Prayut may be the best chance at democracy we have
Thailand’s two main English-language newspapers are very “one-eyed” at present. Of course the people in power must face criticism when it is due, but the media appear to have forgotten to keep a critical eye on the opposition too – in this case, the old political parties.
Prayut has reset the parties to give democracy a fresh start. The new parties face many drawbacks – including no history, no party apparatus, no offices and no existing membership – and are therefore permitted to start operating one month before the established parties, to make things fair. Predictably, the established parties have begun complaining that this head-start is unfair. According to their old, twisted, self-serving logic, all parties should start up activities at the same time. Here we see how Pheu Thai and the Democrats shamelessly measure “fairness” – their own kind of “fairness” that brought Thailand down and will probably do so again because the same old wrongdoers are still in place. These people made politics their job and income, ignoring what democracy is actually about. Why are they still there? Now, they are moaning about losing members via the reset of parties. Is this because they want to trap their members and prevent them having a free choice?
Thailand is currently a “pre-democracy” that we could compare to America at the time of the Founding Fathers. These were honest, purposeful people with flaws (some owned slaves), while in Thailand we have a watch-loving “father” whose flaws warrant him resigning. It is about principles. But the huge outcry against the deputy PM’s apparent extravagance feels exaggerated when set against the Shinawatras’ alleged tax avoidance and rice scam that supposedly cost the country billions.
Behind all the current uproar, can we detect new forces on the bloc trying to derail Prayut’s attempted return to democracy and create a pretext for violent regime change also seen elsewhere – maybe with a little push from foreign forces?
A Johnsen
Hua Hin
