Pressure to drop event denied; FCCT chief denies govt behind U-turn on red-shirt symposium
Marwaan Macan-Markar, president of the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand, has denied being forced by the government to withdraw permission for the red shirts to hold a symposium at the clubhouse.
"All that is BS ... I have been accused of being pro-Thaksin [Shinawatra] before," he said, laughing at the notion that he may now be regarded as pro-government.
The seminar called "Forecast 2010" had scheduled speakers like former Thai Rak Thai party deputy leader Chaturon Chaisaeng, Democratic Alliance against Dictatorship leader Weng Tojirakarn and Supavud Saicheua.
Red-shirt members were upset when an e-mail sent on Thursday from a key member of the anti-government movement to some of its comrades accused the FCCT of caving in to government pressure.
"Bad news! The FCCT board cancelled our seminar because of the inflammatory title, so they said, after their manager agreed in principle two weeks ago ... Clearly, this FCCT decision baffles me since [the red shirts] just had a programme there a month ago and it went fine. Clearly the amart [ruling elite] really got to them about us.
"The FCCT faced ... lese majeste lawsuits, so a lack of courage is what I saw here and on January 14, [Prime Minister] Abhisit [Vejjajiva] will speak at a FCCT banquet two days after the FCCT cancelled the event. This is crap. The man who made the decision is Marwaan [Macan-Markar]! Remember his name!"
"Macan-Markar said the reason the rental of a conference room was refused was because the club wanted to pour all its resources into ensuring that everything went smoothly for the premier's dinner talk on January 14.
"The board was on holiday from Christmas till its first meeting of the year on January 6, and so it just decided that the timing was not good.
"Still, we have every right to decide whether to rent it out," Macan-Markar said.
The FCCT had in the past invited red-shirt leaders to speak at some of its evening talks, he said.
A red-shirt member, who asked not to be named because she is a bureaucrat, yesterday cast doubt on Macan-Markar's explanation and blamed the FCCT for viewing the red shirts negatively while wanting to please the government.
"I'm not convinced. Do they really need that much time to prepare [for Abhisit's event]? They've changed a lot, especially Marwaan. They have done nothing for us. It's as if they're all for their own survival."
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As an FCCT member it grieves
As an FCCT member it grieves me but I have to agree with the red shirts. The excuse against them is very flimsy and appears influenced by the LM sword of Damocles.
The Abhisit talk is entitled "Return to Tradition", which covers a multitude of sins. I shan't be forking out for the privilege.
At the same time maybe I should mention that it was Thaksin who broke the particular tradition of the PM making a New Year address to the FCCT...what goes around comes around?
One issue that I have
One issue that I have unintentionally left out of the story is the fact that FCCT is currently undergoing a renovation of its clubhouse and I have checked this with my very own eyes in a visit this morning (January 13). So perhaps the place is really not available at the moment.
However, one red-shirt argued in an e-mail sent to me that the FCCT could have offer an alternative date instead.
I am aware that red-shirts had rented the venue last December and has been using FCCT as strategic venue to hold their lop-sided symposium. More permits by the FCCT could thus be interpreted by the yellow-shirts as being pro-red. Is this a factor in any decision-making process by the FCCT-Board at all?
P.S. I mistakenly failed to include my byline on the print and online version of the news item and by no mean intent to hide it.
Pravit Rojanaphruk
Not sure who accused Marwan
Not sure who accused Marwan of being pro-Thaksin, but some time ago I alleged to the FCCT that it was kissing up to Thaksin by inviting him to be guest of honor at a dinner that was finally held. Of course no serious questions were asked of Thaksin, and the fact that Thaksin had been insultingly treating the media, local and foreign, for some time before then implies that the FCCT should not have hosted him for anything, much less another forum for him to make points. In my opinion, it showed poor judgment and poor taste.
"One issue that I have
"One issue that I have unintentionally left out of the story is the fact that FCCT is currently undergoing a renovation of its clubhouse and I have checked this with my very own eyes in a visit this morning (January 13). So perhaps the place is really not available at the moment."
Actually since my first post I have visited the FCCT and would endorse Pravit's comment. Staff were really very busy there.
Surely, though, an alternative date could have been offered and maybe should have been. Whatever the situation I would like to feel certain that FCCT is open to host meetings sponsored by red or yellow.
What I would like to see is both at the same table so that we can have a healthy debate. This is the best way to progress the argument, in my opinion.