cchoi1022/wikitext-103-v1 · Datasets at Hugging Face

text stringlengths 0 6.86k
= = = early career = = =

stansfield 's first club was evesham colts under @@ 10s he played at county level for worcestershire leicestershire and devon when his family settled back in devon he joined twyford spartans scoring 84 goals in 54 matches he played in tiverton town 's youth team as a left back before reverting to being a striker at his first senior club non @@ league side cullompton rangers he later moved to elmore where he attracted trials from exeter city wolverhampton wanderers and torquay united all of which were unsuccessful his siblings joined the royal air force and he thought of joining them but continued searching for a breakthrough in professional football

= = = yeovil town = = =

in october 2001 stansfield 's performances for elmore impressed yeovil town manager gary johnson to sign him he made his debut in the conference on 9 november playing the entirety of a 3 0 loss away to southport his first goal came on 1 december concluding a 3 1 victory at northwich victoria his first season at huish park was a success finishing as the top scorer with 16 goals 8 of which came in the club 's victorious fa trophy run he scored twice in a fourth round replay at doncaster rovers as yeovil came from 0 3 down for an eventual 5 4 victory in the final on 12 may he scored the second goal of a 2 0 win over stevenage borough at the millennium stadium
on the first day of the following season stansfield was substituted through injury after 16 minutes of an eventual 2 2 home draw with gravesend & northfleet to be replaced by <unk> demba it was later confirmed to be a break of the tibia and fibula he missed the remainder of the season in which yeovil won the conference to be promoted to the football league for the first time
he recovered to feature in the next campaign making his league debut on 16 august 2003 in that match yeovil 's first in the football league he came on as an 80th @@ minute substitute for kirk jackson in a 3 0 win against carlisle united his first of six goals in the third division season came on 6 september opening a 2 0 home win over swansea city he was given a rare start in that match as first @@ choice forward kevin gall was away with wales under @@ 21

= = = hereford united = = =

on 14 june 2004 stansfield returned to the conference with hereford united signed by graham turner to replace their previous season 's top scorer steve guinan who had been sold to cheltenham town he scored 20 goals across the season including two on 25 march 2005 in a 6 0 win at farnborough town in that match he came on in the 77th minute for daniel carey @@ bertram who had also scored two hereford reached the promotion play @@ offs where they lost in the semi @@ finals to stevenage in the following season they won promotion by the play @@ offs with stansfield starting in the final on 20 may 2006 at the walkers stadium in leicester a 3 2 extra @@ time victory over halifax town

= = = exeter city = = =

on 12 june 2006 with his contract expired stansfield decided to remain in the conference joining exeter city he told local radio that his aim was not to achieve promotion or reach a certain tally of goals but to influence the club 's younger players
he scored nine times in 40 league games in his first season including two in a 2 1 home win over relegated southport on 28 april 2007 in order to seal a play @@ off place eleven days later in the second leg of the play @@ off semi @@ final away to oxford united he scored a goal which took the match to extra time and eventually a penalty shootout which his side won in the final on 20 may at wembley stadium he came on as a 36th @@ minute substitute for goalscorer lee phillips in a 1 2 loss to morecambe
on 26 april 2008 stansfield scored in exeter 's 4 4 draw at burton albion which qualified them for that season 's play @@ offs he started in the final whereby the team returned to the football league for the first time in five years with a 1 0 wembley win over cambridge united
he scored 10 goals in 37 league games as they won a second consecutive promotion into league one in the 2008 09 season this included consecutive braces on 27 september and 4 october in wins over macclesfield town ( 4 1 away ) and gillingham ( 3 0 home ) the following campaign despite never having previously played at as high a level he was a regular starter for exeter in league one scoring eight goals in a season curtailed by his cancer diagnosis

= = = international career = = =

stansfield earned five caps and scored one goal for the england national semi @@ professional team he featured in the 2002 edition of the four nations tournament and made his debut in england 's opening match a 1 1 draw with wales at york street in boston on 14 may stansfield was injured in the first half of the last match a 2 0 win against scotland at rockingham road in kettering on 18 may while wales won the title in 2005 while back in the conference with hereford he was again called up for the tournament by manager paul fairclough stansfield played in two matches as england won the tournament with three wins

