Sunday, February 19th, 2012

Bangkok

Opinion/ Analysis by Burin Kantabutra

I agree that the fears of both Thais and foreigners need to be allayed regarding the prospects of Thailand being used as a hub of international terrorist activity,… especially with all our lives being in possible danger.

But Prime Minister Yingluck and other officials should not take us for naïve babies, buying us off with blatant nonsense.

For example, National Security Council Secretary-General Wichean Potephosree was quoted saying, “The devices weren’t meant to be used against establishments or people. It is not an act of terrorism.”

Dear general, with a kill radius of 5 meters, do you think that the devices were firecrackers?  What would they do if detonated in say, a crowded venue such as a movie theater or night club?  If not terrorism, would you call them acts of kids having fun?

And Prime Minister’s adviser Panlop Pinmanee said that “What happened is not a lapse of law enforcement or poor intelligence.” Do you mean, Gen. Panlop, that PM Yingluck knew that these guys were stockpiling explosives, and deliberately allowed them to continue until they had the 5 bombs? Would she have ordered police to have been moved in at, say, 10 bombs? 20? 40?

Our intelligence services have not exactly covered themselves with glory down south either, and are better known for fiascos like Krue Se and Tak Bai than for restoring the peace.

As Terror Threats are on the Increase, Accurate Official Information is Vital

If the explosions show another failure of our security forces, then the road to redemption begins with admitting what happened. We are not one of the major antagonists in the Middle East conflicts, yet we may be unwilling hosts for them to attack each other, as Israeli Ambassador to Thailand Itzhak Shoham maintains also happened in India and Georgia this week, and so we must take the necessary precautions.

The Parliamentary committees related to national security should investigate all aspects of the incidents aggressively, with PM Yingluck striking down stonewalling by the military by pre-emptively ordering compliance with the committees’ requests on pain of being jailed for contempt.

The investigation can be behind closed doors if need be, but must be impartial, include opposition and coalition MP’s Abhisit and Chuwit, and must follow the truth wherever it leads. Then, the committee chairs can sanitize their findings, action recommendations and announce them to the public. That will be much more credible and help calm us more than the trivial words  we’re getting now.