Cablegate: And the Pad Marched On
VZCZCXRO8956
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHBK #4212/01 1951033
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141033Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY BANGKOK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0168
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BANGKOK 004212
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM TH
SUBJECT: AND THE PAD MARCHED ON
REF: A. BANGKOK 4211
B. BANGKOK 4181
1. (SBU) On July 14, as promised (reftel B), the People's
Alliance for Democracy (PAD) returned to the streets to
present their views of the current political situation in
Thailand to the international community. Approximately 1,000
demonstrators marched on the Chinese, French, Japanese,
Russian, and UK Embassies and before rallying outside the
U.S. Embassy to present an "open letter" to the U.S. The
letter (text copied below) rejects caretaker Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra as "the representative of Thailand and the
Thai people" and apologizes that Thaksin sent a letter to
President Bush, "bypassing the Ambassador." The rally was
peaceful, and after the letter was delivered to poloff, the
PAD marched on to nearby Lumpini park to continue the protest.
2. (U) Begin Text
------------------
The People's Alliance for Democracy
Bangkok, Kingdom of Thailand
14 July 2006,
To the President of the United States of America
As representatives of the Thai people we have acquainted
ourselves with the contents of the letter Police Lieutenant
Colonel Thaksin Shinawatra, our caretaker prime minister,
sent to you on June 23, 2006 and of your answer to it.
We reaffirm the Thai people's determination to carry on the
equal, sincere and mutually beneficial relations of
friendship between our two countries that the kings of
Thailand have forged with the presidents of the United States
of America over centuries.
We will safeguard this friendship for the sake of peace and
happiness, human dignity and freedom, and we will not allow
anyone to misuse it for their own purposes.
This is why we must apologize to the United States government
for the head of Thailand's caretaker government breaching
protocol by bypassing your ambassador here, whom we are well
aware has many friends in this country, is well informed and
fully able to report truthfully, and performs his duties
extremely well.
We wish to express our shame that the head of our caretaker
government wrote a letter seeking personal friendship over
and above the friendship between our two countries, and in a
way that makes our country look like a colony of yours. This
is an affront to the United States, as a country that
respects the freedom, independence and sovereignty of other
countries.
We hereby state categorically that the man who did this is no
longer the representative of Thailand and the Thai people.
He is the representative of a different system of government
which is not the democratic system with His Majesty the King
as Head of State that has long enjoyed friendship with the
United States of America.
Our country wants to develop the democratic system for the
benefit and happiness of our people, which is the common
objective of mankind. Unfortunately, our democratic system
with His Majesty the King as Head of State is being
challenged by a dictatorial, monopolistic system which
considers the people only as indentured slaves. Its leader
sees himself as the sole owner of the nation and has dared to
have thousands of our compatriots killed summarily, as the UN
High Commissioner for Human Rights and human rights
organization in your country are currently investigation.
That system believes in the power of money over
righteousness, decency, moral and ethical conducts, thus
shamelessly trampling on the common values of all religions
Since that system has appeared in Thailand, past democratic
mechanisms have been undermined and destroyed almost
entirely, parliamentary institutions have been used as hired
hands, elections have been reduced to wholesale auctioning of
the votes and rights of citizen, the legal system of the
kingdom has been shattered, and the principles of good
governance have been ignored and abused altogether.
BANGKOK 00004212 002 OF 003
The April 2, 2006 election held under that system was one of
the most dishonest ever held in the history of world
democracy. Only one party stood for election and, through
ruse and trickery, hired nominee parties to circumvent
constitutional rules. Dishonest practices such as stuffing
ballot boxes, discounting negative votes and spying on voters
in voting booths were so widespread and extensive that people
protested all over the land. Eventually, the Constitutional
Court deemed the election unconstitutional and ordered the
holding of a new election, which is something unprecedented
in the history of our nation.
It is most shameful for Thailand that the head of our
caretaker government would boast to the president of a
leading democratic country that this world-class electoral
deception was his own victory and further claimed that he was
prevented from forming a new government despite his victory
by the losers.
According to the Christian belief you hold, Mr. President,
sinners who repent their sins can still reform themselves and
be forgiven, but sinners who do not acknowledge that they
have done wrong and furthermore boast that what they did was
correct are a danger to themselves, to others, to the nation
and to mankind.
We believe that you, as a deeply religious man guided by the
principles of fairness and morality, find this kind of
individual and this kind of system abhorrent.
At present the Thai people are endeavoring to retrieve the
dignity of their county and are fighting to revive and return
to our democratic system with His Majesty the King as Head of
State. We are fighting for freedom and human dignity, for
freedom of information and of political expression.
We ask you to be confident that the friendship between our
two countries will go on forever and will not be derailed by
a tyrannical system or any errant individual.
We are ashamed of the sweet words used in the manner a kid
fooling a classmate about the war against terrorism and we
are glad that your answer did not allude to this at all.
Since time immemorial, our country has enjoyed happiness and
peace internally and externally because the Thai people
believe strongly in friendship and friendly cohabitation. We
oppose the use of violence in every form and this is the true
basis of security for our country and our region.
But now that a tyrannical and dictatorial system under the
guise of democracy has taken over Thailand during the past
five years, violence has happened widely. In the southernmost
provinces it has reached the stage of a civil war that
threatens to spread northwards.
Even worse than this is that the fostering of divisions with
neighboring countries and the rest of the region has created
tensions all over the Malay peninsula, which we believe is
the most dangerous for regional peace.
Insurgents in the South have proclaimed that as long as a
tyrannical, monopolistic system continues to hold sway in
Thailand there will be no peace.
We are against violence, but we understand what it means to
lose parents, relatives and whole families that are
arbitrarily and cruelly hunted, abducted and murdered without
recourse to the judicial process.
We believe that this is what fuels the insurgency.
We apologize to you that the head of our caretaker government
does not think of the losses to our country, our people and
our region at all and has the cheek to hide behind his war
against insurgents.
From what we know of the pride and dignity of the American
people, we believe that no American leader, past, present or
future, would ever behave like our caretaker prime minister.
We hereby express our utmost regrets and shame over his
conduct.
According to our belief, whoever performs bad deeds sooner or
later will be paid back in kind, and we know that, according
to your belief, God punishes those who do evil to country,
nation and people.
BANGKOK 00004212 003 OF 003
Respectfully yours,
The People's Alliance for Democracy
ARVIZU