0		Conflict, between, Anti-Thaksinites

Ever since Gen. Saprang missed out on the Army C-in-C position and was made deputy permanent secretary of the Defence Ministry which has been described by an ally of his, Admiral Bannawit Kengrien who is currently a Defence Ministry deputy permanent secretary himself, as "a clerical job" meaning he'll "just have to sit in a small room with nothing much to do". Gen. Bannawit is seething and lets flyloose against Gen. Sonthi:

He said Saprang had told him that Sonthi had not talked to him at all before the military reshuffle, which sent him the message that he would not be promoted to Army chief.

"Sonthi is to blame for this. He should be ashamed of himself because people had high hopes for Saprang as the country is not in a normal situation. If there is a problem after the election, Saprang could have done anything without fear,'' Bannawit said.

COMMENT: Actually, that is why Gen. Saprang was not appointed as he would have actually done anything without fear of the consequences.

In addition to missing out on the top job, Gen. Sonthi has been limiting the role of the "hero" in the coup as the Bangkok Post reports (cache):

Council for National Security chairman Gen Sonthi Boonyaratkalin yesterday insisted no one was a hero in last year's coup, apparently distancing his assistant Gen Saprang Kalayanamitr and his successor Gen Anupong Paochinda from the role of coup plotters. ''Did you know there were only three people [plotting the coup]? That's me and two assistants who are colonels. ''There is no hero. Everyone acted under my command and in accordance with my plan,'' Gen Sonthi said in an interview with a radio station.
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They were also interpreted as an attempt to reduce the legitimacy of Gen Saprang, who has often laid claim to a role in Sept 19 events.

COMMENT: Gen. Saprang's other supporters have not kept quiet. Manager Group owner Sondhi Limthongkul then lashed as the Bangkok Post reports (cache):

Gen Sonthi came under fire from Mr Sondhi following news reports that Gen Anupong would become the new army commander-in-chief.

Mr Sondhi recently accused a CNS member of involvement in a secret deal with former transport minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit.

The CNS member allegedly demanded 500 million baht from the politician to help clear Mr Suriya of graft charges in their meeting in Lop Buri.

Mr Suriya is being investigated for alleged irregularities in four projects _ the CTX bomb detector procurement, the construction of the Airport Rail Link, the electricity cable-laying project for Suvarnabhumi and the rubber sapling purchase scheme.

COMMENT: Given that Lopburi is Gen. Sondhi's homebase and where it is speculated he might run for parliament, this was a clear reference to Gen. Sonthi. Gen. Sonthi on Jow Jai last Thursday confirmed meeting Suriya at a restaurant in Lopburi, but stated it was not related to the AEC investigation and it was because a former connection that Suriya had with his nong chai (usually means younger brother) in sponsoring something in Lopburi a number of years ago - Suriya's family has a very large auto parts business. I understand Gen. Sonthi didn't specifically deny the bribe allegation, as he was not directly asked the question, but did make a comment about Suriya telling him where the bribe allegation came from implying of course that it was not Gen. Sonthi.