From today’s Sydney Morning Herald:
The stability created by the coup did not come cheaply. General Sonthi said yesterday the coup leaders had withdrawn 1 billion baht from a secret treasury fund to pay for the operation. “Each of us came out to prevent loss of life, everyone coming out to do it must eat and drink. We didn’t do it in any corrupt way,” he said.
Eat and drink? Staging a coup sure must stimulate the appetite.
7 responses so far ↓
1 fall // Dec 20, 2006 at 12:22 pm
Thank you for using 1-2-coup service.
Would you like fries with that?
(last time I head it was 500 million, guess the price increase according to baht appreciation?)
2 Andrew Walker // Dec 20, 2006 at 5:56 pm
From todays Bangkok Post:
After suspicions of secret fund, Sonthi says supporters ‘needed money’
Coup d’etat spending not denied by coup leader
By Wassana Nanuam
Army chief Sonthi Boonyaratkalin yesterday stopped short of denying that the military spent a billion baht of its secret fund to stage the coup d’etat on Sept 19. “We certainly needed money for our people’s food and other necessary expenses,” Gen Sonthi said when asked to explain the reported use of more than a billion baht on the coup.
None of the coup participants risked their lives for their own personal interests, he said, at a press conference to mark three months since the overthrow of the Thaksin Shinawatra government .
“We staged the coup to end all conflicts peacefully and bloodlessly,” added Gen Sonthi, who is also chairman of the Council for National Security (CNS).
Assistant army chief Gen Saprang Kalayanamitr, deputy secretary-general of the CNS, added the military’s secret fund served a security purpose.
“It’s not money diverted from stock transactions or any other form of budget corruption. Our fund was disbursed properly,” Gen Saprang said.
3 Thai Radio // Dec 20, 2006 at 7:22 pm
Many people hungry on Earth, in Thailand too I suppose…
4 Taxi Driver // Dec 20, 2006 at 9:34 pm
Wonder if the civilian government (Thaksin’s and others before it) knew about – let alone had budgetary control over – these billions of tax payers’ money stashed away by the generals? Somehow I think suspect Thai tax payers of Thailand are getting cheated (again…).
Now lets see if Jaruwan Maintaka will launch an investigation….now I’d like to see that! (afraid hell will freeze over before I get to see it though).
The Thai military (along with the police) is the most corrupt institution in the country, but there has never been a day of reckonng for the corrupt generals. Is there any evidence that the King has ever attempted to eliminate (or moderate) corruption in the military?
Some may say that HMK has had to tread carefully with these people, and this may true in the past (e.g. Pibil, Sarit, Thanom, etc) but today HMK is at the peak of his power and arguably is in the most secure position as he has ever been to stand up to & criticise the military of its corrupt elements. Similar question can be asked of Prem – who is not known for financial corruption. Will these sages of the nation risk their positions to truely combat one of the most hideous cancers in Thai society — the one that as much as anything else stands in the way of liberal progress in Thailand. Now that would be a true test of a couragous & moral leader.
5 jeru // Dec 20, 2006 at 11:47 pm
One billion baht for a bloodless coup that got rid of Thaksin was cheap and worth every satang. That is my personal opinion of course.
6 Johpa // Dec 21, 2006 at 7:02 am
Well, the need to repay the debt or restock the “secret treasury” would certainly explain as well as anything the recent burp in the Thai stock market.
7 New Mandala » Kong thun taharn - Sonthi’s billion baht fund! // Dec 21, 2006 at 2:32 pm
[...] From my research (which has been a little hurried given the impending festivities) there still seems to be no sensible explanation on how Sonthi’s secret billion baht coup fund was spent. I am not an expert on the financing of military operations, but the claim that it was spent on food and drink seems absurd. Enough of the silliness. This is a story that warrants some serious investigation. There has been some brief discussion in the Bangkok Post but, from my quick survey, nothing at all in The Nation. I would have thought that the fearless anti-corruption advocates at The Nation would have been all over this like a rash. And how are the Thai language papers dealing with the story? Any updates would be very welcome. [...]
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