Communist – the most misused label in politics
Vint Chavala states that, being British, my attitude to communism is different from that of Thais, but I don’t agree.
Communism is a discredited creed with a long history of appalling brutality and intolerance. I was working in Thailand when the “dominoes” in the region began falling to communist insurgents and I was well aware of the anxiety in the country at that time.
However, the fact that the Future Forward Party may be advocating policies that many disagree with is not a valid reason for raising the spectre of communism.
Indeed, it is irresponsible to speculate that a member of the party might harbour communist sympathies when there is no evidence of this.
The “communist” label has sometimes been used down the years in Thailand to demonise political opponents, but all this does is foment hatred and polarise opinions. The events of November 1976 are a prime example.
Robin Grant
