A military mindset sees enemies everywhere
Re: “Thais should be wary of foreign-aided democracy trap”, Have your Say, yesterday.
Just in case it was needed, Vint Chavala’s letter was a great reminder of the military-minded authoritarianism that exists in Thailand. I agree with one small part of his statement: the Thai military is not equally as bad as its politicians. It is of course worse, and the “normalcy” he claims it brings is in fact dictatorship whereby a minority continue to rule the larger civilian majority and uphold the massive disparity in wealth distribution.
Like his marching, uniformed friends, Vint immediately writes off all young, modern Thai minds as being influenced by some devious Western influence that has been introduced solely for the destruction of Thailand. He also appears to be totally out of touch with modern international politics when he discusses the protocol that foreigners shouldn’t interfere with Thailand’s internal affairs. Has he never heard of sanctions or other actions deemed necessary for countries that defy the norms on human rights and freedoms? Is he unaware of the International Court of Justice and the work it hopes to achieve?
Can he not conceive that it is entirely possible that foreign diplomats finally reached a point where they felt the unjust treatment of a bona fide and honest electoral candidate needed their presence as witnesses to remind the unelected NCPO that the world is finally watching their self-serving behaviour? I should also remind Vint that Thailand doesn’t require foreign assistance to bring about the downfall of its dictatorial rule – it’s doing a fine job of self-destruction all on its own.
Lungstib
