Sophon Suphapong ( th, โสภณ สุภาพงษ์) (born, 12 September 1946) is a former Senator for

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

in the National Assembly of Thailand and the former President of Bangchak Petroleum. Sophon served as the first president of state-owned Bangchak Petroleum company, which was established in 1984 to operate the Bangchak Refinery. In the 1990s, under his leadership, the company made several initiatives focused on community responsibility as well as environmental awareness, which helped him win the

Ramon Magsaysay Award The Ramon Magsaysay Award (Filipino: ''Gawad Ramon Magsaysay'') is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in governance, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealis ...

in 1998. In 2005, Sophon accused the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

of being the mastermind behind bombings in the

South Thailand insurgency The South Thailand insurgency ( th, ความไม่สงบในชายแดนภาคใต้ของประเทศไทย; ms, Pemberontakan di Thailand Selatan) is an ongoing conflict centered in southern Thailand. It ...

. As a Senator, Sophon accused 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 ...

of taking part in the Finland Plan and using gains from the privatization of state energy company PTT in a plan to overthrow the Chakri dynasty and establish a

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

dictatorship A dictatorship is a form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, which holds governmental powers with few to no limitations on them. The leader of a dictatorship is called a dictator. Politics in a dictatorship are ...

. It was revealed in April 2007 that Sophon was paid by the military junta to criticize deposed Premier

following the

2006 Thailand coup 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

. However, Sophon continued to deny that he received any payment.The Nation
Saprang's cousin given PR work 'because of experience'
, 11 April 2007

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suphapong, Sophon Sophon Suphapong Sophon Suphapong Living people Ramon Magsaysay Award winners 1946 births Sophon Suphapong