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Surayud Chulanont

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Surayud Chulanont
สุรยุทธ์ จุลานนท์
File:Surayud Chulanont.jpg
33rd
Prime Minister of Thailand
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 October 2006
Preceded byThaksin Shinawatra
Personal details
Born28 August 1943
Phetchaburi
NationalityThai
SpouseChitravadee Chulanont

General Surayud Chulanont (Thai: สุรยุทธ์ จุลานนท์, RTGS: Surayut Chulanon) is the current Prime Minister of Thailand and head of Thailand's Interim Government. He was a former Thai military officer, Army Commander, Supreme Commander, and Privy Councilor to King Bhumibol Adulyadej. He was appointed Premier on 1 October 2006 by Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, the head of a military junta that had overthrown the elected government of Thaksin Shinawatra less than 2 weeks earlier. He is married to Chitravadi Chulanont.

Family and education

Surayud came from a long line of military leaders. His maternal grandfather was Phraya Sri Sitthi Songkhram, a royalist leader during the failed Boworadej Rebellion. Surayud's father was Lt. Colonel Phayom Chulanont, a Royal Thai Army military officer who, as "Comrade Too Khamtan" (Thai: สหายตู้คำตัน, RTGS: sahai tu khamtan), became a member of the Central Committee Communist Party of Thailand and Chief of Staff of the People's Liberation Army of Thailand.[1]

Surayud completed his early education at Saint Gabriel's College and Suankularb Wittayalai School in Bangkok. He graduated from the inaugural class of Armed Forces Preparatory Academy.

As a boy, Surayud's father left his family to go underground to join the Communists. Phayom explained his defection by citing corruption in the army and its inability to defend the powerless.[2]

Surayud entered the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy (CRMA) and graduated from Class 12.

Military career

Early in his army career, Surayud served in several Army divisions including a light artillery unit, a paratrooper unit. He conducted operations against the Communist Party of Thailand (CPT) while his father was a leader of the CPT. From 1972 to 1978, he was an instructor at the Special Warfare School. He was a close aide to General Prem Tinsulanonda when Prem was appointed Army Commander and later Prime Minister of Thailand. Surayud was appointed Commander of the Special Warfare Command in 1992, where he was the commanding officer of Sonthi Boonratklin.[3]

During Bloody May, the violent crackdown 1992 on anti-government protestors, Surayud's men were seen shooting protesters and dragging them through the bloody lobby of the Royal Hotel. He later claimed that he never gave orders for his soldiers to shoot.[4] According to a later interview, "It convinced me that the army should never be involved in politics."[2] Days later he told a national television audience that he deplored the loss of life and that he had not given any orders to shoot, an account that was never disputed.[2] In 1994, he was appointed Commander of the 2nd Army Region.

Surayud was promoted to Army Commander in late 1998. At the time, his promotion was controversial, as Surayud had been promoted above the heads of several officers more senior to him. Surayud appointed several of his classmates from Class 12 of the CRMA to key lucrative positions. Among these were Lt Gen Sompong Maivichit, who he made head of Army controlled Channel 5 television station, replacing Gen Pang Malakul na Ayudhya, and Lt Gen Boonrod Somtap, who he promoted to a key subordinate position to replace Gen Charn Boonprasert.[5] He also ended a policy of deporting Burmese refugees, especially ethnic Karens, back to Burma. "He's been a friend to us," said Pastor Robert Htway of the Karen Refugee Committee.[2] Under his term, Thai soldiers took part in the United Nations Peace Keeping Force, assisting UN-PKF efforts in East Timor.

