Pallop Pinmanee

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General Pallop Pinmanee (Thai: พัลลภ ปิ่นมณี) is a former Thai commando and assassin who took part in several coups, ordered the massacre of insurgents at Krue Sae Mosque, and allegedly played a role in the attempted car bomb assassination of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. As of May 2007, he was appointed the public relations advisor for the Internal Security Operations Command of Thailand.

Pallop graduated from Class 7 of the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy, the so called "Young Turks". He began his career as a commando and self-professed assassin.^[1] With his Young Turk classmates, he was involved in military coups against the governments of Seni Pramoj, Tanin Kraivixien, and the unsuccessful 1981 coup against the government of Prem Tinsulanonda. He admitted to being the mastermind behind a series of assassination attempts against General Arthit Kamlang-ek, commander of the Army under Prem. Pallop was later rehabilitated and retired from the Royal Thai Army with the rank of full general in 1996, but was later appointed deputy director-general of the Internal Security Operations Command. It was under this position that he ordered military forces to storm Krue Sae Mosque in a tense stand-off with Southern insurgents. Dozens of insurgents died in the controversial move.

Later, Pallop's driver was found driving around the residence of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in a car containing 67 kilograms of explosives. He was immediately dismissed from his position. After the Thaksin government was deposed in a military coup, the junta appointed Pallop public relations adviser of ISOC. Pallop is married to Khunying Naruedee Pinmanee.^[2] He has a son and two daughters.

Contents 1 Early life and career 2 Krue Sae mosque incident 3 Opposition to Thaksin Shinawatra 3.1 Assassination plot against Thaksin Shinawatra 4 After the 2006 coup 5 References 6 Further reading

[edit] Early life and career

Pallop was born 25 May 1936.^[3] He graduated from Class 7 of the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy. There, he developed a close personal friendship with classmate Chamlong Srimuang.^[4]

He took part in special guerrilla warfare missions in Laos from 1966-1967. In 1968, he was appointed chief of the Special Thai Ranger Army, which carried out clandestine, anti-Communist guerrilla mercenary operations for the US Central Intelligence Agency along the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos and Vietnam.^[1][5] In 1970, he was the leader of a secret seven-man Army unit that carried out extrajudicial killings. “The assignment was to kill the leaders of Communist groups all over Thailand,” he told a reporter. He assassinated "many, many" suspected Communists, he admitted.^[1] He was appointed a Senator by the military regime in 1979, and became Commander of the 19th Infantry Regiment in 1980. He also played a role in operations in the Thai-Cambodian border from 1986-1987.^[6]

Pallop has been involved in several coups.^[7] Along with other members of Class 7 of the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy (who nicknamed themselves the "Young Turks"), he helped topple the elected government of Seni Pramoj after the massacre of 6 October 1976. He also took part in the coup against the government of Tanin Kraivixien in 1977. During the Prem government, the Young Turks tried to seize power on 1 April 1981. When it became apparent that the royal family was behind Prem, the coup collapsed and Pallop went into exile in Laos to escape punishment. He was jailed in Laos for two months. Pallop later admitted that he was the mastermind behind a series of assassination attempts against General Arthit Kamlang-ek, commander of the Army under Prem.

Pallop was eventually rehabilitated and retired from the Royal Thai Army with the rank of full general in 1996, but was later appointed deputy director-general of the Internal Security Operations Command.

[edit] Krue Sae mosque incident

Pallop Pinmanee was appointed commander of the Southern Peace Enhancement Center to deal with the insurgency in southern Thailand. On 28 April 2004, more than 100 militants carried out attacks against 10 police outposts across Pattani, Yala and Songkhla provinces in southern Thailand.^[8] 32 insurgents retreated to the Krue Sae Mosque, the holiest mosque in Pattani. A seven hour stand-off ended when Pallop Pinmanee, the most senior Army commander on the scene, ordered an all out assault on the mosque. All the insurgents were killed. He later noted that "I had no choice. I was afraid that as time passed the crowd would be sympathetic to the insurgents, to the point of trying to rescue them."^[9]

It was later revealed that Pallop's order to storm the mosque contravened a direct order by Defense Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh to seek a peaceful resolution to the stand-off no matter how long it took.^[10] Pallop was immediately ordered out of the area, and later tendered his resignation as commander of the Southern Peace Enhancement Center. The forward command of the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), which Pallop headed, was also dissolved. A government investigative commission later found that the security forces had over-reacted. The Asian Centre for Human Rights questioned the independence and impartiality of the investigative commission. In 3 May 2004 during a Senate hearing, Senator Kraisak Choonhavan, noted that most of those killed at Krue Se Mosque were shot in the head and there were traces that rope had been tied around their wrists.

The incident resulted in a personal conflict between Pallop and Defense Minister Chavalit, who was also director of the ISOC.^[11] Pallop later demanded that the Defense Minister stop any involvement in the management of the southern insurgency.^[12]

[edit] Opposition to Thaksin Shinawatra

Pallop is a noted critic of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. During protests in early 2006 against Thaksin, Pallop noted that “as a real friend and former classmate from military school, I fully support Chamlong (Srimuang) in his move (to oust Thaksin).”^[13] He also threatened Thaksin with a military coup if Thaksin did not resign from the premiership.^[14]

[edit] Assassination plot against Thaksin Shinawatra

Pallop was sacked from his position of ISOC Deputy Director after Lieutenant Thawatchai Klinchana, his driver, was found driving a car containing 67 kilograms of explosives around the residence of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Metropolitan Police Bureau commissioner Lt-General Wiroj Jantharangsee noted that the explosives in the car were completely assembled, equipped with a remote unit sensor and ready to be detonated, and would have a blast radius of around one kilometre.^[15] Pol Major Kamthorn Ooycharoen, head of the police bomb-disposal squad at the scene, also noted that the bomb was live and ready for detonation.^[16] The bomb was composed of sticks of a remote control unit, M-8 military fuses, TNT, C4 plastic explosives, and nine plastic containers containing ammonium nitrate fuel oil (ANFO).^[17][18]

Pallop denied all involvement, noting that "If had wanted to do it, I would have done it more subtly...In my career, I have lead death squads. If I had wanted to kill him, the Prime Minister would not have escaped."^[19][20][21] He also claimed that "the explosives were being transported, they were not assembled to be detonated."^[22]

[edit] After the 2006 coup

A military coup overthrew the Thaksin government in 19 September 2006. The junta appointed Pallop public relations adviser of ISOC in May 2007. He claimed that he would apply "secret tricks" and a negotiated approach that would not lead to violent clashes. "Don't see me as a man who favours violence," he said.^[23]

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Fire on South, a collection of articles from The Nation on major incidents in the South Thailand insurgency.
• Tak Bai and Krue Sae Report, summary of the official investigative report on the storming of Krue Sae Mosque.