Missteps hurting Thailand's credibility

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha seems to repeatedly shoot himself in the foot in international forum and never seems to learn from previous blunders.

One can argue that he is not cut out for the role of a national leader and he found himself saddled with that responsibility because of the political circumstances at home.

To call his recent interview with the media in Manila shortly after his meeting with US President Barack Obama, who expressed concern with the ongoing human rights violations, shallow would be an understatement.

Moreover, the US Congress has also slammed Thailand for the lack of meaningful efforts towards democracy. And let’s not forget the relentless intimidation of the media, human rights defenders and members of the civil society organisations, especially in the deep South where police randomly detain them and take their DNA as they please. 

Yes, martial law and an emergency decree are in place. But if the government is trying to win the hearts and minds of the local people, its security officials need to understand that the local people, and the world for that matter, will judge them by their conduct. In this respect, the culture of impunity among security officials in the contested region must come to an end if Thailand is to be taken seriously in the international forum. 

Prayut said he had told Obama not to believe everything he reads about Thailand, especially when it comes to reports about human rights abuses by the government. 

The junta chief did not explain which piece of news was distorted. But the problem with Thai bureaucracy, especially the military, is that they don’t know the distinction between a news story and publicity. For them, a good news story is when the content of the article is full of praise. 

It was not clear if Obama had raised the issue of the forced repatriation of two Chinese pro-democracy activists to China. But, nevertheless, the incident has drawn a great deal of condemnation from all over the world. 

Jiang Yefei and Dong Guangping, who may be at risk of torture, were quietly sent back to China even through the United Nations refugee agency had succeeded in securing their resettlement in the United States.

The UN said the deportation was a serious disappointment, and underscores the long-standing gap in Thai domestic law concerning ensuring appropriate treatment of people with international protection needs. Human Rights Watch said it was “cruel” and “unlawful”.

“These actions blatantly contradict the pledge to uphold rights that the prime minister made before the UN General Assembly. It’s deeply alarming, if not surprising, that the junta’s deference to abusive neighbours takes priority over the rule of law,” said Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch.

Moreover, forced repatriation is against international norms and best practices. What’s sad about this incident is that Thailand has not learned anything from the previous international blunder when it deported more than 100 Uighur refugees back to China where they face an uncertain future.

In spite of insistence from Bangkok that the Uighurs will be treated humanely, it didn’t take long for the Chinese authorities to manhandle these returnees.

Pictures of their heads in hoods and being dragged from the airplane circulated widely around the world. It was humiliating for Thailand because the government had told the world that China had assured them these Uighurs would be treated humanely. But in the end, in their desire to please China, the military government in Bangkok has brought the country international condemnation, not to mention that their decision risked the lives of those returned.

In response to the deportation, mobs of Uighurs ransacked the Thai consulate in Istanbul, another group also protested outside the Thai consulate in Berlin.

Even worse, two months after the deportation of the Uighurs, a massive bomb went off at the Erawan Shrine, reportedly in revenge for Bangkok’s decision to send the 109 Uighurs back to China. The two suspects are Chinese nationals from Xinjiang.