via CAAI
Published: 9/01/2011
The Magnificent Seven isn't just a cowboy movie starring Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen, it's also a Thai soap opera. Follow me as I take you into this comical melodrama.
The goal is to rouse nationalistic fervour, have more people flock to the yellow banner and, at the very least, keep the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) movement, and hence the New Politics Party, ''in the game''.
Being in the game means being in the news, and at present, the magnificent (but directionless) seven are making all the headlines - yes, including the one for this article.
On Dec 29, seven Thais were detained for allegedly illegally entering Cambodian soil.
Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya has said GPS satellite images show the seven venturing 55m into Cambodian territory. The deputy prime minister in charge of national security, Suthep Thaugsuban, said they did indeed cross into Cambodia territory, albeit unintentionally. First Army commander Udomdej Seetabutr said he believes the seven were on Cambodian soil, but just didn't realise it.
An ''oops, my bad'' scenario, if you will.
Sanit Naksuksri, the governor of Sa Kaeo province, said the seven knowingly and intentionally entered Cambodian territory. The governor revealed that Thai border patrol officers warned the seven that they were about to enter Cambodian territory and should turn back. But they ignored the caution and went right in.
According to reports, evidence from a video clip released last week shows they knew where the border lay and crossed it on purpose. In the clip, former vice-minister of foreign affairs and Democrat MP Panich Vikitsreth told an associate over the phone that he was crossing the border and that only the prime minister should know.
To date, however, the prime minister has yet to make it clear what he actually knows and what he doesn't know.
There are, of course, those who insist the video clip has been dubiously edited.
The PAD and the Thai Patriot Network (which insists it has no ties with the PAD) claim the seven did not enter Cambodia illegally.
Now that we have set up the plot, let's look at the characters.
Heading the group of seven was Veera Somkwamkid. It must be said that he has insisted he's no longer with the PAD, even if critics believe that he remains one of its leaders. On Sept 19, 2009, Mr Veera led 4,000 yellow shirts to Preah Vihear temple and made a boisterous speech attacking Cambodia and demanding the return of what he called ''Thai territories''.
In August of last year, Mr Veera crossed the border into Chokechai village inside Cambodia. He and two others were arrested by Cambodian authorities. Two days later, the Thai government negotiated their release. Following the August incident, Mr Veera made a pledge and signed an agreement stating he would never illegally enter Cambodia again.
Mr Veera has long been a bombastic voice in demanding the return of what he calls Thai territories from Cambodia. His warlike rhetoric and agitating actions have caused Cambodian authorities to keep an eye on him.
We also have Democrat MP Panich, a little-known politician with a lot of ambitions, whose family is of the upper crust. His autobiography was published in November.
The public didn't really know who he was then. Consequently, the sales of his tome weren't close to those of Twilight or the Harry Potter series. But if you walk into a bookstore today, MP Panich's autobiography gets more love on the display shelf than Twilight's hunky vampire Edward Cullen.
As for the rest of the magnificent (but directionless) seven? They were either PAD supporters or part of an ASTV camera crew. But to surmise that a member of an ASTV camera crew could also be a PAD supporter wouldn't stretch the imagination too far would it? After all, the owner of ASTV is the father of the PAD movement, Sondhi Limthongkul.
The plot twist is this: What is a Democrat MP and member of the government doing entering Cambodia -intentionally or otherwise - with a known ''border crosser''?
According to Mr Panich, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva sent him to check out the disputed border area. This begs the question: Why didn't this member of the government carry out the directive from the prime minister in an official capacity? He could have travelled to the border with Foreign Ministry officials, their trip coordinated and accompanied by local officials from Sa Kaeo province, guarded by the army.
Why did he instead ignore the border patrol's caution and sneak around with a known ''border crosser'' with a political agenda, who has on at least one prior occasion illegally crossed the border and been arrested by Cambodian authorities, causing an international incident?
Members of parliament aren't international super spies, nor should they behave like them - leave that to Daniel Craig.
No one knows how much the prime minister actually knew. No one is sure if Mr Panich knew what he was doing. Did he want to gain fame, but unwittingly got in too deep? Or was he willing to go deep?
The most simple, and popular, explanation seems to be that both were duped by Mr Veera and the PAD - which is nothing new.
If Mr Veera and some yellow shirts were again arrested by Cambodian authorities for trespassing onto their soil, it wouldn't be such a big deal. The Thai Patriot Network and the PAD would huff and puff, but that's like elevator music - annoying at first, but you learn to tune it out. However, having a member of the government, a Democrat MP, in tow - this changes the game. The government of Thailand then becomes directly involved, complicit one might say.
The plot then leads up to Jan 25, when the PAD will organise its big rally - and it has to be big, otherwise it'll be an embarrassment. Keep whipping up that nationalist fervour, and more people will show up.
I have written it before and I'm writing it again, the only card the yellow shirts have left is that of nationalism, the border disputes with Cambodia.
Fighting corruption? Everyone flies that banner; a plain, white and empty banner though it may be. Protecting the royal institution? Everyone also flies that banner. Newin Chidchob and Bhumjaithai are all over that like white on jasmine rice, just look at the billboards around the country.
The border disputes with Cambodia are all that is left for the PAD.
This year, sooner or later, there will be a general election. In past elections, the yellow shirts' New Politics Party has come up emptier than the Constitution Court on the Democrat Party. So they have to keep playing that one card, and it seems enough people continue to be fooled by it.
Patriotism is love, nationalism is rabies. There's a fine line - please don't be fooled.
The fate of the seven Thais is in the hands of the Cambodian court system, and whether the verdict will be in favour of the yellow shirts' long-term plans remains to be seen. This soap opera's climax has yet to come.