= = illness and death = =

stansfield suffered from persistent abdominal pain in the early part of 2010 and was admitted to hospital for tests at the end of march on 8 april 2010 exeter city confirmed to the media that he had been diagnosed with a form of colorectal cancer manager paul tisdale told local news programme bbc spotlight that there 's little good on this subject but if there 's someone who can deal with it and meet it head on with real purpose adam 's the man
later that month stansfield underwent surgery to remove part of his colon club vice @@ chairman julian tagg reported that the operation was successful and that stansfield appeared happy and was making jokes he joined the exeter squad for the first day of pre @@ season training in july appearing weak from chemotherapy his condition deteriorated rapidly and he died on 10 august with his death being announced shortly after exeter 's loss to ipswich town in the football league cup
as a mark of respect dagenham & redbridge postponed the game exeter were due to play against them at victoria road four days after his death exeter retired his shirt number 9 for nine seasons
stansfield 's body was taken from st james park to his funeral service at exeter cathedral on 25 august attended by over 1 @@ 000 mourners a private family service was held later

= = = posthumous recognition = = =

stansfield continues to be remembered by fans of exeter on 9 august 2014 as they started the new season against portsmouth a giant flag resembling his club shirt was displayed by the crowd
at his funeral stansfield 's widow marie had an idea to set up the adam stansfield foundation which by the fourth anniversary of his death had raised over £ 150 @@ 000 it works in offering children football in devon somerset and herefordshire the three counties in which he played professionally as well as increasing opportunities for the disabled to take part in the sport the foundation also aims to increase awareness of bowel cancer
from 2011 to 2015 an aeroplane belonging to flybe bore an image of stansfield with other aeroplanes belonging to the company featuring such former footballers as george best and kevin keegan in 2015 stansfield was featured on £ 5 exeter pound notes in the city
exeter city and yeovil town agreed that on their meeting at st james park on 8 august 2015 there would be a minute 's applause in the seventh minute and ninth for the numbers he wore at each club earlier the same day there was also a match between the two clubs ' supporters in topsham devon to raise funds for his foundation

= = career statistics = =


= = honours = =

yeovil town
fa trophy 2001 02
football conference 2002 03
hereford united
conference national play @@ offs 2006
exeter city
conference national play @@ offs 2008
england semi @@ professional
four nations tournament 2005


= saprang kalayanamitr =

general saprang kalayanamitr ( thai <unk> ่ ง กัลยาณมิตร rtgs sa @@ <unk> <unk> also known as poei ( thai <unk> ) or big poei ( thai <unk> <unk> <unk> ) born 8 july 1948 in <unk> thailand ) is a retired officer of the royal thai army assistant secretary @@ general of the council for national security commander of the junta 's 14 @@ 000 @@ man anti @@ protest force chairman of the board of directors of airports of thailand ( aot ) and also chairman of the boards of tot and cat telecom two major thai state @@ owned telecommunication companies
saprang grew up in an aristocratic military family and graduated from the 7th class of the armed forces academies preparatory school and the 18th class of the chulachomklao royal military academy he served for nearly three decades in the army cavalry corp and was promoted to 3rd army region commander in 2005 he was a key leader of the september 2006 coup that overthrew the government of prime minister thaksin shinawatra
saprang is one of the fiercest critics of thaksin shinawatra calling him a traitor and claiming that he should be banished to live forever in the jungle upon appointment to chair airports of thailand and tot he purged the management initiated investigations into the overthrown government and donated 200 million baht of the agency 's funds to the army he fired the president of tot for questioning an 800 million baht donation that the agency made to the army as head of cat telecom he was accused of blocking attempts to launch people 's television a new television station founded by ex @@ leaders of thaksin 's thai rak thai party
saprang was considered one of the top contenders to lead the army and the junta after cns @@ leader sonthi boonyaratkalin 's mandatory retirement in 2007 however in september 2007 he was demoted to be deputy permanent secretary of the defense ministry while his rival general anupong paochinda was promoted to lead the army as a result saprang retired from the army in 2010

