A former Thai Premier accused the Queen of responsibility for a 2006 military coup, a leaked US diplomatic memo showed, prompting Bangkok to insist the monarchy was above partisan politics.
Samak Sundaravej, who was Prime Minister for seven months in 2008, “showed disdain for Queen Sirikit, claiming that she had been responsible for the 2006 coup d’etat...” according to the October 2008 memo from the US embassy in Bangkok, obtained by British daily The Guardian from the WikiLeaks website.
“Samak viewed himself as loyal to the King, but implied that the Queen’s political agenda differened (sic) from her husband’s,” according to the confidential diplomatic note, posted on The Guardian’s website.
The kingdom has been riven by political unrest since the 2006 coup which ousted Thaksin Shinawatra, whose “Red Shirt” supporters staged mass protests in April and May that sparked violence which left more than 90 people dead.
Queen Sirikit, 78, is the wife of Thailand’s deeply-revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Any discussion of the royal family is an extremely sensitive topic and insulting the monarchy is a serious offence punishable by up to 15 years in jail.
Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Thani Thongphakdi said the government could not comment on the authenticity of the leaked diplomatic documents because they were not its own.
“We want to reiterate the Thai monarchy is above partisan politics, and above political conflicts that have occurred,” he said.
“In the recent past, there have been efforts by some parties involved in the political conflicts to draw the monarchy into the political fray. We should not give credence to such efforts.”