Anand's jab returns to haunt junta
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Academics and critics of the Prayut government have once again started sharing a comment made by former prime minister Anand Panyarachun on Facebook to attack the interim administration.
Anand made the comment during an interview with Matichon in June. Somchai Jitsuchon, a well-known academic of the Thailand Development Research Institute, apparently instigated the sharing of the quote, which went viral in the academic world.
“Now there are efforts to gag the people. People cannot say anything. The society has become a closed one. When the society became a closed society, there is no transparency and good governance has disappeared. There is no sense of responsibility and there are no democratic elements,” Anand said in the interview.
“I think we are not trying to find the real causes of conflicts,” Anand added.
The quote was shared as dissatisfaction with the tight control by the National Council for Peace and Order and the interim government on political opinions began to grow.
Somchai, who goes by the name Thantham on Facebooik, said in his post that the real causes of conflicts could not be found when the people could not express their opinions.
