Thai Generals Back Chief in Political Tiff

This country’s army generals rallied again around their commander in chief Thursday, keeping up the pressure in a weeklong confrontation with civilian politicians.

The generals and hundreds of other officers trooped to a military auditorium here to show support for Gen. Chavalit Yongchaiyuth, the army commander. Two days earlier, they had gathered at his Bangkok home, where the general, stung by political criticism of his intentions, declared that the military will not return to “that vicious circle” of coups.

At the same time, he warned: “Whatever happens, let it happen. . . . The army must live in pride.”

The heated war of words coincided with the opening of Parliament, where opposition members Wednesday submitted a motion of no confidence in the government of Prime Minister Prem Tinsulanonda, a former army commander. Debate on the motion was scheduled to begin April 22.

Years of Mutual Distrust

The attack on Gen. Chavalit was led by former Prime Minister Kukrit Pramoj, an opponent of Thailand’s powerful military since the mid-1970s, when he headed a short-lived government reputed to have been the country’s most democratic. Underlying the rhetoric are years of mutual distrust between the military and the politicians.

Chavalit and his subordinates were angered by a remark Kukrit made at a public forum--that the army commander had been “brainwashed” by Communists. Within hours, the talk in Bangkok was that Kukrit had called Chavalit himself a Communist.

On Sunday, 300 Rangers, members of a paramilitary force founded by Chavalit, were brought in by bus from Korat in northeast Thailand to besiege Kukrit in his south Bangkok residence. After four hours of pushing on Kukrit’s gates, the unarmed Rangers left for their up-country base. Chavalit said he had no advance knowledge of their demonstration, but opposition politicians immediately decried the incident as militaristic and “ugly” and included it in their no-confidence motion.

Prem and Chavalit are close colleagues, victors in last year’s power struggle with the former army commander, Gen. Arthit Kamlang-ek. But Kukrit charged at a university seminar last week that the army boss is now the most powerful man in the country and that the prime minister has become “a sort of gentleman of leisure.” It was at the seminar that Kukrit made his remarks about Chavalit and communism.

Focus on Security Command

Kukrit retired from active politics last year, although his party is still in the government coalition. He writes an influential newspaper column and continues to be a political force, often consulted by legislators. The press calls him “the guru of Suan Plu,” his Bangkok neighborhood.

The focus of his comments about the army chief and communism was Chavalit’s recent reorganization of Thailand’s Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), which was set up to combat the Communist insurgency of the 1970s. According to Kukrit and a few others, the reorganization has created a structure that could become a “politburo” for national administration, headed by the military and outside the influence of the Cabinet and Parliament.

“Gen. Chavalit has been sort of brainwashed by some Communists who say they are no longer Communists,” the former prime minister told the university audience. “They brainwash everybody at the ISOC. That is the base of Communist infiltration.”

Several former Communist leaders are active in ISOC, and Chavalit said their advice is useful in formulating strategies to prevent a new insurgency. But, sensitive to Kukrit’s attack, he also said the military is keeping close watch on defectors from the Communist Party of Thailand who left the jungles under an amnesty program.

Denies Making Charge

Kukrit has denied that he called Chavalit a Communist. He said it is all a misunderstanding. Chavalit, who had angered the politicians earlier by saying some were little more than “trading companies” protecting their financial interests in Parliament, said Wednesday that he plans to meet with Kukrit.

Through Thursday, both sides still had their backs up, the military boiling over political attacks on their leader, particularly the accusations of Communist influence, and the politicians steaming over the military muscle-flexing.