Uprooting the poisonous tree of the coup d'etat

Some, claiming the sanctity of the rule of law, are calling for another coup, without the slightest sense of irony that a coup would not come in the rescue of the rule of law but the slaughter of it. 

Those immune to Thaksinophobia are also worried about the rule of law – for a different reason. Seeing this rumoured move as validating the court decision against Thaksin and a justification of the previous coup which led to it, they would prefer the government to implement recommendations proposed by the “Enlightened Jurists” (the Nitirat Group of academics) on September 19 to throw out all the rotten fruit of the 2006 coup. 

In order to de-legitimise coups, the proposal aims to annul all legal actions taken as a consequence, as Nitirat argues that the fruit of a poisonous tree must also be toxic. Therefore, the verdict against Thaksin for corruption charges, brought about by the 2006 coup, should be nullified. This will not exonerate the ex-PM, however, and the case can be brought against him again now in a fairer political climate.

The Nitirat metaphor of poisonous fruit takes after the legal precedent established in the 1920 case of Silverthorne Lumber Company versus the United States, where evidence illegally obtained was ruled inadmissible as a basis for decision. They could, however, easily have adopted a comparable metaphor from the Bija sutta in the Tipitaka, in which the Buddha said: “Just as when a sadao seed, a bitter creeper seed, or a bitter gourd seed is placed in moist soil, whatever nutriment it takes from the soil and the water, all conduces to its bitterness, acridity and distastefulness. Why is that? Because the seed is evil.” 

The Buddha explained that in the same way when a person has a wrong view, all his acts lead to what is disagreeable, unpleasing, unappealing, unprofitable and painful. Nitirat could borrow this simile to argue that a process begun with a biased view cannot lead to an unprejudiced result. 

If Thai democracy is a tree, most Thais will agree that it has been plagued by the weed of corruption for much of its life. However, instead of plucking it out with democratic means like in other countries, many Thais would clamour for a coup. This has become a culture to the point that coups have become an institution in the Thai political landscape. 

Like a banyan tree, coup-makers have a way to hide their Machiavellian nature under a facade of respectability. Growing out of seeds deposited on top of another tree by birds, banyan trees are identified by the Buddha as one of “those huge trees with tiny seeds and huge bodies, encirclers of other trees, and the trees that they encircle become bent, twisted, and split”. 

There’s no doubt that coups have long stunted Thai democracy – a “cure” worse than the disease of corruption – and we should do well to follow the advice in Palasa Jataka: “Wise men abhor the parasitic thing; That chokes the form to which it loves to cling; The wise, suspecting danger from the weed; Destroy the root before it comes to seed.”

Not only do coups fail to stem corruption, it must be argued that they aggravate it, because they stem from the same stock as the corruption they ostensibly aim to eliminate. In “Good, Evil And Beyond”, the venerable PA Payutto cited three defilements – tanha (craving for personal gain), mana (pride, desire to dominate) and ditthi (clinging to views) – which “can be seen even more clearly on the social scale than on the individual level”. Corruption is obviously caused by the first – desire for personal gain.

But are coups any better? The venerable Payutto wrote: “Coupled with the craving for personal gain, the craving for power gives rise to exploitation, nationalism and expansionism, with all their subsequent chaos.” No doubt, coups can be easily appended to that list.

Always looking for shortcuts, coup-loving Thais forget that no good ends can justify a wicked means, in accordance with the dharma which is said to be lovely in the beginning (intention), lovely in the middle (means) and lovely in the end (result). Two wrongs do not make a right.

As the venerable Payutto expounded: “Guided by wrong view, everything else goes wrong. With right view, actions are guided in the right direction.” 

I argue that the vicious cycle of coups is based in our Amnat-Niyom culture.  Such “might makes right” view makes for an endless coup cycle in the collective consciousness, as the Buddha analysed in his teachings on Dependent Origination.

With ignorance (avijja) meaning that we fail to imagine better alternatives, we jump at any pretext to call for a coup. This finds its answer in the emergence of a new construct (sankhara) – for example, the previous coup’s Council for National Security – with its own consciousness (vinnana) to grant itself amnesty. Legal measures and political apparatuses (namarupa), like the Asset Examination Committee, were then formed to justify the coup’s raison d’etre and carry out its mission. 

This orchestrates distortion of public senses (salayatana) like the media or even the judiciary in becoming irrationally oversensitive to the original stimulus (corruption), causing painful sensation (vedana) and a craving (tanha) to get rid of it at all costs. It serves to increase the clinging (upadana) to the coup as the ultimate “solution”, deepening the ignorance (avijja). 

Without having much to show for stemming corruption while military budgets keep ballooning with little scrutiny, coups have long caused injustice and detrimental effects to the rule of law, democracy and human rights. Thailand’s addiction to coups must now stop, and Nitirat’s recommendations, if implemented, would act as a wrench thrown into the vicious cycle. By uprooting the toxic tree of “might makes right”, it’s hoped that not only will it reverse the damaging effects of the coup on Thai society but also deter future coups. 

Unfortunately, the alleged decree, if true, would do exactly the opposite. Amnesties and pardons will perpetuate the culture of impunity, destroy the rule of law and reinforce the “might makes right” view which is the root cause of the conundrum we’re in to begin with. 

A wise mind has written: “Sow a thought and reap a deed; Sow a deed and reap a habit; Sow a habit and reap a character; Sow a character and reap a destiny.” It’s time we made sure that Thailand is not forever condemned to a destiny of coups by uprooting the poisonous tree of coup d’etat which has long stunted Thai democracy. 

 

This is Part 1 of a two-part series to conclude tomorrow.