Elections without democracy

Dictator General Prayut has dissolved parliament and announced that there will be a General Election in Thailand. But there will not be a restoration of democracy.

Prayut starts off the “race” with his 250 appointed senators in his pocket. They are mainly soldiers and policemen or junta-friendly government officials. Together with the 500 elected members of Parliament, the 250 senators will choose the next Prime Minister. That means that Prayut only needs 126 out of the 500 elected MPs to carry on as Prime Minister.

The complicated rules for calculating the number of MPs each political party will have in parliament, are designed to be biased against Pua Thai and Move Forward Parties which oppose the military.

In the last General Election, the anti-military parties won more popular votes than the pro-military parties, but that had little effect on Prayut’s “victory”. During and after that election, two opposition parties were dissolved by the military appointed judges on weak pretexts. The same could happen this time round. ( bit.ly/3LMRrHz )

Pig-face Prawit

What is perhaps different with this election is that Generalissimo Prayut and General “Pig-Face” Prawit have fallen out over the spoils of the dictatorship. So Prayut has moved from Palang Pracharut Party to a new military party: Ruam Thai Sarng Chart Party (United Thai Nation Party). It is equally reactionary as Palang Pracharut Party and has been joined by a bunch of extreme royalists who persecute pro-democracy activists. It is likely to be Prayut’s vehicle to become Prime Minister again, although he is restricted by the Constitution to only holding the position for another 2 years. At the same time, “Pig-Face” Prawit’s health is not in good shape.

The votes for the military party last time round were not all due to ant-democratic manoeuvres. A significant number of middles class and small business people opted for the military. These are the people who were mobilised by the Yellow Shirts royalists to wreck the last democratic elections and help install the two military juntas that have held power since 2006.

In the coming election, none of the main political parties are proposing the basic democratic step of abolishing the draconian lèse-majesté law. This law is used by the military to defend its authoritarian policies, with the excuse that the military junta defends the monarchy and enjoys the support of the monarchy. So, to criticise the military or the monarchy is against the law. Many pro-democracy activists face numerous court cases and have been locked up using this law. Yet, it is not a symptom of the so-called “power” of the idiot King Wachiralongkorn. He enjoys the wealth and status of being King, but has absolutely no interest or understanding of politics and social issues, preferring to spend much time with his harem in Germany.

The use of the lèse-majesté law in Thailand is similar to the use of blasphemy laws in countries where governments claim legitimacy from a non-existent God. The main purpose is to defend authoritarianism and the elites from any criticism. Neither God, nor Wachiralongkorn have any real power in themselves.

There are many young activists in Thailand who are political prisoners, either in jail or awaiting trial on bail. Their only “crime” has been to criticise the military and the monarchy. Yet none of the mainstream parties propose their immediate release and the quashing of all charges.

The coming election will not result in a fairer, more equal society. Despite claims to by many mainstream parties to support a “Welfare State”, in practice they only support some government welfare; hardly the same thing. None propose a universal Welfare State funded through progressive taxation on the rich and the corporations. They are all in favour of neoliberal free-market policies. None of the mainstream parties are in favour of abolishing private hospitals and creating a new National Health Service, either.

The coming election will do nothing to solve the crisis of pollution and dust, which puts the lives of millions of Thai citizens at risk. This is discussed by the political parties, yet none are seriously considering a drastic reduction in private vehicles with substitution by electric public transport, or the strict control of construction. Serious measures aimed at reducing forest fires are not being proposed either. This would involve support for small farmers to stop burning and investment in fire-fighting in forest areas.

The issue of dust and pollution is linked to Climate Change. But none of the mainstream parties are proposing a “just transition” away from fossil fuels and a massive investment in renewables, especially solar power.

The money for these measures could come from drastically reducing the military budget and abolishing the lavish budget for the monarchy. Move Forward Party has mentioned reducing the military budget, but this does not go far enough.

Other serious issues which make the lives of millions of Thais a misery, such as low wages, long working hours, poor trade union rights, the unequal influence of large corporations over land use, poverty in rural areas, women’s abortion rights, the rights of migrants and the Thai State’s war and repression against Malay Muslims in Patani, will not be hot topics during the election campaign.

