Thailand heads toward thuggish dictatorship
In 1966, a group of students in Beijing named themselves "Chairman Mao's Red Guards." Mao's support for them led to the name "Red Guard" being adopted by groups who were sanctioned by Mao and his supporters to "rebel against the system" all over China. Sw
While young participants in the Cultural Revolution are commonly referred to simply as Red Guards, in reality they were originally one specific group of students. These students decided to call themselves Red Guards, hong weibing; they saw themselves as soldiers (bing) fighting to protect (wei) the revolution and Mao.
Headlines from The Nation, August 31:
"We will act as a bodyguard for the government and Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra": red-shirt leader and Pheu Thai party-list MP Kokaew Pikulthong.
Pheu Thai MP Jatuporn Promphan on Wednesday told red office-holders to work and strengthen the red-shirt movement in order to advance democracy and ensure justice.
Are we witnessing the rise of a Red Guard movement in the form of the red shirts here in Thailand? Are we now in the grip of the beginning of a reign of suppression against anyone or any organisation that disagrees with the Pheu Thai/red-shirt government?
Can and will the power possessed by the red shirts evolve into something similar to that of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, who have advanced the doctrines advocated by China's Red Guard to the point that they are almost in total control of the government and people.
Jatuporn and other red-shirt leaders preach democracy and reconciliation while suppressing anyone who presents ideas not in support of their own. Think of the two students who were attacked in front of Parliament while laying a wreath in protest. Think of the Channel 7 reporter accosted for doing her job of asking questions of PM Yingluck - questions the red shirts considered to be both embarrassing and inappropriate. Consider as well the follow-up protest against her by red shirts in front of the Channel 7 office. Are these the actions to be the basis for reconciliation, justice and democracy?
I fear that the Thai people are living in times fraught with both confusion and suppression. Hopes are being smashed and voices of dissent silenced. What does the future hold when people are faced with such an atmosphere of intimidation?
William Reynolds
Chiang Mai
