‘Soldiers, don’t sit still. Come out and seize power. PAD supporters across the country will join the soldiers to seize Thailand back from those scoundrels,’ said Sondhi Limthongkul in a broadcast programme on ASTV on 20 Jan.
Sondhi phoned in from China while other PAD co-leaders were present at the TV station at Tha Phra Athit for the show, which was meant to mark Chinese New Year.
He dismissed a rumour that he had received money from Thaksin Shinawatra, saying that his actions and ASTV were a proof [of his innocence].
He said that he had not been sitting idle, but had been prepared every second to come out to fight. ‘The next fight will not be protests on the street. We’ll fight to seize state power, make or break. Because if it’s not make or break, our King will not survive,’ he said.
‘I was the first person to say that only soldiers would be the pillar supporting His Majesty the King. But if the soldiers cannot do so, soon we’ll have to do it ourselves. And this time we have to win a decisive victory. No more hitting the snake for the crows to eat. And we will not let those cockroaches [Democrat Party] snatch the prize,’ he said.
He said that at the end of the day only the force of the PAD would maintain the country, so the military had better hurry out to seize power and the PAD would join them.
Piphob Thongchai said that the PAD had not been weakened, and the Thaksin regime had not been strengthened, with 15 million electoral votes supporting the Yingluck government compared to the 19 million votes supporting the Thai Rak Thai government.
‘Now Thai society has grown up and can see through political games, and that makes Thaksin fumble in his game. Rallying to oust this government is no different from any other government, as the PAD only has to win,’ he said.
Piphob was confident that the PAD would definitely take action this year.
Somkiart Pongpaiboon, former Democrat Party MP, said that the fight of the Thaksin regime this time would be the last one with the aim of overthrowing the monarchy. He heard that 5,000 Vietnamese and Cambodian mercenaries had been hired to usurp the throne and change Thailand from ‘a democracy to a republic with a President as Head of State.’ The PAD must be prepared to come out whenever Article 112 or the Constitution is amended, he said.
Maj Gen Chamlong Srimuang said that there had never been a greater force than the PAD, which had rallied for ‘384 days and nights, which is considered the longest in the history of the world.’
He said that the PAD had been asked ‘when the PAD would come down from a mountain to kick dogs.’ This would depend of the strength of the PAD, but ‘we have to let the dogs bite one another to injure themselves first,’ he said.
