VZCZCXRO0268
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHBK #0658/01 0750906
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 160906Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY BANGKOK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6406
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHVI/AMEMBASSY VIENNA 0550
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 6309
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 000658 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, NSC FOR PHU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV ETRD TH
SUBJECT: THAILAND: CALL ON BANGKOK GOVERNOR SUKHUMBHAND 
TOUCHES ON PAST CORRUPTION, POLITICS, CULTURAL COOPERATION 
 
BANGKOK 00000658  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU)  Summary: Ambassador paid a courtesy call on Bangkok 
Governor M.R. Sukhumbhand Paribatra March 12 and discussed 
the challenges Sukhumbhand faced resolving lingering 
corruption cases from past administrations, national 
politics, and cultural cooperation.  Sukhumbhand noted that 
the Austrian company involved in the procurement scandal 
which had brought down his predecessor is now wholly owned by 
U.S. corporation General Dynamics.  He suggested 
anti-government "red" protesters would have a difficult time 
sustaining long-term protests in Bangkok because most Thai 
were tired of protests and wanted to "get on with life."  End 
Summary. 
 
"Fire truck case is a political death trap" 
------------------------------------------- 
¶2. (SBU) In response to Ambassador's question about the main 
challenges facing the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration 
(BMA), Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand said his chief headaches 
were old cases involving alleged corruption that "would not 
fade away."  Principal among those was a 6 billion baht ($165 
million) deal with the Austrian firm Steyr for more than 500 
fire trucks and boats signed by former Governor (and PM) 
Samak on his last day in office, and eventually endorsed by 
the previous governor Apirak.  (Note: the National Counter 
Corruption Commission's (NCCC) indictment of a number of 
officials involved in the procurement deal, including Samak 
and Apirak, led Apirak to step down in late 2008 just after 
re-election, opening the way for Sukhumbhand to be elected in 
January.) 
 
¶3. (SBU) Sukhumbhand noted that the procurement deal, which 
he termed a "political death trap for me," now had an 
American angle, since General Dynamics had subsequently 
acquired Steyr.  He had sought to extract the BMA from the 
deal immediately upon assuming office, but found himself 
caught between the NCCC and the Office of Attorney General 
(OAG).  The NCCC had ruled that there were indications of 
wrongful doing in the Steyr contract and that BMA should end 
the deal via court action, but the OAG had ruled the contract 
to be valid and refused to let the BMA sue Steyr to end the 
deal.  As a result, Sukhumbhand and the BMA were stuck: they 
were required to continue to make payments every six months 
from an irrevocable Line of Credit, according to the terms of 
the contract, while the number of unused trucks and fire 
boats stored on the docks continued to grow. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Sukhumbhand suggested the BMA might seek Steyr's 
approval to use the equipment in the interim, without bias to 
eventual legal action against the contract.  Among the 
irregularities cited by Sukhumbhand were barter transactions 
associated with the contract and assembly of some of the 
trucks in Thailand as opposed to abroad, as the terms of the 
contract stipulated.  BMA was mulling over whether it would 
initiate legal action on its own, since the OAG had refused 
to represent it. 
 
Politics from the streets to the Cabinet 
---------------------------------------- 
¶5. (SBU) Sukhumbhand, a patrician academic not previously 
known for mixing it up on the stumps, described how he spent 
his weekends out and about Bangkok meeting local residents 
and discussing their problems.  He suggested that the 
anti-government red shirt protesters associated with the 
United Front of Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) would 
not be able to sustain large-scale protests because most Thai 
wanted to get on with life.  Notwithstanding his long-time 
affiliation with the currently ruling Democrat Party, 
Sukhumbhand said he did not play politics when it came to 
approving permits for protests. "I play it straight, and give 
the reds toilets too." 
 
¶6. (SBU) Sukhumbhand was philosophical about having committed 
to run for Governor just two weeks before the Democrats found 
themselves with an opportunity in December 2008 to return to 
national government after eight years in opposition (a former 
deputy Foreign Minister, Sukhumbhand was known to have 
coveted the Foreign Minister portfolio).  The Bangkok 
Governorship was the largest elected constituency in 
Thailand, he noted, and required more multifaceted executive 
management than practically any single ministerial portfolio. 
 He joked that experience had shown that it was possible to 
 
BANGKOK 00000658  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
serve as Foreign Minister at any age; Ambassador noted that, 
with six Foreign Ministers in 2008, the job opened up 
frequently. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Sukhumbhand lamented the structural imbalance 
between the responsibility born by the BMA Governor and the 
power the Governor wielded: any expenditure over 200 million 
baht ($5.5 million) had to be approved by the Cabinet, with 
the BMA requests forwarded by the Ministry of Interior. 
Nineteen separate government agencies were involved in 
Bangkok's traffic and mass transit systems, with the BMA 
wielding full control only over the Sky Train. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Sukhumbhand asserted that the BMA's 2 billion baht 
($55 million) budget for economic stimulus gave BMA 
flexibility in helping economic recovery plans.  He had 
prioritized opening new markets to benefit small traders, 
providing small loans, stimulating tourism, and providing 
10,000 units of housing for low-salaried BMA workers.  BMA 
had also used its good credit rating and affiliation to 
several banks to arrange for the banks to buy back credit 
card debt from BMA employees and repackage it at much lower 
interest rates, putting more money in the pockets of people 
certain to spend, rather than in banks hesitant to lend 
currently. 
 
Cultural Cooperation 
-------------------- 
¶9. (SBU) Ambassador noted that the Embassy's cultural affairs 
section often partnered with the BMA on programming and 
complimented Sukhumbhand on the recently-opened Bangkok Art 
and Cultural Center.  Sukhumbhand expressed the desire to 
expand such cultural cooperation but said that the Cultural 
Center faced its own legal difficulties in administration. 
He wanted to involve civil society in the Center's 
operations, and his predecessor had tried to form a 
foundation to give civil society seats on a board running the 
Center.  Lawyers had advised Sukhumbhand, however, that 
property laws made this formula legally problematic, so for 
now the BMA would run the Center directly. 
JOHN