THE NATIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION Commission (NACC) yesterday dismissed the charges against officials including former prime ministers Abhisit Vejjajiva and Yingluck Shinawatra for alleged mismanagement which resulted in severe flooding in 2011.

The officials – including the then-director of the Flood Relief Operations Centre Pol General Pracha Promnok and the then-Bangkok governor Sukhumbhand Boripat – were found not guilty of malfeasance.

Abhisit had been accused of misconduct for having kept a huge amount of water in the Bhumibol and Sirikit Dams and failing to unload it. It was said that the action consequently resulted in the heavy flooding that hit many provinces in the northern and central parts of the country, including Bangkok.

The NACC ruled Abhisit was not guilty, saying that as prime minister he had no part in determining the water storage in the dams, which was the responsibility of the panel monitoring and analysing the water situation.

In addition, earlier that year the water level in the dams had been well below the minimum amount held by any other dam, the NACC said.

This implied that the officials had been prepared for the impact of tropical storms that would bring heavy rains and increase the water in the dams.

After an investigation, the NACC also cleared the panel monitoring the water situation, saying they had not been derelict or malfeasant.

Yingluck, who took office in August after Abhisit, was accused of dereliction of duty for allegedly failing to divert the water in the dams to the east and west of the country, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction Plan, and which resulted in severe flooding.

The NACC ruled she was not guilty.

It said that the disaster risk reduction plan gave only broad management guidelines in tackling flood situations. It had no specifications on water diversion, it explained. The diversion of water from the north had to strictly take into consideration the immediate situation, it added.

The NACC found that the officials had dealt with the situation accordingly, and even if the water had been diverted to the east and west, it still would not have alleviated the issue.

Pracha, as director of the Flood Relief Operations Centre, had been accused of malfeasance for failing to notify the public about the flood.

The NACC, however, found that Pracha had ordered that several panels be set up to notify people as well as provide aid for flood victims, including setting up a 24-hour hotline before and after the flood. Therefore, the agency ruled, he was not negligent.

Former Bangkok governor Sukhumbhand, who was accused of mismanagement and causing the floods in Bangkok’s perimeter, was also cleared.

The NACC ruled his actions were in line with the policy passed down from the Flood Relief Operations Centre.

The statements said the institute’s executive committee had examined facts with the involved parties and concluded that the found facts are far different from the allegation disseminated both online and in the media. The allegations are damaging the institute’s integrity, as the organisation is committed to preserving truth via its news agency, Isra.

The executives and the staff stated that they firmly have trust in the director’s integrity and are ready to support him in every way, including legal means, against those damaging their reputations, if necessary.

The group alleged that the incident is a result of the institute’s investigative reporting that may have stirred dissatisfaction from targetted parties on target. They did not elaborate.

They also called on the public to lend support to the institute and its director, Prasong Lertratanawisute.

Asean countries tend to view the centuries-long conflict in the context of religion. While non-Muslim majority countries, including neighbouring Thailand, stand firm on a non-interference principle, Muslim majority states tend to push for more pressure on Myanmar, although little action has materialised.

Countries might want to save face on the issue, because if they speak out loudly about the Rohingya issue, their own domestic humanitarian issues could be also be criticised, said Sunet Chutintharanon, dean of Chulalongkorn University’s graduate school, said at the seminar on Wednesday.

As a result, initiating action collectively under Asean would not only protect individual countries but also help to recognise the issue as humanitarian in nature, rather than religious or ethnic.

“This should be regarded as a universal issue. Assaults and cleansing operations are wrongful, regardless of religion,” he said. “Opening a regional platform should encourage safe cooperation for stakeholders.”

Naruemol Thapchumpol, director of Asian Research Center for Migration, said more of a spotlight should be placed on moderate groups and civil societies to help tone down the tensions at an individual level.

While even pro-democracy groups in Myanmar still refuse to mention the name “Rohingya”, their less hardline approach encourages dialogue, which could help promote peaceful methods of dealing with Rohingya people, Naruemol said.

Most groups in Myanmar refer to the minority as “Bengali”, a pejorative term that suggests they are not citizens of the country.

Authorities should also have their voices heard regarding the crisis, which each day gains greater prominence in the international spotlight, while remaining careful that Asean stakeholders do not lose face, which could have further ramifications, she said.

The panel, held at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University, discussed the mass migration of Rohingya out of Rakhin state, as violence involving the Myanmar military and the insurgent Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army has raged since August 25.

More than 1,00 people have been killed, according to a United Nations report, with more than 2,600 houses reported to have been burned down.

While the international community has slammed Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi for not taking sufficient action or even recognising the Rohingya ethnic group, Naruemol said her National League for Democracy (NLD)-led government had limited power to act.

“Suu Kyi’s government doesn’t have parliamentary supremacy and can do little to nothing on interior, defence and border control issues,” she said. “All the NLD has is civilian support in a Buddhist-dominated nation, where the anti-Muslim movement leader Ashin Wirathu has been influential.”

