CNS hunts for people behind leak

PR project papers were classified

WASSANA NANUAM

The Council for National Security (CNS), which has been criticised over a 12-million-baht budget for public relations given to a younger brother of a key member, is trying to nail the source of the leak of the classified information to the public. CNS vice-chairman and air force commander-in-chief ACM Chalit Pukpasuk said yesterday that anyone who had released the information would be considered to have violated the law, because it was highly confidential.

ACM Chalit denied any knowledge of the reported spending but said public relations campaigns were normal activities of any state agencies, and spending for this purpose was legitimate.

The CNS hired a team led by Chianchuang Kalayanamitr to take responsibility for the public relations campaign.

Mr Chianchuang is a younger brother of assistant army chief Gen Saprang, who is secretary-general to the CNS.

Supreme Commander and CNS member Gen Boonsang Niampradit said an investigation was under way to find out how the information had been leaked, and some officers were being watched.

He confirmed that the release was a violation of the law because the information was classified. However, he said the content was not a big issue.

Gen Somjet Boonthanom, the CNS's budget and secretariat chief, said the 12-million-baht budget was ''normal'' and was meant to enable the CNS to inform the public of what it was doing. ''The 12-million-baht budget is not much compared to the budgets for populist projects of the past government, which spent huge amounts on public relations,'' he said.

''The CNS is spending the budget cost-effectively and we must spend it to create understanding with he people,'' he added.

Maj-Gen Jirachai Detdamrong, head of the army's directorate of civil affairs who was recently transferred as deputy commander of the First Army Corps, denied he had leaked the information and the papers on the public relations strategies, saying he was not stupid enough to release a document that bore his own name.

Maj-Gen Jirachai was a classmate of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in Class 10 of the Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School. However, he insisted the fact they were classmates did not necessarily mean he would always favour Mr Thaksin. He confirmed the PR strategy documents were genuine official papers.

Maj-Gen Jirachai said Mr Chianchuang was a professional in this field and thus he was a justified choice for the public relations job.

A source said Gen Saprang had already discussed the issue of the leaked papers with Maj-Gen Jirachai, who insisted on his innocence. Gen Saprang and CNS chief Gen Sonthi Boonyaratkalin were unavailable for comment yesterday.

Three documents have been leaked to the media and posted on some websites. One is a written approval, signed by the CNS chairman on Feb 4, for hiring an information analysis and in-depth public relations team to work for the CNS for 12 million baht.

The second is a ''highly confidential'' letter signed on Jan 24 by Maj-Gen Jirachai requesting approval for hiring the team led by Mr Chianchuang. The last one is a document dated Feb 26, which details the strategies of the public relations team.

Maj-Gen Jirachai's letter described the team's six-month plan to use third parties including local and international media networks, both publicly and secretly, to discredit the opposition to the CNS, including Mr Thaksin and his associates.

It said the team would engineer attacks focused on the adverse impacts of Mr Thaksin's economic policies, international condemnation of the Thaksin government for human rights violations, and a TV series on corruption by the Thaksin government. The internet is another tool mentioned. Staff of the team are posting texts critical of the Thaksin government on popular websites.

Bangkok Post

Last Updated : Tuesday April 10, 2007