Memories of 1973 affected handling of events in 2014
Re: “Military let the chaos fester as coup justification”, Letters, June 11.
Eric Bahrt’s view deserves a response.
First, the polls and local news media tell me most Thais were in favour of the coup in 2014. The landslide election victory in 2011 did not give the victor a permanent right to govern in 2014. Because of overconfidence (echoed by Eric), that government naively believed it had a permanent passport to power.
Second, his contention that the military could have prevented the uprising if it had been more aggressive in controlling the People’s Democratic Reform Committee crowd is problematic. It viewed the disruptive Lumpini Park take-over as a small price to pay to dislodge a capricious government.
Anyone living in Bangkok during the days around the demonstration on October 14, 1973, should still remember half a million people calling for the end of the autocratic regime of the “Three Tyrants”. The demonstration was savagely quashed, with several hundred protesters killed by the police and military. We all cried “never again”. Memories of that event are still vivid today and are even included in a case study used for educating cadets. The option of passivity is now in the military manual.
Finally, in criticising my view, does Mr Bahrt need to brand me a self-interested elitist? His Donald-Trump-style name-calling is childish, false and not befitting this otherwise respectful forum.
Songdej Praditsmanont