Rohingya have been regarded by generations of Myanmar governments as having inhabited Myanmar only since the First Anglo-Burmese War in 1824, which by law renders them as non-citizens.

THE UNITED Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) will lodge a petition with the Office of the Attorney-General next week, asking the agency to instruct the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to revive its investigation into the 2010 crackdown on red-shirt protesters.

The Supreme Court two weeks ago dismissed murder charges filed by the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) against former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his deputy Suthep Thaugsuban.

The dismissal cited a legal technicality that the cases had to be brought to the court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders by the NACC.

The NACC had dismissed the case in 2015, saying there were illegal armed forces in some areas, suggesting that the killings were murder cases that should be dealt with by a criminal court.

Nattawut Saikua, UDD co-leader, said the verdict suggested that the case could still be brought to the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders.

The Office of the Attorney-General and the NACC would be obliged to follow the verdict, by bringing the case to the right court, he said.

If the NACC required new evidence, the agency had to consider the fact that the Supreme Court had said the killings were the result of a military operation to disperse demonstrators following the instructions of Abhisit and Suthep, as well as the case files of the autopsy, Nattawut said.

He said the agency should charge Abhisit and Suthep immediately for malfeasance, following the court’s remarks.

If the NACC agreed to charge the two men, the red-shirts also called for the Office of the Attorney-General to add it to the murder charges already filed and bring them to the political office holders’ court.

The UDD representatives also threatened to take action against the NACC and the Office of the Attorney-General if they failed to react to the verdict.

They said they would gather one million signatures to call for authorities to investigate the two agencies.

If that did not work, the red-shirts said their lawyers would

gather evidence and sue operational officers involved in the crackdown, following the NACC’s previous ruling that these people could be guilty if their actions were found to be disproportionate.

The UDD also said they would collect evidence and show it to the press, both from Thailand and abroad, to expose the difference between the judgements of the NACC in the cases related to the dispersal of red-shirt and yellow-shirt demonstrators.

They would also hold an academic forum on the rule of law to help create a reconciliation atmosphere in line with the remarks of the King regarding |justice.

The two laws are among the four needed for the coming election promised by the junta for 2018. The Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) is tasked to draft 10 organic laws as required by the new charter. They have completed the first two laws needed for the election – one governing the Electoral Commission (EC), and the other governing political parties. The EC law has just been published in the Royal Gazette this week, making it the first put into effect.

This month, the CDC would expedite drafting its anti-corruption law, before working on the remaining two election laws, Meechai said.

The CDC has 240 days to implement all laws since the promulgation of the new charter this past April. Meechai said that it would finish its work in time.

Last month, the government set up 11 reform committees as stipulated in the national reform bill. The committees are charged with making recommendations for reforms to be included in the 20-year national strategy. A draft of the national strategy is expected to soon emerge from the national strategy committee.

That process is running in parallel to other government guided reform efforts, including a reform committee chaired by the premier under the super committee, which oversees national administration, reforms, strategy and reconciliation building.

Though multiple bodies are developing lists of reform proposals, Wissanu said that their work would not be redundant, because the Cabinet will eventually work through the recommendations and make final decisions about which reforms to implement and how that would be done.

The Cabinet would also finalize police reforms. Still being debated is how authority should be distributed among police bureaus, he added.

Nattawut Saikua, a key leader of the group, said he could understand the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO)’s concern, but the press conference was an exercise of citizen rights.

The UDD, however, had no opposition to officers observing the event, he said.

He had always given cooperation to the NCPO, Nattawut said. Every time he had said an event would not be political, he kept his word, he said.

Meanwhile, Army Chief General Chalermchai Sitthisat said on Thursday that the event could be allowed if it did not involve politics.

Another UDD leader, Tida Thavornseth, told The Nation that the group insists on holding the news conference. It had not been contacted directly by the NCPO to stop it, she added.

As of press time Tida said she had not seen any officers around the venue, Imperial World Lat Phrao. But she believed they would come in plainclothes as usual.

The note came after the NCPO on Wednesday warned the activity could be banned if it were deemed to be political. The country remained under a ban on political gatherings for the sake of peace and order, an NCPO spokesman said.

The UDD would explain at the news conference how it would redeem justice for those killed in the bloody crackdown in 2010, said Nattawut. The group would not implicate anyone or be provocative to cause disorder, he said.

On the contrary, the red-shirt leader said the press conference would be an opportunity to create understanding as well as reduce the pressure building among some of the people interested in the issue, as it showed there were still legal channels for them to find justice.

The response to the 2010 crackdown would be left to judicial proceedings, Nattawut said.

There would be no movement activity, he said. Signature gathering would be kicked off after the election, he added, referring to the group’s threat to remove the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) if the agency failed to take the case forward. The NACC has authority to investigate and bring the accused to court.

