Thais wake up to military's hidden wealth

BANGKOK: Old soldiers never die, they just keep creating more controversy. The latest concerns former coup leader Gen. Sunthorn Kongsompong, the man who ousted the Chatichai Choonhavan government in 1991 on the grounds of excessive corruption within the Harley-riding prime minister's "buffet cabinet".

What has got people's eyebrows raised is the extent of the late supreme commander's estate, which is being fought over by his first wife and her children and his second wife, with whom he had a long and well-publicized affair before he obtained a divorce and married her. At almost Bt4 billion (about US$100 million), it is an extraordinary figure for a career military officer.

Though many military figures have become exceedingly wealthy during their careers, and are not afraid to flaunt it, seldom is the public ever made aware of their worth. In Sunthorn's case, it has come out into the open because of a lawsuit filed by his first wife to prevent his second wife from getting her hands on it. The estate includes bank deposits of about Bt2.75 billion and extensive property holdings in Europe and Bangkok.

Sunthorn took on the role of a white knight when he ousted Chatichai in that February 1991 bloodless coup, justifying his actions by saying Chatichai and his administration were blatantly corrupt and damaging the country. Few would have argued at the time, but by the same token the people have long accepted that the military, especially the Army, are behind many illegal businesses in Thailand.

The revelation about Sunthorn's wealth, therefore, raises many questions. How was he able to accumulate such massive cash reserves and a vast property bank when at the height of his career he would probably have been earning less than a million baht a year in salary, expenses and benefits. In her lawsuit, Khunying Orachorn Kongsompong stated that Sunthorn was a man of influence and barami, or someone with reserved power, which encouraged others to give him things. What things, and whether Sunthorn was expected to bestow favors in return, were not revealed.

The public has every right to be suspicious about Sunthorn's incredible wealth and how he acquired it. He was a man in an extraordinarily powerful position at the head of an organization, the military, that has a ragged reputation. Accusations of drug running, illegal gambling dens, prostitution, human trafficking, forest destruction and many other criminal activities, including hired gunmen and extortion, have all been leveled at Thailand's soldiers, and not without justification. Many even suspect that the 1991 coup was merely an excuse to allow military leaders such as generals Suchinda Kraprayoon, who himself was ousted as prime minister in a popular people's uprising, and Kaset Rojananil to extend their non-military activities.

What is most perplexing, though, is that while the Election Commission and the National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC) are cleaning up politics and the bureaucracy, nothing is being done about the military. Worse, all those people who shouted for political and bureaucratic reforms are mostly silent about rooting out the bad elements in the armed forces. Is it because they feel the military is too powerful? Is it because many of these activists now enjoy positions of influence themselves?

The very least the Thaksin government can do is to appoint a committee to look into Sunthorn's acquisition of wealth. It should not be too hard. After all, the NCCC should have a lot of details. It might be hard to get support from his Cabinet and the Parliament, however, as a number of members were investigated for corruption by Sunthorn's National Peace-Keeping Council after the 1991 coup, and their names technically have yet to be cleared.

Whether Orachorn realized the filing of her lawsuit would result in such adverse publicity is an irrelevant point. When skeletons are brought out of the closet, they should be investigated. There is more to this than meets the eye, and it remains to be seen whether the Thaksin government has the guts to meet the challenge it offers.

-- The Nation/Asia News Network