Crowds ‘like music more than Sondhi’
 The Nation
November 27 , 2005 - The ruling Thai Rak Thai party yesterday took arch-critic Sondhi Limthongkul to task, saying he had politicised his Lumpini Park talk shows to incite hatred and boost his Phujadkarn newspaper and other media businesses.
“The more Sondhi talks, the clearer it becomes that he has an ulterior motive,” said party spokesman Sita Divari.
In his latest show – beamed to his supporters from Wat Pa Baan Tad in Udon Thani on Friday – Sondhi claimed to be under threat of abduction, which could be seen as a gimmick to win the public’s sympathy, Sita said.
His criticisms were also steeped in emotion and a personal agenda rather than based on honest opinions, which a media professional should do, he added.
“Before the show, the Manager Group website suspiciously posted pictures of events from the October 14, 1972 uprising, as if it wanted to create divisiveness in society,” he said.
Sondhi should air his views through proper channels and not talk shows staged to overthrow the government. He should also take the government to court instead of fabricating charges against it, Sita said.
Most of the audience was more interested in the concerts held during breaks than Sondhi’s remarks, he said.
Sondhi claimed that a Thai-Chinese, Chanchai Ruayrungruang – also known as Yian Pin or Yan Bin – was a member of the Chinese Communist Party and chairman of the Thai Rak Thai branch in Beijing, he said.
If this is true, then a complaint should be lodged with law enforcement authorities to penalise the ruling party, he said.
Sondhi’s comments were filled with innuendo and were raised time and again without any substantiation, the party spokesman added. |
