"General Surin Phikulthong, chairman of a government subcommittee working on land ownership problems, yesterday challenged protesting villagers to carry out their threat to force open the Pak Mun Dam sluice gates.
"Open it if you dare," he said in a telephone interview with The Nation. "But don't forget that the number of people who want the sluice gates to be closed are more than you."
However, Surin, who was assigned by the military-appointed government working to oversee the Pak Mun Dam through the Internal Security Operation Command (Isoc), did not reply when asked what would happen if the villagers really used force to open the gates as they had vowed.
Surin insisted that the Cabinet resolution late last month to let the dam store water to its full capacity, rather than open the gates as decided by the Thaksin administration three years ago, was just. He said it was based on the demand by more than 20,000 villagers from 85 villages.
He claimed that only 400 villagers under the Assembly of the Poor had demanded the sluice gates be opened. His argument was countered by political scientists who have monitored the issue for more than a decade."
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/07/21...al_30041809.php
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ISOC General dares Pak Mun critics
Started by Garcia, Jul 25 2007 12:28 PM
1 reply to this topic
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Posted 25 July 2007 - 01:23 PM
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However, Surin, who was assigned . . .through the Internal Security Operation Command (Isoc), did not reply when asked what would happen if the villagers really used force to open the gates as they had vowed.
There seems little doubt that ISOC is rapidly emerging in this port-coup period before elections and presumed return to parliamentary rule, as a formidable military institutional presence capable of projecting national power regardless of who controls parliament. For the moment, it appears that the proposed laws making ISOC and its generals even stronger have been stalled because of some fierce public opposition to what many see as a permanent institutionalization of the army's political position.
It will be interesting to see if the latest riot at General Prem's residence in Bangkok, and its aftermath of predictable recriminations and charges, becomes the rallying cry and cause for pushing ahead with these new ISOC laws before the new parliament convenes.
