THAILAND RESISTANCE TO MILITARY J
UNTA BROADENS We are publishing below excerpts of two documents on the activity of the resistance to the new military dictatorship in Thailand. Both were broodcast by the radio station of the Thai Communist party, the "Voice of the Thai People. " They are important and significant in more than one respect, The signers include some of the maior leaders of the students and workers movements during the past several years. They have come forward as the animators of the urban moss movement and, at least during the period 1972-75, were not members of the CP. Many of them went underground after the first wave of murders committed by the far right; others left for Laos or the insurrectional zonesiafter the October 5 coup. Their statement, along with that of former leaders of the Thai Socialist party, which was also broodcast by Voice of the Thai People, testifies to. the current broadening of the armed resistance to the regime. The Thai CP has indicated the importance it attaches" to these statements by broodcasting them several times, sometimes slowly enough to allow listeners to recopy them. The transcriptions we are using here were mode from such broadcasts and sent to us. (It should be noted that the transitteration of Thai names may vary widely.) The first statement, issued by seven former student leaders, was dated October 14. It was broadcast by Voice of the Thai People on October 3l and again on November 1. Ir was signed by: Seksan Prasertkul, one of the main leaders of the October 1973 uprising and a leader of the Federation of Independent Students of Thailand (FIST) and later of the workers movement; he disappeared more than a year ago; Thirayut Boonmee, another of the main leaders of the October 1973 uprising, who also porticipated in the formation of the People for Democracy group and was one of the leaders of the 40
National Student Center of Thailand (NSCT) at the time of the coup; Weng Tochirakan, former medical student at Mahidon University and a leader of the NSCT in 974, as well as president of the Buddhism and Tradition Club; disappeared more than a year ago; Sanan Ruatwonghtat, former leoder of the student union at Thammassat University, disappeared more than a year ago; Pridi Boonseu, one of the thirteen militants whose arrest by the Thanom regime in 1973 triggered the October student demonstrations; a member of one of the rodical groups of Thammassat University, the Sapha Nodom group, and also a member of the Thai Socialist party; disappeared more than a year ago; Chiranan Peepricha, a leader of the women's liberation movement at Chulalongkorn University and former leader of the NSCT; disappeared more than a year ago; Wisa Khantap, one of the thirteen militants arrested by Thanom in 1973 and student leader at Ramkamhoeng University; a revolutionary poet. The statement begins, "Dear fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, and people, patriots, those who love democracy and justice and our beloved friends, youths, schoolchildren, and students, "Creating a situation in order to stage a coup d'Etat by arming dangerous political hooligans to coordinate with the fascist police and military forces in killing unarmed people is not a new idea; it has been used in several countries, namely South Korea, Indonesia, and Chile, in compliance with orders from the CIA, the dirty tool of the U.S. imperialists,.. All this is to maintain the decadent administrative system of the country based on the feudalists, big landlords, and capitalists who form only a small group and to enable the U.S. imperialists, their masters, to retain their influence and defend their political, economic, and military interests in Thailand,. cont'd on pg 39 Edteur resporschler Rene Groslambert, 34 rue: Nothomb, 1040 Bruxelles.