Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09BANGKOK1305
2009-06-01 09:20:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Bangkok
Cable title:  

AMBASSADOR RAISES SECURITY, REFUGEES, CUSTOMS, AND

Tags:  PREL PGOV PREF PINS ECON ETRD TH BM LA 
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VZCZCXRO7160
OO RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHBK #1305/01 1520920
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 010920Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY BANGKOK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7157
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS PRIORITY
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 9707
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 1649
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 7090
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL PRIORITY 5530
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI PRIORITY 6606
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BANGKOK 001305 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV PREF PINS ECON ETRD TH BM LA
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR RAISES SECURITY, REFUGEES, CUSTOMS, AND
OTHER ISSUES WITH DEPUTY PM SUTHEP

REF: BANGKOK 1203 (RAID ON MARKET)

BANGKOK 00001305 001.2 OF 003


Classified By: Ambassador Eric G. John, reason: 1.4 (b and d).

SUMMARY AND COMMENT
-------------------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BANGKOK 001305

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV PREF PINS ECON ETRD TH BM LA
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR RAISES SECURITY, REFUGEES, CUSTOMS, AND
OTHER ISSUES WITH DEPUTY PM SUTHEP

REF: BANGKOK 1203 (RAID ON MARKET)

BANGKOK 00001305 001.2 OF 003


Classified By: Ambassador Eric G. John, reason: 1.4 (b and d).

SUMMARY AND COMMENT
--------------


1. (C) Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban assured the
Ambassador that there would be no security problems during
Secretary Clinton's July visit, in part because the
authorities and local population in Phuket were sympathetic
to the government. Suthep complained that former Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra aimed to subvert the monarchy and
was engaged in public relations efforts to misrepresent
conditions in Thailand. The Ambassador lobbied for a
transparent screening mechanism for Lao Hmong in Thailand and
for better conditions for Lao Hmong refugees currently held
in a detention facility in Nong Khai. Suthep expressed
compassion for Rohingya refugees but hoped they would
resettle in Muslim-majority countries rather than in
Thailand. He also said the RTG might provide Thai
citizenship to stateless persons born in Thailand. The
Ambassador expressed concern about the Customs Department
assessment of a 200 million USD fine for U.S. company Amway,
and commended recent RTG efforts to clamp down on
intellectual property rights violations. Suthep vaguely
requested that the USG ease regulations affecting Thai shrimp
exports, and he said RTG efforts in the South would focus
more on economic development and protecting the population
rather than on killing insurgents.


2. (C) Comment: Despite the calm of the past few weeks,
Suthep remains concerned about both the security environment
and the efforts required to ensure that the governing
coalition remains intact. Suthep appeared willing to assist
on the issues of concern to us, and we will follow up to
provide him with enough details that he might be able to take
effective action. End Summary and Comment.

THE POLITICAL/SECURITY ENVIRONMENT

AND SECRETARY CLINTON'S VISIT
--------------


3. (C) In a June 1 lunch at the EMR, Deputy Prime Minister
Suthep Thaugsuban told the Ambassador that former Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was exacerbating the political
divisions plaguing Thailand. Fundamentally, Thaksin aimed to
overthrow or marginalize the monarchy, Suthep believed.
Thaksin and his allies would likely aim to break apart the
governing coalition so as to push the Abhisit government from
office by October, in order to prevent the Democrat Party
from controlling budgeting for the next fiscal year. Were
the Democrats able to allocate the 2010 budget, they might
successfully pull support from Thaksin.


4. (C) The government had difficulty controlling mid-April
protests because the vast majority of the police in Bangkok
and Pattaya were sympathetic to Thaksin, Suthep said.
Therefore, it had been necessary to involve the military in
crowd control. Suthep noted that the government had not
caused any fatalities during the riots; those who claimed
otherwise were lying. In fact, the government had turned a
blind eye to a policeman's shooting of a soldier, so as not
to fuel institutional conflicts between the military and
police. Suthep said he believed that the violence in April
had discredited Thaksin in many Thais' eyes.


5. (C) The Ambassador sought Suthep's assurance that there
would be no security problems during Secretary Clinton's July
visit for the ASEAN Regional Forum ministerial meeting.
Suthep remarked that the Secretary "has a lot of fans here,"
and he confidently predicted that there would be no problems,
because the ministerial would take place in Phuket, and the
police and local population in Phuket, like most other
southern provinces, were sympathetic to the current
government. Suthep also said he would involve the military
in security preparations and establish extensive checkpoints
to block any attempts to bring large numbers of protestors to
Phuket.


