Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon declined to comment yesterday in response to a claim by fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who said Gen Prawit must know how many families of those who died in the Tak Bai tragedy in Narathiwat 18 years ago have been compensated.
"Go ask Thaksin," Gen Prawit replied when asked about the thinly veiled accusation Thaksin made on the social media application Clubhouse on Tuesday.
That marked the 18th anniversary of the Tak Bai incident, in which 85 Muslim protesters died, mostly from suffocation, while being transported in military trucks. Gen Prawit was the army chief at the time, and Thaksin was premier.
Thaksin claimed during the recent Clubhouse meeting that he was not aware of any details of the military operation carried out in Tak Bai that day, other than a report -- which he received while playing golf -- that the Tak Bai police station had been surrounded by protesters.
He also claimed he did not receive any further reports until the deaths were confirmed later.
"There were mistakes made in the process of transporting suspects to a military camp, which was totally wrong, while I, as the prime minister, couldn't actually order them what to do," he said.
"As for compensation for those who lost their loved ones, go and ask Gen Prawit Wongsuwon, who was the army chief," Thaksin added.
On Oct 25, 2004, some 1,500 Muslim villagers gathered in front of the Tak Bai district police station demanding the release of six village defence volunteers arrested in connection with an alleged theft of weapons.
After the protest escalated -- which resulted in security forces killing seven Muslims -- scores of protesters were arrested and then piled on top of each other in trucks and transported to the Ingkhayuthaboriharn military camp in Nong Chik district in Pattani province.
On Monday, the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) separatist movement released a statement marking the anniversary of the tragedy on a YouTube account called "Anak Patani".
The BRN described the incident as a case of ethnic cleansing for which Thaksin, Gen Prawit and Lt Gen Pisal Watanawongkiri, the 4th Army commander at the time, must be held responsible in the International Criminal Court. Thaksin claimed he met a Malaysian public security official in Germany later who informed him there were people who aimed to topple him from power, at that time.
Shortly afterwards, anti-government rallies broke out led by the People's Democratic Reform Committee, which led to him being ousted, he said.