Weng Tojirakarn ( th, เหวง โตจิราการ, , ; born 1 April 1951) is a Thai

medical doctor A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He is an activist of the

United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship The United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) ( th, แนวร่วมประชาธิปไตยต่อต้านเผด็จการแห่งชาติ; นปช., alternatively translated as National Demo ...

(UDD), colloquially known as "Red Shirts" and since 2011 a member of parliament for the

Pheu Thai Party The Pheu Thai Party (PTP; th, พรรคเพื่อไทย, lit=For Thais Party, , ) is the third incarnation of a Thai political party founded by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The Pheu Thai Party was founded on 20 Septemb ...

Life and political activism

Youth and activity in the democracy movement

Born into a family of poor

Chinese immigrants Overseas Chinese () refers to people of Chinese birth or ethnicity who reside outside Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese. Terminology () or ''Hoan-kheh'' () in Hokkien, refe ...

, Weng Tojirakarn was admitted to the prestigious

Triam Udom Suksa School Triam Udom Suksa School ( th, โรงเรียนเตรียมอุดมศึกษา, ; lit.'university-preparatory school') is a state school in central Bangkok, Thailand. It admits upper-secondary students (''mathayom'' 4–6, eq ...

for his outstanding intelligence. He studied at the

Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University The Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University ( th, คณะแพทยศาสตร์โรงพยาบาลรามาธิบดี มหาวิทยาลัยมหิดล) has long been regarded as Thaila ...

and was the secretary-general of the Medical Students Centre of Thailand. Weng considered himself a disciple of the Buddhist monk

Buddhadasa Phra Dharmakosācārya (Nguam Indapañño) ( th, พระธรรมโกศาจารย์ (เงื่อม อินฺทปญฺโญ); ), also known as Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu ( th, พุทธทาสภิกขุ; , 27 May 1906 � ...

Bhikku and thinks that the influence of Buddhadasa's teachings has motivated him to his political and social activism. He participated in the pro-democracy uprising in October 1973 and the student protests in 1976 that led to the

Thammasat University massacre The 6 October 1976 massacre, or the 6 October event ( th, เหตุการณ์ 6 ตุลา ) as it is known in Thailand, was a violent crackdown by Thai police and lynching by right-wing paramilitaries and bystanders against leftist p ...

and the return to military rule. Like other radical intellectuals, Weng and his wife, the microbiologist and pharmacist Asst. Prof. Thida Thavornseth, joined the illegal

Communist Party of Thailand The Communist Party of Thailand ( Abrv: CPT; th, พรรคคอมมิวนิสต์แห่งประเทศไทย, ) was a communist party in Thailand active from 1942 until the 1990s. Initially known as the Communist Party ...

and fled to their camps in the jungle. During the following six years, Weng was part of the Communists' medical unit that cured wounded comrades. After the defeat of the Communists, he returned to Bangkok. In 1992, he joined the protests against the military-installed government of

Suchinda Kraprayoon Suchinda Kraprayoon ( th, สุจินดา คราประยูร, ; born 6 August 1933) is a Thai retired army general and politician. As the commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Army (1990–1992) he led the 1991 Thai coup d'état ...

, that are recalled as the Black May. He co-founded the ''Confederation for Democracy''.

Opposition against Thaksin

Weng Tojirakarn opposed the administration of prime minister

Thaksin Shinawatra Thaksin Shinawatra ( th, ทักษิณ ชินวัตร; ; ; Chinese: 丘達新; cnr, Taksin Šinavatra; born 26 July 1949), is a Thai businessman, politician and visiting professor. He served in the Thai Police from 1973 to 1987, a ...

. In particular, he criticised the "custom-tailored" law that allowed Thaksin and his family to sell multi-billion baht shares of their company Shin Corp to investors from

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

without paying taxes. He joined the citizens' movement against Thaksin alongside

Chamlong Srimuang Chamlong Srimuang ( th, จำลอง ศรีเมือง; born 5 July 1935) is a Thai activist and former politician. A former general, he was a leader of the "Young Turks" military clique, founded and led the Palang Dharma Party, serv ...

who had already been the spokesman of the democracy movement of 1992. The anti-Thaksin movement became the

People's Alliance for Democracy The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD; th, พันธมิตรประชาชนเพื่อประชาธิปไตย, Phanthamit Prachachon Pheu Prachathipatai; commonly known as "Yellow Shirts") is a Thai reactionary, m ...

(PAD), the so-called "Yellow Shirts", but Weng increasingly alienated from the demands of his political friends. He finally broke with the PAD when they called for a new prime minister appointed by the king under evasion of the parliament's right of nomination (what the king declined after all), or military intervention. Weng perceived demands like these as undemocratic and accused the "Yellow Shirts" of developing in a neo-Nazi-like, selfish, corrupt and terrorist direction.

Activism in the UDD

After the

2006 Thai coup d'état The 2006 Thai ''coup d'état'' took place on 19 September 2006, when the Royal Thai Army staged a ''coup d'état'' against the elected caretaker government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The ''coup d'état'', which was Thailand's first ...

, that ousted Prime Minister Thaksin, and the installation of a military-backed government, Weng approached the opposite political camp, the pro-Thaksin "Red Shirts". After the fierce "Red Shirts" protests against the government from March to May 2010, and the bloody military crackdowns in April and May, Weng, alongside other Red Shirt leaders, surrendered to the police on 18 May and was arrested. On 1 December 2010, his wife Thida was made chairwoman of the UDD. Weng was released on bail terms on 22 February 2011. He was elected member of parliament on the winning

list in the 2011 election. In 2014 he issued a verdict in the killing of Kamol Duangphasuk, a well known Thai poet who was killed in his own car.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tojirakarn, Weng Living people 1951 births

Weng Tojirakarn Weng Tojirakarn ( th, เหวง โตจิราการ, , ; born 1 April 1951) is a Thai medical doctor and politician. He is an activist of the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), colloquially known as "Red Shirts" and ...