Surayud Chulanont


Surayud Chulanont is a Thai politician. He was the Prime Minister of Thailand and head of Thailand's interim government between 2006 and 2008. He is a former supreme commander of the Royal Thai Army and is currently Privy Councilor to King Vajiralongkorn.
Surayud came from a military family, but his father defected from the Royal Thai Army to the Communist Party of Thailand when Surayud was a boy. Surayud joined the Thai Army and rose to power as an aide to General Prem Tinsulanonda. He commanded troops during Bloody May, the violent 1992 crackdown on anti-government protesters, but he denied giving his men the order to shoot protesters. He was promoted to army commander during the government of Chuan Leekpai and was promoted to supreme commander in 2003, under the government of Thaksin Shinawatra. Upon his retirement from the army, he was appointed by King Bhumibol Adulyadej to the Privy Council of Thailand. Surayud and Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda played a key role in the promotion of General Sonthi Boonratklin to the position of army commander.
Sonthi overthrew the government of Shinawatra in a coup on 19 September 2006 and implored Surayud to be the head of interim government. Surayud's government was controversial. There was a significant worsening in perceived levels of corruption during his government. Surayud's Deputy Finance Minister, Sommai Pasee, was sentenced to jail for abuse of power. Surayud raised the military budget by 35% and was accused of economic mismanagement, rampant human rights abuses, and flip-flopping on numerous policies. Article 19 ranked Thailand as falling behind Cambodia and Indonesia in terms of freedom of expression. Thailand's economic growth rate slowed to the lowest level in five years and was ranked the lowest in the region. However, Surayud was praised for apologising for atrocities committed by the Thai military fighting the South Thailand insurgency, although the apology was accompanied by a sharp escalation in violence. He has been accused of forest reserve encroachment and of illegally acquiring train carriages for display in his forest home.
He is married to Chitravadi Santhadwet Chulanont and has three sons, Captain Non,
Khao, and Nam.

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", became a member of the Central Committee Communist Party of Thailand and Chief of Staff of the People's Liberation Army of Thailand.
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. His father's defection to the Communists had a large impact on Surayud. Surayud's son, Non, noted that, "My father always told me that we must help each other redeem the tarnished family name of Chulanont so that Thais can look up to it."
Surayud entered Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy and graduated from Class 12.
Surayud was conferred honorary doctor of philosophy degrees in:
1. Communication Arts in 1995 by Wongchavalidkul University, Thailand.
2. Liberal Arts in 2000 by Maejo University, Thailand.
3. Liberal Arts in 2004 by Prince of Songkla University, Thailand.
4. Engineering in April 2007 by Tokai University, Japan.
5. Social Development in December 2008 by Huachiew University, Thailand.
Surayud currently serves as a chancellor of the council of King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Thailand, and Phetchaburi Rajabhat University.

Military career

Early in his army career, Surayud served in several army divisions including a light artillery unit and a paratrooper unit. He conducted operations against the Communist Party of Thailand while his father was a leader of the CPT. From 1972 to 1978, he was an instructor at the Special Warfare School. He was an 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.
During Bloody May, the violent crackdown 1992 on anti-government protesters, Surayud's men were seen at areas near the Royal Hotel, where protesters were seen being searched for weapons and later dragged into the hotel. He later claimed that he never gave orders for his soldiers to shoot. According to a later interview, "It convinced me that the army should never be involved in politics." 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. 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 politically "shelved" at a staff position. To secure his vision of a politics-free army, Surayud appointed several of his classmates from Class 12 of the CRMA to key 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. 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. During his term, Thai soldiers took part in the United Nations Peace Keeping Force, assisting UN-PKF efforts in East Timor.
To stop drug and drug cartels into Thailand, Surayud, in March 2002, ordered one of Thailand's largest military operations in recent times, when Thai troops moved deep into Myanmar territory to destroy drug labs and military bases controlled by the United Wa State Army.
In 2003, after over four 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 rumoured to be the result of a conflict with the prime minister, possibly over foreign policy towards Myanmar and the crackdown on drugs.

Privy councilor

On 14 November 2003, King Bhumibol Adulyadej appointed Surayud to his Privy Council of personal advisors. Several months later he asked the king for permission to ordain as a monk for a brief period at a forest temple in northeastern Thailand. Surayud and Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda had been perceived to have a key role in the promotion of General Sonthi Boonratklin to the position of army commander.
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 nor do any good to the public 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.
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 responded 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."
In January 2008, not long after Surayud ended his term as prime minister, he was again reappointed to King Bhumibol Adulyadej's Privy Council.