= = education and early career = =


= = = education = = =

born 8 july 1948 in <unk> thailand saprang graduated from the 7th class of the armed forces academies preparatory school ( <unk> ) and the 18th class of the chulachomklao royal military academy his classmates included general <unk> <unk> ( appointed deputy army commander after the coup ) admiral bannawit <unk> ( appointed to the national legislative assembly after the coup and leader of its suvarnabhumi airport committee ) and general <unk> <unk> he later graduated from the 43rd class of the national defence college of thailand in 2001 his ndc thesis concerned the role of military forces in the control of illegal narcotics his ndc classmates included <unk> <unk> governor of state energy company egat

= = = early career = = =

saprang started his military career in 1969 as rifle platoon leader in the 3rd infantry battalion 4th regimental combat team he claims to have fought 200 battles during the course of his military career
he was appointed commander of the 1st infantry battalion of the 4th infantry regiment in 1982 stationed in <unk> ( on the northwestern border with burma ) in 1985 he became commander of the 1st infantry battalion in the 19th infantry regiment stationed in <unk> fort <unk> ( on the western border with burma )
he was then promoted to be regimental commanding officer of the armed forces academies preparatory school in 1990 in 1991 he began a six @@ year stint as regimental commanding officer of the chulachomklao royal military academy
in april 1997 saprang was shortly transferred to the ministry of defense as a staff officer before being promoted in october 1997 to commanding general of the 15th infantry division at the time stationed in <unk> buri prachuap khiri khan province in 2003 he was promoted to 3rd corps commander in 2004 it was strongly rumored that saprang might be promoted to command the 4th army replacing general pongsak <unk> general pongsak had been criticized for ineffectually fighting the south thailand insurgency after 39 successful arson attacks occurred in just one night pongsak ended up being replaced in april 2004 by <unk> <unk>

= = = 2006 coup = = =

in a surprise to many observers saprang was promoted to 3rd army area commander in october 2005 headquartered in <unk> and responsible most of northern and northeastern thailand analysts had expected prime minister thaksin to promote his own classmates from <unk> class 10 to the powerful position instead at the same time also in a surprise move deputy army commander sonthi boonyaratkalin was promoted to army commander
saprang and sonthi started planning for the coup 7 to 8 months in advance in approximately february 2006 coup planning occurred prior to the april 2006 elections during thaksin 's controversial sale of shin corporation to temasek holdings and the peak of the people 's alliance for democracy 's campaign to oust the government in july 2006 saprang gave an interview where he stated that thai politics was below standard and that the kingdom 's leadership was weak he also claimed that thailand had a false democracy he denied that such criticism constituted military interference in politics at the same time the thai media speculated that in the october 2006 annual army reshuffle saprang would not be promoted to assistant army commander and would not be allowed to retain his position of 3rd army area commander in july saprang 's own deputy commander in the 3rd army area major general manas <unk> warned the media that a certain military officer who aspires to become assistant army commander was planning a coup
in the weeks leading up to coup saprang openly mobilised soldiers and northern residents to rebel against the government saprang played a key role on the evening of 19 september 2006 securing thaksin 's home town and power base of chiang mai that same night he was appointed assistant secretary @@ general of the cns the coup was executed just a week before the announcement of the army 's annual reshuffle

= = after the 2006 coup = =

a week after the coup saprang was promoted to assistant army commander alongside fellow coup leader anupong paochinda his predecessor general <unk> <unk> had not taken part in the coup and was transferred to an inactive position saprang was also promoted from lieutenant general to general

= = = cns special operations center = = =

on 27 december 2006 it was revealed that the cabinet had approved over half a billion baht worth of funding for a 14 @@ 000 @@ man secret anti @@ protest special operations force of which general saprang was commander the so @@ called cns special operations center funded with 556 million baht diverted from the defense ministry police office and government emergency reserve fund had been secretly established by the cns on 1 december 2006 in order to control protests

