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General Surayud Chulanont (, RTGS: Surayut Chulanon) is the current Prime Minister of Thailand and head of Thailand's Interim Government. He was a former Thai military officer, Army Commander, Supreme Commander, and Privy Councilor to King Bhumibol Adulyadej. He was appointed Premier on 1 October 2006 by Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, the head of a military junta that had overthrown the elected government of Thaksin Shinawatra less than 2 weeks earlier. He is married to Chitravadi Chulanont.
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Family and education
Surayud came from a long line of military leaders. His maternal grandfather was Phraya Sri Sitthi Songkhram, a royalist leader during the failed Boworadej Rebellion. Surayud's father was Lt. Colonel Phayom Chulanont, a Royal Thai Army military officer who, as "Comrade Too Khamtan" (), became a member of the Central Committee Communist Party of Thailand and Chief of Staff of the People's Liberation Army of Thailand.
Surayud completed his early education at Saint Gabriel's College and Suankularb Wittayalai School in Bangkok. He graduated from the inaugural class of Armed Forces Preparatory Academy.
As a boy, Surayud's father left his family to go underground to join the Communists. Phayom explained his defection by citing corruption in the army and its inability to defend the powerless.
Surayud entered the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy (CRMA) and graduated from Class 12.
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Military career
Early in his army career, Surayud served in several Army divisions including a light artillery unit, a paratrooper unit. He conducted operations against the Communist Party of Thailand (CPT) while his father was a leader of the CPT. From 1972 to 1978, he was an instructor at the Special Warfare School. He was a close aide to General Prem Tinsulanonda when Prem was appointed Army Commander and later Prime Minister of Thailand. Surayud was appointed Commander of the Special Warfare Command in 1992, where he was the commanding officer of Sonthi Boonratklin.[{{th icon}} Surayud Chulanont's official resume from the Royal Thai Army website]
During Bloody May, the violent crackdown 1992 on anti-government protestors, Surayud's men were seen shooting protesters and dragging them through the bloody lobby of the Royal Hotel. He later claimed that he never gave orders for his soldiers to shoot.[IHT, Thai junta shores up role in politics, 1 October 2006] According to a later interview, "It convinced me that the army should never be involved in politics."[ In 1994, he was appointed Commander of the 2nd Army Region.]
Surayud was promoted to Army Commander in late 1998. At the time, his promotion was controversial, as Surayud had been promoted above the heads of several officers more senior to him. Surayud appointed several of his classmates from Class 12 of the CRMA to key lucrative positions. Among these were Lt Gen Sompong Maivichit, who he made head of Army controlled Channel 5 television station, replacing Gen Pang Malakul na Ayudhya, and Lt Gen Boonrod Somtap, who he promoted to a key subordinate position to replace Gen Charn Boonprasert.[The Nation, Editorial & Opinion: Surayuth guns for reforms, 18 February 1999] He also ended a policy of deporting Burmese refugees, especially ethnic Karens, back to Burma. "He's been a friend to us," said Pastor Robert Htway of the Karen Refugee Committee.
In 2003, after over 4 years as Army Commander, Surayud was promoted to the position of Supreme Commander, a loftier but less influential post, during the government of Thaksin Shinawatra. He was replaced as Army Commander by Somthad Attanan. His promotion was rumored to be the result of a conflict with the Prime Minister.
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Privy Councilor
Upon his retirement from the Army, Surayud briefly joined the Buddhist monkhood. On 14 November 2003, King Bhumibol Adulyadej appointed Surayud to his Privy Council of personal advisors. From retirement, Surayud and Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda played a key role in the promotion of General Sonthi Boonratklin to the position of Army Commander.. Indeed, Surayud was appointed as Prime Minister on 1 October 2006.
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Natural Conservationist
Surayud is chairman of the Khao Yai National Park Protection Foundation, and has led many activities to help protect the environment.
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Prime Minister of Thailand
Surayud's appointment to the Premiership was confirmed by junta leader Sonthi Boonyaratkalin on the morning of Sunday 1 October 2006. Sonthi had a formal audience with King Bhumibol Adulyadej at 4 pm that day to nominate Surayud's name to the monarch.
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Drafting of a permanent constitution and elections
The junta's 2006 Interim Constitution authorized the junta to appoint a 2,000 person Nation Assembly which would select members to become candidates for a Constitution Drafting Assembly. From the onset of his appointment as Premier, Surayud Chulanont was urged by academics to override the junta's control of the constitution drafting process. Somchai Siripreechakul, Dean of Law at Chiang Mai University, urged Surayud to call a general election as soon as possible and hand the task of drafting a charter to an elected parliament. Banjerd Singkhaneti of Thammasat University noted of the constitution drafting process, "I think it will be a mess and the next constitution will be just that."
After the coup, the military junta had originaly promised to draft a permanent charter within eight months and to hold elections in October 2007. However, the Office Minister Thirapat Serirangsan later announced that it elections might not occur until one year and five months.
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Cabinet appointments
Prem Tinsulanonda, President of the King's Privy Council, played a significant role in picking the members of Surayud's Cabinet. General Boonrawd Somtas, a former CDRMA classmate and longtime friend of Surayud, was appointed Defense Minister. former Interior Permanent Secretary Aree Wong-araya was appointed Interior Minister, former Energy Policy and Planning Office director Piyasvasti Amranand became Energy Minister, central bank governor Pridiyathorn Devakula became Finance Minister, and Bangkok Bank Chairman Kosit Panpiemras became Industry Minister. Michael Nelson of Chulalongkorn University noted that the Cabinet was dominated by bureaucrats and that "It's very strongly guided by military ideas combined with some technocrats, some people in economic areas and some former bureaucrats."
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Key policies
Key policies adopted by the Surayud government included
The planned merger of state-telecom companies TOT and CAT. The Budget Bureau criticized the move.
The indefinite delayal of the previous government's policy of converting all octane 95 gasoline sales to gasohol.
The banning of all "sexually-arousing dances" (locally called "coyote dances") during the Loy Kratong festival.
A budget deficit of 100 billion Baht for fiscal year 2007. In contrast, the government had sustained budget surpluses from 2003 to 2006.
Changing the publically-listed state-enterprise media company MCOT's policy from focusing on monetary benefits to social benefits. This included the cancellation of the popular but controversial news talkshows "Kuy Kui Khao" and "Kob Nork Kala." MCOT's stock prices dropped 5.13% to an 11-month low as a result.
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Thaksin Shinawatra
Surayud warned deposed Premier Thaksin Shinawatra several times against returning to Thailand, calling his return "a threat". During a November 2006 trip to China for the ASEAN-China Summit, Surayud refused to meet Thaksin, who was also in China at the time.
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Further reading
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