6. (C) Suthep asked that the Ambassador explain to Washington

BANGKOK 00001305 002.2 OF 003


the situation in Thailand. He worried that Thaksin had
extensive wealth and was engaging in a public relations
effort that misrepresented the nature of the anti-government
movement, portraying it as focused on democracy. In fact,
Suthep alleged, many of the people behind that movement were
former communists who now were "almost terrorists" because of
the methods they employed. (In this context, he named
Thaksin associates Prommin Lertsuridej, Phumtham Vejjayachai,
Pansak Vinyaratn, Chaturon Chaiseng, and Kriangkamon
Laohapairot.)

LAO HMONG, ROHINGYAS, AND STATELESS PERSONS
--------------


7. (C) The Ambassador raised concern for Lao Hmong in
Thailand, acknowledging that the majority likely had no claim
to refugee status. It was important that the RTG establish a
transparent screening mechanism to ensure no one with a valid
claim to refugee status might be involuntarily repatriated.
The Ambassador stressed the Administration's and the U.S.
Congress' high level of interest in the Lao Hmong. Suthep
readily agreed with the Ambassador, noting that the RTG had
followed up on prior returnees and had seen that Lao Hmong
who return to Laos were generally content with their
circumstances.


8. (C) The Ambassador expressed support for international
monitoring of any returns of Lao Hmong to Laos. He also
raised the disposition of Lao Hmong who were currently in a
Nong Khai immigration detention facility. The Ambassador
urged that, pending resettlement to a third country, these
Lao Hmong -- including a significant number of children -- be
allowed to remain with relatives in Lopburi province, rather
than remaining essentially imprisoned. Suthep promised to
look into this matter.


9. (C) Suthep raised the plight of Rohingyas, saying they
presented a much more difficult problem than the Hmong.
Suthep said the Rohingyas deserved international sympathy;
the RTG could not openly welcome them but believed there
should be a "regional solution," which Suthep saw as
resettlement in Muslim-majority countries such as Malaysia or
Indonesia. The Ambassador urged that the RTG not undertake
any actions that would appear to jeopardize the safety of
Rohingyas, such as preventing those approaching Thailand by
sea from landing. Suthep acknowledged that the RTG had at
times done this, but in such cases had ensured the Rohingyas'
boats were seaworthy and had provided them with food. The
Ambassador countered that that approach was not flawless and
could still imperil the lives of Rohingyas.


10. (C) Suthep said that the RTG was leaning toward providing
Thai citizenship to all stateless people born in Thailand --
not simply stateless refugees, but also members of hill
tribes. Naturally, however, the RTG could not be equally
accommodating for stateless persons born outside of Thailand.

AMWAY AND THAI CUSTOMS
--------------


11. (C) The Ambassador raised concern about the Thai Customs
Department, noting that Amway, which works with approximately
100,000 Thais and was the largest American importer of goods
into Thailand, had been assessed a 200 million USD fine in
connection with the valuation of certain imports. Refusal to
pay could result in the imprisonment of certain Amway
executives and a five-fold increase in the fine. The
Ambassador stressed that the key problem in this case was the
lack of transparency by the Customs office in its valuation
process. Other members of the American business community
also had repeatedly complained about the Department of
Customs, whose actions appeared to be scaring away potential
American exporters and investors.


12. (C) Suthep appeared to acknowledge that the Customs
Department's operations could be problematic and
non-transparent. He encouraged the Ambassador to provide him
with written information on Amway's case, and he said that he
hoped that in the near term a friend of Suthep's would become
Permanent Secretary of the Finance Ministry; this appointment
would provide Suthep greater means to assist informally.

BANGKOK 00001305 003.2 OF 003


(The RTG has several Deputy Prime Ministers, and Suthep does
not have formal authority over the Customs Department.)

IPR
---


13. (C) The Ambassador remarked that Deputy Commerce Minister
Alongkorn Ponlaboot had made significant efforts to crack
down on IPR violations. Suthep said he had encouraged
Alongkorn to go after the factories that produced pirated
merchandise, rather than pursuing the low-level street
vendors, as in a high-profile May raid that became something
of a fiasco (reftel).

SHRIMP EXPORTS
--------------


14. (C) Noting that he had a shrimp farm in southern
Thailand, Suthep lamented that Thai shrimp exporters were
still having difficulty in the U.S. market. The Ambassador
responded that we were complying with the WTO ruling on
continuous bonds. Suthep urged the U.S. to improve the
regulatory environment in the U.S. market.

THE SOUTH
--------------


15. (C) Suthep said that the Abhisit administration hoped to
promote the development of the South by providing small
communities with credit, encouraging the production of
agricultural commodities, handicrafts, and extending aid to
fishermen. He hoped to double household income within three
years, from 60,000 Baht to 120,000 Baht. In the Deep South,
there were 7,000 - 10,000 people "against the government" (we
interpreted this as meaning insurgents or active supporters
of the insurgency); Suthep said the RTG would not try to
solve the insurgency using heavy-handed Thaksin-era methods;
rather then trying to confront and kill insurgents, the RTG
would focus primarily on protecting the rest of the
population.
JOHN