Added to all this is the depressing fact that the mass movement for democracy which exploded on to the streets in 2020 has now either been defeated, with the prosecution of hundreds of political prisoners, or the energy from that movement has been channelled into parliament and elections under the junta’s rules. ( bit.ly/4063O5P )

The only way to throw off the shackles of military rule is to rebuild of a pro-democracy mass-movement involving young people and the organised working class. In the past, young people have been very militant, but they never really focused on the working class and often they preferred small individualistic and symbolic actions over mass social movements. There are a small number of socialists in Thailand who understand this, but they are still too small in number to build a mass movement to bring about change.

Continued repression, racism, and military stupidity under Prayut’s Dictatorship

Two pro-democracy youth leaders, Parit Chiwarak “Penguin” and Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul “Rung”, have been on hunger strike for some weeks. Penguin started his two weeks before Rung. They are protesting against the fact that they have repeatedly been denied bail while awaiting trial on lèse-majesté charges.  Three other leaders have also been denied bail, while others who are out on bail still face serious charges.

The military junta’s attack on freedom of speech and the pro-democracy protest movement, has been stepped up because Prayut and his gang feel that the large protests, which erupted onto the streets last year, have ceased and the movement is now weaker.

Unlike the heroic protests in neighbouring Burma/Myanmar, Thai activists have not organised workers’ strikes and this is an important factor. [See https://bit.ly/3x4c9ca ].

While I do not believe that hunger strikes are useful strategies in the struggle against the heartless junta and their lackeys in the courts, I disagree with those in the movement who are putting pressure on Penguin and Rung to abandon their hunger strikes. Penguin and Rung are brave and intelligent activists and we should respect their personal decisions to refuse food; not make it harder for them.

There have been daily solidarity gatherings outside courts in Bangkok and Chiang Mai to demand the release of all detained activists and this is vital. But further, more powerful, actions by the organised trade unions need to take place. Unfortunately there is little sign of this right now.

While this is going on, U.S. academic, David Streckfuss, who has written about Thailand’s lèse-majesté law, faces expulsion from Thailand after living in the country for 35 years. The junta’s authorities pressurised Khon Kaen University to sack him. Without his job, his visa has been terminated. He is clearly being victimised for his stance on democracy and his association with activists.

The political situation is just getting worse and the COVID policies of the junta are a cruel farce.

There has been an increase in the number of people testing positive for COVID and this has coincided with the Songkarn water festival, when people travel back to the provinces or go on holiday. Many cases are associated with entertainment establishments. The numbers of infected people are low, as a proportion of the population, compared to Western Europe, the USA, Brazil or Mexico, and fortunately the number of deaths is also low. This is despite the fact that the junta is incapable of organising to protect the population, with the vaccination programme lagging far behind many countries. [See https://bit.ly/3bGCRvc for an analysis of COVID in Thailand last year.]

Yet, what is unbelievable is that the government insists on admitting everyone who tests positive into hospital, regardless of whether or not they have symptoms, and the vast majority do not. This has cause chaos in hospitals and delayed essential treatment for non-COVID patients.

The junta has long been using COVID as a political excuse to crack down on protesters, but in recent days the army have used COVID to whip up racism against Karen refugees who came across the border, fleeing bombardment by the Burmese military. They were pushed back by the Thai army. Then the army organised to spray the open ground near the river where these refugees had been sitting with disinfectant, claiming to stop the spread of COVID. There is absolutely no scientific evidence that this was necessary or would have any effect. Rather it was a disgusting attempt by the army to portray migrants and refugees as vectors of disease!

Giles Ji Ungpakorn

Rubber Ducks Can’t Defeat the Military

The youth-led prodemocracy movement that erupted in August has been inspiring. It has made huge strides forward towards getting rid of the conservative and corrupt, military dominated, society. But it is time to take an honest look at what has been achieved while assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the movement.

Strengths

The movement has successfully rebuilt the pro-democracy movement on the streets in Bangkok and other locations up and down the country. This is after the bloody repression of the Red Shirt movement in 2010 and the following years when only small symbolic protests took place. At its height over 100,000 people have now taken to the streets in recent months. This is a remarkable achievement.

