Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07BANGKOK3499
2007-06-25 10:28:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Bangkok
Cable title:  

AMBASSADOR'S JUNE 22 DISCUSSION WITH PM SURAYUD

Tags:  PREL PGOV PHUM KDEM ASEC ECON EINV ETRD LA TH 
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INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 7325
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 1785
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RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
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RUEKJCS/JCS WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RHHMUNA/USCINCPAC HONOLULU HI
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BANGKOK 003499 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/25/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KDEM ASEC ECON EINV ETRD LA TH
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S JUNE 22 DISCUSSION WITH PM SURAYUD

REF: A. BANGKOK 3402 (ISOC LEGISLATION)

B. BANGKOK 3387 (DEMONSTRATIONS)

C. BANGKOK 3115 (PARTY RESTRICTIONS EASED)

D. BANGKOK 2994 (TRT DISSOLUTION)

BANGKOK 00003499 001.2 OF 003


Classified By: Ambassador Ralph L. Boyce, reason 1.4 (b) and (d).

SUMMARY
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BANGKOK 003499

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/25/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KDEM ASEC ECON EINV ETRD LA TH
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S JUNE 22 DISCUSSION WITH PM SURAYUD

REF: A. BANGKOK 3402 (ISOC LEGISLATION)

B. BANGKOK 3387 (DEMONSTRATIONS)

C. BANGKOK 3115 (PARTY RESTRICTIONS EASED)

D. BANGKOK 2994 (TRT DISSOLUTION)

BANGKOK 00003499 001.2 OF 003


Classified By: Ambassador Ralph L. Boyce, reason 1.4 (b) and (d).

SUMMARY
--------------


1. (C) Prime Minister Surayud appears confident that Thailand
is on track for elections in late November. In a June 22
discussion as I accompanied him to Nakorn Si Thammarat
province, Surayud told me he believes the constitution's
second draft will address public criticisms directed at the
first version; he saw no sign that opponents of the current
administration were mobilizing a vote against the
constitution in the upcoming referendum. Surayud said the
legislature should act in July to enable the formation of new
political parties, allowing sufficient time for elections in
late November. Pro-Thai Rak Thai protests seemed in no
danger of spinning out of control. Surayud also explained
how he saw the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC)
acting at the cabinet's behest under a new Internal Security
Act (ISA). Surayud also asked about the arrest in the U.S.
of former Hmong commander Vang Pao. End Summary.

INTERNAL SECURITY ACT
--------------


2. (C) Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont offered me a seat on
his plane for a flight down to Nakorn Si Thammarat on June
22, after learning the DAO aircraft on which I was scheduled
to fly was grounded due to an electrical failure. (Both
Surayud and I were traveling south to attend a ceremony on
the occasion of the 66th anniversary of an Islamic school
founded by one of former Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan's
ancestors.) I used the opportunity of traveling with Surayud
to ask about the draft Internal Security Act (ISA -- more

detail septel). Surayud said the bill was patterned after
the USG's own Homeland Security Act; the Council of State was
revising the bill, which would then be reviewed once more by
the Cabinet before being sent to the National Legislative
Assembly (NLA).


3. (C) Surayud said the ISA would improve the RTG's
capability to handle the insurgency in the South, as well as
narcotics trafficking in the Burma border area. I asked if
the government would lift martial law nationwide after the
ISA's passage, and Surayud assured me this was the case.


4. (C) Surayud envisioned that, under the ISA, the Prime
Minister would chair a cabinet committee composed of figures
charged with national security affairs. This committee would
prepare policy directives for the approval of the cabinet;
after the cabinet provided its blessing, the Internal
Security Operations Command (ISOC) would serve as the
implementing agency. Surayud said ISOC would only use powers
granted by the ISA when implementing these cabinet directives.


5. (C) I asked about reports that the bill would provide ISOC
with police-like functions. Surayud said this was definitely
not the case. The ISA would simply establish a national
version of the civil-military security structure that was
operating in the South. The Royal Thai Police would retain
all their normal powers and responsibilities, including those
of arrest. I drew Surayud's attention to critical press
reports that raised the specter of the ISA enabling abuses by
the security forces. Surayud stressed that Thailand's ISA
would not be patterned after those in Singapore and Malaysia.


6. (C) I asked Surayud whether Army Commander (and Council
for National Security Chairman) Sonthi Boonyaratglin might
serve as ISOC Director after his retirement. Surayud said
this should not happen, as the ISOC Director should always be
the active duty Army Commander.

