Thais burn effigy of Singapore minister

The Straits Times, January 30, 2007

By Nirmal Ghosh, THAILAND CORRESPONDENT


BANGKOK - SOME 200 Thais yesterday burned an effigy of a Singapore leader outside the Republic's Embassy here in yet another protest following a diplomatic spat between the two countries. The protesters said they belonged to several groups, including Ramkhamhaeng University and the Alliance for North-eastern People.

Mr Sathorn Sinpru, the deputy leader of the Alliance for North-eastern People, said they were protesting against the meeting between deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and a Singapore Government official. He was referring to a meeting between Mr Thaksin and the Republic's Deputy Prime Minister S. Jayakumar earlier this month in Singapore.

The effigy burnt, however, was said to be that of Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng. It was not clear why his effigy was chosen.

The Alliance of North-eastern People is believed to be an offshoot of the People's Alliance for Democracy, which through street protests last year had demanded that Mr Thaksin be ousted for corruption, conflicts of interest and disrespecting Thailand's revered and popular King.

Yesterday's protest was the fourth in about 10 days since the meeting between Mr Thaksin and Professor Jayakumar.

Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as top officials have maintained that the meeting was not official but was a private one between old friends. But the Thais saw it as giving recognition to a disgraced leader.

Singapore's image is also coloured by the fact that a year ago, Temasek Holdings bought the Shinawatra family's 49 per cent stake in Shin Corp. Shin Corp's holdings include Advanced Info Service, Thailand's market leader in mobile phone services, the satellite network Shinsat and television company iTV.

Many Thais saw the transaction as having placed strategic national assets in the hands of foreigners while Mr Thaksin's family walked away with US$1.9 billion (S$2.9 billion) tax-free under Thai law. The deal resulted in anti-Thaksin protests as well as anti-Singapore protests in Bangkok last March and April.