The protest movement has been invigorated by young people who are not afraid to defy the Old Order. Apart from the demands for the resignation of General Prayut as Prime Minister, and the demand to write a new “peoples” constitution, the protesters have dared to demand that the monarchy be reformed. This is long over-due and occurs in the face of a long history of stifling royalist propaganda and draconian laws used to protect the monarchy.

Young women have played key roles in the movement and activists from a wide range of campaigns have join the protests. LGBT and abortion rights issues have been raised. The right to self-determination for the people of Patani has also been flagged up. And the pressing need to reform the conservative and backward education system has also been a feature of protests by school students.

Rank and file organisation of the protests under the slogan “we are all leaders” has meant that demonstrations have continued when the original leaders have been arrested. The flash mobs are clearly well organised and continually use innovative styles of protest.

But there are weaknesses

Symbolism during the protests, for example, the use of rubber ducks, might be very photogenic and excite foreign journalists, but it cannot hide the fact that so far the protest movement has not been able to make the country ungovernable. Without doing this, Prayut’s parliamentary dictatorship cannot be overthrown. Rubber ducks are no substitute for real protest power that comes from strikes and workplace walk-outs. Unfortunately, little is being done to go out and visit worker activists in offices, banks, hospitals and factories in order to argue for strikes. This is mainly due to the appalling weakness of the left and the unwillingness of activists to rebuild a left-wing political organisation which can argue within the movement for an orientation on strikes.

The “we are all leaders” strategy means that it is difficult to have serious and democratic discussions about the way forward because no democratic structures exist within the movement which can encourage participation in decision making. The top protest leaders become de facto unelected leaders. This is not because they wish to be authoritarian, but it is an unintended result of the “we are all leaders” strategy. Instead there could have been mass discussion meetings and elections of a united front leadership committee. The Thai movement is not unique here. The same problem occurred with Podemos in the Spanish State.

If the movement fails to get strike action, we shall end up with a miserable compromise, carried out in the junta dominated parliament. Some sections of the constitution might be amended, but Prayut and the junta will not resign and the monarchy will not be reformed. [See https://bit.ly/3qol8Bl ].

A dozen protest leaders have been charged with lèse-majesté with the prospect of long drawn out court cases ending in draconian prison sentences. There does not seem to be any strategy to defend these leaders and to be able to pressure the regime to drop the charges.

Given the great strides made by the protest movement, it would be a terrible tragedy if very little was achieved in the end and the leaders ended up being isolated.

Giles Ji Ungpakorn

Warning signs for the democracy movement

The fantastic mass movement against the Thai junta is at a junction. Organising flash mobs over and over again risks tiring out protesters and these actions are not enough to make the country ungovernable; a necessary condition for victory. 

There are ominous signs that the junta is seeking to pressure the movement into a shoddy compromise with the help of the political parties. The aim is to merely amend some parts of the constitution via a parliamentary process. This will fall well short of the three demands of the movement: the resignation of Prayut, a complete re-write of the constitution by ordinary people, and the reform of the scandal-ridden monarchy.

The government has also been trying to divide the protesters by holding talks with some secondary school students about conditions in schools. The aim would be to get the school students to drop out of the movement.

Let us remember how far the movement has come. Since August 2020 large youth-led pro-democracy protests of up to 100,000 people have targeted the Thai military junta and even dared to criticise the monarchy. These protests have been organised up and down the country and have inspired millions of people in Thailand and other countries who are desperate for change. The energy and bravery of young people has been breath-taking.

Prayut and his gang of military thugs are not about to go easily. They have spent the years since their coup in 2014 putting in place measures to maintain their power, including writing a constitution, appointing the senate, designing the National Strategy and fixing last year’s elections.

The reasons why students have managed to enliven and expand the pro-democracy protests, which have occurred sporadically since the last military coup in 2014, is that this new generation have seen that pushing for reforms within the military controlled parliamentary system has not worked. They are fed up with the entrenched conservatism in society, especially in the education system. The economy is a mess due to the Covid crisis and youth see little to be hopeful for the future. In fact they share all these feelings of anger and frustration with over half the adult population who voted against the military party in 2019. A recent poll, conducted by Bangkok University, found that more than 40% of the population are struggling to make ends meet.

