- Photo: The Nation/ANN
BANGKOK: Pheu Thai patriarch Thaksin Shinawatra has entrusted his long-time ally, Phumtham Wechayachai, to play the role of guardian angel for his daughter, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra.
Phumtham has been appointed defence minister and deputy PM for security affairs because Thaksin wants to shield Paetongtarn from manoeuvring by the armed forces. The military has previously staged two coups against Shinawatra-led governments, making Phumtham’s role crucial.
Earlier speculation that Paetongtarn would concurrently hold the post of defence minister was apparently a decoy, with Thaksin well aware his daughter is too inexperienced to deal with the seasoned generals, who are manoeuvring for power even among themselves.
Pheu Thai sources believe Phumtham was entrusted with the crucial task because he established deep ties with the armed forces under the tenure of Paetongtarn’s predecessor, Srettha Thavisin.
Phumtham’s experience as a political and military strategist dates back to the 1970s, when he joined the Communist Party of Thailand and was known as Comrade Yai.
As a result, Thaksin is confident Phumtham will know what the military is up to and be able to take action to save Paetongtarn from any threat.
Pheu Thai sources confirmed that Phumtham is among Thaksin’s most trusted aides, having helped him found the Thai Rak Thai Party in 1998.
The sources said Phumtham is also prudent and listens to advice from subordinates. His clout and experience should also earn him respect among senior police and military officers.
Under the previous government, generals preferred to communicate with PM Srettha via Phumtham, who has a better understanding of the armed forces’ structure. Srettha reportedly once summoned the chief of an armed force and ordered him to carry out a duty that was the responsibility of a separate armed force.
Realising that Phumtham was better at handling the armed forces, Srettha put him in charge of military affairs during the latter part of his tenure.
While Phumtham’s official role as defence minister is crucial, his core duty is to help the inexperienced PM run the economy.
As a result, Phumtham will get help in overseeing the military from Deputy Defence Minister Gen Nattapon Nakphanit of the United Thai Nation Party.
Nattapon built a reputation as a capable person under Srettha’s year-long administration. He served as secretary to then defence minister Sutin Klungsang and helped resolve differences between the government and armed forces over Pheu Thai policy. For example, he managed to convince the generals to give up military land for the government to distribute to the poor.
But since Nattapon is not a Pheu Thai member, Thaksin cannot trust the general 100%. As a result, Phumtham has been appointed to supervise Nattapon and ensure that the military poses no threat to Paetongtarn’s leadership.
Separately, The Nation also reported that in the midst of Thailand’s political turbulence back in the 1970s, Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai’s code name was “Comrade Yai” as a member of the Communist Party of Thailand (CPT).
However, now that he is defence minister, his code name is “Sanam Chai 1”, referring to the Defence Ministry’s location on Sanam Chai Road.
Phumtham’s communist background while he was a student activist prompted General Somjet Boonthanom, former chief of the 2006 coup-maker’s secretariat, to accuse PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra of not caring for the feelings of the military at all by appointing an enemy to supervise them.
In response to Somjet, Phumtham, who also doubles as deputy PM, said he did not actually advocate communism and has spent the past 50 years distancing himself from the ideology. He said he had simply fled into the forests for safety after the bloody crackdown on student activists on October 6, 1976.
This year will mark the 48th anniversary of the massacre, and Somjet cited it to call to question the decision to appoint a former member of the military’s arch-rival to control the armed forces.
Despite Phumtham’s denial of his advocacy for communism, information in Wikipedia and a memo from former 2nd Army Area commander General Sanan Marengsit show that he played a leading role as a member of CPT in the 1970s.
In those days, Phumtham went by the name of Watanachai Wechayachai and was a student in Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Political Science.
He was also the founder of the Chula People Party, which was seen as a leftist party in the university.
In 1976, Anek Laothamthat, then president of the CU Student Federation, urged Phumtham and other leftist student activists to join the protest against the return of former prime minister Thanom Kittikhachorn to Thailand.
During the October 4-6, 1976 protest, Phumtham oversaw the students’ intelligence team. However, they failed to fend off the crackdown on students inside Thammasat University on October 6 that year.
After the crackdown, Phumtham fled to Buri Ram’s Nang Rong district to join CPT’s armed battle in the lower Northeast and was given the code name of “Comrade Yai”, according to the military.
Sanan’s memo stated that the CPT had dispatched Comrade Yai to protect CPT secretary-general Comrade Pracha Thanyapaibul in Laos’ Luang Namtha province in 1977.
However, in 1979, the Laos government stopped supporting CPT and told it to leave. So, CPT members returned to Nan and Chiang Rai, while some fled to China, the memo added.
Comrade Yai returned to Thailand in 1981 and completed his studies before briefly taking up a job with an NGO. In late 1994, Thaksin, then-foreign minister under Chuan Leekpai’s government, called Phumtham and his friends to tell them that he wanted to set up a political party.
Phumtham has said that he used the Shinawatra head office to make preparations before Thaksin could register Thai Rak Thai on July 14, 1998.
Since then, Phumtham has been a full-time employee of Thaksin’s business empire and has earned his trust in both business and political expertise. - The Nation/ANN
