red-shirt leaders have been indicted. The bullies are now saying they might leave the Rajprasong shopping area on May 15. These are extraordinary times. Can't this government use a small part of Thaksin's confiscated money - a fraction of the interest - to put an exceptionally high bounty on the top leaders of the current revolt? The higher the bounty, the bigger the incentive.

P TANG

BANGKOK

Expose the terror tactics of red leaders

I'm one of the many reluctant supporters of PM Abhisit's reconciliation plan. I don't think an election in six months is a particularly good idea in this rarefied political environment, but I'd like to see an end to the siege of Bangkok that doesn't involve a bloodbath, so if the PM can pull this off, all the power to him.

However, it's crucial that the red-shirt leaders responsible for the venom and the violence of the last two months do not escape justice. If any deal is struck that allows the men who took Bangkok hostage to walk away from their deeds, any idea of reconciliation becomes worthless.

At this point, some red leaders may be charged with terrorism. The charges probably relate to their crimes against the Thai state, but their policies towards unarmed rank-and-file red-shirt protesters may be just as damning.

In a recent article "Red rallies splitting up families" (The Nation, May 4), a red-shirt protester whose husband, also a protester, was wounded on April 10, said, "Red-shirt leaders are always hiding behind us. Common people like my husband and I always had to stand in the front line". This could mean a number of things, but to me it suggests that on April 10 unarmed civilians were intentionally placed in harm's way.

It could be that as the Army moved in, unarmed protesters were positioned between soldiers and armed protesters, including the so-called "men in black", who incited violence by shooting at soldiers, triggering a response that inevitably caused civilian deaths. This would indeed constitute a common tactic of terrorists around the world - using human shields when attacking their enemy and blaming the enemy on the resulting civilian deaths.

If the human-shield policy existed, and presumably still exists, who was behind it? Did it come from the very top? And even if it can't be proved that Jatuporn, Natthawut, Veera and company formulated the policy, is it enough to show that they knew or should have known about it to convict them of terrorism?

I hope that red-shirt protesters, especially those wounded on April 10, are carefully interviewed by the authorities as part of the investigation into the events of that night. Their stories could be invaluable in proving the red-shirt leaders used terrorist tactics to spill the blood of their own supporters.

Ironically, while red leaders bark from their stage in Rajprasong about a need for a proper investigation into the events of April 10, what they're actually looking for is absolution for their role in those events and a guilty verdict for Abhisit and the Army. An impartial investigation is probably the last thing the reds want, as it's likely to reveal the ugly truth behind their tactics. But that's why a clear investigation into that night is so important - its results can potentially put away the red-shirt leaders for life.

BANGKOK DAVE

Road map strives for purposeful objectives

Many have been shooting at the five-point reconciliation roadmap from their hips. They might have less scepticism if the map as stated on the CRES website, www.capothai.org, could be summarised more to the point as follow:

First, we will defend and uphold our monarchy.

Second, social justice and fair wealth distribution shall be our supreme goals by actions rather than words.

Third, media with freedom of expression is encouraged with only one constraint against the incitement of hatred and illegal purposes. An independent agency is to ensure this compliance.

Fourth, the recent loss of lives and property shall be subject to investigation by an independent committee for truth-seeking process.

Fifth, all the feelings of injustice resulting from the Constitution, laws and regulations shall be openly discussed and rectified of all ills - double standards, harshness of the interpretations, accountability, moral hazards, etc. A foundation for a fair society is the aim for our future.

With the above purposeful objectives and if the Rajprasong demonstration is disbanded, an election can be expected by November 14. If the disturbance persists, the election date shall be left to the prime minister's discretion while the roadmap is still to be followed. No negotiation with the leaders of the demonstration is called for - take it or leave it!

SONGDEJ PRADITSMANONT

BANGKOK

Amnesty for all

Chuan Leekpai should not worry too much about the Democrat verdict. Thaksin Shinawatra's government was taking more from the exchequer every month than the trivial amount, alleged to have been borrowed illegally.

In any event PM Abhisit can put it in the political amnesty pot, as everybody else is getting one.

RICHARD BOWLER

BANGKOK

PM doing right thing

The red-shirt leaders' demand for a definite date from the PM for dissolving Parliament, should be seen as what it really is - desperately trying to buy time to bargain for their own future. They want the government to drop all charges against them, before sending the protesters home. They escalated the protest from what started as a legal demonstration into something that has cost the lives of so far 26 people and wounded close to 1,000 others. If they had stayed legal, nobody would have been harmed. Just as a comparison, when Thaksin was disposed of by the military, nobody died and nobody was injured - the ego of some politicians notwithstanding.

Cowards that they are, they are paying the foot-clappers a daily allowance or have collected the ID cards of the others, anything to make sure that they cannot be brought to justice for what they have done to the whole country.

PM Abhisit finally got it right, when he proposed a get-together to discuss the grievances of the people, who are not so fortunate to be born to rich parents. And hopefully it will not stop with discussing problems but go on to solving them one by one, so that the people of Thailand can overcome the divide that Thaksin so ruthlessly exploited for his own advantage.

But this necessary process is not connected to the fate of the red-shirt leaders or to letting them continue to hijack a part of Bangkok.

SAM MUNICH

Yellow-shirt leaders must also be prosecuted

Six-point PAD yellow-shirt statement today/Who are the terrorists?

I, too, like most of the recent opinion and letter writers in the English-language newspapers condemn protesters who make ridiculous, hurtful and defamatory accusations against their foes, incur the condemnation of Amnesty International, harass journalists, impede citizens lawfully going about their business, including the Red Cross, bring major gridlock to Bangkok's roads and prevent the government from conducting its business.

This includes personally attacking the PM's premises, forcing the closure of businesses and institutions costing billions of baht to Thailand, including perhaps permanently damaging its good name, arming themselves with guns, clubs, iron bars, axes, knives and explosives, unlawfully arresting and detaining and humiliating government security officers, detonating explosive materials that injure a number of people and then preventing authorities from investigating that act, initiating armed conflict against Thailand's security forces involving death and injury and at times overcoming those same forces.

And whose leader states he is willing to continue with his protest to the death.

Of course, I am talking of the 2006 and 2008 PAD yellow-shirt protesters.

Perhaps their calls today for the bringing to justice and enforcement of the law against current red-shirt demonstrators for their reckless disregard for human life should be extended to their own members responsible for the 2006 and 2008 mayhem?

Moreover they are happy for the label "terrorists" to be put on the DAAD. What does that make them?

SIMON WOOD

CHIANG MAI