Environmental protection

Surayud was chairman of the Khao Yai National Park Protection Foundation.
However, after becoming premier in 2006, he was accused of breaching the Forestry Act and the National Forest Reserves Act by illegally owning forest land in Yaithiang Mountain of Nakhon Ratchasima Province. He vowed to resign and return the land if found guilty.
In February 2010 after demonstrations by "Red Shirts" at Khao Yaithiang Mountain, Surayud, who by then had already left politics, returned the land to the Royal Forestry Department when it was found that the land was within forest reserve land under the ministry's decades old code. The plot of land is now under Royal Forestry Department's care. However, up until now no legal action has been taken by Thai authorities against him or other landowners of similar case around the country. Some opposition pressed him to resign from his post as privy councillor only as to understand later that Surayud "had no ill intention" and that it was highly inappropriate to ask for resignation of the post on such unreasonable ground.

Prime Minister of Thailand

Surayud was already considered a strong candidate for appointment as civilian prime minister premiership immediately after General Sonthi overthrew the government of Thaksin Shinawatra. Indeed, Surayud's appointment to the Premiership was confirmed by junta leader Sonthi Boonyaratkalin on the morning of Sunday 1 October 2006. After a couple imploring asks for Surayud to take the temporary premiership, Sonthi had a formal audience with King Bhumibol Adulyadej at 4 pm that day to nominate Surayud's name to the monarch. "Security and social unity" were cited by Sonthi as the key reasons for appointing Surayud.
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." 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."
Due to influences from junta and those behind the scene, the policies and positions of several ministers in Surayud's cabinet changed very frequently, sometimes on a daily basis. Notable flip-flops included Thailand's refusal to share avian flu samples with the WHO, capital controls against foreign investment, shareholding limits for foreign investors in telecommunications firms, the identity of bombers in the 2006 New Year's Eve bombings, and the role of the Malaysian government in mediating the South Thailand insurgency.
While he was prime minister, Surayud's wife, Colonel Khunying Chitrawadee, was awarded the Dame Grand Commander of the Most Illustrious Order of Chulachomklao feudal decoration, allowing her to use the prefix Than Phu Ying.

Popularity

The Surayud government's initial nationwide approval rating in October 2006 stood at 60%, with 8% disapproving. By early-November, this fell to 55% approving and 15% disapproving. For comparison, a nationwide poll in July 2006 found that 49% of respondents would have voted for Thaksin Shinawatra in the cancelled October elections.
The 2006 Bangkok New Year's Eve bombings caused Surayud's popularity to drop to 48.5% according to Assumption University's polling arm—and just 11% said they had "full confidence" the government can handle the crisis.
The 2007 Chinese New Year Bombings, which saw 38 bombing attacks, 26 cases of arson, and seven ambushes within a single day, caused Surayud's popularity to drop even further: 53.7% of respondents living in Bangkok and other major cities in felt the government and the CNS could not put an end to problems in the country. Only 24.6% thought that the situation would improve in six months.
By 24 February 2007, his popularity among Bangkokians had further dropped to 34.8%, although he was still more popular than Thaksin Shinawatra, whom 28.8% of Bangkokians favoured.
By 4 March 2007, only 31.3% of people in Bangkok supported the government's political stance. This fell dramatically to 12.5% by 26 March 2007. Notably the main reason behind the drop was that people wanted to see quick changes in state policies and that actions and judgments for the ousted former Prime Minister were not forthcoming soon enough.
The US government decided to continue holding "Cobra Gold" joint military exercises with the Thai government. Immediately after the coup, Washington had halted all military co-operation with, and aid to, the junta. US law forbade assistance to governments of a country where an elected leader has been deposed in a coup.
In early-May 2007, activists from the Assembly of Isaan People met with junta chief Sonthi Boonyaratglin in order to appeal for him to remove Surayud Chulanont. Sonthi personally met the anti-Surayud activists at army headquarters and promised he would consider their request. This was the first time that Sonthi met people calling for the removal of Surayud. Sonthi later claimed that he was "tricked" into meeting the activists.
Surayud launched a weekly talk show called "Poed Baan Phitsanulok" so as to share views and progress of interim government's aim. The show aired on state-run Channel 11 every Saturday between 08:30 and 09:15. Calling the weekly radio show that was hosted by Thaksin Shinawatra when he was premier "propaganda", he denied any similarity between the two shows.
The military junta's popularity continued to decline. By late-June 2007, an ABAC Poll found that only 13.6% supported the government, with 69.8 of respondents disappointed with the political situation.
The government's popularity continued to decline into July, when survey respondents in Bangkok and outlying areas gave the government an average score of 4.32 out of 10. The average score had been 4.53 in March 2007 and 5.27 in January 2007. Fewer than 15% of respondents in the survey felt that the nation's overall situation had improved during the government's nine-month tenure, while 31.6% said the situation remained unchanged and the majority, 34.9% said it had worsened.

