The junta head has said the military operation against the red-shirt protesters in 2010 was legally justified, denying allegations that he favoured the Democrat Party over Pheu Thai.
On Monday, 25 April 2016, Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, the junta head and PM, said that the coup d’état in 2014 was inevitable since the country was in a political deadlock and the civil government lacked the capacity to solve the problem. Therefore, the military was the only one at that time who could break through the deadlock, VoiceTV reported.
VoiceTV also reported that, in response to criticism that military has a double standard favouring the Democrat government over Pheu Thai, Prayut said the contexts were different. The crackdown in 2010 was justified by law while the political situation in 2014 was a confrontation between two masses.
“In 2010, we actually didn’t want to crack down [on the red shirts]. We love our soldiers as our own children but there was a legal order so we had to obey,” Prayut said. “But the circumstances in 2014 were different. As you could see, there was a confrontation between two sides. I’m not taking any side. I just want to ask you which side violated the law the most. So don’t say that I have a double standard.”
In 2010, the Democrat Party, as the government of the day, ordered the military to crack down on the red-shirt protests in Bangkok. The crackdown led to the loss of almost a hundred lives. Abhisit Vejjajiva and Suthep Thaugsuban, the PM and Deputy Prime Minister respectively at that time, were charged because they ordered the crackdown. However, the Court of Appeal dismissed the charge. The case is currently before the Supreme Court.
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