We are back at Square One
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Re: "Spreading misconceptions about coups" and "No country has eradicated terrorists entirely", Letters, August 27 and 25.
Is Mr Songdej serious when he writes that, if General Prayut had put down the insurrection without a coup, he would have been thrown in jail? In fact the military had already declared martial law before the coup. What in the world is Mr Sondej talking about? And who would have put Prayut in jail – the military?
As for Barry Kenyon’s letter, I didn’t say that mature democracies don’t have problems with law and order. But, since the only justification I’ve ever heard for the junta is that it restored law and order, when in fact it has failed to achieve even that, it’s now perfectly fair to ask what the point was of the military takeover.
It upsets me that people such as Barry, who comes from a country that enjoys democratic freedom, often don’t seem to care that those freedoms are being denied to the Thai people.
Finally, I would point out that Songdej and Vint Chavala are from the “elite” class and thus are not the ones suffering under the current government. They don’t speak for the Thai people any more than I do.
Eric Bahrt
