(Reuters) — Thailand’s military-run TV channel aired on Tuesday (May 27) a programme showing several high-profile detainees who were taken into custody after Army chief Prayuth Chan-ochatook over power in a bloodless coup last week.
The programme hosted by a presenter and also an army spokesman, showed the accommodation of the detainees. They said the detainees had access to medicine and were being “well looked after” and that they have “never been tied up”.
The programme also included an interview with one of the detainees.
“I have been treated well and I’ve never asked anyone where this place is because no one knows where it is,” Red Shirt protest leader Jatuporn Prompan said in the interview.
“I would like to thank my brothers and sisters, we all have good understanding between each other. Right now, I think we all have a better understanding toward each other’s feelings and I hope our country will not face more losses,” he said.
Jatuporn was one of the political leaders who participated in a failed meeting with rivals at theArmy Club on May 22, just before the Prayuth announced the takeover.
He and other participants were led away to an undisclosed location under tight security, sparking worries about their well-being.
The military has since detained and summoned more, some of who have been released.
“There are a total of 253 people who have been summoned. Two hundred people have shown up and have been registered and we have had discussions (with them) to create an understanding,” said deputy army spokeswoman Srichan Ngathong on Wednesday (May 28).
“We have released 124 people, some remain with us because they are waiting for some relatives to pick them up and there are 53 people who have not shown up as ordered (by theNational Committee for Peace and Order),” she said.
Earlier, the military said that detainees would not be held for more than seven days.
Coup leader Prayuth received a formal royal endorsement to be the head of the military council on Monday (May 26).
The military has loosened its grip on ordinary people’s lives, relaxing the 10:00 pm to 5:00 am curfew to midnight to 4:00 am starting from Wednesday.
Gatherings of more than five people are still banned under a military edict, but groups of anti-coup protesters have been holding demonstrations, under the watchful eye of armed soldiers.
