Defence Minister Phumtham’s appointment sparks controversy
Critics question the minister’s suitability as chief of the military after his stint with the Communist Party of Thailand as ‘Comrade Yai’
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.