= = = tot and cat telecom = = =

saprang was appointed by the junta to become chairman of the board of directors of airports of thailand ( aot ) and also chairman of the boards of tot and cat telecom two major state @@ owned telecommunication companies saprang 's first move as tot chairman was to hand @@ pick three army colonels and vocal thaksin @@ critic vuthiphong <unk> to sit on the state enterprise 's board of directors saprang transferred tot president <unk> <unk> to an inactive position and appointed vuthiphong new president he then hand @@ picked all 10 other directors
saprang noted in an interview that if telecommunication businesses are in private hands the country won 't be safe the junta had earlier announced plans to cancel the initial public offering of both tot and cat telecom and to merge the two state enterprises
under saprang 's leadership tot reaffirmed its ownership rights to all existing backbone telecommunications networks under a new strategy to act as a genuine national telecom company the new strategy was expected to increase political and business tensions under the build @@ transfer @@ operate ( bto ) concession agreements that tot signed with private telecom operators the tot technically owns all fixed @@ line mobile and optical fibre networks in thailand however it had never exercised those rights in the past
vuthiphong was fired from the tot board and his position of acting tot president in june 2007 he immediately accused the army of using the tot as an unmonitored slush fund he claimed that an unnamed army unit had requested that tot buy it 800 million baht worth of electronic equipment upon receiving the request <unk> demanded to know why neither the army nor the defence ministry used their own secret budgets to purchase the equipment and why an internal army unit rather than the kingdom 's main national security organisations had made the request saprang denied that there was any lack of transparency in the request for financial support <unk> claimed that the equipment should only have cost 30 million baht not 800 million baht he was fired and expelled from the board soon after refusing to sign off on the deal the board later appointed col <unk> <unk> as the new tot president and accepted the army 's donation request
under his leadership tot 's performance dropped revenues for the first half of 2007 fell 13 year @@ on @@ year while net profit fell 36 @@ 1 fixed line revenue dropped 16 while public telephone and international call revenue by 30 each
as chairman of cat telecom saprang was accused by the founders of people 's television ( ptv ) a new satellite television station of being behind cat telecom 's refusal to grant an internet link from bangkok to a satellite up @@ link station in hong kong ptv was established by several ex @@ executives of the thai rak thai party cat telecom claimed that it never received ptv 's application for internet access
under saprang 's leadership 80 @@ 000 subscribers of thai mobile a tot / cat joint venture mobile phone operator were cut off temporarily in early may 2007 when owners tot and cat telecom failed to pay the bills of a major supplier thai mobile had accumulated significant losses and the company was not able to make its debt payments or supplier payments the partners had stopped payments to the supplier samart corporation for nearly a year until samart threatened to suspend services within three days after no payment it delivered on its threat tot was subsequently able to negotiate with samart to restart the service

= = = early career = = =

stansfield 's first club was evesham colts under @@ 10s he played at county level for worcestershire leicestershire and devon when his family settled back in devon he joined twyford spartans scoring 84 goals in 54 matches he played in tiverton town 's youth team as a left back before reverting to being a striker at his first senior club non @@ league side cullompton rangers he later moved to elmore where he attracted trials from exeter city wolverhampton wanderers and torquay united all of which were unsuccessful his siblings joined the royal air force and he thought of joining them but continued searching for a breakthrough in professional football

= = = yeovil town = = =

in october 2001 stansfield 's performances for elmore impressed yeovil town manager gary johnson to sign him he made his debut in the conference on 9 november playing the entirety of a 3 0 loss away to southport his first goal came on 1 december concluding a 3 1 victory at northwich victoria his first season at huish park was a success finishing as the top scorer with 16 goals 8 of which came in the club 's victorious fa trophy run he scored twice in a fourth round replay at doncaster rovers as yeovil came from 0 3 down for an eventual 5 4 victory in the final on 12 may he scored the second goal of a 2 0 win over stevenage borough at the millennium stadium

on the first day of the following season stansfield was substituted through injury after 16 minutes of an eventual 2 2 home draw with gravesend & northfleet to be replaced by <unk> demba it was later confirmed to be a break of the tibia and fibula he missed the remainder of the season in which yeovil won the conference to be promoted to the football league for the first time

he recovered to feature in the next campaign making his league debut on 16 august 2003 in that match yeovil 's first in the football league he came on as an 80th @@ minute substitute for kirk jackson in a 3 0 win against carlisle united his first of six goals in the third division season came on 6 september opening a 2 0 home win over swansea city he was given a rare start in that match as first @@ choice forward kevin gall was away with wales under @@ 21

