Surayud Chulanont

In 2020 Surayud stood in for Vajiralongkorn in the Royal Ploughing Ceremony of rice, directing the planting of Dok Mali 105, Pathum Than 1, Kor Khor 43, Kor Khor 6, and Kor Khor 79.

In February 2010 after demonstrations by "Red Shirts" at Khao Yaithiang Mountain, Surayud, who by then had already left politics, returned the land to the Royal Forestry Department when it was found that the land was within forest reserve land under the ministry's decades old code. The plot of land is now under Royal Forestry Department's care. However, up until now no legal action has been taken by Thai authorities against him or other landowners of similar case around the country. Some opposition pressed him to resign from his post as privy councillor only as to understand later that Surayud "had no ill intention" and that it was highly inappropriate to ask for resignation of the post on such unreasonable ground.

In February 2010 after demonstrations by the "Red Shirts" at Khao Yaithiang Mountain, Surayud returned the land to the Royal Forestry Department, without any removals of structures or plants, weeks before a formal notice from the department was issued. The plot of land is now under the care of the Royal Forestry Department after Surayud moved out. However, up until now no legal action has been taken by Thai authorities against Surayud or other landowners of similar type all over Thailand.

In January 2008, not long after Surayud ended his term as prime minister, he was again reappointed to King Bhumibol Adulyadej's Privy Council.

The 2007 Chinese New Year Bombings, which saw 38 bombing attacks, 26 cases of arson, and seven ambushes within a single day, caused Surayud's popularity to drop even further: 53.7% of respondents living in Bangkok and other major cities in felt the government and the CNS could not put an end to problems in the country. Only 24.6% thought that the situation would improve in six months.

By 24 February 2007, his popularity among Bangkokians had further dropped to 34.8%, although he was still more popular than Thaksin Shinawatra, whom 28.8% of Bangkokians favoured.

By 4 March 2007, only 31.3% of people in Bangkok supported the government's political stance. This fell dramatically to 12.5% by 26 March 2007. Notably the main reason behind the drop was that people wanted to see quick changes in state policies and that actions and judgments for the ousted former Prime Minister were not forthcoming soon enough.

In early-May 2007, activists from the Assembly of Isaan People met with junta chief Sonthi Boonyaratglin in order to appeal for him to remove Surayud Chulanont. Sonthi personally met the anti-Surayud activists at army headquarters and promised he would consider their request. This was the first time that Sonthi met people calling for the removal of Surayud. Sonthi later claimed that he was "tricked" into meeting the activists.

The military junta's popularity continued to decline. By late-June 2007, an ABAC Poll found that only 13.6% supported the government, with 69.8 of respondents disappointed with the political situation.

The government's popularity continued to decline into July, when survey respondents in Bangkok and outlying areas gave the government an average score of 4.32 out of 10. The average score had been 4.53 in March 2007 and 5.27 in January 2007. Fewer than 15% of respondents in the survey felt that the nation's overall situation had improved during the government's nine-month tenure, while 31.6% said the situation remained unchanged and the majority, 34.9% said it had worsened.

After the coup, the military junta had originally promised to draft a permanent charter within eight months and to hold elections in October 2007. However, Prime Minister's Office Minister Thirapat Serirangsan later announced that elections might not occur until one year and five months.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Pridiyathorn resigned on 28 February 2007. His resignation shocked the political world as well as the business community. His cited reasons for resignation included,

A completed study by the AoT showed that the cost of fixing 60 identified problems at the airport would be less than 1% of the total airline cost and the problems could be fixed in up to four to five years. Dr. Narupol Chaiyut, a member of a committee overseeing service problems at the new airport, estimated that 70% of the problems would be fixed within 2007.

In April 2007, during an interview where reporters asked Surayud what he would say to Thaksin if he could meet him in person, Surayud responded, "I would say please don't ever come back."