Drafting of a permanent constitution and elections

The junta's 2006 Interim Constitution authorised the junta to appoint a 2,000 person National 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. 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."
After the coup, the military junta had originally promised to draft a permanent charter within eight months and to hold elections in October 2007. However, Prime Minister's Office Minister Thirapat Serirangsan later announced that elections might not occur until one year and five months.
After a constitutional referendum on 19 August, Surayud promised that elections would “definitely” be held in late December.

Cabinet appointments

Some believed that Prem Tinsulanonda, President of the King's Privy Council, played a significant role in picking the members of Surayud's cabinet. It was, however, Surayud who made the final decision. General Boonrawd Somtas, a former CDRMA classmate and longtime friend of Surayud, was appointed defense minister. 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."
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Pridiyathorn resigned on 28 February 2007. His resignation shocked the political world as well as the business community. His cited reasons for resignation included,
Pridiyathorn was replaced by Chalongphob Sussangkarn, an academic who led the Thailand Development Research Institute. Chalongphob had previously criticised the junta's capital controls policy.

Policies

Telecommunications

Surayud ordered the reopening Don Muang Airport for domestic and international flights. This decision came after allegations that the newly opened Suvarnabhumi Airport alone was incapable of handling future traffic volume and that the airport was unsafe. The decision met with strong opposition from Airports of Thailand, the Civil Aviation Department, the Board of Airline Representatives in Thailand, the International Air Transport Association, the Thai Airways International labour union, and many domestic and international airlines, including Thai Airways and the Star Alliance. 60 airlines threatened to halt flights to Thailand if they were forced to move back to Don Muang airport.
A two-week investigation led by Tortrakul Yomnak, a chief engineer for Airports of Thailand and prominent supporter of the anti-Thaksin movement, found that the runway was safe, and that cracks could be repaired in as little as a few hours. At the beginning of the investigation, Tortrakul had warned that the airport might need to be closed for three years. However, Admiral Bannawit Keng-rien, chairman of the National Legislative Assembly's airport committee, urged Surayud to close down Suvarnabhumi. Surayud's decision to reopen Don Muang was based on his personal advisors, without waiting for the Ministry of Transport or Airports of Thailand to finish their studies.
A completed study by the AoT showed that the cost of fixing 60 identified problems at the airport would be less than 1% of the total airline cost and the problems could be fixed in up to four to five years. Dr. Narupol Chaiyut, a member of a committee overseeing service problems at the new airport, estimated that 70% of the problems would be fixed within 2007.
Surayud and AoT Chairman General Saprang Kalayanamitr refused to authorise urgent repairs on the airport tarmac, despite warnings from engineers. Karun Chandrarangsu, president of the Engineering Institute of Thailand noted, "Suvarnabhumi is like a patient in a coma who continues to suffer from severe bleeding. Stopping the blood flow now is more urgent and important than debating what caused the injury." The Engineering Institute of Thailand sent a formal warning to AoT in November 2006 about the urgent need to drain water from beneath the tarmac, and that immediate action should be taken. "The AOT did nothing about the problem," Suebsak Promboon of the EIT noted. "The situation might not have become this bad if the water had been drained then." Suebsak Promboon, a senior foundation engineer and a member of the Tortrakul Yomnak-led airport tarmac inspection panel, accused the AOT of refusing to take any actions to solve the problems at the airport.

Human rights

Surayud warned deposed Premier Thaksin Shinawatra several times against returning to Thailand, calling his return "a threat". 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. Surayud later denied Thaksin the opportunity to return to Thailand to contest in eventual elections, and said that the appropriate time for him to return would be "after a year," when a newly elected government was already in place.
Thaksin's diplomatic passport was revoked by the Foreign Ministry on 31 December 2006 after the government claimed he had engaged in political activities while in exile. Thai embassies were ordered not to facilitate his travels. Traditionally, all former prime ministers and foreign ministers of Thailand were permitted to hold on to their diplomatic passports for life.
Thaksin later publicly announced that he was quitting politics. Surayud's Defense Minister later announced that the junta would refuse Thaksin's reconciliation offer, claiming that Thailand was being threatened by "ill-intentioned people" and capitalism.
Surayud's government completely purged all senior military officers perceived as loyal to the Thaksin government, replacing them with officers trusted by the new regime.
In April 2007, during an interview where reporters asked Surayud what he would say to Thaksin if he could meet him in person, Surayud responded, "I would say please don't ever come back."

