Tight army control ensures red shirts stay tame
Why has there been no reaction from the red shirts following the revocation of Thaksin Shinawatra’s Thai passports?
The answer is the army has successfully kept the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) on its toes, according to the Chumthang Bangna column in The Nation Weekly.
UDD chairman Jatuporn Prompan has confirmed the red shirts will make no political moves.
He said since Thais are giving the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) a chance to solve the country’s problems according to its roadmap, the red shirts have to be patient.
Mr Jatuporn said his group has adhered to a vow to stay on good terms. The movement has no hidden agenda, he said. It simply can’t afford more losses.
“We lost 180 people from May 1982 to April 2010. We have no more ground to absorb any more losses,’’ Mr Jatuporn said.
The red shirt leader said the key to a peaceful transition is the new charter must be democratic.
As for the move against former PM Thaksin, Mr Jatuporn said told a Peace TV programme that the final judgement will come when election booths open.
This shows Mr Jatuporn remains confident red shirt supporters in the North and Northeast will continue to vote for the Pheu Thai Party, the article said.
The article says several factors explain why the red shirts have stagnated as a political movement. The first factor is tight control by the army. Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha did his homework before launching the coup, the article said.
The army and security personnel managed to obtain deep intelligence on the red shirts, which allowed them to keep them pinned in their places.
Since the NCPO summoned red shirt leaders to report themselves, there have been regular meetings.
“Since the red shirt organisation was not that strong to begin with, cases of members selling out one another have emerged,’’ the article said.
It claimed some red shirt leaders exchanged information about their movements in exchange for their own freedom. It also claimed some members had their attitudes readjusted and turned into spies for the army.
The second factor is the army’s ability to apply pressure on the red shirts consistently.
Some hardline members of the movement were arrested. A few prominent leaders fled abroad, the story said.
“People who are in leadership cadre at provincial and village level are kept under strict watch,’’ the story said.
Former PM Thaksin has insisted the red shirts wait. “Thaksin and his relatives may hope that negotiations with the NCPO may be held one day,’’ the article said.
The final factor is disenfranchisement of the red shirts themselves.
The May 22 coup splintered the anti-military movement. Almost all UDD leading members had cases filed against them.
Since Thaksin himself is not making any moves, it is holiday time for the red shirts.
“There are some liberal red shirts who use social media to attack the NCPO but they lack a power base. These are the same as overseas red shirts who can only issue statements on some occasions at most,’’ the article said.