General Surayud Chulanont: A man and his contradictions

Kevin Hewison [Carolina Asia Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill]

When General Surayud Chulanont, a soldier for four decades, was appointed prime minister (PM), the Thai and the world"s media reported that Thailand"s military junta had picked the right man. He is described as professional, incorruptible, modern, modest and apolitical; in short, just the person the country needs following the coup. This fine image, polished by a recent stint in the Buddhist monkhood, is bolstered by General Surayud"s service as one the King"s trusted advisers.

The international media did note the irony in this description - the professional soldier who is claimed to be uninterested in political office is now the junta"s selected premier. Incongruous, perhaps, but then General Surayud"s life has been full of apparent contradictions. The best known amongst these, and a defining event in his life, is the fact that he and his father were on different sides in Thailand"s anti-communist war. Waged by a succession of military-dominated governments, this two decade struggle found Surayud as an army field officer while his father was a leader of the Communist Party of Thailand.

Following his anti-communist service, Surayud apparently operated with clandestine forces in Cambodia from 1969 to 1972. His knowledge of Cambodia was useful when he commanded forces on the Cambodian border. At the time, Thailand provided strong support for the murderous remnants of Pol Pot"s forces. Surayud"s command was apparently deeply involved with training and supplying the Khmer Rouge. Operations on the Cambodian border were one of the main sources of the huge and illicit funds that flowed to all levels of the Thai army that controlled the border. The Thai army operated in a sea of corruption supporting the murderous Khmer Rouge.

Another remarkable contradiction is seen in the bloody crackdown on civilian demonstrators in May 1992. Surayud was then commander of the army"s Special Forces. Men under his command were involved in vicious attacks on peaceful demonstrators, shooting, kicking and beating them. On this black day, about 50 people were killed, many went missing and more than 100 were injured. Surayud later denied that he gave any orders for his troops to shoot and expressed public regret over the events. He also claimed that the May 1992 episode made him realize that coups were futile.

In 1997, apparently about to retire, then PM Chuan Leekpai made General Surayud army commander. In this position, General Surayud gained a reputation for cracking down on mafia-like criminal activities within the army, for promoting modernization of the armed forces and for beginning the development of a military professionalism that was supposed

to end coups. At the same time, he worked hard to restore the status that the military lost

in 1992.

When Thaksin Shinawatra was elected in 2001, he inherited General Surayud. The two soon clashed over government policy on Burma. Thaksin, always eager to advance his business interests, was keen to deal with the Burmese. General Surayud was apparently less enthusiastic. The irony is that it was well-known that Thailand"s military establishment had long operated businesses with the Burmese generals and controlled much of the illicit trade between the two countries.

General Surayud was eventually kicked upstairs to be supreme commander following a public spat with the PM. In June 2002, a Burmese military action against ethnic rebels spilled over the border into Thailand. Thaksin criticized the Thai army for reacting too strongly. Surayud rejected this criticism and defended the army. Word of an imminent coup spread and Thaksin confronted General Surayud, who responded that the military would never stage a coup.

When he retired, General Surayud was quickly brought into the Privy Council, the King"s handpicked advisory body, chaired by General Prem Tinsulanond. In this position, early in 2006, another of General Surayud"s contradictory positions emerged. While it is always said that the King is above politics, and while General Surayud is reported to be apolitical, he became deeply enmeshed in the political battles that led to the coup.

As Bangkok"s street demonstrations against Thaksin grew, the People"s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) called for the King to throw Thaksin out and appoint his own man as prime minister. General Surayud"s name was floated as a potential PM. The King rejected the PAD call. At the same time, however, the palace then embarked on a very public campaign against Thaksin. While General Surayud wasn"t as outspoken or as active in this campaign as General Prem, he supported his colleague, made some critical speeches and added to the impression that the palace wanted Thaksin out. General Surayud, along with coup leader General Sonthi, were participants in a highly publicized event where General Prem reminded military officers that their loyalty was to the King rather than to the government.

The three generals are all good friends. Surayud served as a close aide to General Prem when he was PM. General Surayud was Sonthi"s commander when the two were with the Special Warfare Unit in Lopburi province. Interestingly, it was this unit that was linked to an alleged plot to assassinate Thaksin in late August, and it was the troops from Lopburi who played a major role on the night of the coup.

General Surayud has been strong in his support of the coup, arguing that it was necessary to avoid further conflict. This leads to the most recent and all too obvious contradiction in General Surayud"s career. The apolitical military professional is now a very political military-appointed and palace approved PM. General Surayud"s appointment makes it nearly impossible to distinguish the "civilian" government from the military and palace power base that joined forces to take over the country.

For the Thai audience, the military junta is banking on General Surayud"s carefully crafted reputation for incorruptibility, along with his connections to the military, the palace and General Prem to gain support for the coup. It is the palace connection that is critical. As a Democrat Party politician commented, "The most important qualification of General Surayud is he is so trusted by His Majesty the King…".

The coup-makers realize that General Surayud is not well-known to an international audience. To burnish the new PM"s image and to promote the military-dominated government, teams of academics and PAD leaders, all of them eloquent supporters of the coup, are being dispatched to the US and UK. They will meet the international press, overseas Thais and various academic audiences in an effort to convince them that the coup was good for Thailand and that General Surayud leads a civilian government. Their task has been bolstered by the US"s quick recognition of the new prime minister.

Ambassador Ralph Boyce"s visit to General Surayud on his first day in office was highly symbolic. The US joins China as the first governments to unofficially anoint the military dominated government.

The appointment of the "civilian" Surayud, dressed in his ceremonial uniform and surrounded by the military coup-makers, as Thailand"s 24th prime minister indicates another set of contradictions in General Surayud"s career. The "democrat" has been appointed by a military junta. The "professional soldier" assists the repositioning of the military back on political centre-stage. The General, with no previous experience in government, must now set Thailand back on the road to democratization. This is going to be a daunting task for a man schooled in and supported by Thailand"s most hierarchical and conservative organisations.