= = = hereford united = = =

on 14 june 2004 stansfield returned to the conference with hereford united signed by graham turner to replace their previous season 's top scorer steve guinan who had been sold to cheltenham town he scored 20 goals across the season including two on 25 march 2005 in a 6 0 win at farnborough town in that match he came on in the 77th minute for daniel carey @@ bertram who had also scored two hereford reached the promotion play @@ offs where they lost in the semi @@ finals to stevenage in the following season they won promotion by the play @@ offs with stansfield starting in the final on 20 may 2006 at the walkers stadium in leicester a 3 2 extra @@ time victory over halifax town

= = = exeter city = = =

on 12 june 2006 with his contract expired stansfield decided to remain in the conference joining exeter city he told local radio that his aim was not to achieve promotion or reach a certain tally of goals but to influence the club 's younger players

he scored nine times in 40 league games in his first season including two in a 2 1 home win over relegated southport on 28 april 2007 in order to seal a play @@ off place eleven days later in the second leg of the play @@ off semi @@ final away to oxford united he scored a goal which took the match to extra time and eventually a penalty shootout which his side won in the final on 20 may at wembley stadium he came on as a 36th @@ minute substitute for goalscorer lee phillips in a 1 2 loss to morecambe

on 26 april 2008 stansfield scored in exeter 's 4 4 draw at burton albion which qualified them for that season 's play @@ offs he started in the final whereby the team returned to the football league for the first time in five years with a 1 0 wembley win over cambridge united

he scored 10 goals in 37 league games as they won a second consecutive promotion into league one in the 2008 09 season this included consecutive braces on 27 september and 4 october in wins over macclesfield town ( 4 1 away ) and gillingham ( 3 0 home ) the following campaign despite never having previously played at as high a level he was a regular starter for exeter in league one scoring eight goals in a season curtailed by his cancer diagnosis

= = = international career = = =

stansfield earned five caps and scored one goal for the england national semi @@ professional team he featured in the 2002 edition of the four nations tournament and made his debut in england 's opening match a 1 1 draw with wales at york street in boston on 14 may stansfield was injured in the first half of the last match a 2 0 win against scotland at rockingham road in kettering on 18 may while wales won the title in 2005 while back in the conference with hereford he was again called up for the tournament by manager paul fairclough stansfield played in two matches as england won the tournament with three wins

= = illness and death = =

stansfield suffered from persistent abdominal pain in the early part of 2010 and was admitted to hospital for tests at the end of march on 8 april 2010 exeter city confirmed to the media that he had been diagnosed with a form of colorectal cancer manager paul tisdale told local news programme bbc spotlight that there 's little good on this subject but if there 's someone who can deal with it and meet it head on with real purpose adam 's the man

later that month stansfield underwent surgery to remove part of his colon club vice @@ chairman julian tagg reported that the operation was successful and that stansfield appeared happy and was making jokes he joined the exeter squad for the first day of pre @@ season training in july appearing weak from chemotherapy his condition deteriorated rapidly and he died on 10 august with his death being announced shortly after exeter 's loss to ipswich town in the football league cup

as a mark of respect dagenham & redbridge postponed the game exeter were due to play against them at victoria road four days after his death exeter retired his shirt number 9 for nine seasons

stansfield 's body was taken from st james park to his funeral service at exeter cathedral on 25 august attended by over 1 @@ 000 mourners a private family service was held later

= = = posthumous recognition = = =

stansfield continues to be remembered by fans of exeter on 9 august 2014 as they started the new season against portsmouth a giant flag resembling his club shirt was displayed by the crowd

at his funeral stansfield 's widow marie had an idea to set up the adam stansfield foundation which by the fourth anniversary of his death had raised over £ 150 @@ 000 it works in offering children football in devon somerset and herefordshire the three counties in which he played professionally as well as increasing opportunities for the disabled to take part in the sport the foundation also aims to increase awareness of bowel cancer

from 2011 to 2015 an aeroplane belonging to flybe bore an image of stansfield with other aeroplanes belonging to the company featuring such former footballers as george best and kevin keegan in 2015 stansfield was featured on £ 5 exeter pound notes in the city

exeter city and yeovil town agreed that on their meeting at st james park on 8 august 2015 there would be a minute 's applause in the seventh minute and ninth for the numbers he wore at each club earlier the same day there was also a match between the two clubs ' supporters in topsham devon to raise funds for his foundation

