BANGKOK, May 27 — Chaturon Chaisaeng, former education minister and a key figure of the Pheu Thai Party, held a press conference to denounce the coup in Thailand before letting soldiers arrest him as ordered by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO).
Mr Chaturon had refused to turn himself to the NCPO after the May 22 coup but held a press conference with Thai and foreign reporters at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand at the Maneeya Centre in Bangkok today.
He said that a coup could not solve conflicts in a society but would only worsen them because it was non-democratic and unacceptable to the global community and most Thai people.
“Regarding the claim that the Thai society has faced such great conflicts, violence and damage that armed forces chiefs must impose martial law and stage a coup,” he said, “actually the armed forces chiefs had another option from the start.”
“That was to cooperate with the government to guarantee fair law enforcement for all parties. That could contain situations and would not lead to an excuse for the coup,” Mr Chaturon said.
He also said that he did not turn himself in to the NCPO as summoned because he did not accept having a coup. However, he said he would let the NCPO detain him and and that he would defend himself with the rights he deserved.
After finishing his press conference, NCPO soldiers brought Mr Chaturon from the Foreign Correspondents’ Club and he did not resist. (MCOT online news)