As with all mass protests, the demands of the movement have expanded. LGBT and pro-abortion rights activists have joined in, along with activists campaigning for self-determination in the Muslim Malay region of Patani.

Hopes have been raised.

A miserable compromise with the military junta, only agreeing to amend certain sections of the constitution, would do nothing to solve the issues which have led to the protests in the first place. Therefore there is an urgency to add new tactics in order to increase pressure on the junta.

The movement’s emphasis on devolved leadership, without clear organisational structures, contains both a strength and a weakness. The strength can be seen in the way the protests have continued despite the ongoing arrests of key activists, many of whom face multiple charges. But the weakness is that, in practice, strategy is determined by a group of non-elected key activists without the possibility of much face to face debate on the ground within the wider movement. This is something we saw in Spain with Podemos.

What is needed is an urgent and open debate about the way forward.

Either the protest movement pushes forward to organise more militant and powerful action such as strikes, or the momentum will be lost. Given the level of public support for the protests, it is important to seize the moment and try to build for workplace stoppages which would add power to the movement.

Many active Thai trade unionists have turned up to support the youth-led pro-democracy demonstrations as individuals and also in trade union groups. The Thai working class is much more than factory workers in the textiles and auto industries. There are white collar workers in offices, banks, schools, universities and hospitals. To build for strike action against the junta, youth activists need to link up with worker activists and visit workplaces to discuss how to get rid of the dictatorship. The lack of a significant organisation of the Left will make the task of mobilising workers more difficult, but it is hoped that militants will step forward to try and achieve this.

The key role of the working class is due to its economic power. This is an issue for all the present day movements such as Black Lives Matter, the Climate Strikes, and the struggles in Nigeria or Latin America. The important role of the working class has been well described in a recent book about the Hong Kong youth-led uprising (Au Loong-Yu, “Hong Kong in Revolt”).

It is a shame that some commentators who have influence on the movement seem to have been content with merely criticising the monarchy while not discussing the way forward for the movement. Perhaps this is no coincidence. If people believe that the idiot king Wachiralongkorn, who finds it hard to string a complete sentence together, is the real power in Thai society, rather than the military, it may lead to pessimism about the chance of victory because of the king’s “invisible power”. But the real enemy of democracy is the military junta.

The real people with power prostrate themselves on the ground and pay homage to this king. Yet, this is an ideological play, acted out for the benefit of fooling the public and creating fear. The fact that it is in any way believable by many is a great example of what Marx called “alienation”. It is when we are feeling powerless that we are more likely to believe the nonsense fed to us by the ruling class. What all modern monarchies throughout the world have in common is their ideological role in supporting the status quo. Thailand is no exception.

We must criticise the monarchy and call for a democratic republic, but in order to achieve that, the military need to be overthrown and there needs to be a serious discussion about how to achieve this aim.

Giles Ji Ungpakorn

A long time coming

Giles Ji Ungpakorn

Saturday’s brilliant demonstration around the “Sky Walk” at Patumwan junction in Bangkok marked what could be a new beginning for the Thai democracy movement. Over three thousand people assembled to protests against Thai dictator Generalissimo Prayut Chan-Ocha, who heads a parliamentary dictatorship. Another modest protest took place in the northern city of Chiang Mai. These protests are the first protests to occur since the election.

Bangkok

Chiang Mai

Prayut staged a military coup against the elected government of Yingluk Shinawat in 2014. A military junta then ruled Thailand until so-called elections were eventually held in early 2019. These elections were highly flawed, with military appointees in the Election Commission, Constitutional Court and the unelected Senate, ensuring that the unelected General Prayut became Prime Minister, despite the fact that his party won less votes and parliamentary seats than the opposition.

Before the election, the Constitutional Court dissolved one opposition party under the excuse that it had put forward a member of the royal family as its candidate for Prime Minister.

After the election, the military appointed courts disqualified Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, leader of the Future Forward Party, from being a member of parliament. The excuse was an unsubstantiated accusation that he owned shares in a media company. Thanathorn denied this and explained that he had got rid of the shares before the election.

Now the parliamentary dictatorship is trying to disband the entire Future Forward Party under the ridiculous excuse that the party borrowed funds from Thanathorn. Most legal experts are of the opinion that this does not break the law.

