C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 BANGKOK 000409
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NSC FOR PHU
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/07/2018
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PINR, KDEM, TH
SUBJECT: NEW THAI CABINET FILLED WITH PRO-THAKSIN FIGURES
REF: BANGKOK 276 (BIO OF SAMAK)
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Classified By: Ambassador Eric G. John, reason: 1.4 (b) and (d).
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SUMMARY
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1. (C) The cabinet inaugurated on February 6 is largely made
up of figures with close ties to deposed Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra. Most of the representatives of the
People's Power Party's coalition partners are relegated to
less influential positions, even though many of them also
have had relatively recent ties to Thaksin or his Thai Rak
Thai party. The new Foreign Minister served as Thaksin's
lead lawyer and spokesman after the 2006 coup d'etat. The
Interior Minister is a former Police officer with a checkered
reputation. The Justice Minister is a veteran politician who
was one of Thaksin's Trade Representatives. Prime Minister
Samak serves concurrently as Defense Minister. Septel will
report on the new economic team. Cabinet members appear to
have been selected primarily for political loyalty, rather
than technocratic abilities, but we currently reserve
judgment on their ability to govern effectively. End
Summary.
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CABINET FILLED WITH THAKSIN ALLIES
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2. (C) The cabinet inaugurated on February 6 consists
primarily of allies of deposed Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra. People's Power Party (PPP) figures control most
of the key positions relating to Thaksin's core interests --
security and judicial processes. Prime Minister Samak
Sundaravej, the PPP Party Leader, serves concurrently as
Defense Minister. Chalerm Yoobamrung, one of the most
prominent PPP campaigners in the 2007 election, is Interior
Minister. PPP senior advisor Somphong Amornwiwat is Justice
Minister. Thaksin's spokesman and lead lawyer, Noppadol
Pattama, was appointed as Foreign Minister -- a position
highly relevant to Thaksin's interests, given that Thaksin
remains overseas. (Noppadol said publicly in recent days
that Thaksin intends to return to Thailand around May.)
Brief biographic sketches of these figures and selected
others begin in paragraph 6. Reftel offers a profile of
Samak. Septel will report on the new economic team.
3. (C) Of the 36 cabinet members (including Prime Minister
Samak), 22 are affiliated with the People's Power Party
(PPP), which portrayed itself as the sole pro-Thaksin party
in the political spectrum. Six of the cabinet members -- a
mix representing PPP and other parties -- are close family
members of former Thai Rak Thai (TRT) executives who are
currently ineligible to hold political office. One of these
six, Deputy Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, is the husband
of Thaksin's sister, Yaowapa.
4. (C) Of the 14 non-PPP cabinet members, six are relegated
to Deputy Minister positions. Seven of the 14 non-PPP
cabinet members have prior experience as TRT legislators or
cabinet members, or are close family members of former TRT
figures. While some of the former TRT-affiliated figures
have broken publicly with Thaksin in the past, the only group
of cabinet members that has a credible record of independence
from TRT is the Chart Thai block, which holds positions in
Agriculture, Transportation, Tourism, and a Deputy Prime
Ministership. (Even Chart Thai was in coalition with TRT
from 2001-2005.) Para 12 provides a complete list of cabinet
members and their positions.
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COMMENT
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5. (C) During the Thaksin era, most senior TRT politicians
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and close associates of the Prime Minister held positions on
the executive board of the ruling Thai Rak Thai party. The
Constitutional Tribunal's May 2007 dissolution of that board
-- which disenfranchised all TRT executives for five years --
left Thaksin's camp with a dearth of talent to draw upon for
this cabinet. Given the current climate, it is not
surprising that Thaksin's camp places a high premium on
loyalty, even if this results in some cabinet members lacking
a record of administrative excellence. For the moment,
however, we will reserve judgment on the cabinet's ability to
govern. End Comment.
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BIOGRAPHIC SKETCHES OF SELECT MINISTERS
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DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER SOMCHAI WONGSAWAT
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6. (C) Somchai graduated from Thammasat University's law
school in 1970 and served as a judge from 1974 until 1998,
when he became Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Justice
Ministry; he moved up to Permanent Secretary in 1999.
Regulations limiting service in top positions forced him to
move over to become Permanent Secretary of the Labor Ministry
in early 2006 -- a position he lost after the September 2006
coup d'etat. He won election to the House of Representatives
as a PPP candidate in December 2007. He is married to
Yaowapa, the sister of deposed PM Thaksin. Somchai is the
first Deputy Prime Minister, meaning that he will act as
Prime Minister in Samak's absence. He serves concurrently as
Education Minister.
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER SANAN KHACHONPRASAT
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7. (C) Major General (ret.) Sanan, born in 1935, rose up in
the ranks of the Army before entering politics. He first ran
for election (unsuccessfully) in 1979 as a Democrat Party
candidate; he won election in 1983, and chaired the House
Committee on Military Affairs. In 1986 he became a Deputy
Leader of the Democrat Party, and he began serving in a
string of cabinet positions, including Minister of
Agriculture, Minister of Industry, Minister of Interior, and
Deputy Prime Minister. In 2000, he was found guilty in
Constitutional Court proceedings of concealing assets and
falsifying reports, and he lost his right to hold political
office for a five-year period. In 2005, he played a key role
in directing the newly-formed Mahachon Party, which flopped
in elections that year. In October 2007, Sanan and his
political allies abandoned Mahachon and joined the Chart Thai
Party. He is married and has three children.