= = career statistics = =

= = honours = =

yeovil town

fa trophy 2001 02

football conference 2002 03

hereford united

conference national play @@ offs 2006

exeter city

conference national play @@ offs 2008

england semi @@ professional

four nations tournament 2005

= saprang kalayanamitr =

general saprang kalayanamitr ( thai <unk> ่ ง กัลยาณมิตร rtgs sa @@ <unk> <unk> also known as poei ( thai <unk> ) or big poei ( thai <unk> <unk> <unk> ) born 8 july 1948 in <unk> thailand ) is a retired officer of the royal thai army assistant secretary @@ general of the council for national security commander of the junta 's 14 @@ 000 @@ man anti @@ protest force chairman of the board of directors of airports of thailand ( aot ) and also chairman of the boards of tot and cat telecom two major thai state @@ owned telecommunication companies

saprang grew up in an aristocratic military family and graduated from the 7th class of the armed forces academies preparatory school and the 18th class of the chulachomklao royal military academy he served for nearly three decades in the army cavalry corp and was promoted to 3rd army region commander in 2005 he was a key leader of the september 2006 coup that overthrew the government of prime minister thaksin shinawatra

saprang is one of the fiercest critics of thaksin shinawatra calling him a traitor and claiming that he should be banished to live forever in the jungle upon appointment to chair airports of thailand and tot he purged the management initiated investigations into the overthrown government and donated 200 million baht of the agency 's funds to the army he fired the president of tot for questioning an 800 million baht donation that the agency made to the army as head of cat telecom he was accused of blocking attempts to launch people 's television a new television station founded by ex @@ leaders of thaksin 's thai rak thai party

saprang was considered one of the top contenders to lead the army and the junta after cns @@ leader sonthi boonyaratkalin 's mandatory retirement in 2007 however in september 2007 he was demoted to be deputy permanent secretary of the defense ministry while his rival general anupong paochinda was promoted to lead the army as a result saprang retired from the army in 2010

= = education and early career = =

= = = education = = =

born 8 july 1948 in <unk> thailand saprang graduated from the 7th class of the armed forces academies preparatory school ( <unk> ) and the 18th class of the chulachomklao royal military academy his classmates included general <unk> <unk> ( appointed deputy army commander after the coup ) admiral bannawit <unk> ( appointed to the national legislative assembly after the coup and leader of its suvarnabhumi airport committee ) and general <unk> <unk> he later graduated from the 43rd class of the national defence college of thailand in 2001 his ndc thesis concerned the role of military forces in the control of illegal narcotics his ndc classmates included <unk> <unk> governor of state energy company egat

= = = early career = = =

saprang started his military career in 1969 as rifle platoon leader in the 3rd infantry battalion 4th regimental combat team he claims to have fought 200 battles during the course of his military career

he was appointed commander of the 1st infantry battalion of the 4th infantry regiment in 1982 stationed in <unk> ( on the northwestern border with burma ) in 1985 he became commander of the 1st infantry battalion in the 19th infantry regiment stationed in <unk> fort <unk> ( on the western border with burma )

he was then promoted to be regimental commanding officer of the armed forces academies preparatory school in 1990 in 1991 he began a six @@ year stint as regimental commanding officer of the chulachomklao royal military academy

in april 1997 saprang was shortly transferred to the ministry of defense as a staff officer before being promoted in october 1997 to commanding general of the 15th infantry division at the time stationed in <unk> buri prachuap khiri khan province in 2003 he was promoted to 3rd corps commander in 2004 it was strongly rumored that saprang might be promoted to command the 4th army replacing general pongsak <unk> general pongsak had been criticized for ineffectually fighting the south thailand insurgency after 39 successful arson attacks occurred in just one night pongsak ended up being replaced in april 2004 by <unk> <unk>

