SONDHI'S TENTH AND LARGEST RALLY TO DATE ATTRACTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 007345

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/28/2015
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KPAO PINS PROP TH
SUBJECT: SONDHI'S TENTH AND LARGEST RALLY TO DATE ATTRACTS
50,000

REF: A. A: BANGKOK 7317


B. B: BANGKOK 7253

C. C: BANGKOK 7197

Classified By: Political Counselor Susan M. Sutton for Reasons 1.4 (d)


1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Government critic Sondhi Limthongkul hosted
his tenth "mobile talk show" from a monastery in Udon Thani.
A crowd of approximately 50,000 gathered in Bangkok's Lumpini
Park to listen to Sondhi offer revelations of new scandals
concerning the Thai Rak Thai government. In the two-hour
program, Sondhi alleged that shadowy "powers that be" had
threatened his life. He also criticized the 2004 decision to
appoint an "acting Supreme Patriarch" and offered a scathing
rebuttal to Deputy Transport Minister Phumtham's accusations
of disloyalty. He also slammed the RTG for trying to cover up
the scandal involving PM Thaksin's younger sister Montathip
and the C-130. Sondhi ended the rally with a call for 500,000
people to attend his next show on December 9 to "show the
government that it no longer has legitimacy to run this
country". Barring any unforeseen developments, it appears
unlikely that they could possibly attract an audience that
size. END SUMMARY.

NEW SCANDALS TARGET THAI FIRST LADY; DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER A
"SHAMEFUL LIAR"


2. (U) With Bangkok still abuzz with last week's scandalous
revelations and passionate appeals for the general public to
"fight for the King", Sondhi Limthongkul's "mobile talk show"
in Bangkok's Lumpini Park has emerged as the place to be on
Friday evenings. Political activists have been joined by
curious onlookers, picnicking families and entrepreneurs
selling unofficial paraphernalia. While the majority of
people were clearly interested in hearing what Sondhi had to
say, many in the crowd were clearly there to be entertained.
Poloff remarked more "coming and going" compared to the
previous week's show and many people left before the end.
Better weather helped the rally achieve its largest numbers
yet- Thai Police estimated that 50,000 people showed up.
Sondhi's "Manager" newspaper reported a hopelessly
exaggerated figure of 150,000, with a 150,000 more listening
to the speech via the web. The speech is also broadcast via
92.25 radio and a number of satellite cable TV stations.
Police presence was beefed up considerably, and some in the
audience were subject to seemingly random searches. As with
previous events, the rally went on peacefully and without
incident.


3. (U) Sondhi himself did not attend the rally. Instead, he
and his co-host Sarocha Pornudomsak did the show via
satellite from the monastery of controversial monk Luangta
Maha Bua in Udon Thani Province. The monk had invited Sondhi
and PM Thaksin to a meeting at his monastery the previous
day, although the PM declined citing other engagements.
Sondhi's first scandal of the night consisted of allegations
that the "powers-that-be", led by an unnamed "Master Lady",
were seeking to silence him through threats of imprisonment,
intimidation, harassment and unspecified attempts on his
life. The "Master Lady" is widely suspected to be a reference
to the Thai First Lady, Khunying Potjaman Shinawatra, who is
widely known to be an influential adviser and confidante to
her husband, PM Thaksin. Sondhi alleged that the "Master
Lady" had verbally given the order to the 3rd Region
Provincial Police Command to file lese majeste charges
against him and his co-host. (Reftel A) Sondhi also alleged
that police authorities in several Northeastern provinces had
been ordered by Regional Commander (and former classmate of
Thaksin) to file libel suits against him for publicly
discussing the monarchy.


4. (U) Sondhi called Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Kruangam a
"shameful liar" for his move in January 2004 to appoint
Somdet Phra Phuthajarn as acting Supreme Patriarch (more or
less the "Pope" of Thai Buddhism). (Reftel C) Wissanu had
stated that the incumbent Supreme Patriarch was ill and only
able to work occasionally. Sondhi showed a video of the
incumbent Supreme Patriarch, supposedly taken the day he was
replaced, looking perfectly active and healthy. (NOTE: One of
Thaksin's lawsuits against Sondhi involves the publication of
a sermon by Luangta Maha Bua which touches on the
controversy. END NOTE) Sondhi alleged that the real reason
for the appointment was an attempt by Thaksin to put
supporters in high-level positions, including the sacred
Buddhist clergy.


5. (U) Sondhi also hit back at Deputy Transport Minister
Phumtham Wechayachai, who had publicly made allegations that
Sondhi's rallies were "practice" for a future coup d'etat.
(Reftel A) Sondhi made a number of stinging accusations
revolving around Phumtham's past activities as a member of
the Communist Party in the 1970s, saying "(Phumtham) is so
arrogant to think he can teach me about democracy, and can
accuse me of dragging down the Monarchy for my own selfish
purposes. I dare you to explain why you joined the Communist
Party of Thailand if you really have any respect for the
Monarchy." He also made references to Thai Rak Thai being
committed only to a "4-second democracy" in which they buy
votes in order to win democratic elections, and then rule
essentially undemocratically.

UPDATING OLD SCANDALS


6. (U) Sondhi also offered new information on the two big
scandals from last week. In response to charges that
Thaksin's younger sister had used a Thai Army aircraft to fly
her and her guests to a housewarming party (Reftel B),the
RTG responded that the party had been allowed to tag along on
an aircraft which was doing a routine mail run. At Friday's
rally, Sondhi dismissed this as a cover-up noting that the
only regular mail flights scheduled for that day were going
to Udon Thani, not Chiang Mai. Sondhi also charged that the
party had been flown to Chiang Mai on a plane with VIP seats,
which were not available on planes doing routine mail
flights. Sondhi also repeated charges made by an opposition
MP earlier this year which question whether Thaksin had used
state aircraft to fly home to Chiang Mai to celebrate Thai
New Year with his family. Sondhi challenged Thaksin to
release travel logs of Thai Koo Fah, the Thai equivalent of
Air Force One.

SETTING EXPECTATIONS TOO HIGH? SONDHI ASKS FOR 500,000 TO
SHOW UP AT NEXT RALLY


7. (C) Sondhi ended his show with an appeal to the Thai
people to "show the government that it no longer has
legitimacy to run this country" by having 500,000 people
attend his December 9 rally. (NOTE: Sondhi announced that he
is taking December 2 off in honor of the King's birthday. END
NOTE) One English-language newspaper is claiming the December
9 rally will be a "final showdown" between the PM and the
pundit. This is a dangerous gamble for the opposition. If
they can turn out 500,000 people, it would shake the
government and have major repercussions for Thaksin. Barring
some extraordinary new factor between now and then, we don't
think they can do it.
BOYCE