Since the three-month occupation of Government House and week-long occupation of the two main airports in Bangkok ended on 3 December 2008 following the dissolution of three parties in Thailands ruling coalition, the extent of destruction that the occupiers have caused is now becoming clear. Leaving aside the indirect damage that the invasion caused to all people and institutions in Thailand, parts of these public buildings have reportedly been completely ransacked and vandalised.
Government House has suffered the worst. Early estimates of the damage there put it at about three-quarters of a million US dollars, and the amount is likely to climb much higher. Large quantities of valuables have gone missing, including televisions, cameras and religious amulets. Many of these were personal items that staff kept at their desks. Furniture has been wantonly slashed, wallpaper ripped down and windows smashed. Four vehicles were stolen, and so far only one is known to have been recovered.
It is not only material damage. A photograph in the Bangkok Post newspaper showed a computer terminal still on the desk with the hard drive ripped out. It is not yet known how much official data may have been removed and what sort of risks may be posed from it falling into private hands, but apparently many computers, drives and documents are missing. The loss of valuable information, even if not confidential, will greatly hamper the ability of bureaucrats to perform their jobs and further inconvenience the general public as well as anyone dealing with the government machinery. Guns also have been taken from armouries and may be among the weapons used to fire upon government supporters, journalists and bystanders during various incidents in the last week.
Remarkably, the leaders of the persons responsible for all this have tried to negotiate with police that they not face prosecution. Police have, again according to news reports, not given any such guarantees and are at present proceeding with trespassing and other charges. So they must. The number of charges and number of persons against whom they are filed should steadily increase as investigators are able to further their inquiries. There is a vast amount of video, photographic and audio material already in the public arena, in addition to that which the police will have been collecting themselves, from which it will be possible to identify those primarily responsible for what has gone on in Government House in these last few months, as well as at the airports.
The occupying and ransacking of the prime ministers quarters is not merely a criminal act, but a criminal act that goes to the heart of the integrity of the state. If the state proves incapable of protecting its own resources and premises, if it is unable to prosecute persons responsible for the destruction of its own property, then what hope does it hold out to ordinary citizens seeking protection from and redress for mundane criminal acts? Failure to prosecute these persons will amount to an acknowledgement that it is not the law but sheer impunity that rules in Thailand today. And an acknowledgment of impunity is an invitation to violence and human rights abuse of the worst possible forms.
At a critical juncture for Thailand, with a dangerous period ahead in which none of the underlying political and social problems that gave rise to these raids have been resolved, it is imperative that the law-enforcement agencies perform their duties properly and effectively. The Asian Human Rights Commission urges the police to fulfil their law-enforcement role and see that the ringleaders and primary perpetrators of the destruction at Government House, as well as those responsible for any similar damage at the two airports, be fully investigated, arrested and prosecuted without delay. There must be no negotiation, nor, above all, evidence of influence and reassurances of protection from powerful persons inside or outside of the policing agency. Those responsible for these crimes have said that they have a legal fund ready for the purpose of fighting cases lodged against them. Now let them use it.