Council for National Security

The Surayud government allowed the Council for National Security to interfere with many government responsibilities, including the transfer of civil servants. The CNS was allowed to control a nationwide reshuffle of the civil service in April 2007 in order to weed out officials "clinging" to the deposed "Thaksin-regime".
Surayud also authorised the removal of police chief Kowit Wattana from his position in early February 2007. Kowit had also been police chief under the ousted government of Thaksin Shinawatra.
In March, junta leader Sonthi asked Surayud to declare emergency rule in Bangkok in response to the protests by the founders of People's Television. In an interview, Sonthi noted that the protests, attended by approximately 1,500-3,000 people, had so far been peaceful but that he was afraid the movement could lead to "mutiny and chaos in the country." CNS Spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd asked, "What will we do if the numbers of protesters go beyond 100,000? It will greatly damage the country's image." Emergency powers allowed the government to ban public gatherings, impose curfews and censor local news reports.
On 3 April 2007, Surayud approved a 15% pay rise for members of the CNS, as a "special reward" for their "honesty, tolerance and dedication on weekdays and weekends."
Despite this, relations between Surayud and the CNS deteriorated. Rumours swirled in mid-April 2007 that the CNS would overthrow the government. However, in a meeting with the CNS President, Surayud declared, "Don't ever think of launching another coup. If you utter only one word, then I am ready to resign."

Criticism

Besides being heavily criticised for gaining power through the 2006 coup and his subsequent actions as Premier, Surayud has been accused of forest encroachment and corruption.

Forest encroachment

Surayud was accused of breaching the Forestry Act and the National Forest Reserves Act by illegally owning forest reserve land in Yaithiang Mountain of Nakhon Ratchasima province. When Surayud was Commander of the 2nd Army Region, he was sold the plot of land for 50,000 baht. He later transferred ownership of the plot to his wife. Surayud vowed to resign and return the land if found guilty. He was defended by Interior Minister Aree Wongarya, who claimed, "Gen Surayud purchased the land from someone else so the question has to be posed to the first owner whether the land is reserved."
National Human Rights Commissioner and Thaksin sympathiser Jaran Ditthapichai noted, "I cannot agree to have someone call himself a man of morality and sufficiency if he built a fancy house in a forest reserve."
However, the National Counter Corruption Commission refused to investigate the land encroachment charges, claiming that the statute of limitations on the case had run out. NCCC member Klanarong Chantik noted that Surayud retired from military service in 2003 whereas the charges were made 4 years after his retirement, and that the NCCC could not legally investigate an officer for alleged wrongdoing beyond two years after retirement.
In February 2010 after demonstrations by the "Red Shirts" at Khao Yaithiang Mountain, Surayud returned the land to the Royal Forestry Department, without any removals of structures or plants, weeks before a formal notice from the department was issued. The plot of land is now under the care of the Royal Forestry Department after Surayud moved out. However, up until now no legal action has been taken by Thai authorities against Surayud or other landowners of similar type all over Thailand.

Corruption

Surayud, an avid collector of model trains, was accused of illegally acquiring four train compartments for his resort home in Kho Yaithiang mountain, Nakhon Ratchasima. Surayud claimed that he had more than 4 compartments, but they were all in his residence in Bangkok and were all models driven by household class electricity of 220V.
However, Thai-language newspaper Khaosod published a photo on the front page of its edition of 26 December 2006 which showed a building resembling a railway carriage near Surayud's resort home. The National Counter Corruption Committee was petitioned to scrutinise the land at Surayud's retreat residence, but refused to take action. Before the end of his tenure as Prime Minister, Surayud invited dozens of reporters from various fields to visit and have a lunch at his disputed Kho Yaithiang home, where they realised that what seemed to be train carriages were only a resort building of his friend nearby viewed from a particular angle.
While Surayud was frequently accused of corruption, many in the business community believed otherwise. A poll conducted in January 2007 found that 66% of business people thought that local corruption would increase, with only 10.5% thinking that it would decrease. However, only about 14% believed that leading figures in Surayud's administration were corrupt.

Royal decorations

Surayud has received the following royal decorations in the Honours System of Thailand: