US-funded Agitator Admits Budget for Upcoming "Month-Long" Protest

Anon Nampa - confirmed US-funded agitator - claims to have a budget for a month-long rally outside Thailand's Government House. But where does an incredibly unpopular movement with no public support secure so much money?  

October 13, 2020 (Tony Cartalucci - ATN) - Despite losing general elections in 2019, failing to mobilize any substantial protest since, and having repeated calls to boycott various companies, people, and even movies absolutely ignored by the Thai public - core protest leader Anon Nampa claims to have secured a budget large enough to sustain a major rally for one month aimed at surrounding Thailand's Government House until the government "resigns." 

Sources reporting Anon Nampa's claims did not reveal details of how large the budget was or where it came from - nor did they explain how a visibly unpopular opposition movement unable to attract even modestly large numbers at "major rallies" was able to secure such a large amount of funding. 

Also unreported by these sources - mainly the Western corporate media and their echo chamber in Thailand - was the fact that Anon Nampa - a lawyer for opposition front "Thai Lawyers for Human Rights" (TLHR) - is funded entirely by foreign governments and primarily by the US government via its notorious regime change arm - the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). 

READ MORE: What is the US National Endowment for Democracy (NED)?

In fact, virtually every aspect of Thailand's ongoing anti-government protests are funded by the US government - including fronts aiming at rewriting Thailand's constitution, media fronts promoting the protests, and even groups that bring physical bodies in an attempt to fill up rallies. 

READ MORE: The Complete Guide: US Government Role in Thailand's "Student Protests"

Anon Nampa's Thai Lawyers for Human Rights is US Funded  

Anon Nampa's Frontline Defenders profile claims (emphasis added): 

Arnon Nampa is a human rights lawyer who volunteers with the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR). TLHR was established in 2014 to provide legal assistance to alleged violators of lèse-majesté and human rights defenders targeted by the authorities following the military coup of 22 May 2014. 

Anon Nampa's organization - TLHR - is listed as a recipient of US government money via the US NED and has been funded by the US government since it was created in 2014.

In 2014, the US NED listed TLHR by name - archived here - as receiving nearly 1 million Thai Baht a year. The NED Thailand 2014 page notes (emphasis added): 

Access to Justice and the Protection of Human Rights under Martial Law: To promote and protect human rights. The Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, hosted by the Union for Civil Liberty, will provide legal assistance to those affected by martial law rule. Activities will also include monitoring and documentation of human rights violations across the country.

TLHR being hosted by the Union for Civil Liberty (UCL) is important to note, because the US NED website has since deleted mention of TLHR and instead includes its funding under the UCL which receives a staggering 4 million baht a year from the US government. The UCL lists TLHR - among other US NED grantees - as a member of its union at the bottom of its official website.

In addition to funding TLHR the US State Department had awarded another TLHR lawyer - Sirikan “June” Charoensiri the 2018 "International Women of Courage Award" presented by US First Lady Melania Trump.

The US Embassy in Bangkok - now denying any involvement with US NED-funded groups like TLHR - would at the time openly praise TLHR in a statement celebrating the award, exclaiming:

The U.S. Embassy in Bangkok is proud of Sirikan “June” Charoensiri’s work as a lawyer and human rights defender, and for being recognized by the Secretary of State as an International Women of Courage award recipient.

Ms. Sirikan is a co-founder of Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), a lawyers’ collective set up to provide pro bono legal services for human rights cases and to document human rights violations.

Anon Nampa's TLHR is an organization carefully cultivated by the US government for years - propped up financially and politically and even awarded for carrying out Washington's agenda in Thailand - and is now leading protests aimed at overthrowing the elected government of Thailand all while lying about the nature of its foreign funding.

TLHR's Own Founder Admitted to Foreign Funding Multiple Times 

Admissions by TLHR staff itself in the past has made it clear the foreign-funded nature of its activities. 

The Bangkok Post in a 2016 article titled, "The lawyer preparing to defend herself," would admit (emphasis added):

...[TLHR] receives all its funding from international donors including the EU, Germany and US-based human rights organisations and embassies of the UK and Canada.

In an interview with likewise US NED-funded media portal Prachatai titled,  "Interview with Head of Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, on receiving human rights award from French Embassy," TLHR founder Yaowalak Anupan would fully admit (emphasis added):

We have to thank many organizations which support us, such as iLaw, Cross Cultural Foundation, International Commission of Jurists, United Nations, European Union, British Embassy, Canadian Embassy, among others. 

It should be noted that iLaw (Internet Law Reform Dialogue) and Cross Cultural Foundation (page 31, PDF) are also both funded by the US NED and are listed on NED's past and current Thailand webpages.  

There is absolutely no doubt that Thai Lawyers for Human Rights is funded by the US government via the National Endowment for Democracy - an organization created by the US government, funded annually by the US Congress, and overseen by both the US Congress and the US State Department - according to its own "About Us" page and despite dishonest attempts to still somehow portray itself as "nongovernmental" and "private."  

Lying About Obviously Corrupt, Criminal - even Treasonous - Funding 

Yet Anon Nampa in a recent Thai/English interview with Pravit Rojanaphruk for Khaosod - a newspaper owned by the family of billionaire opposition leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit -  denied receiving any money from abroad.

He did however admit to using up to 100,000 Thai Baht (THB) a month to conduct opposition activities - with this number obviously not including funding needed to organized "major rallies" which do not even occur monthly. 

To put this number in perspective - it is about 10 times more than the average Thai minimum wage worker earns in a month. 

When "major rallies" are organized, it would require amounts larger than 100,000 THB daily in order to cover costs for transporting supporters from upcountry, rent the immense stages constructed for protest leaders to speak from, the giant wall-sized LED screens that serve as a backdrop, professional sound systems used to broadcast their voice to crowds, professionally printed shirts, banners, and signs used to decorate the site and distribute to protesters, lighting, electrical generators, trucks to bring this equipment to protest sites as well as the crews required to transport it, set it up, and operate the equipment throughout the duration of the rally. 

It is clearly money not coming from the protest's supporters - most of whom are admittedly either students who can't even pay their own rent or tuition or groups of rural poor drawn from billionaire fugitive Thaksin Shinawatra's "red shirt" movement who can't even pay bus fees to travel to the demonstrations.  

The fact that two corrupt billionaires lead Anon Nampa's opposition from behind helps explain most of this funding. Thaksin Shinawatra has openly organized precisely these sort of protests in the past. Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit - another billionaire leading these protests - had admitted as early as December 2019 that he would bring unrest to Thailand's streets.

 

Anon Nampa's lack of transparency feeds directly into his lack of legitimacy. By receiving funds from foreign governments and corrupt billionaires - nothing could be less "democratic" about his supposedly "pro-democracy" movement. 

Democracy is a process of self-determination built on the rule of law. Foreign governments and fugitive billionaires negate both of these essential ingredients for a truly democratic movement. 

Instead, what Anon Nampa and the anti-government protests are - is a concerted influence operation aimed at undermining the Thai government - with the US role clearly aimed at rolling back the current Thai government's growing relationship with China. For Thaksin Shinawatra and Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit - two corrupt billionaires - their desire to accumulate more wealth and power under the guise of "advancing democracy" couldn't be more obvious - no matter how many layers of "democracy" they try to hide it behind.