FOREIGN MINISTER NOPPADOL PATTAMA
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8. (C) Noppadol is a lawyer who holds an LL.M. degree from
London University, where he studied with the prestigious
status of a "King's Scholar." He also holds an LL.B. from
Oxford University. He has a law firm, "Noppadol and
Associates International Law Office." He entered politics in
1992, after then-Democrat Party Leader Chuan Leekpai
appointed him to work on a House Committee, even though he
did not hold a seat in the House. He won election as a
Democrat Party candidate in Bangkok in 1996, and he served as
Secretary to Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan. He failed to
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win election after 2001, and in May 2006 he quit the Democrat
Party and joined Thai Rak Thai. In June 2006 he became Vice
Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs. He
lost this position after the September 2006 coup d'etat. He
subsequently became deposed Prime Minister Thaksin's
spokesman and lead lawyer. He became Deputy Secretary
General of the People's Power Party and won election to the
House of Representatives in December 2007. He is unmarried.
INTERIOR MINISTER CHALERM YOOBAMRUNG
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9. (C) Chalerm became a Police Sergeant in 1964, after
completing his secondary education. After gradually rising
through the ranks, he became a Captain in 1976. He left the
Police in 1981, after he was charged with involvement in the
April 1981 attempted coup d'etat. In the 1990's, he received
Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Ramkhamhaeng University;
he later received a doctoral degree from Ramkhamhaeng. He
first won a seat in the House of Representatives in 1983,
when he ran as a Democrat Party candidate. In 1985, he left
the Democrat Party and formed the Muan Chon party, serving as
Party Leader. He first served in the cabinet in 1988 as
Minister attached to the Prime Minister's Office. He later
served as Deputy Education Minister, Deputy Interior
Minister, and Justice Minister. His political career was
interrupted in 1991, when he fled after the coup d'etat and
sought political asylum in Denmark. He ran unsuccessfully
for Governor of Bangkok in 2004. He won election to the
House of Representatives in 2007 as a People's Power Party
candidate. He has a reputation as an outspoken, aggressive
politician. He also is suspected of having been involved in
corrupt activities during his time as a Police officer and as
a politician.
JUSTICE MINISTER SOMPHONG AMORNWIWAT
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10. (C) Somphong, born in 1941, first won election to the
House in 1986; for most of his political career, he has
represented Chiang Mai. He served as Advisor to the Prime
Minister from 2001-2005, and then as one of four Thai Trade
Representatives (covering the Middle East, Africa, and
Europe) from 2005-2006. He studied at the Technical
University of Berlin and Curry College in Massachusetts. His
wife's family owns the Thai Amarit Brewery. He has four
children and speaks English well.
MINISTER ATTACHED TO PM'S OFFICE JAKRAPOB PENKAIR
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11. (C) Jakrapob, born in 1967, received a Bachelor's degree
in international relations from Chulalongkorn University and
a Master's degree in International Economics from Johns
Hopkins University. He began his career working for the
Charoen Pokphan conglomerate but then moved over to the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He resigned to work in media,
hosting radio and television programs. He became a
government spokesman in 2003 and later Deputy Secretary
General to the Prime Minister. Jakrapob ran unsuccessfully
for election to the House as a TRT candidate in 2005 and
2006. He was a leading figure in the pro-Thaksin United
Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) in the period
following the 2006 coup d'etat and was briefly detained
following a violent demonstration outside the residence of
Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda. He speaks English
fluently. Because of his previous work in the diplomatic
corps, he was widely rumored to be slated to become Deputy
Foreign Minister before the 2007 cabinet was formed.
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COMPLETE CABINET LIST
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12. (U) The cabinet consists of the following members (not
necessarily in ranked order):
Prime Minister and Defense Minister Samak Sundaravej
Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Somchai Wongsawat
Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Mingkhwan
Saengsuwan
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Surapong
Suebwonglee
Deputy Prime Minister Sahat Banditkul
Deputy Prime Minister Sanan Kachornprasart
Deputy Prime Minister and Industry Minister Suwit Khunkitti
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Minister of Foreign Affairs Noppadol Pattama
Minister of Justice Somphong Amornwiwat
Minister of Energy Poonpirom Liptapanlop
Minister of Labor Uraiwan Thienthong
Minister of Culture Anusorn Wongwan
Minister of Information and Communications Technology Mun
Patthanothai
Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment Anongwan
Thepsuthin
Minister of Social Development and Human Security Sutha
Chansaeng
Minister of Tourism and Sports Weerasak Kowsurat
Minister of Science and Technology Wuthipong Chaisaeng
Minister of Interior Chalerm Yoobamrung
Minister of Transportation Santi Prompat
Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives Somsak
Pritsanananthakul
Minister of Public Health Chaiya Sasomsap
Minister Attached to the PM's Office Choosak Sirinil
Minister Attached to the PM's Office Jakrapob Penkair
Deputy Minister of Interior Supol Fong-ngam
Deputy Minister of Interior Sitthichai Khowsurat
Deputy Minister of Finance Pradit Pattharaprasit
Deputy Minister of Finance Ranongrak Suwannachawee
Deputy Minister of Commerce Wirun Techapaiboon
Deputy Minister of Commerce Banyin Tangpakorn
Deputy Minister of Transportation Songsak Thongsri
Deputy Minister of Transportation Anurak Chureemas
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives Somphat
Kaewpijit
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives Theerachai
Saenkaew
Deputy Minister of Education Boonlue Prasertsopa
Deputy Minister of Education Pongsakorn Unnopporn
Deputy Minister of Public Health Chawarat Chanveerakul
JOHN