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By Llanesca T. Panti, Reporter
A showcase of democracy best describes Thailand, the country’s
ambassador to Manila said on Wednesday in reaction to statements
from two Philippine officials who reportedly said that Thais lack
political maturity.
Kulkumut Singhara Na Ayudhaya was referring to
Senator Richard Gordon and Malacañang spokesman Anthony Golez, who
said that “Filipinos have reached a high level of political
maturity” unlike the Thais. Golez made the statement at the height
of a political turmoil in Thailand last week.
The Palace spokesman said that the unrest in
Thailand was unlikely to happen in the Philippines “because
[Filipinos] have reached a high degree of political maturity whereby
our people respect due process and the rule of law.”
Golez denied saying the Thais lack political
maturity and that his comments were taken out of context.
The Thai ambassador also scored Gordon for
making similar statements also at the height of the crisis in
Thailand.
“I would like to express my great concern over
those statements made by [Golez] and [Gordon]. Those statements were
not based on facts [and] may have some implications of hidden
agendas,” Kulkumut told a press briefing held at the Thai Embassy
in Makati City.
Thailand opposition party People’s Alliance
for Democracy (PAD) seized Thailand’s country’s two major
airports, Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang, on Tuesday and Wednesday last
week to protest then-Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat’s rule.
Their move caused the closure of the airports that left around
300,000 stranded passengers, including almost 1,000 Filipinos.
“The protest was only an indication that the
Thai people are free to exercise their political rights based on
democracy,” the ambassador said. “In fact, the protesters were
not violent and they did not destroy the two airports’
facilities.”
PAD’s followers, made up of the elite and the
middle class, stormed the airports to demand Somchai’s resignation
on allegations that he is a mere puppet of former Thai leader
Thaksin Shinawatra. Thaksin, Somchai’s brother-in-law, was removed
from power in 2006 by a military coup. He was accused of corruption
and abuse of power.
Somchai on Tuesday accepted the ruling of the
Constitutional Court in Bangkok to step down because of electoral
fraud committed by his political party. The court also barred
Somchai from politics for five years. Since then, the protesters
began leaving the airports on Tuesday night, according to the
ambassador.
He said he believes that the statements made by
Golez and Gordon are not a positive contribution to the 60-year long
diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Thailand and the
people of the two countries.
The Thai envoy cited the basic principle in the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) that member-countries
should not interfere with each other’s internal affairs, which is
also stated in the group’s charter. Asean groups Thailand, the
Philippines, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
Singapore and Vietnam.
“We [Thais] understand that the Philippines
has a very open society, but we should respect our respective
societies rather than compare them with each other,” he said,
adding that Thailand’s embassy in the Philippines has already
informed the Department of Foreign Affairs of their concern also on
Wednesday.
The envoy also assured that the Thai government
is committed to upholding the democratic system despite the
protests. The Thai parliament is set to meet on December 5 to
resolve the leadership issue in Thailand. Thailand’s two airports
are expected to resume operations on the same day.
Palace surprised
Golez denied that he said the Thais lack
political maturity. He said he is ready to talk to the Thai
ambassador to explain his statement.
During his regular press conference also
Wednesday, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said he was surprised
by the news that Thailand’s ambassador asked Golez to issue an
apology on the matter.
“I was with the Thai ambassador during the
celebration of the national day of UAE [United Arab Emirates]. He
was inviting me to the celebration of their national day so I was
surprised when this came out,” he added.
Asean summit
Thailand still wants to host the 14th Asean
Summit that was earlier postponed because of the recent political
crisis.
Kulkumut said his country remains very capable
of hosting the summit, citing Thailand’s modern facilities.
“The summit was postponed to March, but we
[Thailand] are still capable of hosting it. We have great
infrastructure and convention centers needed to host such
international meetings, even in our provinces,” the ambassador
added.
The Philippine government even saw the
postponement in a favorable light.
“A postponement would be favorable given the
present circumstances,” President Gloria Arroyo’s spokesman
Lorelei Fajardo told reporters. She did not elaborate.
The regional summit was supposed to be held in
Chiang Mai from December 15 to 18, but was reset by Thai government
spokesman Nattawut Saikaur after the Constitutional Court in Bangkok
announced its decision.
The Asean summit’s venue was originally set in
Bangkok. But as the protests escalated, the organizers moved the
venue to Chiang Mai, 700 kilometers north of the Thai capital.
Kulkumut, however, conceded that there is no
definite venue for the rescheduled summit yet.
Asean Secretary-General Dr. Surin Pitsuwan of
Thailand first gave feelers that the regional meet won’t push
through this year, saying that he is open to postponing it for
“fear of upsetting the momentum of the organization.”
The 14th Asean summit would discuss issues on
global warming, disaster relief, food security and energy security,
among others. The 12th Asean Plus Three Summit, which includes
China, Republic of Korea and Japan, would also be held
simultaneously.
RP tourism
With Thailand’s hosting of the Asean summit
still hanging, stakeholders of the Philippine tourism industry must
create an emergency plan to sell the Philippines as a major
destination in Asia despite the global economic crisis
Robert Lim Joseph, chairman emeritus of the
National Association of Independent Travel Agencies, also on
Wednesday said that the Asean meeting is critical for the
Philippines since the country can exploit that meeting to sell the
country as a prime tourist destination in the region.
Joseph said that decisive measures taken by the
Philippines would put the country’s tourism industry at least a
step ahead of other countries, especially those in Asia when the
world economy recovers.
-- With Angelo Samonte, Francis Earl A. Cueto And AFP
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