Former national security chief denies forced dispersal of red shirts in 2010

– Thailand news compiled by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community

PHUKET: There was no forced dispersal of anti-government protesters back in 2010 – they just left by themselves, Thawil Pliensri, then secretary-general of the National Security Council, testified yesterday.

Thawil told the National Anti-Corruption Commission that the Abhisit Vejjajiva administration had just sent security forces to observe the rally sites of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) and that it was the red-shirt leaders who called off the sit-in on May 19, 2010.

Thawil said he was not trying to mince words but that was really what happened.

He was a witness in the hearings involving Mr Abhisit and his then deputy Suthep Thaugsuban, who presided over the operations to rout the red shirts and led to the deaths of at least 99 people.

As for the real spent bullets and weapons found around Bangkok’s Ratchaprasong Intersection, the major rally site, Thawil said he wasn’t sure if they belonged to the government’s security officers.

However, the troops had been instructed not to use live ammunition against the protesters, only batons and shields.

In many cases, the “men in black” had been seen mingling with the crowds of protesters and had used war-grade weapons including grenades against security officers, he added.

— Phuket Gazette Editors