Thai PM sacks ministers in Bird flu shake-up
The Thai prime minister fired his agriculture and defence ministers today as part of a high-level shake-up aimed at tackling a deadly outbreak of bird flu and a bloody separatist insurgency in the Muslim-dominated south.
The Cabinet reshuffle – Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s ninth since taking office in 2001 – also involved sacking or reassigning two deputy prime ministers and several junior officials, the government said.
The shake-up followed a threat Thaksin issued last week to remove ministers who failed to curb unrest in three southern provinces near Malaysia, the only Muslim-majority areas in mostly Buddhist Thailand, and to halt the spread of avian flu.
“There are several crucial, urgent and important issues that made it necessary for me to stage the Cabinet reshuffle,” Thaksin told reporters.
In Thailand’s southern provinces, more than 350 people have been killed since January in the latest wave of violence in the region, blamed mostly on Islamic insurgents. A separatist movement simmered in the area for decades, but largely disappeared after a government amnesty in the 1980s. Officials have blamed most of the recent attacks on a revived insurgency.
To help quell the Muslim insurgency, Thaksin appointed Aree Wong-areeya, himself a Muslim and a long-time civil servant at the Interior Ministry. He was made deputy minister of education and asked to help reform Islamic religious schools in the south, which have been accused by some security officials of sheltering militants and promoting separatism.
Thaksin told reporters he wanted Aree to supervise the schools and not “allow those crazy teachers to instigate the Muslim youths in the wrong way, like they do currently.”
Defence Minister Gen. Chetta Thanajaro, who was known to have had differences with security agencies over how to resolve the problems in the south, was dismissed from the government and replaced by Gen. Sanphan Boonyanan.
A resurgence of bird flu, which has killed 11 people in Thailand, has also been a major worry. The disease spread through much of the country’s poultry stocks early this year and then resurfaced in July.
Agriculture Minister Somsak Thepsuthin, who had long been at odds with the Public Health Ministry over measures to contain bird flu, was transferred to the largely ceremonial post of deputy prime minister. He was replaced by current Deputy Prime Minister Wan Muhammad Noor Matha.
Other Cabinet changes include the appointment of a doctor close to Thaksin, Surachai Charoenrattanakul, as deputy minister of public health to supervise the country’s bird flu policies.
Industry Minister Pinij Jarusombat was replaced by Pongsak Raktapongpaisal, who has been promoted from his current position as deputy commerce minister.
Deputy Prime Ministers Gen. Thammarak Isarangura and Suchart Chaovisit resigned, saying they left their jobs to campaign for the ruling Thai Rak Thai party ahead of general elections expected in early 2005.
An analyst said Thaksin ordered the reshuffle to improve his administration’s image and prepare for elections early next year. Thai Rak Thai holds an unprecedented majority in parliament, and the prime minister has said he hopes to stay in power for at least one more term.
“The Cabinet reshuffle is for political purposes,” said Sompop Manarangsan, a professor at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University. “It is a political manoeuvre to prepare for the forthcoming elections.”
Thaksin said he would take the newly appointed ministers to be sworn in by King Bhumibol Adulyadej later today.