The Surayud government allowed the Council for National Security to interfere with many government responsibilities, including the transfer of civil servants. The CNS was allowed to control a nationwide reshuffle of the civil service in April 2007 in order to weed out officials "clinging" to the deposed "Thaksin-regime".

Surayud also authorised the removal of police chief Kowit Wattana from his position in early February 2007. Kowit had also been police chief under the ousted government of Thaksin Shinawatra.

On 3 April 2007, Surayud approved a 15% pay rise (on top of an earlier 15% pay rise) for members of the CNS, as a "special reward" for their "honesty, tolerance and dedication on weekdays and weekends."

Despite this, relations between Surayud and the CNS deteriorated. Rumours swirled in mid-April 2007 that the CNS would overthrow the government. However, in a meeting with the CNS President, Surayud declared, "Don't ever think of launching another coup. If you utter only one word, then I am ready to resign."

While Surayud was frequently accused of corruption, many in the business community believed otherwise. A poll conducted in January 2007 found that 66% of business people thought that local corruption would increase, with only 10.5% thinking that it would decrease. However, only about 14% believed that leading figures in Surayud's administration were corrupt.

Sonthi overthrew the government of Shinawatra in a coup on 19 September 2006 and implored Surayud to be the head of interim government. Surayud's government was controversial. There was a significant worsening in perceived levels of corruption during his government. Surayud's Deputy Finance Minister, Sommai Pasee, was sentenced to jail for abuse of power. Surayud raised the military budget by 35% and was accused of economic mismanagement, rampant human rights abuses, and flip-flopping on numerous policies. Article 19 ranked Thailand as falling behind Cambodia and Indonesia in terms of freedom of expression. Thailand's economic growth rate slowed to the lowest level in five years and was ranked the lowest in the region. However, Surayud was praised for apologising for atrocities committed by the Thai military fighting the South Thailand insurgency, although the apology was accompanied by a sharp escalation in violence. He has been accused of forest reserve encroachment (a charge that was not investigated since the statute of limitations had run out by two years) and of illegally acquiring train carriages for display in his forest home.

However, after becoming premier in 2006, he was accused of breaching the Forestry Act and the National Forest Reserves Act by illegally owning forest land in Yaithiang Mountain of Nakhon Ratchasima Province. He vowed to resign and return the land (which he did not deny owning) if found guilty.

Surayud was already considered a strong candidate for appointment as civilian prime minister premiership immediately after General Sonthi overthrew the government of Thaksin Shinawatra. Indeed, Surayud's appointment to the Premiership was confirmed by junta leader Sonthi Boonyaratkalin on the morning of Sunday 1 October 2006. After a couple imploring asks for Surayud to take the temporary premiership, Sonthi had a formal audience with King Bhumibol Adulyadej at 4 pm that day to nominate Surayud's name to the monarch. "Security and social unity" were cited by Sonthi as the key reasons for appointing Surayud.

Due to influences from junta and those behind the scene, the policies and positions of several ministers in Surayud's cabinet changed very frequently, sometimes on a daily basis. Notable flip-flops included Thailand's refusal to share avian flu samples with the WHO, capital controls against foreign investment, shareholding limits for foreign investors in telecommunications firms, the identity of bombers in the 2006 New Year's Eve bombings, and the role of the Malaysian government in mediating the South Thailand insurgency.

The Surayud government's initial nationwide approval rating in October 2006 stood at 60%, with 8% disapproving. By early-November, this fell to 55% approving and 15% disapproving. For comparison, a nationwide poll in July 2006 found that 49% of respondents would have voted for Thaksin Shinawatra in the cancelled October elections.

The 2006 Bangkok New Year's Eve bombings caused Surayud's popularity to drop to 48.5% according to Assumption University's polling arm—and just 11% said they had "full confidence" the government can handle the crisis.

