Hitler does not live here, nor does Mao or Mussolini

Bandow’s latest article in Forbes, on the death of liberty in Thailand, is a difficult piece to read. That’s not because of his point of view, to which he is completely entitled, but because it is devoid of fact and logic. He quoted four “primary” sources – they are Freedom House, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the Economist. But citing “primary” sources is hardly the same as using facts obtained from thorough investigation and information gathering. The rest of his article seems to rely on the accounts fed to him by unnamed, unsubstantiated sources – except one. He quoted Yingluck Shinawatra from her Facebook post on the day of her conviction: “Today democracy in Thailand died, and so did the rule of law.” He went on to say that her conviction was a political charade, and that her rice scheme might have been foolish, but it was not a crime. 
Time to pause for a Fact Check.
Granted that Ms Yingluck, as an elected government official, “symbolised” democracy, no matter how shallow the word had become in that context, but her conviction was by no means equivalent to the death of democracy. Democracy in Thailand has been terminally ill for more than a decade, and one of its afflictions is corruption of epidemic proportions. Money politics, ignorance caused by a dysfunctional education system and deep-rooted fraud in its ministry, self-serving insidious propaganda, cronyism and culture of impunity have for years incubated the country’s political malaise. With it, democracy in Thailand has turned slowly into kleptocracy and mob rule. If democracy has died in Thailand, it did not die on the day of Yingluck’s conviction, it did not die on May 22 with the military coup; it died a long time ago. Yes, we have had elections, but they meant little more to democracy than a ventilator does to a body that is clinically dead, its chest being pumped up and down by the machine, though there’s no brain activity and all other vital organs have failed.
And if any of the Western media and NGOs so keen on human rights practised what they preached, their hearts would go out to the many Thais – and not just the “urban elite, but the downtrodden citizens in the heartland whose lands were stolen at gun point by politicians who think they are above the law. These individuals had no wherewithal to protest because surviving was already hard. Villagers kept voting for candidates they knew were rotten to the core, because, if they didn’t, they knew they would get into trouble down the road with canvassers and local politicians who they were and where they lived. To them, human rights were a luxury they neither had nor knew not how to acquire. Every year, with little or no money left, they had to buy new seeds for the planting season, because the GMO seeds they bought last year from large conglomerates with deep pockets and tight political ties were made not to reproduce. Money was paid to government officials to look the other way. Human rights, anyone?
Bandow quoted The Economist’s view that the Shinawatras offended the old elites who “liked to think of the King traditionally atop an ordered hierarchy with deferential peasants at the bottom of the grateful for royal charity”. The implication here is that those old elites conspired to bring the downfall of the Shinawatras.
Nothing could be farther from the truth.
While it is true that former prime minister Thaksin was big on populist programmes for the rural poor, the reason for his downfall was not the Palace elites’ jealousy, but the runaway corruption of his government and hubris of powerful politicians whose ruinous policies brought massive street demonstrations to topple his government. Think Ferdinand Marcos, who looted the country once perceived as the jewel of Southeast Asia to the point where millions of Filipinos are now living on dumpsites. Thailand followed in the same footsteps in the last decade and a half.
In his article, Bandow placed General Prayut Chan-o-cha on a par with Hitler and Mao Tse Tung in terms of repression. He also put Suthep Thaugsuban on a level with Mussolini. It is hard to believe he was serious.  Hitler, Mao and Mussolini killed millions of innocent people for no other reasons than political expediency, personal hang-ups and hatred. That’s not what happened in Thailand. Bandow talked about Thai citizens being incarcerated, beaten, mistreated, but he produced no evidence, only offered innuendo in an attempt to make valid his assumptions. But his arguments have too many holes to hold water.
As for the “accusations” of corruption that he said were one of the injustices levied against the Shinawatras, Bandow should spend some time reading the legal accounts of the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the courts. Then he would understand that the verdicts against the Shinawatras were not haphazard or politically motivated. The rule of law in Thailand did not die because of the convictions, it prevailed.
It is laudable for the West to tout democracy, freedom of speech and liberty from its bully pulpit – a superb platform to advocate an agenda. These are things of virtue and worthy ideals. But facts and truths should not be sacrificed for the sake of the attempt to push such agenda. Doing so is an injustice, a faulty means to an end.
I learned about brutal injustice from the book “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” by Harriet Stowe, given to me by my father. But I did not understand it fully until I witnessed racial discrimination firsthand in the US. The book “Without Sanctuary”, which details lynching, gave me a stark picture of the injustice done to black Americans. I do not blame the Western media or even Mr Bandow for not being able to fully comprehend what actually happened in Thailand and to its people. I only ask them to leave room for doubt in their perceptions and conclusions about this country. To paraphrase the abolitionist Harriet Tubman, “I’ve heard ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ read, and I tell you Mrs Stowe’s pen hasn’t begun to paint what slavery is as I have seen it in the far South. I’ve seen de real thing, and I don’t want to see it on no stage or in no
theatre.”
Many of us in Thailand know what actually happened here, and the story from the Western bully pulpit is not quite a “bully” story for us.