In 2003, after over 4 years as Army Commander, Surayud was promoted to the position of Supreme Commander, a loftier but less influential post, during the government of Thaksin Shinawatra. He was replaced as Army Commander by Somthad Attanan. His promotion was rumored to be the result of a conflict with the Prime Minister.[2]

Privy Councilor

Upon his retirement from the Army, Surayud briefly joined the Buddhist monkhood. On 14 November 2003, King Bhumibol Adulyadej appointed Surayud to his Privy Council of personal advisors. From retirement, Surayud and Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda played a key role in the promotion of General Sonthi Boonratklin to the position of Army Commander.[6][7]

Facing an escalating insurgency in the south of Thailand, Surayud urged the media to paint a more positive picture of the violence. "Truthful words that may not be beneficial should be avoided," noted Surayud to the Press Council of Thailand. He was contradicted by Deputy Prime Minister Chaturon Chaisang, who noted that he couldn't think of any news about the conflict in the South that could or should not be reported by the media.[8]

In response to numerous claims made by anti-Thaksin activist Sondhi Limthongkul that his People's Alliance for Democracy was "fighting for the King", Surayud resonded by saying that "Recent references to the monarchy were inappropriate. The institution should not be involved in politics. Political disputes should be solved in a political way."[9]

Sarayud was already considered a strong candidate for appointment as civilian prime minister premiership immediately after General Sonthi overthrew the government of Thaksin Shinawatra in a coup in 2006.[7][10]. Indeed, Surayud was appointed as Prime Minister on 1 October 2006.

Natural Conservationist

Surayud is chairman of the Khao Yai National Park Protection Foundation, and has led many activities to help protect the environment.[11]

Prime Minister of Thailand

Main article: Thailand 2006 interim civilian government

Surayud's appointment to the Premiership was confirmed by junta leader Sonthi Boonyaratkalin on the morning of Sunday 1 October 2006. Sonthi had a formal audience with King Bhumibol Adulyadej at 4 pm that day to nominate Surayud's name to the monarch.[12][13] "Security and social unity" were cited by Sonthi as the key reasons for appointing Surayud.[14]

Surayud announced that as Premier, he would "Focus on self-sufficiency, more than focusing on the GDP numbers. I will focus on the happiness of the people, more than the GDP."[15] He also claimed that he would be "Friendly to every party, trying to receive information from every side and meeting people as much as possible. I will lead a government based on justice."[4]

Drafting of a permanent constitution and elections

The junta's 2006 Interim Constitution authorized the junta to appoint a 2,000 person Nation Assembly which would select members to become candidates for a Constitution Drafting Assembly. From the onset of his appointment as Premier, Surayud Chulanont was urged by academics to override the junta's control of the constitution drafting process. Somchai Siripreechakul, Dean of Law at Chiang Mai University, urged Surayud to call a general election as soon as possible and hand the task of drafting a charter to an elected parliament.[16] Banjerd Singkhaneti of Thammasat University noted of the constitution drafting process, "I think it will be a mess and the next constitution will be just that."[17]

After the coup, the military junta had originaly promised to draft a permanent charter within eight months and to hold elections in October 2007. However, the Office Minister Thirapat Serirangsan later announced that it elections might not occur until one year and five months.[18]

Cabinet appointments

Prem Tinsulanonda, President of the King's Privy Council, played a significant role in picking the members of Surayud's Cabinet. General Boonrawd Somtas, a former CDRMA classmate and longtime friend of Surayud, was appointed Defense Minister.[19] former Interior Permanent Secretary Aree Wong-araya was appointed Interior Minister, former Energy Policy and Planning Office director Piyasvasti Amranand became Energy Minister, central bank governor Pridiyathorn Devakula became Finance Minister, and Bangkok Bank Chairman Kosit Panpiemras became Industry Minister. Michael Nelson of Chulalongkorn University noted that the Cabinet was dominated by bureaucrats and that "It's very strongly guided by military ideas combined with some technocrats, some people in economic areas and some former bureaucrats."[20]

Key policies

Key policies adopted by the Surayud government included

  • The planned merger of state-telecom companies TOT and CAT.[21]
  • The planned ban against all forms of advertising for alcoholic beverages.[22]
  • Making the 30-baht universal healthcare program completely free.[22] The Budget Bureau criticized the move.[23]
  • The indefinite delayal of the previous government's policy of converting all octane 95 gasoline sales to gasohol.[24]
  • The banning of all "sexually-arousing dances" (locally called "coyote dances") during the Loy Kratong festival.[25]
  • The cancellation of state electricity company EGAT's guaranteed 50% share in all new power plant construction.[26]
  • Issuing a formal apology regarding the the Tak Bai incident.[27]
  • Expanding Bangkok's mass transit rail network by 5 new routes, using the same amount as budgeted by the deposed Thaksin government.[28]
  • A budget deficit of 100 billion Baht for fiscal year 2007. In contrast, the government had sustained budget surpluses from 2003 to 2006.[29]
  • Changing the publically-listed state-enterprise media company MCOT's policy from focusing on monetary benefits to social benefits. This included the cancellation of the popular but controversial news talkshows "Kuy Kui Khao" and "Kob Nork Kala." MCOT's stock prices dropped 5.13% to an 11-month low as a result.[30]

