ATTACK ON DEMOCRAT PARTY RALLY IN CHIANG MAI ESCALATES

C O N F I D E N T I A L CHIANG MAI 000060

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 3/31/2016
TAGS: PGOV TH
SUBJECT: ATTACK ON DEMOCRAT PARTY RALLY IN CHIANG MAI ESCALATES
VIOLENCE

REF: CHIANG MAI 41

CLASSIFIED BY: Bea Camp, Consul General, Chiang Mai, State.
REASON: 1.4 (d)


1. (U) Summary: An attempted Democrat Party foray into
Chiang Mai - known to all as Thaksin territory -- ended in chaos
Thursday as pro-Thaksin supporters blocked roads and disrupted
the party's rally at Chiang Mai University. Driven off the
stage after only five minutes, Democrat Party leaders abruptly
called an end to the rally and rushed back to Bangkok. End
summary


2. (U) Democrat party leaders came to Chiang Mai March 30 for
one of several regional rallies to explain the party position on
the elections. The Democrat's northern gathering was scheduled
on the campus of Chiang Mai University (CMU),where a small band
of NGO and political activists have been gathering nightly to
watch live broadcasts of the demonstrations in Bangkok. This
anti-Thaksin group, while prudently restricting itself to the
relative safety of campus, has reported previous intimidation by
Thaksin supporters shouting and gunning engines when passing the
gathering.


3. (C ) Consensus suspicion immediately settled on Thai Rak
Thai (TRT) MP Pakorn Buranupakorn as the man who organized the
aggressive attack on the Democrat rally. Pakorn, former Chiang
Mai mayor, brother of the current mayor, and secretary to the
Minister of Justice, reportedly wanted to revenge Thaksin's
humiliation earlier in the week when a group of women, including
one identified as a Democrat party member, drove him away from a
popular lunchtime shopping street in Bangkok. Pakorn was
earlier said to be the financer of anonymous banners proclaiming
northerners' love for Thaksin that appeared in Chiang Mai in
mid-February (ref a).


4. ( C ) According to Thai News columnist Bunyarit
Tulapanpong, the pro-Thaksin crowd received Baht 200 per person
while the pickup drivers got Baht 1,000 per car. The protest
was clearly organized, not spontaneous, with placards, effigies
of the four opposition leaders, and a sound equipment-light
truck.


5. (SBU) The action started in late afternoon on Thursday
when pro-Thaksin protestors blockaded the road in front of the
CMU Art Museum, site of the Democrat rally. The Democrats
reportedly requested, but did not get, additional police
protection at the rally site. Another group that went to the
airport to intercept the arriving Democrat leaders stormed into
the airport terminal, ignoring security machines and guards and
forcing the arriving Democrats to exit a back door.


6. (U) By 6:30 pm, some thousand protestors blocked the
Nimmanahaeminda road and main gates to the CMU Art Museum
grounds. The protestors shouted abuse, cranked up loudspeakers,
burned effigies, and threw eggs, plastic water bottles, placards
on poles and plastic chairs at those on the stage. Outnumbered
police were unable to control the situation as more and more
protesters got inside the seating area and approached the stage.
The besieged Democrats called it quits at about 7 pm, only
minutes after party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva had begun
addressing the small audience of no more than 100 who had
managed to reach the area. As TV viewers saw later that
evening, Abhisit, party advisor Chuan Leekpai, deputy party
leader Dr Trairong Suwankiri and Thoedpong Chaiyanand, former
Phetburi MP Alongkorn Polabut and former Tak MP Chaiwut
Bannawat, were rushed into cars and away from the scene to the
airport. Chanting victory, the protestors later received dinner
boxes from a pickup truck, with some continuing on to rally at
Thaphae Gate before dispersing.


7. ( C ) When questioned about the incident by the Consul
General on Friday morning, the municipal government's highest
ranking civil servant initially professed confusion. Asked
whether any official would take action against the illegal road
closings and the violence, he dismissed the question as unlikely
and the incident as the work of "a mob". However, Chiang Mai
Governor Suwat Tantipat and Police Chief Major General Jirut
Prommobon reportedly received reprimands for the violence from
Bangkok, according to a source at Government House.


8. (C ) Comment: Chiang Mai's relatively invisible Thaksin
opposition has been the target of previous intimidation by the
city's pro-TRT political rulers, including a live grenade found
at the restaurant of well-known singer and Thaksin opponent
Soontharee Wecharnon last weekend. The unprecedented level of
hooliganism and violence in Thursday's attack shocked many
people, however, who believe it could do more to radicalize
people than anything the Democrats might have said at the rally.

CAMP