B10m sought for riot dead PM sympathetic to red shirt demands
he Pheu Thai government is facing mounting pressure from red shirts to pay compensation of up to 10 million baht to each family of people killed in last year's political violence.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has agreed to consider the request.
The most extreme proposal comes from Pheu Thai list MP and red shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan, who is urging Ms Yingluck to pay 10 million baht in compensation to each family of the 92 people killed during the clashes between red shirts and the military in April and May last year.
Mr Jatuporn said he told Ms Yingluck after he was released on bail earlier this month that compensation on such a scale was crucial to reconciliation efforts, and those injured on the same occasions should also receive smaller amounts.
The prime minister had accepted that compensation was appropriate and promised to work out details, he said.
Mr Jatuporn has been charged with terrorism and lese majeste offences. His bail was revoked in May but restored on Aug 2.
"This amount of compensation is not huge when it is compared with what the past government paid for soldiers and police during the protests, which could reach as much as 6 billion baht," he told the Bangkok Post yesterday.
He said the 10 million baht proposal had been floated a long time before Pheu Thai won the July 3 election and that key figures in the ruling party agreed to press ahead with it if the party formed the next government.
"I'm not pressuring my party, but the government will surely feel the pressure [from the public] if they refuse to pay," Mr Jatuporn said.
United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) chairwoman Tida Tawornseth yesterday said the red-shirt UDD supported Mr Jatuporn's call for compensation for the victims.
The compensation would set a precedent for future governments that they had no right to use violence against the people, Ms Tida said.
However, she had no idea where the 10 million baht figure came from since Mr Jatuporn had never discussed the proposal with the UDD.
"What is more important than the compensation is that the government must speed up its investigation into the clashes and bring those involved in the killings to justice," she said.
Kritaya Archavanitkul, of the People's Information Centre for the April-May 2010 Crackdown activist group, said the government should set up a fund to help people affected by state policies and actions, including the quelling of political demonstrations.
"We need a new mechanism to rehabilitate and compensate people suffering from [the consequences of] state policies and operations," she said.
Ms Kritaya agreed compensation for families of those killed in the red shirt clashes should be increased because the existing figures were far too low.
The Abhisit Veijjajiva government paid 400,000 baht to the families of those killed in the unrest; 200,000 baht for those who were permanently handicapped as a result of injuries incurred in the protests, and 20,000-100,000 baht for those who suffered treatable injuries.
"The Pheu Thai government is under a close watch from both the Thai public and international community on how they will handle this matter," Ms Kritaya said. "Pheu Thai is expected to do better than its predecessor."
The Yingluck government must write in its policy statement that it will speed up its probe into the crackdown and rehabilitate victims, she said.
Nattapat Akahad, a younger brother of volunteer nurse Kamolkate Akahad, one of the six people shot dead while sheltering inside Wat Pathumwanaram during the clashes, said the compensation could partly heal the feelings of the bereaved family. "If the government really wants to rehabilitate our feelings by paying us 10 million baht, we will accept it. But the government must bring those who killed my sister to justice," said Mr Nattapat.
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