THERE IS NO NEED FOR THE MILITARY IN POLITICS

Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit has already left behind his role as the leader of the now-dissolved Future Forward Party (FFP). After stepping out of Parliament, he is now active as the chair of the Progressive Movement and focuses on local politics.

In an interview, Thanathorn expresses his views on Thai politics and his vision for the country.

Q: With the 20-year national strategy in place, how do you envision Thailand in the next 10 to 20 years?

A: In my view, the national strategy is not only vague but it is also a tool used by an unelected power group to destroy the elected representatives of the people.

In the next two decades, I hope Thailand will be a simple society. People, regardless of their financial situation, should have access to quality education. Public transport should be good and convenient. There should also be more parks in the country, with clean air for people to enjoy.

I also envision a Thailand that will develop its own technologies and prove competitive in a global market. Thailand will also lend a hand when neighbours have a difficult time. Our country will also drive key global agendas including human rights.

And of course, I want to see Thailand become a democracy.

Q : What are Thailand’s traps?

A : We have technologies and competence. Yet, so many problems have raged on in Thailand because of structural problems.

Thailand hits a dead-end because power does not belong to the people. A handful of privileged people have that power. Resources therefore are not really used to upgrade people’s quality of life.

Q: What is your ideal constitution Should Thailand have just a few political parties?

A: More than 60 million people live in Thailand. It is, of course, not possible to have them all agree on everything. But if we have a social contract to govern co-existence, it is possible for all to live here peacefully.

By democratic principle, people are the co-owners of their country and they are all equal.

While the legislative branch should have enough power to run the country efficiently, it must be subject to checks and balances.

But today, pushing for such principles is so difficult. When we speak up for these values, we are labelled radicals.

I am labelled an extremist, just because I dream to see something like the Netherlands and Britain happen to Thailand. I want to ask back if Thai society is too conservative?

The FFP tried to push for charter change right after the 2019 election. Under the current charter, power does not come from people. You can observe this from the origin of independent agencies like the Election Commission and the National Anti-Corruption Commission.

After the FFP was dissolved in 2020, protesters demanded the resignation of Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha, reform of the monarchy, and charter change. Due to the protests, the government agreed to change Article 256 (governing charter change). Even though the proposed change sailed through the first and second readings, it was rejected in the end. It is quite clear that the powers-that-be do not really try to amend the constitution.

The current electoral system also has so many problems. Under the system, it is very difficult to establish a political party and not all of people’s votes are meaningful. Thailand’s system uses just one ballot. But Germany has two ballots, with the party-list ballots used to determine how many seats a party should get. Germany also has overhang seats. It allocates additional party-list seats to cover any proportionality gap. I think the German electoral system best suits the Thai context.

With such a system, small parties pushing for certain agenda such as farmers’ rights, LGBT, and sports will be able to swing into action.

Q: Is the military still needed in Thailand’s politics like when serious conflict erupts and lawlessness starts emerging?

A: There is no need for the military in politics. If we look back, we should be able to see that protests that caused unrest were held to pave the way for coups.

Prayut told Time Magazine that he thought about staging a coup since December 2013. This fact means protests that ran from late 2013 to mid-2014 were intended to trigger the coup. In other words, protest leaders would not lead society to a dead-end if they did not have military backing.

I want to see a modern armed force that upholds the mission of protecting its country from external enemies.

To date, military men have protected their own interest. How many generals are in the National Legislative Assembly? How much are their assets?

Military reform must happen. There should be no place for the military in politics. The military should be strong and modern for the role of protecting Thailand from any invasion.

Is there any other country where its armed forces have made people their enemy? Military reform really must happen in Thailand otherwise the country will never be democratic.

Q: What characteristics should a country leader have?

A: Country leaders’ qualifications may have to vary, depending on the situation at each particular time. For today, I think a country leader should be brave. We need a leader who has the guts to straightforwardly tackle the country’s problems.

Many know what the problems are but they dare not speak up about these problems.

Q: You stumbled on your political path because of legal issues. What is your next plan?

A: I would like to reiterate that I stepped into politics not in search of fortune or positions. I don’t focus on personal interest. I don’t think about making my family richer, famous or powerful.

So, even though the FFP was dissolved, I have continued working for the causes I believe in. The Progressive Movement has two missions. Firstly, it promotes ideologies to push for important agendas such as charter change, monarchy reform, military reform, and decentralisation. These agendas will benefit the country.

My ideological struggle will be in the form of public policies.

Secondly, the Progressive Movement has engaged in local politics. We have now had more than 50 members of provincial administrative organisations’ councils. At the municipal level, we have 16 mayors and more than 100 municipal-council members.