Thaksin Shinawatra

Surayud warned deposed Premier Thaksin Shinawatra several times against returning to Thailand, calling his return "a threat".[31] During a November 2006 trip to China for the ASEAN-China Summit, Surayud refused to meet Thaksin, who was also in China at the time.[32]

References

  1. ^ The Nation, Comrades-In-Arms: Their war gone by, 12 January 2006
  2. ^ a b c d e Time Magazine, Surayud Chulanont: A soldier who answered to the people, 28 April 2003
  3. ^ Template:Th icon Surayud Chulanont's official resume from the Royal Thai Army website
  4. ^ a b IHT, Thai junta shores up role in politics, 1 October 2006
  5. ^ The Nation, Editorial & Opinion: Surayuth guns for reforms, 18 February 1999
  6. ^ The Statesman, Sonthi: The man who made it happen, 20 September 2006
  7. ^ a b The Nation, Warning from Surayud: Thaksin's return 'a threat', 28 September 2006
  8. ^ The Nation, Media criticised over 'unhelpful news', 4 July 2005
  9. ^ DPA, New Prime Minister a respected former army commander, 1 October 2006
  10. ^ The Bangkok Post, Surayud leads nominees for PM, 27 September 2006
  11. ^ The Bangkok Post, New Highway Planned to Let Herds Mingle, 26 April 2004
  12. ^ The Nation, Sonthi to be granted an audience to nominate interim PM at 4 pm, 1 October 2006
  13. ^ The Nation, Sonthi: Surayud to be PM, 1 October 2006
  14. ^ The Bangkok Post, Surayud's military past posed worry, 2 October 2006
  15. ^ CNN, Former Thai army chief sworn in as interim PM, 1 October 2006
  16. ^ The Nation, Poll should precede new charter: law experts, 2 October 2006
  17. ^ The Bangkok Post, Draft charter loopholes can 'resurrect Thaksin regime', 28 September 2006
  18. ^ The Nation, Drafting new charter 'may take 17 mths', 18 October 2006
  19. ^ Associated Press, THAI KING TO SWEAR-IN CABINET, 9 October 2006
  20. ^ The Australian, Thailand's post-coup cabinet unveiled, 9 October 2006
  21. ^ The Nation, Call for end to policy corruption, 16 October 2006
  22. ^ a b The Nation, Bt30 health fee may be scrapped, 14 October 2006
  23. ^ The Nation, NHSO backs plan to ditch Bt30 fee, 31 October 2006
  24. ^ The Nation, Energy minister says abolition of octane-95 oil sale to be indefinitely delayed, 20 October 2006
  25. ^ The Nation, No 'coyote dances' for Loy Krathong: Culture Ministry, 3 November 2006
  26. ^ Bangkok Post, Ministry to cancel Egat's 50% promise, 9 November 2006
  27. ^ The Nation, Warrants soon in Somchai 'murder' case, 4 November 2006
  28. ^ The Nation, Govt set to unveil 5 rapid rail lines, 6 November 2006
  29. ^ The Bangkok Post, Cabinet approves budget deficit of B100bn for fiscal 2007, to begin in January, 18 October 2006
  30. ^ The Nation, MCOT plunges on policy reversal, 4 November 2006
  31. ^ The Nation, Thaksin's return 'a threat', 28 September 2006
  32. ^ The Nation, Deposed PM's in China to meet Surayud : Gen Sonthi, 2 November 2006

Further reading

Preceded by Prime Minister of Thailand
2006 		Succeeded by
Incumbent

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