Oh Suthep, you are all but dead meat

THIS is a classic case of many political wisdoms being learnt at once. They say that your words will come back to haunt you, that you must be careful what you say to friends or foes, because when the situation changes, which it most certainly will, you will look stupid. Considering the fact that whoever came up with this lesson must have done so before Suthep Thaugsuban was born, the Democrat power broker probably deserves the looming predicament, which could explode into a full-blown crisis.

The man is virtually finished, thanks to - surprise, surprise - the return of Rakesh Saxena. The much-publicised extradition has led to a lot of old dirt being dug up on many high-profile people, but ironically the one squirming the most must be a former hero in the Bangkok Bank of Commerce case. Although the "Group of 16" must be wishing Saxena dead, it's Suthep who should never be allowed anywhere near the suspect's cell.

Thai Post yesterday published Suthep's own words, spoken so eloquently at a censure debate 13 years ago. To say that his own statements are coming back to haunt him may be a gross understatement. In today's context, they are dynamite that can blow him away.

One may argue that politicians marry, divorce and re-marry all the time, so Suthep should not be overly concerned about what he said more than a decade ago. Problem is, in most cases, the past rarely interferes with the present. With Saxena back and all the BBC-related cases reopened, where does Suthep - not just a government politician but also a political office holder who is supposed to be a leading example in upholding the law - stand?

That is the question he will hear at the next censure debate against him from the Pheu Thai Party, where champagne must be flowing right now. And it will be the easiest and most formidable of all grillings; all the opposition needs to do is let Suthep's words speak for themselves. Here are the excerpts:

"… A disaster is happening to our monetary, financial and overall economic systems and it will cause great damage to all the innocent people. It will first affect a financial institution, which may crumble in a day or two. It's happening to a bank trusted with the savings of millions of families.

"… Bt132 billion has been entrusted to this particular bank, some of it by children, students and farmers. Some are small merchants while others are big entrepreneurs. Their money will be endangered if the bank collapses. Some people may not get all their savings back. The financial system will be damaged, and I'm not sure how many more banks or finance firms will be affected. What I do know is, it will surely affect the Bank of Thailand, which all Thai people have their faith in.

"... We are facing this disaster because some Cabinet members have colluded with executives of the Bangkok Bank of Commerce to embezzle depositors' money with big fanfare. They are Cabinet members in the Group of 16 led by Deputy Interior Minister Suchart Tancharoen and Deputy Finance Minister Newin Chidchob, although some of them were not included for censure.

"... The Group of 16 Cabinet members stole shareholders' and depositors' money for personal use and to make personal profits among themselves and relatives. They have been doing this systematically for years. Some of the money was used to buy votes in order to win elections so they can keep the fraud going. Other parts of the money were transferred overseas.

"... The first three persons I would like to mention are Krirkkiat Jalichandra, BBC president, Ekachai Athikomnantha, BBC senior executive who is now an adviser to Newin, and Rakesh Saxena, the bank's financial adviser. These are the people who were involved in various means of embezzlement, in collaboration with Thai and foreign businessmen.

"... How did they do it? They set up companies in Thailand and abroad, and used the companies' names to borrow from the BBC. The loans were used to scoop up land in Thailand, often cheaply at Bt1,000 or Bt2,000 per rai. Then they used their political power to issue ownership documents for the land, and used the upgraded land to get more loans. That's how they got enormous cash to launch businesses until damage is done to the country.

"The mortgage money was used to take over firms with poor financial health in the stock market. Although everyone else knew the money was being used to buy rotten or worthless stocks, they told the BBC they were seeking loans to finance turnaround missions for those companies. ... Bt39 billion was loaned, and Bt24 billion of that became NPL.

"... In a Bank of Thailand report dated February 12, 1996, the loans to the 'Group of 16 politicians' was mentioned. It was the first time the BOT ever directly mentioned the Group of 16 in its reports. It was stated clearly that politicians from the Group of 16 took a total of Bt7.8 billion from the BBC. The report divided the politicians into three main groups - the Tancharoen group, the Harnsawat group and the Chidchob group.

"... Suchart was involved with Bt4 billion in loans, all approved by the president, although he didn't have enough authority and the land used in the mortgages was all problematic. For example, one company used Nor Sor 3 title deeds of 23,787 rai of land in Nong Khai to borrow Bt867 million, which according to the BOT over-evaluated the land's price by 10 times.

"... The BOT report said Suchart owned 55 per cent of shares in that company, which had registered capital of only Bt11 million and whose other shareholders bore the surnames 'Tancharoen'.

"... Newin also lied to the public by saying he never borrowed from the BBC. The BOT document caught him lying to the Thai people, and now I have the right to doubt everything he says.

"... The Group of 16 had planned this for a long time. They planned how to build their political faction to serve the ultimate purpose. They planned who should be where [if they got a chance to be in the Cabinet]. This one had to be at the Interior Ministry to take care of land ownership documents. That one must be at the Finance Ministry to get inside information. This one would ensure there won't be registration hiccups at the Commerce Ministry.

"... I have to admire Newin. It took me three or four months to trace this strategy. But I'm not surprised, because when he was in a parliamentary committee to investigate a stock manipulation scandal, he was so outstanding in his inquiry, which made me think he must have used the knowledge gained then to his own benefit now. And this is way better than the stock manipulation in the past. ..."

The above is just a part of what Suthep said at that censure debate, which all but neutralised the Group of 16. So much has happened in Thailand since that day, including the ups and downs of Newin, the ups and downs of Suthep, the emergence of Thaksin Shinawatra, the downfall of Thaksin Shinawatra and, last but not least, the return of Rakesh Saxena.