Anupong Paochinda is up to No Coup

Thailand's army chief Gen. Anupong Paochinda (Thai: อนุพงษ์ เผ่าจินดา) has pledged not to intervene in the political crisis after pressure mounted on him to take action to stop the political turmoil.

People hardly know that his birthday was yesterday, but he is making front page news headlines anyway. Oh, and that rhyme was unintentional.



Happy Birthday General Anupong!

Here are some of the quotes he said sometime back and now:

"If the people are one, we are with the people. But, if the people are in parts, there is no place for us." - Gen. Anupong expressed his standpoint after having been charged with duties to remedy the State of Emergency in Bangkok.

"I'm not afraid of anything - he should know my background - but may I ask him to take responsibility for the wrong decision he made on the night of October 6-7?" - Gen. Anupong said on Thai TV Channel 3 today rejecting former deputy prime minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh's call for military intervention to break the political impasse.

"We are a people's army, but it is impossible in one country to have the military fight the police in league with a certain group of people. Taking any side will not end the story." - Gen. Anupong said on Thai TV Channel 3 today in response to PAD's (The People's Alliance for Democracy) call on him to join with them in fighting the police and the government.

Profile of Anuphong Phaochinda:
Title: Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Army
Date of Birth: 10th October 1949
Wife: Kunlaya Paochinda (Thai: กุลยา เผ่าจินดา)
Children: A son named Yutthaphong Paochinda (Thai: ยุทธพงษ์ เผ่าจินดา), and a daughter named Wimalin Paochinda (Thai: วิมลิน เผ่าจินดา)
Hobbies: A big fan of The Beatles and fond of playing the drums!

Click here for his wikipedia page, and here for a short biography of General Anupong Paochinda in Thai.

Thai Stock Exchange drops by 9.6 percent

Today, Thailand's share prices plummeted 9.6 percent, prompting regulators to close the market for 30 minutes after midday trading when share values had dropped more than 10 per cent. All this happened in just a few minutes.



The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) index slipped to 449.91 shortly after mid-day break, which is a drop of 50.08 points or 10.02%, and the panic sell off prompted authorities to close the market for 30 minutes in keeping with the bourse's regulations.

Thailand's stock market regulators enforced a circuit-breaker on the market, and the SET resumed trading after 30 minutes. This is the first time in two years that the SET has used a circuit breaker.

At the end of the day, the market was off by 48.03 points or just under 10 per cent, as the SET index fell from 499.89 to 451.96.



The Wall Street crash is the major factor for the dip, but Thailand's political instability and the tear gas incident has brought things down further.

Asian stocks plummeted after the Dow Jones dived below 8,600 for the first time since 2003, and Japan's Nikkei was down more than 10 per cent.

Also today, The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) petitioned the Constitution Court to dissolve the People Power Party (PPP) for election fraud.

What's going to happen on Monday? Will the SET go down further?