Sondhi Limthongkul (born 7 November 1947) is a Thai media proprietor, conspiracy theorist, anti-American, anti-establishment conservative nationalist activist, demagogue, and leader of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD). In 2009, he was elected leader of the New Politics Party (NPP).
Starting his career as a journalist, he later founded Manager Daily newspaper as well as satellite broadcaster ASTV. Originally a strong supporter of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, he later became a leader of the anti-Thaksin movement. Under his leadership, the PAD was the major player in the 2005–2006 Thai political crisis that led to the 2006 coup d'état that toppled the Thaksin government. When Thaksin-affiliated parties won the 2007 general election, Sondhi became the major player in the 2008–2009 Thai political crisis, leading the PAD in violent clashes with security forces and anti-PAD protestors as well as the seizure of Government House, Don Muang Airport, and Suvarnabhumi Airport. Sondhi is more or less a supporter of the Democrat Party and stopped the PAD's protests after Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva was appointed prime minister.
In April 2009, Abhisit faced massive anti-government protests led by the pro-Thaksin red shirts which caused the Fourth East Asia Summit to be canceled and was followed by riots in Bangkok. Days after the Bangkok unrest was quelled by military force, gunmen ambushed Sondhi's car, a black Toyota Vellfire, at a petrol station. They shot out the tires, and fired over 100 M-16 and AK-47 assault rifle rounds at the car. The attackers escaped from the scene when Sondhi's followers in another car opened fire on them. Sondhi suffered a serious head wound but remained conscious, standing and lucid before being sent to a hospital for emergency surgery.The Times, Thailand's Yellow Shirt leader Sondhi Limthongkul survives assassination attempt, 17 April 2009 Sondhi survived the surgery, which involved removing several bullet fragments embedded about half a centimetre deep in his skull. It is not certain who was behind the shooting, though Sondhi's son and PAD's spokesmen speculated that a faction of the military or police might have been behind it.Matichon, "สนธิ"ออกจากห้องผ่าตัด-ปลอดภัยแล้ว พบเศษกระสุนฝังหัว4ชิ้น คาดอีก6วันออก รพ.ได้ หลังเจอยิงถล่มรถพรุน Thai Talk
On 6 September 2016, the Supreme Court of Thailand ruled that he must serve the 20 years in prison sentence ruled by the Appeals Court in 2012, when he was freed on bail. The sentence, according to the Supreme Court, will not be suspended. He was found guilty of violating the Securities and Exchange Act by falsifying documents in 1997 to secure a loan from Krung Thai Bank amounting to 1.08 billion baht. He was released from jail early on 4 September 2019 on royal pardon.
The media mogul
Sondhi founded Manager Daily in 1982 after several ventures in publishing. The newspaper became his personal mouthpiece, and he used the profits to build a publishing, broadcasting, and telecommunications empire.
During Bloody May in 1992, Sondhi and his media played a significant role in opposing the then military government's crackdown on protesters, issuing a free special tabloid on the events when the government threatened to shut down his newspaper.
By 1996, he had over US$600 million in assets. His business faced a meltdown following the 1997 Asian financial crisis, forcing him into bankruptcy and sparking investigations into irregular inter-company transactions. Immediately after the crisis, Sondhi furiously attacked the Democrat-led government over its management of the economic recovery. With the election of Thaksin Shinawatra as prime minister in 2001, several of Sondhi's associates became leaders in the new government. His banker, Viroj Nualkhair, became president of state-owned Krung Thai Bank and gave more than a billion baht in "debt forgiveness" to Sondhi, allowing him to emerge from bankruptcy. Sondhi became a vocal supporter of Thaksin, calling him "the best prime minister our country has ever had."The Nation, Old views haunt govt critic , 7 December 2005
In 2005, Viroj Nualkhair was dismissed from the KTB after incurring over 40 billion baht in problem loans. Sondhi then began criticizing Thaksin using the media under his control, including satellite broadcaster ASTV. He founded the People's Alliance for Democracy, aimed at overthrowing the Thaksin government. The PAD cancelled their activities after a military coup overthrew Thaksin. However, when Thaksin-affiliated parties won a post-coup election, and vowed to revise the new constitution, which they claimed was 'undemocratic', the PAD reformed and renewed its protests. In 2008, Sondhi and PAD demonstrators occupied Government House and barricaded themselves inside for months. They later seized Don Muang Airport and Suvarnabhumi Airport and closed them for several days, stranding thousands of travelers. At the height of the protests, the PAD declared the only person they would accept as Premier was Abhisit Vejjajiva, leader of the opposition Democrat Party.Bloomberg, Oxford Graduate Abhisit Elected in Thai Power Shift, 19 December 2008 The protests ended when the Constitutional Court banned the People's Power Party for corruption. Army commander and co-leader of the 2006 coup, General Anupong Paochinda, pressured several PPP MPs to switch to the Democrat Party, allowing Abhisit to form a government and become prime minister.The Telegraph, Thai army to 'help voters love' the government, 18 December 2008 PAD leader Khamnoon Sitthisamarn called Abhisit's premiership a "genuine PAD victory" and a "Anupong-style coup."The Nation, Question loom over new Prime Minister's legitimacy , 17 December 2008