This latest threat to the most assertive anti-military party in parliament was the last straw for Thanathorn. He made a public call for what he called a “flash mob” to come together on Saturday 14^th December. He then addressed thousands of protesters, who were chanting anti-dictatorship slogans, saying that future protests would be called.

Previously the Future Forward Party leadership had been very cautious, sticking to the political rules for the election which were drafted by the junta. They specifically rejected any campaign against the draconian lèse majesté law which has been used to imprison those critical of the military and the monarchy. This law, together with the “Computer Crimes Law” is the junta’s weapon against free speech. Recently the junta have been using the “Computer Crimes Law” instead of the lèse majesté law in an attempt to improve its image. However, the result is the same: a denial of free speech.

The Thai monarchy has long been used as a political tool by the military. The military always claims to be protecting the monarchy like a holy deity. Any criticism of the military is deemed to be also against the monarchy. The monarchy has little power in itself, and this is even more the case with the new king, who cares little about politics and society and chooses to live a debauched life in Germany.

The “Future Forward Party” has a clear policy of reducing the power and influence of the military by scrapping the military constitution and other junta inspired laws. It is also opposed to conscription. It has been busy pushing its “new look” and claim to be the party of the new generation. However, it is a party aimed at sections of the pro-democracy middle classes. It prioritises the free-market and business interests while also claiming to support the poor in an abstract manner. Its leader, tycoon Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, stated that it aims to “protect capitalism for the benefit of the majority”. In the past he emphasised that business must make a profit before benefits for workers can be improved. It is in favour of devolving power to the provinces and has made progressive sounds about self-determination in Muslim-Malay dominated Patani.

The other main opposition party in parliament is the Taksin Shinawat controlled Pua Thai Party. It has a long pedigree of being supported by the rural poor and urban workers. But it is a party of big business. Taksin’s first party, Thai Rak Thai, brought in the first ever universal health care scheme and other pro-poor policies. Four Taksin-dominated elected governments were overthrown, either by the military or the pro-military judiciary in a number of coups beginning in 2006. These coups helped to create the political crisis and the sharp divisions in Thai society which remain today. The military and the conservative elites and middle classes hated the Taksin governments because they started to redistribute wealth to workers and farmers in order to build a modernised society which would benefit big business. They resented the fact that the majority of citizens supported these parties in elections and they have been continuously trying to use various undemocratic methods to make sure that the conservatives can hold power after elections.

A decade ago, supporters of Taksin Shinawat and his political allies built a huge pro-democracy mass movement called the Red Shirts. The military responded by shooting down unarmed protesters in the streets. Yet this did not destroy the movement. However, by 2014 Taksin and his political allies had successfully demobilised the Red Shirts, hoping to do a deal with the conservatives.

Since then, many people have turned their backs on the idea of building mass social movements, claiming that it cannot be done and would result in a blood-bath. The recent protest called by Thanathorn disproves this.

Until recently the Future Forward Party had rejected the idea of building a mass movement on the streets. Yet, Thai and international History shows us that mass social movements are vital to bringing down dictatorships.

The change of heart in the Future Forward Party and the call for more protests against the parliamentary dictatorship is to be welcomed. But pro-democracy activists cannot just rely on people like Thanathorn to build the necessary movement to overthrow the military. Independent activists, not allied to main stream political parties, especially those among the trade unions and among students, need to step forward and help build the movement.

Protests as Dictator Prayut shakes hands with British and French leaders

Giles Ji Ungpakorn

There were symbolic protests by pro-democracy Thais and their allies in Europe as the dictator Prayut shook hands with Theresa May and Emmanuel Macron. [See video here]. Prayut was on a shopping spree to buy weapons and sign investment agreements with Britain and France. The visit exposes the hypocrisy and empty words of Western governments regarding democracy and human rights in Thailand. [See Previous post on this].

 

Outside 10 Downing Street, London

Paris

There have been many sarcastic comments on Thai social media about Prayut’s body language during the meeting with Theresa May. He is clearly not used to diplomatic discussions and some have suggested that he looked more like he was at a job interview! Of course Theresa May hardly ever looks relaxed and normal herself. There have also been amused social media comments on his apparent inability to say anything to Theresa May other than “yes yes” “Sure” and “thank you”.

