Shrouding Thailand in a facade of happiness won't hide reality

Action against those who dare to disagree ranges from being dragged away from the venue you chose to air your dissent to being told to shut your mouth or being charged under one of the junta’s many arbitrary laws. 

The military junta, also known as the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), is taking every step possible to ensure that any and all political dissent is discouraged. Yet, they don’t seem to realise that every time somebody is dragged or gagged but refuses to shut up, more infamy is piled on to Prayut. 

On Sunday, a high-school student was physically removed while Prayut was delivering a speech against corruption simply because he was holding up a banner suggesting that “ethics”, one of the core values preached by the PM, should be based on reason, not on rote. 

Prayut, who staged the coup in May 2014 and later had himself named premier, used this opportunity to crack a joke. “Please take good care of him and understand the security officers as they have had to watch over me quite carefully recently,” he said, adding that if the student were on “his” side, then the guards would be gentle with him. 

On the same day, a well-known high-school student activist, Netiwit Junrasal, posted on Facebook that the symposium he was planning to hold on historical maverick Narin Klueng had to be cancelled because police had come to tell him that the “political situation is not normal” for the event.

Then there were the 100 or so police deployed on Saturday at the Bangkok Arts and Cultural Centre to deal with a handful of political protesters. 

And let us not forget Pheu Thai Party’s senior executive Chaturon Chaisaeng, whose passports were revoked last week because he has continued criticising Prayut and the regime. This despite the fact that Chaturon is already being tried in military court for not reporting to the junta right after the coup. 

According to the rights group iLaw, the junta has summoned at least 751 people, myself included, since it took over last year. 

Most of those summoned were made to sign an “agreement”, stipulating that if they were found participating, aiding or leading an anti-junta movement, their bank accounts would be frozen and they would face prosecution. Also, we need to seek the NCPO’s “kind” approval if we wish to travel overseas. 

Maintaining a facade of a happy, “stronger together” Thailand based on coercion, repression, silencing or marginalising those who think differently will only make the country weaker. 

Pretending that everything is perfect is like refusing to accept the fact that Thailand is pluralistic – both politically and culturally – and that there’s no going back, not even under Prayut’s “absolute rule”. His jokes and unsophisticated but affable personality might be endearing to some, but he cannot hide the tragic reality of what Thailand is today.