International Photojournalist and Photographer

The former Pheu Thai MP and Red Shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship leader Jatuporn Prompan, alongside his UDD co-leader Nisit Sinthuprai, is now held in the Bangkok Remand Prison. A Thai Criminal Court decision yesterday revoked his bail for a speech which he gave to a Red Shirt rally last month. His speech was considered offensive to the monarchy –  ’lese majeste’ laws – as well as having the potential to incite public disorder.

The red shirt leader is remains charged with terrorism offences stemming from the Red Shirt protests and riots which took place in Bangkok in April and May 2010. Then, Mr Jatuporn was one of the three key leaders of last years UDD anti-government protest movement alongside Natthawut Saikua and Veera Musikhapong.

Prior to the recent dissolution of the Thai parliament on May 10th 2011, Jatuporn Prompan was a Member of Parliament for the Puea Thai [Opposition] Party, representing the Udon Thani Whichian Kaokham constituency. Until yesterday Mr Jatuporn had generally evaded remand imprisonment for the potential terrorism-related charges due to his status as a serving MP.

A messianic figure for his ‘Red Shirt’ army of followers, he is pictured in this article addressing the Red Shirt rally at the Ratchaprasong junction on November 19^th 2010 from a Police loud-speaker van. This rally commemorated the six-month anniversary of the Thai police and army forcibly and  violently ending the ‘red-shirt’ protests in the capital in May 2010. At this rally, his powerful rhetoric did nothing but persuade onlookers that the ‘anti-government’ protest group was unfazed and wholly committed to their cause; one, to remove the [then] Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva from office and two, to return their Pheu Thai party political hero, de facto leader and ex Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to office. Taksin, ousted as PM in 2006, is an enormously wealthy businessman, who currently lives in Dubai. He fled Thailand to avoid a two year prison sentence resulting from corruption charges brought against him.

Jutaporn Prompan, in December 2010, provided alleged evidence, to both Thai and international media, that Thai troops were responsible for killing members of the public as well a Japanese cameraman during the violent clashes in April and May this year. The cameraman was shot dead on April 10^th 2010 when UDD protesters and troops fought on the streets of Bangkok. An icon for the protest movement, Jatuporn Prompan is pictured in this article following these lethal clashes, on April 11th 2010, on stage, addressing the massed crowds at the Phan Fa bridge anti-government protest venue. He stands alongside the cache of arms and ammunition that the ‘red shirts’ purportedly confiscated from the Army and Police forces on the night the Japanese cameraman and red shirt protesters were killed.

The Thai election season leading up to the general election scheduled for July 3rd 2011 is now in full swing. On May 19th 2011, the Red Shirt movement plan a large rally at the Ratchaprasong junction in Bangkok, to commemorate the first anniversary of the lethal termination of their protests by Thai forces. It now seems unlikely that Jutaporn Prompan will be able to address this rally due to the limited time available by his lawyers to contest his imprisonment, although the UDD movement say that they will appeal the revocation of his bail on May 18th, the day prior to the planned protest. It is also unclear if he will, or can be ‘selected’ as a Pheu Thai party electoral candidate if he remains in jail during the legal registration period for potential MP’s.

It is certainly possible though that ex PM Thaksin will address the massed Red Shirt UDD supporters at the rally by a remote link. Perhaps by then he will have also announced his preferred and chosen leader for the Pheu Thai Party – and potential Prime Minister of Thailand – in his absence. Yingluck Shinawatra, his younger sister, who has minimal political experience, is rumoured to be his choice.

Reports by the  Bangkok Post suggest that the election will be will be very tight. Mr Abhisit’s Democrat Party may not win a decisive victory against the opposition Pheu Thai party, and a coalition government with the support of smaller parties may be needed for him to remain as Prime Minister. The Pheu Thai party is generally supported by the poor working people from the North and North East of Thailand, many who are also Red Shirt UDD protestors. One Pheu Thai [Red Shirt] supporter I spoke to believes that Thaksin and Pheu Thai party “help the poor Isan farmers better than Abhisit [the Democrats] who is only interested in rich people.”

Interestingly this week, after the whistle blew to kick off the Thai election period, the Bangkok Post  reported a rush in demand for a givaway low cost government backed mortgage, which was a reported last minute policy announcement, implemented by the outgoing Democrat Party leader and then Thai Prime Minister. A day later we see opposition candidate Jutaporn Prompan and  Nisit Sinthuprai, potential MP’s, imprisoned, a Pheu Thai candidate shot and wounded and a lecturer and Pheu Thai supporter imprisoned under lese majeste laws. Next week an important anniversary for the Red Shirt movement with it’s potentially disruptive, for Bangkok traffic and business, rally in central Bangkok takes place. The Thai forces will obviously police the event which organisers want to be peaceful but it already feels to many UDD stalwarts, Red Shirt supporters and Pheu Thai party activists that are being teased and goaded into a corner to fight their cause.

All images in this article of Jatuporn Prompan addressing the red shirt rally on 19^th November 2010 and on the Phan Fa stage in April 2010 are copyright Stephen Ford.