Others have commented on how the Generalissimo briefly changed his image from the aggressive bully that he is inside Thailand to a compliant lapdog.

Prayut has just restarted the death penalty in Thailand, claiming that it would provide a “lesson” to criminals. Of course, the real criminals like himself, who ordered the cold-blooded murder of pro-democracy demonstrators, know that they will always enjoy immunity from prosecution.

Prayut has been upset by a recent article in Time magazine comparing him to former dictator Sarit and calling him a “mini Sarit”. Despite denials from the junta, it seems that the current issue of the magazine is difficult to obtain in Thailand!

Thai pro-democracy activists in France used Pinocchio images of Prayut, which initially appeared on anti-junta demonstrations in Bangkok. The military junta has repeatedly lied about elections and constantly postpones them. The latest excuse is that they must be held after the coronation ceremony of the new king.

The French newspaper “Liberation” wrote that “Prayuth has scuttled the reputation of Thailand, a country yet traditionally so concerned about its image internationally. Under his belt, the country has fallen to the last places of all the international indicators to measure respect for human rights and democratic principles”.

Dictator Prayut hauls in more people for “attitude changes”

Giles Ji Ungpakorn

The military junta have called in a number of politicians for a Stalinist-style “attitude changing” session. Surapong Tochak-chaikun, former foreign minister, Singtong Buachum, an aide to Yingluk, and Chaturon Chaisang, former education minister, have all been dragged in to military camps by the illegal coupsters for a “severe talking-to”. Their supposed “crimes” were to use social media and other means to criticise the illegitimate punishment of former Prime Minister Yingluk over the rice price protection scheme.

The junta is preparing to order even more Pua Thai politicians to report to military camps for similar attitude changes which might involve overnight detentions. One such politician is Pichai Narip-tapun, former energy minister, who has dared to criticise the junta’s energy policies.

Meanwhile the vicious idiot Generalissimo Prayut, talking through his back-side as usual, has countered the claim by Yingluk that Thai democracy is dead. He shouted that he was a “democratic minded soldier” and only took power to “protect democracy”. He has repeatedly warned people not to criticise his junta.

During a recent press conference megalomaniac Prayut swore at reporters and also threatened them with also being summonsed for an “attitude change” if they persisted in asking “too many” questions. He showed much displeasure with some of the photos of himself appearing in the media which showed him pointing his finger in a threatening manner. He denied that he was a power crazy ruler.

The launch of the 2014 Asian Media Barometer Thailand event, organised by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Thailand Office, has been cancelled on the orders of the military. This event was organised to evaluated media freedom.

Amid news of a proposal by Sombat Boon-ngarmanong for red shirts to wear red every Sunday, Prayut frothed at the mouth and shouted that anyone who was active against the junta would be prevented from leaving the country and would have their bank accounts frozen.

In the same week, the National Human Rights Commission  released a report criticising the former Yingluk government for its crowd control methods against Sutep’s anti-election mob. They accuse the Yingluk government of not protecting the “human rights” of this mob. Yet, this Democrat Party gang was allowed to wreck the elections and carry guns on the streets with impunity.

The National Human Rights Commission has never defended those who face lèse-majesté or ever dared to criticise the military killings of civilians.

However, the junta’s lapdogs who are busy drafting an authoritarian constitution, have suggested that the National Human Rights Commission be merged with office of the National Ombudsman. Apparently, the National Human Rights Commission has not done enough to destroy democracy and human rights.

There is also a proposal that the Electoral Commission be scrapped and be replaced by an “election organising committee” hand-picked by military-appointed permanent secretaries of a number of ministries, including the Ministry of Defence, together with the national police chief. Apparently the previous Electoral Commission, which helped wreck the February 2014 elections on behalf of Sutep’s mob, were not biased enough. This plan would fit nicely with the organising of false elections in the junta’s dream of a future “guided democracy”.

Keep children safe from the mad dictator

Numnual  Yapparat

Day in day out it becomes very clear that Prayut has a “personality disorder” problem.