POLITICAL RIGHTS
--------------


7. (C) Highlighting USG support for the recent recision of

BANGKOK 00003499 002.2 OF 003


restrictions on political party activities (ref C),I asked
when new parties might be allowed to register. Surayud
explained that the NLA would soon consider a bill to allow
party registration. The cabinet had recommended the NLA pass
the bill in an expedited single hearing, but the NLA had
determined it would go through its normal procedures, which
would probably result in a law sometime in July. This would
provide new parties with time to form, compile candidate
lists, and campaign in advance of an election on November 25
(Surayud's latest public target date, moved up from late
December). Surayud emphasized there was sufficient time to
allow elections in late November. I said it would be
important for the constituents of recently-dissolved Thai Rak
Thai (TRT) to feel they had a party representing their
interests. Surayud said former TRT figures would be able to
form a new party, but they would likely be precluded from
using the TRT name.

THAKSIN
--------------


8. (C) When I asked what deposed PM Thaksin seemed to be
doing these days, Surayud quipped that he was buying a soccer
team (Manchester City). I asked whether Surayud had seen
Thaksin's videotaped address, played at a recent
demonstration (ref B). Surayud said he had, and he assessed
Thaksin, in his usual form, was playing a dual-track game,
reassuring his followers he was still relevant and would work
on their behalf while also promising that he had renounced
politics.

DEMONSTRATIONS
--------------


9. (C) I told Surayud that Police Chief Sereepisuth had told
me he was not worried about pro-Thaksin/anti-coup
demonstrations getting out of hand (septel). The Embassy's
first-hand observations had indicated there was a core group
of up to 10,000 people who were committed to attending
rallies, but the group seemed to remain orderly and composed.
Surayud agreed that the demonstrations did not seem in
danger of spinning out of control. He remarked that he
himself encountered no hostility during his travels,
including to Thaksin's home province of Chiang Mai.

CONSTITUTION
--------------


10. (C) I asked Surayud how he felt about the ongoing
constitution drafting process. He said this process involved
a lot of hard work, and he hoped the public recognized this.
Much of the content in the first draft would change as the
Constitution Drafting Assembly (CDA) prepared a second
version. Surayud expected the new version to be markedly
improved, as the CDA was responding to widespread criticism
of certain provisions. He expected the draft would pass the
upcoming referendum; he had not detected that Thaksin or
other TRT figures were pushing for the charter's defeat.
Most people wanted elections, he said. He found it ironic
that some local critics had called for fast elections, only
to complain, when Surayud had announced his intention to work
toward a November 25 elections, that there might not be
enough time to prepare.

VANG PAO INQUIRY
--------------


11. (C) Surayud asked about his "old friend" Vang Pao -- the
Hmong commander from the war era -- now that he had been
charged with violating the U.S. Neutrality Act. (Comment:
Prior to this remark, we were unaware of ties between Surayud
and Vang Pao. It remains unclear whether Surayud used the
term "friend" jokingly. End Comment.) I explained that Vang
Pao and his accomplices had clearly engaged in illegal
activities, seeking to procure advanced weapons in an
amateurish effort to overthrow the Lao Government. The
arrest had shocked many Hmong, but I had told some
Hmong-Americans residing in Thailand that I saw no reason why
they needed to worry about their safety. Surayud agreed with
this assessment and said he would pass my explanation on to
the Hmong community.

BANGKOK 00003499 003.2 OF 003



GRATEFUL AMERICAN GLASS MANUFACTURER
--------------


12. (SBU) I also relayed to Surayud an expression of
gratitude from senior officers of Siam Guardian Glass, a Thai
subsidiary of U.S. firm Guardian Industries. (Note: The
Guardian official had told me he had asked Surayud to reset
Thai import tariffs for foreign competitors at the five
percent level, in accordance with existing Thai law. Surayud
had agreed with the company's logic, and the RTG had agreed
to reverse what appeared to be an erroneous elimination of
tariffs. End Note.)

COMMENT
--------------


13. (C) Surayud appeared relaxed, positive, and confident --
and he has reason to be. Events have been developing
favorably for him since the Thai Rak Thai dissolution ruling,
and Thailand seems on track for the constitutional referendum
and elections, which Surayud has been working toward since he
took office. He seems pleased to be moving steadily toward
the end of his time as Prime Minister.
BOYCE