US embassy cable - 05BANGKOK3471

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 003471 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/BCLTV. HQ USPACOM FOR FPA HUSO. 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, TH, TRT - Thai Rak Thai, Political Parties 
SUBJECT: THAILAND: TRT FACTIONAL TENSIONS FLARE OVER 
AUDITOR-GENERAL CONTROVERSY 
 
REF: (A) BANGKOK 3381 (B) BANGKOK 2347 
 
1.  (SBU)  Summary:  Opposition to Thai Senate efforts to 
replace popular Auditor-General Charuvan -- up to now led by 
the Democrat Party (DP) -- has been taken up by one of the 
ruling Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party's key factions.  Powerful 
TRT faction leader Sanoh Thienthong has drawn Prime Minister 
Thaksin's ire by spearheading a petition by some 60 TRT MPs 
to the Senate against submitting to the King the nomination 
of former Finance Ministry Deputy Permanent Secretary Wisut 
Montriwat as Charuvan's replacement.  Prime Minister Thaksin, 
whose administration may be vulnerable to Charuvan's drive to 
root out government malfeasance, has reportedly retorted that 
MPs should not meddle in actions by the Senate.  The bold 
move by Sanoh in an atmosphere of heightened attention to 
allegations of bribe-taking by politicians in the awarding of 
new airport construction contracts cracks the facade of unity 
that the TRT had hoped to present to its critics in academia, 
the press, political opposition and the general public.  End 
Summary. 
 
MOVE TO REPLACE CRUSADING AUDITOR-GENERAL SPARKS CRITICISM 
 
2.  (U)  As noted in ref. A, a decision in 2003 by the 
Constitutional Court that Khunying Charuvan Methanaka's 
appointment as Auditor-General was unconstitutional led the 
Senate on May 12 to name a successor, former Finance Ministry 
Deputy Permanent Secretary Wisut Montriwat.  This decision 
sparked accusations -- largely from opposition DP officials 
-- that the Thaksin administration influenced the nominally 
non-political Senate to get rid of a troublesomely efficient 
corruption investigator.  Critics of efforts to replace 
Charuvan say that the upper body has no constitutional 
grounds on which to remove her and appoint a new successor. 
Wisut's supporters disagree. 
 
THAI RAK THAI FACTION LEADER GETS INVOLVED IN CASE 
 
3.  (U)  On May 26, reportedly up to 60 TRT MPs (of 377 total 
TRT congresspersons in the 500 seat lower house of 
Parliament), headed by disgruntled TRT Wang Nam Yen faction 
leader Sanoh Thienthong, appealed for Senate Speaker Suchon 
Chaleekrua not to submit Wisut's name to the King as 
replacement for Charuvan.  In their letter to the Deputy 
Speaker's office, the MPs reasoned that the Constitutional 
Court,s ruling, which declared the unconstitutionality of 
the Senate's earlier selection of Charuwan as the 
Auditor-General, did not stipulate that she be removed from 
the office.  Therefore, they argued, the royal appointment of 
Charuvan as the Auditor-General was still in effect, and that 
presenting Wisut to the King as new Auditor-General would be 
both unconstitutional and disrespectful to the King by 
involving him in the controversy. 
 
4.  (U)  Thaksin has reportedly scathingly rebuked some of 
the MPs, telling a group on May 26 that the Senate's actions 
are not the business of the lower house and that they have to 
follow the rules.  Thaksin has had tense relations with Sanoh 
Thienthong from the period of his first administration 
(2001-5), when Sanoh regularly complained that he and his 
faction were being eclipsed by a rival faction headed by 
Thaksin's sister Yaowapha Wongsawasdi and not receiving 
sufficient senior appointments in the Thaksin government. 
The complaints of ill-treatment became louder following onset 
of Thaksin's second term earlier this year and selection of 
Thaksin's new cabinet. 
 
POLITICS IN THE BACKGROUND 
 
5.  (U)  Sanoh has not attempted to conceal his unhappiness 
over what he considers the slighting treatment that he and 
his faction members and allies have received from Thaksin in 
the awarding of offices following February's election (ref. 
B).  Sanoh's Wang Nam Yen, and allied Wang Nam Yom and the 
Suchart factions, feel that they were 
"awarded" a relatively small number of cabinet posts compared 
to Yaowapha Wongsawasdi's Wang Buam Ban faction and the 
Bangkok faction headed by Agriculture Minister Sudarat 
Keyuraphun.  Sanoh's public show of support for Charuvan, a 
bureaucrat considered potentially embarrassing to Thaksin's 
government, strongly reflects factional fissures and 
jockeying for position and leverage within TRT. 
 
POTENTIAL PROBLEM FOR THAKSIN 
 
6.  (SBU)  Comment.  No one is predicting the collapse of 
Thaksin's coalition.  However, the bold move by Sanoh amidst 
the furor over the allegations of bribe-taking by politicians 
in the awarding of new airport construction contracts damages 
any show of unity the TRT hoped to present to its critics in 
academia, the press, its political opposition and the general 
public.  Sanoh is hardly the ideal champion for 
anti-corruption.  He has never enjoyed an untainted 
reputation and his public support for Charuvan, and by 
extension her campaign to uncover government malfeasance, is 
a clear shot by Sanoh across Thaksin's bows for his own 
political reasons.  It is a strong signal to the Prime 
Minister that Sanoh and his allies can cause trouble if they 
do not receive more generous treatment in the next Thaksin 
cabinet. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ARVIZU