Sondhi Limthongkul

Sondhi Limthongkul
สนธิ ลิ้มทองกุล
Sondhi Limthongkul
Born	(1947-11-07) 7 November 1947 (age 76) Sukhothai, Thailand
Alma mater	Utah State University UCLA
Occupations	Publisher author activist
Years active	1973–2016 2019–present
Spouse	Chanthip Limthongkul
Children	Jittanart Limthongkul

Sondhi Limthongkul (Thai: สนธิ ลิ้มทองกุล; RTGS: Sonthi Limthongkun; Chinese: 林明達; pinyin: Lín Míngdá, born 7 November 1947) is a Thai media mogul, conspiracy theorist, pro-Beijing anti-democracy reactionary activist, demagogue, and leader of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD). 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 military coup 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.^[1] 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.^[2][3]

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.^[4] He was released from jail early on 4 September 2019 on royal pardon.^[5]