The saga continues. Thai Foreign Ministry : We should not give credence to Wikileaks. The Financial Times: Thani Thongpakdi, the foreign ministry spokesman, said: “Regarding WikiLeaks in general, we are not in a position to verify or vouch for their authenticity and as most reports that have come out seem hearsay or gossip, and some may be taken out of context, we should not give credence to them.”
Ok, it doesn’t beat earlier Suthep’s response: Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said the leaked classified information will not have much effect on Thailand. “We don’t have any secrets,” Mr Suthep said. “What happens in Thailand, we tell the media and the people BP: Indeed. Actually, what is interesting about the Wikileaks project is that we have access to the actual cables (minus redactions).
Unsurprsingly, Thanong of The Nation is right in step with this. For we are publishing stories from electronic information, which we don’t know for sure where they come from And then: btw, also from that Financial Times piece: US embassy cables: Thai Queen Sirikit encouraged 2006 coup. Wednesday, 01 October 2008, 10:48C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 002977 SIPDIS EO 12958 DECL: 10/01/2018 TAGS PGOV, KDEM, KJUS, PINR, TH SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR DISCUSSES WITH FORMER PM SAMAK HIS DOWNFALL, REF: BANGKOK 2778 (SAMAK UNDERCUT)BANGKOK 00002977 001.2 OF 002Classified By: Ambassador Eric G.
John, reason: 1.4 (b, d) 1. (C) Summary: Former Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej resigned from his position as Party Leader of the People's Power Party (PPP) September 30. He remains free on bail as he continues to appeal a years-old defamation conviction. Samak told the Ambassador September 26 that he believed Queen Sirikit, working through Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda, supported the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protest movement. 2. 3. 4. 5. Monarchy, Samak made no mention of the Crown Prince. 6. 7. Out with the Old, Out with the New? 8. 9. Wikileaks and Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn. Back in May 2010 I canvassed some of the “assumptions about the next in line” to Thailand’s throne.
I questioned whether the prevailing consensus that Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn will be the next monarch is the full story when his support among factions of the elite is taken into consideration. More specifically I wrote that: …I fail to see how the constant and hysterical attacks on the Red shirts over the past few years could be strategic unless there is significant fear, among Thailand’s highest echelons, that the succession plan (whatever it is) will be interrupted by Thaksin-aligned politicians. Now, with Wikileaks providing the public with unexpected and unprecedented access to recent United States government communications, we are starting to see just how much support the Crown Prince actually has among Thailand’s highest echelons.
The Guardian has the story: it is headlined “Thai leaders doubt suitability of prince to become king”.