Thailand's former Prime Minister Suchinda Kraprayoon, who cracked down on 1992 protests, dies at 91
BANGKOK (AP) — Suchinda Kraprayoon, an army commander in Thailand who in 1992 followed the Southeast Asian nation's tradition of military strongmen assuming the reins of government, died Tuesday at age 91, the state Thai News Agency reported.
Suchinda, who served just under seven weeks as prime minister, became one of the country's most reviled politicians after the military used lethal force to quash protests alleging he took office by undemocratic means. The episode became known as 'Black May.'
The violence, during which 52 people were killed according to an official count, ended only when the country's revered monarch, then-King Bhumibol Adulyadej, summoned Suchinda and protest leader Chamlong Srimuang for a scolding on a live television broadcast.
Suchinda stepped down and exited politics, living generally out of the public eye. He was respected by fellow officers and named chairman of a major Thai telecoms company.
He began his military career by attending Chulachomklao Military Academy, Thailand's West Point, and did two study tours in the United States. He served a stint in a Thai unit supporting the U.S. war effort in Vietnam and was an assistant military attache in 1971 at the Thai Embassy in Washington.
A 1985 appointment as assistant chief of staff for operations put him on track to be appointed army commander, which he achieved in March 1990.
He then rose to become prime minister a year after leading a February 1991 coup ousting the elected government of Chatichai Choonhaven, whose ruling coalition was dubbed the 'buffet Cabinet' because its members were seen as feeding on the spoils of power.
Although Suchinda was one of four deputy leaders of the junta that took over, he was arguably more influential than its official leader, Gen. Sunthorn Kongsompong. The junta got credit for appointing qualified technocrats to serve in its interim Cabinet and for holding an election in March 1992.
Five parties that won a majority of seats nominated Narong Wongwan, a wealthy businessman and member of Parliament, to be prime minister. His nomination was withdrawn after the United States caused a controversy by saying it had refused him a visa because of suspected links to drug trafficking.
The five parties then selected Suchinda as their candidate, and he became Thailand's 19th prime minister.
A protest movement immediately took hold and grew rapidly. The confrontation escalated into violence by May 17, with running street battles, the burning of public property and troops opening fire on unarmed protesters.
When King Bhumibol on May 20 summoned Suchinda and his main critic Chamlong to tell them to end the violence, Suchinda's position became untenable. After the king signed an amnesty covering both sides in the conflict, he resigned.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
32 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Rwandan opposition leader arrested over alleged plot against authorities
KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — A prominent opposition leader in Rwanda has been arrested on charges she assisted an alleged plot to incite public unrest. Victoire Ingabire was arrested on Thursday and is being detained in the Rwandan capital of Kigali. Her team of international lawyers in a statement called her arrest 'baseless and politically motivated.' The Rwanda Investigations Bureau links Ingabire to alleged subversion after her name was mentioned in an ongoing criminal case against nine people accused of plotting to overthrow the government of President Paul Kagame. The Rwanda Investigations Bureau said it was probing her alleged role in creating a criminal gang. Ingabire appeared in court Thursday to be questioned by prosecutors who charged that she had been communicating with the nine suspects. Among the suspects is a journalist named Theoneste Nsengimana. The rest are members of the DALFA-Umurinzi group, a party led by Ingabire that is not recognized by authorities. Ingabire previously led the FDU-Inkingi group, a coalition of opposition parties that also was never permitted to register with the government. Ingabire spent 16 years in exile in the Netherlands and returned to Rwanda to launch an opposition political movement in 2010 but was imprisoned before she could contest the presidential election. She was later found guilty of conspiracy to undermine the government and denying Rwanda's 1994 genocide, charges she denied. Sentenced to 15 years, she was freed in 2018 after obtaining presidential pardon. But Kagame has since threatened Ingabire with a possible return to jail. In 2020 the president said that Ingabire should not be shocked if she is locked up again. Her lawyers say she has committed no crimes. 'This re-arrest is simply the latest step in an ongoing campaign of harassment and intimidation which the Rwandan government has been carrying out' against Ingabire, the statement from her lawyers said. Three decades after a genocide that killed an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus, Rwanda's president has won international praise for presiding over a peaceful and rapid economic recovery.
The Hill
33 minutes ago
- The Hill
Israel, Iran trade strikes as Trump weighs US military involvement
Israel and Iran traded strikes on Friday as President Trump weighs the possibility of U.S. involvement and European officials seek to revive nuclear negotiations with Tehran. Israel said it hit 60 Iranian aircrafts early Friday morning along with the headquarters of the Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research, which carries out nuclear weapons research, according to the Associated Press. Iranian media said Israel's strikes also hit the city of Rasht on the Caspian Sea early Friday. Reuters reported that at least one Iranian missile struck Beersheba, Israel's largest southern city, early Friday, ripping off the facade of at least one apartment complex and leaving a crater in a residential area. CNN reported it struck close to a tech park that houses a Microsoft office. Iran also struck near civilian sites in Haifa, injuring more than a dozen people and sending residents running for cover in a shopping mall, CNN reported. That followed an Iranian strike on Thursday that struck a hospital in Beersheba, wounding at least 80 patients and medical workers, according to Israeli officials. Israel's defense chief accused Iran of war crimes and said Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would be held accountable for the attack. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched overnight bombings in the heart of Tehran, along with the cities of Tabriz and Kermanshah, hitting 'missile storage and launch infrastructure components,' according to the AP. 'We are strengthening our air control in the region and advancing our air offensive,' Israeli military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin told reporters, according to the AP. 'We have more sites to strike in Tehran, western Iran and other places.' Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, met with Britain's foreign secretary on Thursday to discuss diplomatic efforts to end the conflict. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is slated to meet with European leaders in Geneva to discuss a new nuclear deal. Iran earlier this month rejected U.S. proposals to effectively end its nuclear program, and move enrichment facilities outside the country. The White House on Thursday released a statement from President Trump saying he would decide within two weeks on whether to join Israel's war. Israel is pressuring the U.S. to deploy it's 'bunker buster' bombs on Iran's Fordo uranium enrichment facility, which is key to its nuclear program and buried deep inside a mountain. While Trump has been publicly non-committal on resuming talks with Tehran, Araghci said Thursday the U.S. is pushing for diplomacy behind the scenes. 'It is the Americans who want talks,' he said, according to AP. 'They've sent messages several times — very serious ones — but we made it explicitly clear to them that as long as this aggression and invasion continue, there is absolutely no room for talk or diplomacy. We are engaged in legitimate self-defense, and this defense will not stop under any circumstances.' Earlier this week, Trump urged civilians to evacuate Tehran immediately, as the U.S. ordered a third U.S. Navy destroyer to the eastern portion of the Mediterranean Sea. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking near the damaged Beersheba hospital, said he trusted that Trump would 'do what's best for America.' 'I can tell you that they're already helping a lot,' he added.