Prayut is relentlessly revealing his absurd gaffes on a number of issues. He said the army will not intervene in the running of the government, but he is an unelected Prime Minister. He gave a suggestion to rubber farmers that if they wanted to get a good price for their rubber they should go and sell their products on Mars. He also showed his vision on how to tackle the flooding crisis by saying that if people want to avoid facing floods they need to relocate to some places that are safer. There are endless of examples of his gaffes.

One of the worst examples of his outrageous statements is to blame the two murdered British tourists for not dressing modestly. Meanwhile his government has rounded up the “usual suspects”… migrant workers.

It is a known fact the Thai soldiers organise parties where naked women dance for them. What gross hypocrisy!!

Recently, Prayut has set up a new set of moral values to give guidance to school kids for good behaviour. There are 12 guidelines in his reactionary doctrine. He demands that children must respect the main national institutions as a priority.

What are the main institutions? They are Religion, Nation and Monarchy. Prayut insists that new the generation needs to understand “Thai-style democracy” under the king as the head of the state. Thai-style democracy is incomparable with the rest of the world, he claims. Present and past dictators of Burma, Indonesia, North Korea and Singapore have made the same idiotic claims.

Prayut says that “good boys and girls will not challenge their elders and betters”. Thai people have to put the nation before their own interests. Poor people have to learn to be happy according to their means by following the old pathetic king’s Sufficiency Economy ideology.

One glaring omission form Generalissimo Prayut’s Teachings is about killing fellow human beings. At no time does he say that shooting down unarmed citizens in the streets is sinful. Well, he wouldn’t would he?

To sum up, in the new set of values, promoted by Prayut, there is no place for ordinary people. There is no place for creative ideas. There is no place for self-respect as he repeats that we are unequal. Only the privileged will have their say.

For the sake of all Thai children we need to reject all of his filthy agenda. Children need to be encouraged to think outside the box. Children need to be taught to respect fellow citizens and human beings. If not so, we will see the endless racism and sexism continue in Thai society. Recently, a warning sign was put up in the temple of Emerald Buddha telling tourists to beware “non-Thai” pickpockets!

Keep children safe from the mad dictator. We have no need to listen scum like him.

General Prayut Chan–Ocha: a man of wrong doing

Numnual  Yapparat

Today we have seen the so-called independent bodies offer a silly and undemocratic solution to the crisis. They suggested that Sutep and Yingluk each should name 10 acceptable neutral people to solve the crisis. If any of the names coincided then the Election Commission would appoint those people to draw up a new road map for Thailand.  Laughable!

Then the head of the army came out to support the idea. Prayut also made a comment about the new UDD leader, Jatuporn Prompan. Prayut warned Jatuporn by saying “do not use the violence, respect the law”. He has a cheek!

It was Prayut who ordered the killing of 90 un-armed red shirts who were demanding democracy in 2010. He is the one who needs to be put on trial for using violence and murdering innocent people. He and the so-called “independent bodies” are holding the February elections to ransom. They are preventing the formation of a democratically elected government. He allows Sutep’s mob to use violence without condemning them. He has stationed troops in bunkers around Bangkok, but not to defend democracy. It is unacceptable to let army officers like him to make comments about the UDD leader in this way. The head of the army does not have the right to make any comments about politics. They have a duty to follow the orders from the government; not the other way round.  We need to establish this rule in order to have democracy.

Do not pin your hopes on the mainstream media because they have never supported democracy and condemned the military. We always see them interview the chiefs of the army on important issues instead of hearing what ordinary people say.

Will the red shirt UDD leadership be more progressive or militant under Jatuporn? No, he talks tough, but is short on concrete measures. He has said nothing about the political prisoners or the need to down-size the military. He will be no different from the previous leader Tida Tawornset.

The political deadlock continues…

Photo: Prachatai

 

 

Unrest and Opposition Over Military Rule: Thailand on the Brink ….

Bangkok resists the coup.

The 3 finger salute of the Thai anti-coup flash mobs today in Bangkok… It is probably adapted from Hunger Games (!) and some interpret it to mean Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.

Photos: Facebook

 

Anti coup protesters chase away soldiers

Anti-coup protesters chase the army away at Victory Monument Bangkok today. Soldiers cower behind police and then run way….