PM's sister accused of misuse of air force plane
 The Nation
November 19, 2005 - Media tycoon Sondhi Limthongkul yesterday accused a younger sister of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra of having used a state aircraft to carry relatives and friends from Bangkok to Chiang Mai to attend a party celebrating her birthday and inauguration of her new house.
The new allegation against Thaksin's family member was the highlight of outspoken Sondhi's speech to his audience at Lumpini Park in central Bangkok yesterday. He lobbed the bombshell despite a gag order banning him from publicly criticising the premier while a trial is pending on Thaksin's libel suits against Sondhi.
Clutching a copy of a document bearing the logo of the Office of the Defence Ministry's Deputy Permanent Secretary, Sondhi used it as evidence to support his allegation that Thaksin's younger sister Monthathip Kovitcharoenkul used a state-owned C-130 aircraft to transport relatives and friends to the party in Chiang Mai on November 14.
Reading out details from the document, Sondhi said the plane was supplied under the approval of a senior officer with an air chief marshal rank. The flight, he said, left Bangkok at 9 am on the 14th.
"Does everything in this nation belong to you and your family?" Sondhi said emotionally, drawing loud applause from the crowds.
He alleged further that senior government officials in Chiang Mai were asked to leave their jobs to attend the day-long party at Monthathip's new luxurious new house, called Khum Wing Phing, in Mae Rim district on the outskirts of Chiang Mai city.
"The Chiang Mai governor had to skip four big conferences - on international laboratories, a World Garden Plants Centre, bird flu and leptospirosis control. Do you believe this?" he asked.
"I feel nothing but sad. I have to tell you as you people have the right to know. The freedom of information is very important. I will fight for transparency," he said.
Monthatip is now vice chairwoman of a major handset distributor, M-Link Asia Corp Plc.
Monthathip entered the telecom business with an investment of Bt4.5 million to establish small handset dealer ST Telecom Systems in 1990.
She started the business shortly after the premier founded his family's flagship mobile-phone operator, Advanced Info Service Plc (AIS).
After running the business by herself for five years, Monthatip decided to join with her elder sister Yaowapa Wongsawat to create M Link in 1995 with Bt30 million capital.
M Capital Holdings, led by the Kovitcharoenkul and Wongsawat families, is now the major shareholder of M Link, with 25.93 per cent share ownership.
Apart from the Monthathip accusation, Sondhi tossed another hot potato at Thaksin, asking him to clarify his relationship with a Chinese man named Yian Ping, with the Thai name Charnchai, who claims to be the premier's official adviser in China.
Sondhi said there were some suspicious points about Yian Ping holding a Thai passport since he was originally a Chinese citizen.
"Yian Ping even claimed he is the chairman of the premier's Thai Rak Thai Party' s China branch. How can it happen since China allows only the Communist Party?" he asked.
Sondhi said revered Buddhist monk Luangta Maha Bua had sent him a letter inviting him to his temple in Udon Thani province to meet face-to-face and talk things over with Thaksin next Thursday.
"I admits the invitation but I don't think the premier will make it," he said.
Kamol Sukin
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