Word: suchinda
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Bangkok's middle class rose up to demand that the then coup leader, Gen. Suchinda Krapayoon, resign. Suchinda had the army open fire, killing scores in what has come to be known as "Black May." Samak, who was deputy prime minister, called the demonstrators troublemakers and communists, and said it was acceptable for the government to shoot them. After the King intervened and democracy was restored, Samak still won a seat to parliament in Bangkok's military-dominated Dusit district. During the late 1990s, he and Thaksin served as cabinet ministers in the scandal-plagued government of Prime Minister Banharn...
...took to the streets in the name of democracy last month had two objectives: to force the resignation of an unelected army officer as Prime Minister and, more broadly, to end the military's dominance of politics. After great bloodshed, the demonstrators won on the first score when Suchinda Kraprayoon stepped down from the premiership. The official count of those killed when troops opened fire on protesters stands at 53 but an Interior Ministry spokesman said last week that more than 500 people are still unaccounted...
Parliament met the day after Suchinda went into hiding, and it quickly approved a constitutional amendment requiring future Prime Ministers to be elected members of the national legislature. Another provision would limit the powers of the military-controlled Senate. Final action on the constitutional reforms will be taken next week...
Still, the goal of breaking the military's grip on political life is not yet within reach. The leading candidate to succeed Suchinda as Prime Minister is Somboon Rahong, a member of parliament but also a former air force officer. Opposition politicians said he was simply fronting for the supreme commander, Air Chief Marshal Kaset Rojananil, and therefore was unacceptable. They warned that his appointment would set off more street demonstrations. Another potential flash point is the last-minute amnesty Suchinda handed himself and his military cronies, a step many Thais believe is illegal...
...what end? There is no certainty that Suchinda's departure will end the crisis. Under the key amendment a future Thai Prime Minister would have to be an elected member of parliament. But the military proved during the riots that it is determined to hang on and ready to use its guns to do so. On the other hand, Chamlong's forces for the first time united students, workers and members of the greatly expanded middle class, proving that newly affluent Thais will no longer put up with military rule as meekly as they have for many decades...