Yahoo
44 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Under attack from Israel, Iran's supreme leader faces a stark choice
CAIRO (AP) — Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who crushed internal threats repeatedly during more than three decades in power, now faces his greatest challenge yet. His archenemy, Israel, has secured free rein over Iran's skies and is decimating the country's military leadership and nuclear program with its punishing air campaign. It is also threatening his life: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Khamenei 'cannot continue to exist.' The 86-year-old leader faces a choice. He could escalate Iran's retaliation against Israel and risk even heavier damage from Israeli bombardment. Or he could seek a diplomatic solution that keeps the U.S. out of the conflict, and risk having to give up the nuclear program he has put at the center of Iranian policy for years. In a video address Wednesday he sounded defiant, vowing 'the Iranian nation is not one to surrender' and warning that if the U.S. steps in, it will bring 'irreparable damage to them.' Here's what to know about Khamenei: He transformed the Islamic Republic When he rose to power in 1989, Khamenei had to overcome deep doubts about his authority as he succeeded the leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. A low-level cleric at the time, Khamenei didn't have his predecessor's religious credentials. With his thick glasses and plodding style, he didn't have his fiery charisma either. But Khamenei has ruled three times longer than the late Khomeini and has shaped Iran's Islamic Republic perhaps even more dramatically. He entrenched the system of rule by the 'mullahs," or Shiite Muslim clerics. That secured his place in the eyes of hard-liners as the unquestionable authority — below only that of God. At the same time, Khamenei built the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard into the dominant force in Iran's military and internal politics. The Guard boasts Iran's most elite military and oversees its ballistic missile program. Its international arm, the Quds Force, pieced together the 'Axis of Resistance,' the collection of pro-Iranian proxies stretching from Yemen to Lebanon that for years gave Iran considerable power across the region. Khamenei also gave the Guard a free hand to build a network of businesses allowing it to dominate Iran's economy. In return, the Guard became his loyal shock force. He fended off domestic challenges The first major threat to Khamenei's grip was the reform movement that swept into a parliament majority and the presidency soon after he became supreme leader. The movement advocated for giving greater power to elected officials – something Khamenei's hard-line supporters feared would lead to dismantling the Islamic Republic system. Khamenei stymied the reformists by rallying the clerical establishment. Unelected bodies run by the mullahs succeeded in shutting down major reforms and barring reform candidates from running in elections. The Revolutionary Guard and Iran's other security agencies crushed waves of protests that followed the failure of the reform movement. Huge nationwide protests erupted in 2009 over allegations of vote-rigging. Under the weight of sanctions, economic protests broke out in 2017 and 2019. More nationwide protests broke out in 2022 over the death of Mahsa Amini after police detained her for not wearing her mandatory headscarf properly. Hundreds were killed in crackdowns on the protests, and hundreds more arrested amid reports of detainees tortured to death or raped in prison. Still, the successive protests showed the strains in Iran's theocratic system and lay bare widespread resentment of clerical rule, corruption and economic troubles. Trying to defuse anger, authorities often eased enforcement of some of the Islamic Republic's social restrictions. He built Iran into a regional power When Khamenei took power, Iran was just emerging from its long war with Iraq that left the country battered and isolated. Over the next three decades, Khamenei turned Iran around into as assertive power wielding influence across the Middle East. One major boost was the U.S.'s 2003 ouster of Saddam Hussein, which eventually brought Iranian-allied Shiite politicians and militias to power in Iraq. Iraq provided a linchpin in Iran's Axis of Resistance, grouping Bashar Assad's Syria, Lebanon's Hezbollah, the Palestinian militant group Hamas and the Houthi rebels in Yemen. By 2015, the alliance was at its height, putting Iran on Israel's doorstep. The past two years brought a dramatic reversal Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel brought massive Israeli retaliation on the Gaza Strip. It also brought a turnaround in Israeli policy. After years of trying to fend off and tamp down Iran's allies, Israel made crushing them its goal. Hamas has been crippled, though not eliminated, even at the cost of the decimation of Gaza. Israel has similarly sidelined Hezbollah — at least for the moment — with weeks of bombardment in Lebanon last year, along with a dramatic attack with booby-trapped pagers and walkie-talkies that stunned the group. An even heavier blow to Hezbollah was the fall in December of Assad when Sunni rebels marched on the capital and removed him from power. Now, a government hostile to Iran and Hezbollah rules from Damascus. Iran's Axis of Resistance is at its lowest ebb ever. Lee Keath, The Associated Press
