It's about right and wrong
Play
Barry Kenyon states that Eric Bahrt is "right up to a point" in condemning the military for the incarceration of the 14 students. It is not a matter of the issue "not being defensible to those of us imbued with so-called Western values". It is about facts
The writer suggests the actions of the junta are not so bad compared to atrocities committed under previous regimes. It is not a matter of who is worse, but a matter of right and wrong based on evidence.
The fact is that the students, together with their solicitor, were detained by the military with the intention of checking the solicitor’s car. The soldiers were refused access and told to obtain a court order.
They did so and discovered information on mobile phones in the car, evidence showing they had been paid to agitate by their exiled supreme leader.
The students are known red-shirt supporters of the regime deposed by the coup. The military is acting in the interests of Thailand. The students were acting for a regime that had reduced Thailand to a failed state in the interests of one man. The military is right. The students are wrong. The students are also misguided in their call for a return to “democratic governance” when in fact they support the dominance of one man. That’s dictatorship, not democracy. The great failing is the lack of understanding of democracy and making judgements based on evidence.
JC Wilcox