Citing the claimed failure of popular democracy in Thailand, Sondhi has suggested constitutional amendments that some members of parliament should be chosen by profession, a proposal that was seen as 'undemocratic' by his opponents.IHT, On 5th day of Thai protests, a carnival atmosphere, 30 August 2008BBC, Rifts behind Thailand's political crisis, 27 August 2008 Closely affiliated with Queen Sirikit and prominent royalists, Sondhi regularly invoked king Bhumibol Adulyadej in his protests, and has claimed that his enemies are disloyal to the monarchy, aiming at destroying the country's political form.ABC, Thai PM threatens protestors over slogans, 5 August 2008Al Jazeera, Thai PM: 'I will never resign', 31 August 2008The Financial Times, Protesters besiege Thai state buildings , 27 August 2008 Sondhi has openly called for the military and Thailand's traditional elite to take a greater role in politics.AFP Thai PM consults king over escalating protests , 20 August 2008
Early life and career (pre-1982) Sondhi was born in Sukhothai Province to a Thai Chinese family with ancestry from Hainan. His paternal grandfather was born in Hainan before settling in Sukhothai and marrying a Thai woman. Sondhi’s Thai-born father was sent to study in China and eventually became a Kuomintang army officer after training at Whampoa Military Academy; he later returned to Thailand during the Chinese Communist Revolution and married a Hainan-born woman who was Sondhi’s mother.Kasian Tejapira, Toppling Thaksin, NLR 39, May-June 2006The misbehaving jeks: The evolving regime of Thainess and Sino-Thai challengesThailand’s Sondhi Running Out of Time After Latest ConvictionAre We Them? Textual and Literary Representations of the Chinese in Twentieth-Century Thailand Sondhi majored in history at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he was a reporter for the student newspaper, The Daily Bruin, from 1966 to 1969. He received his M.A. degree from Utah State University in 1972.
Returning to Thailand, he worked for the newspaper Prachatipatai (Democracy) as a reporter and managing editor in 1973 and 1974. He wrote several exposés of the political developments that led to the student protests and bloodshed on October 14, 1973, an event which brought down the military government of Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn and led to a restoration of democracy.
In 1976, he set up the Advance Media Group with real estate investor Paul Sittiamnuay. The group produced four publications, including a short-lived English-language daily called Business Times (not connected with the current Business Times), with Sondhi as an editor. The newspaper collapsed after Paul Sittiamnuay was investigated over a real estate scandal, went bankrupt and fled the country.
In 1979, Sondhi set up his own company, Karawek, which published a women's magazine, Pooying, from 1980 to 1982.
The Manager era (1982–1997)
In 1982, Sondhi established the business monthly Phoojatkarn (Manager), which he produced in a room in his father's house. Phoojatkarn Monthly was soon a success, and four years later Sondhi began a weekly with the same name. He later published a daily newspaper, Phoojadkarn Rai Wan. Phoojatkarn Daily has often been regarded as Sondhi's personal mouthpiece.
Sondhi eventually established a publishing house called the Manager Group (also known as the M Group), as a holding company for his media outlets. Among the companies he purchased were the IT firms SCT and Micronetic, and the handset retailer IEC. IEC was the exclusive handset retailer for Nokia phones, and its major customers were the two rival mobile-phone groups Advanced Info Service, which belonged to future prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and Total Access Communication (later known as DTAC).
During this period, Sondhi also expanded into English-language publishing, with an English edition of Manager, the Hong Kong-based monthly Asia Inc, and a regional daily newspaper the Asia Times. He briefly owned a local lifestyle magazine in Los Angeles known as Buzz. Sondhi was characterized in the media as an "Asian Rupert Murdoch," and he hired aggressively, bringing in both Asian and Western journalists. Asia Inc was eventually sold, and went through several ownership changes. It is currently owned by Singapore-based Edge Asia Inc Media Group. The Asia Times folded in 1997, though an online edition, run by some of the paper's former staff, continues to operate Asia Times Online.
Before taking IEC public in 1992, Sondhi allotted a 17.5 per cent stake in the company to Thaksin. Thaksin bought the stake at Bt10 per share. After the listing, IEC's share price shot up to THB 250 each and Thaksin sold out his stake. Sondhi said Thaksin made between THB 600 million to THB 700 million from the IEC float. Sondhi wrote in his book, "One Must Know How To Lose Before Knowing How To Win", that he felt that Thaksin was a free rider and did not want to do business with him.
The Manager Group-led Asia Broadcasting and Communications Network (ABCN) set up its satellite project, Lao Star Co – which was worth about THB 9 billion – as a joint venture with the Laotian government in 1995. Lao Star appointed Space System/Loral to build two L-Star satellites and L-Star 1 was set to officially launch to provide digital direct-to-home TV programmes in 1998. L-Star 2 was to be put into orbit in 1999. The project was planned to serve around 2 billion people in the Asia Pacific region, including India and China. Later ABCN enlisted DTAC's parent, United Communication Industry Plc (Ucom), to back its business.
IEC also provided a bulk of the mobile-phone airtime to DTAC before purchasing the 1800 MHz frequency from DTAC to develop its own mobile-phone operator Wireless Communication Service (WCS). WCS offered the service under the brand Digital 01.