= = = 2006 coup = = =

in a surprise to many observers saprang was promoted to 3rd army area commander in october 2005 headquartered in <unk> and responsible most of northern and northeastern thailand analysts had expected prime minister thaksin to promote his own classmates from <unk> class 10 to the powerful position instead at the same time also in a surprise move deputy army commander sonthi boonyaratkalin was promoted to army commander

saprang and sonthi started planning for the coup 7 to 8 months in advance in approximately february 2006 coup planning occurred prior to the april 2006 elections during thaksin 's controversial sale of shin corporation to temasek holdings and the peak of the people 's alliance for democracy 's campaign to oust the government in july 2006 saprang gave an interview where he stated that thai politics was below standard and that the kingdom 's leadership was weak he also claimed that thailand had a false democracy he denied that such criticism constituted military interference in politics at the same time the thai media speculated that in the october 2006 annual army reshuffle saprang would not be promoted to assistant army commander and would not be allowed to retain his position of 3rd army area commander in july saprang 's own deputy commander in the 3rd army area major general manas <unk> warned the media that a certain military officer who aspires to become assistant army commander was planning a coup

in the weeks leading up to coup saprang openly mobilised soldiers and northern residents to rebel against the government saprang played a key role on the evening of 19 september 2006 securing thaksin 's home town and power base of chiang mai that same night he was appointed assistant secretary @@ general of the cns the coup was executed just a week before the announcement of the army 's annual reshuffle

= = after the 2006 coup = =

a week after the coup saprang was promoted to assistant army commander alongside fellow coup leader anupong paochinda his predecessor general <unk> <unk> had not taken part in the coup and was transferred to an inactive position saprang was also promoted from lieutenant general to general

= = = cns special operations center = = =

on 27 december 2006 it was revealed that the cabinet had approved over half a billion baht worth of funding for a 14 @@ 000 @@ man secret anti @@ protest special operations force of which general saprang was commander the so @@ called cns special operations center funded with 556 million baht diverted from the defense ministry police office and government emergency reserve fund had been secretly established by the cns on 1 december 2006 in order to control protests

= = = tot and cat telecom = = =

saprang was appointed by the junta to become chairman of the board of directors of airports of thailand ( aot ) and also chairman of the boards of tot and cat telecom two major state @@ owned telecommunication companies saprang 's first move as tot chairman was to hand @@ pick three army colonels and vocal thaksin @@ critic vuthiphong <unk> to sit on the state enterprise 's board of directors saprang transferred tot president <unk> <unk> to an inactive position and appointed vuthiphong new president he then hand @@ picked all 10 other directors

saprang noted in an interview that if telecommunication businesses are in private hands the country won 't be safe the junta had earlier announced plans to cancel the initial public offering of both tot and cat telecom and to merge the two state enterprises

under saprang 's leadership tot reaffirmed its ownership rights to all existing backbone telecommunications networks under a new strategy to act as a genuine national telecom company the new strategy was expected to increase political and business tensions under the build @@ transfer @@ operate ( bto ) concession agreements that tot signed with private telecom operators the tot technically owns all fixed @@ line mobile and optical fibre networks in thailand however it had never exercised those rights in the past

vuthiphong was fired from the tot board and his position of acting tot president in june 2007 he immediately accused the army of using the tot as an unmonitored slush fund he claimed that an unnamed army unit had requested that tot buy it 800 million baht worth of electronic equipment upon receiving the request <unk> demanded to know why neither the army nor the defence ministry used their own secret budgets to purchase the equipment and why an internal army unit rather than the kingdom 's main national security organisations had made the request saprang denied that there was any lack of transparency in the request for financial support <unk> claimed that the equipment should only have cost 30 million baht not 800 million baht he was fired and expelled from the board soon after refusing to sign off on the deal the board later appointed col <unk> <unk> as the new tot president and accepted the army 's donation request

under his leadership tot 's performance dropped revenues for the first half of 2007 fell 13 year @@ on @@ year while net profit fell 36 @@ 1 fixed line revenue dropped 16 while public telephone and international call revenue by 30 each

as chairman of cat telecom saprang was accused by the founders of people 's television ( ptv ) a new satellite television station of being behind cat telecom 's refusal to grant an internet link from bangkok to a satellite up @@ link station in hong kong ptv was established by several ex @@ executives of the thai rak thai party cat telecom claimed that it never received ptv 's application for internet access

under saprang 's leadership 80 @@ 000 subscribers of thai mobile a tot / cat joint venture mobile phone operator were cut off temporarily in early may 2007 when owners tot and cat telecom failed to pay the bills of a major supplier thai mobile had accumulated significant losses and the company was not able to make its debt payments or supplier payments the partners had stopped payments to the supplier samart corporation for nearly a year until samart threatened to suspend services within three days after no payment it delivered on its threat tot was subsequently able to negotiate with samart to restart the service