Nattawut stressed that justice was valued by people throughout the nation, and said he believed involved agencies would understand.

The yellow-shirts were recently allowed to exercise their right to meet and hold a press conference after the case related to the crackdown on its supporters was dismissed, Nattawut said.

He was not asking for more than was deserved, the red-shirt leader said, but only hoped that he would not be restricted when he did everything according the law.

Meanwhile, Army Chief General Chalermchai Sitthisat said on Thursday that the event could be allowed if it did not involve politics.

Another UDD leader, Tida Thavornseth, told The Nation that the group insists on holding the news conference. It had not been contacted directly by the NCPO to stop it, she added.

As of press time Tida said she had not seen any officers around the venue, Imperial World Lat Phrao. But she believed they would come in plainclothes as usual.

The NACC meeting yesterday decided that the former premier had done her best in following state procedures provided, and there was not sufficient evidence to prove that she was negligent in her duty at the time.

The flooding, Pol General Watcharapol added, was the result of natural disasters, as there were several storms smashing the country during the period, and the NACC concluded that nobody should be held responsible.

As such, it concluded that Yingluck was not guilty of being dereliction as alleged.

File photo: Yingluck in 2011

The ongoing investigation stemmed from complaints filed with the previous NACC against the governments of Yingluck and Abhisit Vejjajiva, both of whom were accused of mismanaging water supplies and causing disastrous floods.

Abhisit’s Democrat government preceded Yingluck’s Pheu Thai administration.

The disastrous flooding in 2011 was blamed on alleged mismanagement of the country’s water supplies at different dams. Critics said the dams were holding too much water at a time when the country was hit by a series of rainstorms.

The flooding lasted more than five months and affected 65 of the country’s 77 provinces, including Bangkok. It left more than 800 people dead and damaged property worth more than Bt1.4 trillion.

Watcharapol did not yet reveal the NACC’s conclusions in the accusations against the Abhisit government.

File photo: Bangkok flooding in 2011

File photo: Bangkok flooding in 2011

THE ANTI-MONEY Laundering Organisation (AMLO) has filed a complaint with the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) against Panthongtae Shinawatra, son of ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, in a money-laundering case connected with the multi-billion-baht loan fraud linked to the state-owned Krungthai Bank.

Pol General Chaiya Siriamphunkul, AMLO secretary-general, said AMLO officials had agreed to take legal action against Panthongtae, who allegedly received a Bt10-million cheque from Wichai Krisadathanont of the real estate firm Krisada Mahanakorn Group.

The money-laundering charge is also connected to an earlier corruption case in which Thaksin was accused of abusing his power while in office by ordering Krungthai Bank’s top executives to extend a Bt9.9-billion loan to the real estate group based on highly inflated collateral.

Earlier, Viroj Nualkhae and Suchai Chaovisit, former top executives of Krungthai Bank, were sentenced to 18-year jail terms by the Supreme Court for their roles in extending massive loans to companies affiliated with Krisada Mahanakorn Group.

The AMLO chief said his agency had already forwarded documents and evidence, including those related to Panthongtae and other people’s financial records, to the DSI for further action.

A former deputy DSI chief previously said he had been recently transferred to an inactive post at the Prime Minister’s Office after refusing to file money-laundering charges against Panthongtae due to insufficient evidence.

Panthongtae also wrote on Facebook last week that there was a government witch hunt in the case against him, in which he said there were more than 300 financial transactions involving many people and organisations that had not been investigated. Regarding the Bt10-million cheque, he said the amount was “tiny”, representing only a 0.1 per cent of the entire amount at issue, and that he had already returned the money.

At this stage, the AMLO chief said it was the duty of the DSI to pursue the money-laundering case against Panthongtae.

Regarding the Yingluck government’s fake government-to-government rice export deals, AMLO had already seized more than Bt13 billion worth of assets from convicted suspects, Chaiya said. Former commerce minister Boonsong Teriyapirom and ex-deputy commerce minister Phumi Saraphol were recently sentenced to lengthy jail terms in the case for incurring multi-billion-baht damages to the state by approving bogus deals.

He said the case had a 10-year statute of limitations so authorities were empowered to seize more assets if they were found to be owned by convicted suspects.

Chaiya also referred to another case in which a group of suspects alleged operated “zero dollar” tour programmes for Chinese tourists wanting to visit Thailand by offering unusually low-priced packages.

The visitors then were allegedly lured into buying expensive items and services while on holiday.

Chaiya said the civil case against suspects was separate from their recent acquittal by the Criminal Court, since the case could be reviewed by the Appeals and Supreme courts.

The suspects’ assets have already been seized by AMLO based on the anti-money laundering law.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam told a seminar on international standards on preventing and suppressing money-laundering activities that a tough anti-money laundering law was a necessary tool to combat illegal activities.

He also cautioned that excessive powers could corrupt authorities so there should be a fine balance on the issue.