The junta's 2006 Interim Constitution authorised the junta to appoint a 2,000 person National Assembly which would select members to become candidates for a Constitution Drafting Assembly. From the onset of his appointment as Premier, Surayud Chulanont was urged by academics to override the junta's control of the constitution drafting process. Somchai Siripreechakul, Dean of Law at Chiang Mai University, urged Surayud to call a general election as soon as possible and hand the task of drafting a charter to an elected parliament. Banjerd Singkhaneti of Thammasat University noted of the constitution drafting process, "I think it will be a mess and the next constitution will be just that."

Surayud and AoT Chairman General Saprang Kalayanamitr refused to authorise urgent repairs on the airport tarmac, despite warnings from engineers. Karun Chandrarangsu, president of the Engineering Institute of Thailand (and a close relative to Srisuk Chandrarangsu, who was a former AOT board member, which was implicated in several corruption allegations, such as CTX and King Power scandals, and now being investigated) noted, "Suvarnabhumi is like a patient in a coma who continues to suffer from severe bleeding. Stopping the blood flow now is more urgent and important than debating what caused the injury." The Engineering Institute of Thailand sent a formal warning to AoT in November 2006 about the urgent need to drain water from beneath the tarmac, and that immediate action should be taken. "The AOT did nothing about the problem," Suebsak Promboon of the EIT noted. "The situation might not have become this bad if the water had been drained then." Suebsak Promboon, a senior foundation engineer and a member of the Tortrakul Yomnak-led airport tarmac inspection panel, accused the AOT of refusing to take any actions to solve the problems at the airport.

Surayud warned deposed Premier Thaksin Shinawatra several times against returning to Thailand, calling his return "a threat". During a November 2006 trip to China for the ASEAN-China Summit, Surayud refused to meet Thaksin, who was also in China at the time. Surayud later denied Thaksin the opportunity to return to Thailand to contest in eventual elections, and said that the appropriate time for him to return would be "after a year," when a newly elected government was already in place.

Thaksin's diplomatic passport was revoked by the Foreign Ministry on 31 December 2006 after the government claimed he had engaged in political activities while in exile. Thai embassies were ordered not to facilitate his travels. Traditionally, all former prime ministers and foreign ministers of Thailand were permitted to hold on to their diplomatic passports for life.

Besides being heavily criticised for gaining power through the 2006 coup and his subsequent actions as Premier, Surayud has been accused of forest encroachment and corruption.

However, Thai-language newspaper Khaosod published a photo on the front page of its edition of 26 December 2006 which showed a building resembling a railway carriage near Surayud's resort home. The National Counter Corruption Committee was petitioned to scrutinise the land at Surayud's retreat residence, but refused to take action (see above). Before the end of his tenure as Prime Minister, Surayud invited dozens of reporters from various fields to visit and have a lunch at his disputed Kho Yaithiang home, where they realised that what seemed to be train carriages were only a resort building of his friend nearby viewed from a particular angle.

In 2003, after over four years as Army Commander, Surayud was promoted to the position of supreme commander, a loftier, but less influential, post, during the government of Thaksin Shinawatra. He was replaced as army commander by Somthad Attanan. His promotion was rumoured to be the result of a conflict with the prime minister, possibly over foreign policy towards Myanmar and the crackdown on drugs.

On 14 November 2003, King Bhumibol Adulyadej appointed Surayud to his Privy Council of personal advisors. Several months later he asked the king for permission to ordain as a monk for a brief period at a forest temple in northeastern Thailand. Surayud and Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda had been perceived to have a key role in the promotion of General Sonthi Boonratklin to the position of army commander.

However, the National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC) refused to investigate the land encroachment charges, claiming that the statute of limitations on the case had run out. NCCC member Klanarong Chantik noted that Surayud retired from military service in 2003 whereas the charges were made 4 years after his retirement, and that the NCCC could not legally investigate an officer for alleged wrongdoing beyond two years after retirement.

To stop drug and drug cartels into Thailand, Surayud, in March 2002, ordered one of Thailand's largest military operations in recent times, when Thai troops moved deep into Myanmar territory to destroy drug labs and military bases controlled by the United Wa State Army.

