Subject : A factual account on the current People's Uprising in Thailand Dear All, With regard to the ongoing People's

Uprising in Thailand and related occurrences of violent incidents during the past three months. The Democrat Party of Thailand deems it necessary to explain to the domestic and the international community the facts on the violent incidents and the administrative style of the government under the leadership of Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra over the past 2 years that triggered the massive uprising of the people as follows:1. The targets of violent acts have been the members of the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) and of the Student and People Network for Thailand's Reform (STR) - as well as innocent protesters and volunteer guards. Violent acts that took place are :1.1. Hand grenades thrown at the volunteer guards in front of the Ministry of Finance on 6 December 2013. 1.2. The house of a PDRC leader, Mr. Satit Wongnongtoey was shot at. 1.3. The breaking of glass windows at the house of Miss Anchalee Paireerak, another key PDRC member. 1.4. The sniper attacks from a building close to the demonstration area near the Thai - Japanese Stadium on 26 December 2013, which resulted in 2 deaths and several injuries. 1.5. On 17 January 2014, a hand grenade was thrown at the demonstrators marching along the Bantadtong road behind the Supachalasai Sports Stadium and killed one demonstrator and several injured. 1.6. Most recently, on 19 January 2014, a hand grenade was thrown at protesters gathering at the Victory Monument resulting in 28 protesters and journalists been injured. 1.7. The violence has also been used against members and property of the Democrat Party, namely; - gunshots were fired at the residence of Mr. Chuan Leekpai, former

Prime Minister and the Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Party on 31 December 2013, - gunshots at the Democrat Party's Headquarters on 13 January2014. - A hand grenade was thrown into the house of Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva, Leader of the Democrat Party on 14 January 2014. It is to be recalled that the intimidation and violence were used on the Democrat Party even before the beginning of the demonstration led by the PDRC. At more than 60 public rallies and stage-talks 'Truth without Colours' held by the Democrat Party during the past 2 years, members of the Red Shirt Movement often obstructed entrances or surrounded the areas in a threatening manner with abusive use of language. Sometimes sling shots were used to attack attendants. It can be seen that all of the above-mentioned intimidation and violence, be them against the members of PDRC, the STR or the personnel and property of the Democrat Party, were solely aimed at those who oppose the current government. So far the law enforcement authorities have not been able to arrest the culprits or prevent any recurrences of such violent acts. 2. The Puea Thai Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is the most corrupted government in the Thai history, both in terms of the number of projects formulated to enable systematic corruption and the amount of money concerned. An example of these corrupted projects is the Rice Mortgage Scheme, the Phue Thai Partys flagship election campaign project. Now that the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has pressed corruption charges against those involved in the implementation of this scheme, the international community has started to realize how corrupted Ms Yinglucks government is. The NACC has also started an investigation on Prime Minister Yinglucks involvement in this scheme as the chairperson of the National Rice Committee on grounds that her negligence to stop the corruption under the scheme has caused the country tremendous loss. 3. The Puea Thai Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, keeps on repeating and insisting on having the mandate
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from the majority of voters with the election victory. But it has abused its legal power and ignored the spirit and principle of democracy continuously. The government attempted to pass draft amnesty bill in the parliament to exonerate their Red Shirt supporters from all criminal charges on their violent protests in 2010. They also tried to amend the Constitution (B.E. 2550) regarding the composition of the Senate and the draft amendment was ruled by the Constitutional Court as unconstitutional. The procedure to consider the draft amendment in the Parliament was also found unlawful by the Court. There were evidences of some unethical and unlawful electronic voting such as voting on behalf of absentee colleagues. Furthermore, the Speaker of the Parliament denied the rights of the 51 MPs from the opposition party to debate the draft, which violated Article 68 of the Constitution. After the Courts verdict, the Puea Thai Party declared its rejection of the Courts judgment, despite the judgment being legally binding on the parliament and the government. By rejecting the jurisdiction and the verdict of the independent court that was established to hold the executive and legislative branches of the Government accountable, the Puea Thai party and the government have lost the legitimacy to govern this democratic nation. In summary, the 3 aforementioned facts, which show that the Government has condoned violence and intimidation against their opposition, facilitated systematic corruption and unlawfully abuses the power that they legitimately gained through democratic elections for personal interests, are the main reasons why the people have taken to the street to protest against this Government. Since Prime Minister Yingluck has intentionally given interviews that are the complete opposite of the truth to both local and international press, the Democrat Party feels obliged to issue this statement to offer accurate account of the current situation.

Democrat Party of Thailand January 2014

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