Wednesday 18 February 2009
Since the military coup, democratic rights have come under attack. Now the fightback is startingFive years ago,
Thailand had a thriving and developing democracy with freedom of expression, a relatively free press and an active civil society, where social movements campaigned to protect the interests of the poor. Today, the country is creeping towards totalitarianism.
The government, led by the inappropriately named Democrat party, is only in power because of the military who staged a coup in 2006.
It is vicious and paranoid. Its priority is to stifle dissent by using lese-majesty (ie insulting the king's law). It censors the electronic media and community radio stations, and is encouraging citizens to inform on each other.
People are being arrested and thrown into jail, before trial, for posting comments on the internet.
The TV and print media are already working hand in glove with the military. The courts have been used as an instrument of dictatorship, repeatedly dissolving the party that won most of the popular vote.
Judges protect themselves by threatening anyone who dares to criticise them with a jail sentence for "contempt of court".
Lese-majesty trials are given little publicity. There is no transparency and accountability, no justice, no freedom of speech and no academic freedom.
In early 2007, I published a short, academic book, A Coup for the Rich (pdf). It was written as a protest against the shrinking democratic space in Thailand. I criticised the gross human rights abuses of the democratically elected Thaksin government.
Thaksin presided over extra judicial killings in his so-called war on drugs and in the three southern Muslim provinces. But I argued that a military coup was not the answer.
I was charged with lese-majesty. How can there be academic freedom when my own university, Chulalongkorn University, gave my book to the police?
Thaksin presided over extra judicial killings in his so-called war on drugs and in the three southern Muslim provinces. But I argued that a military coup was not the answer.
I was charged with lese-majesty. How can there be academic freedom when my own university, Chulalongkorn University, gave my book to the police?
Those people in society who supported the 2006 coup included most of Thai academia, more than half the NGO movement and the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD).
The PAD soon descended into a fascist type of organisation. It took an ultra-royalist – supporters donned yellow shirts associated with the Thai royal family – and an ultra-nationalist stance, and nearly caused a war with Cambodia.
It built up an armed guard, which openly carried and used weapons on the streets. They took over Government House, closed parliament and then moved on to occupy the two international airports.
They were backed by the army and members of the royal family. The present Thai foreign minister is a PAD supporter. The PAD's media outlet (The Manager Group) has started violent witch-hunts against academics and social activists who question the deterioration of democracy.
It built up an armed guard, which openly carried and used weapons on the streets. They took over Government House, closed parliament and then moved on to occupy the two international airports.
They were backed by the army and members of the royal family. The present Thai foreign minister is a PAD supporter. The PAD's media outlet (The Manager Group) has started violent witch-hunts against academics and social activists who question the deterioration of democracy.
There is a class war developing between the rich and the poor. But it is very distorted. The "yellow shirts", who backed the coup, hated the fact that Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai government won huge support for providing universal healthcare and public projects to lift people out of poverty.
They say the electorate is too stupid to deserve the right to vote; consequently they want a rigged parliament which they call the "new order".
They say the electorate is too stupid to deserve the right to vote; consequently they want a rigged parliament which they call the "new order".
Yet Thaksin was no socialist. Since his overthrow and as a result of the prolonged crisis, a grassroots "red shirt" democracy movement has developed.
They are moving beyond Thaksin. What is also amazing is that this is becoming a republican movement because of the actions of the military and the PAD in dragging the monarchy into politics.
The king has never once spoken out against the destruction of democracy and he allows people to crawl on the ground in front of him. As one of the richest men in the world, he has had the arrogance to lecture the poor that they must find
"sufficiency" in their poverty. The elites are frightened that their royal legitimacy is quickly evaporating at a time when the king is getting very old. His son is held in contempt by the population.
They are moving beyond Thaksin. What is also amazing is that this is becoming a republican movement because of the actions of the military and the PAD in dragging the monarchy into politics.
The king has never once spoken out against the destruction of democracy and he allows people to crawl on the ground in front of him. As one of the richest men in the world, he has had the arrogance to lecture the poor that they must find
"sufficiency" in their poverty. The elites are frightened that their royal legitimacy is quickly evaporating at a time when the king is getting very old. His son is held in contempt by the population.
We need to cut down the military's influence in society, reform the judiciary and the police, and to expand freedom and democracy from this grassroots movement. And we need to abolish the monarchy too. For it has now become an obstacle to freedom and human dignity.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/feb/17/thailand-democracy
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/feb/17/thailand-democracy
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