Surayud was promoted to army commander in late-1998. At the time, his promotion was controversial, as Surayud had been politically "shelved" at a staff position. To secure his vision of a politics-free army, Surayud appointed several of his classmates from Class 12 of the CRMA to key positions. Among these were Lt Gen Sompong Maivichit, who he made head of army-controlled Channel 5 television station, replacing Gen Pang Malakul na Ayudhya, and Lt Gen Boonrod Somtap, who he promoted to a key subordinate position to replace Gen Charn Boonprasert. He also ended a policy of deporting Burmese refugees, especially ethnic Karens, back to Burma. "He's been a friend to us," said Pastor Robert Htway of the Karen Refugee Committee. During his term, Thai soldiers took part in the United Nations Peace Keeping Force, assisting UN-PKF efforts in East Timor.

Surayud was conferred honorary doctor of philosophy degrees in: 1. Communication Arts in 1995 by Wongchavalidkul University, Thailand. 2. Liberal Arts (Rural Planning and Development) in 2000 by Maejo University, Thailand. 3. Liberal Arts (Political Science) in 2004 by Prince of Songkla University, Thailand. 4. Engineering in April 2007 by Tokai University, Japan. 5. Social Development in December 2008 by Huachiew University, Thailand.

Surayud came from a military family, but his father defected from the Royal Thai Army to the Communist Party of Thailand when Surayud was a boy. Surayud joined the Thai Army and rose to power as an aide to General Prem Tinsulanonda. He commanded troops during Bloody May, the violent 1992 crackdown on anti-government protesters, but he denied giving his men the order to shoot protesters. He was promoted to army commander during the government of Chuan Leekpai and was promoted to supreme commander in 2003, under the government of Thaksin Shinawatra. Upon his retirement from the army, he was appointed by King Bhumibol Adulyadej to the Privy Council of Thailand. Surayud and Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda played a key role in the promotion of General Sonthi Boonratklin to the position of army commander.

During Bloody May, the violent crackdown 1992 on anti-government protesters, Surayud's men were seen at areas near the Royal Hotel, where protesters were seen being searched for weapons and later dragged into the hotel. He later claimed that he never gave orders for his soldiers to shoot. According to a later interview, "It convinced me that the army should never be involved in politics." Days later he told a national television audience that he deplored the loss of life and that he had not given any orders to shoot. In 1994, he was appointed commander of the 2nd Army Region.

Early in his army career, Surayud served in several army divisions including a light artillery unit and a paratrooper unit. He conducted operations against the Communist Party of Thailand (CPT) while his father was a leader of the CPT. From 1972 to 1978, he was an instructor at the Special Warfare School. He was an aide to General Prem Tinsulanonda when Prem was appointed army commander and later Prime Minister of Thailand. Surayud was appointed Commander of the Special Warfare Command in 1992, where he was the commanding officer of Sonthi Boonratklin.

Surayud was accused of breaching the Forestry Act and the National Forest Reserves Act by illegally owning forest reserve land in Yaithiang Mountain of Nakhon Ratchasima province. When Surayud was Commander of the 2nd Army Region, he was sold the plot of land for 50,000 baht. He later transferred ownership of the plot to his wife. Surayud vowed to resign and return the land (which he did not deny owning) if found guilty. He was defended by Interior Minister Aree Wongarya, who claimed, "Gen Surayud purchased the land from someone else so the question has to be posed to the first owner whether the land is reserved."

Surayud Chulanont (Thai: สุรยุทธ์ จุลานนท์, RTGS: Surayut Chulanon, IPA: [sù.rá.jút t͡ɕù.laː.non]; born 28 August 1943) is a Thai politician. He was the Prime Minister of Thailand and head of Thailand's interim government between 2006 and 2008. He is a former supreme commander of the Royal Thai Army and is currently Privy Councilor to King Vajiralongkorn.