Thailand’s sufficiency democracy election campaign rolls on. Having spent years slamming Thaksin’s populism the Democrats-except-when-you-can’t-win-an-election-and-then-a-coup-is-OK are out trying to woo the voters of the northeast with a swag of electoral goodies (including a “sufficiency economy fund to provide loans to farmers”!!). And the usual elite hand-wringing persists about the threat of vote-buying. But most bizarre of all in this Thai-style democracy is that martial law remains in place in 27 of the country’s 76 province. How can a free and vigorous election campaign possibly proceed with martial law restrictions on political activity and assembly? Not content with pulling the strings on the puppet-PM, retired General Sonthi has now moved into a Deputy PM seat, where, according to the Bangkok Post he will “supervise the Defence, Interior, Labour and Foreign ministries, which are key agencies responsible for the country’s security affairs.” One of his early acts was to declare that martial law would remain in place in border provinces to “to help security officials crack down on drugs and illegal entry, not for political purposes.” Of course, there is no greater border threat now than there has been in the recent past. Sonthi is using the well-worn strategy of summoning up an imagined threat to the integrity of the nation’s borders for narrow political ends. Martial law persists in the north and northeast because these are strong electoral bases for anti-regime forces. And, as a simple inspection of a provincial map of Thailand will show, talk of “border provinces” can be used to justify the maintenance of military controls over political freedom in a vast swathe of the country’s territory.
Border nonsence
October 15th, 2007 by Andrew Walker · 12 Comments
Tags: Election Watch · Surayud regime · Thailand
12 responses so far ↓
1 Ex-Ajarn // Oct 15, 2007 at 5:55 pm
Free and fair elections run by a military dictatorship; a dictatorship that has a special interest in not allowing one of the political parties to win?
Coup = increased democracy?
As time goes by, all those “academic” pro-dictatorship individuals that previously posted frequently on this topic are becoming pretty quiet.
It is evident that the coup has been a complete failure. But if one has studied the history of rule by military dictatorships around the world it was easy to predict the outcome. Hopefully this will be the last and final attempt to revise this type of failed government system here in Thailand. But, if the previous history of brutality and incompetence of military dictatorships were ignored by so many educated individuals who have supported the dictatorship from the start, it is unlikely that this addition “proof” will be sufficient to once and for all end the concept that rule by the gun is superior to rule by the ballot box.
2 Srithanonchai // Oct 15, 2007 at 6:23 pm
Isn’t is also rather nonsensical that Surayudh as PM controls Sonthi as the deputy PM, but that Sonthi controls Surayudh in his capacity of being responsible for overseeing the ministry of the interior, whose boss is none else than Surayudh? Perhaps, it was just politically impossible to directly appoint Sonthi to the position of minister of the interior. So, the construction of him being the shadow MoI, who calls the shots, might look better to some.
3 col. jeru // Oct 15, 2007 at 11:01 pm
All you pro-Thaksin and pro-TRT people worry too much just because Surayud’s government would want to ensure that old-style mega vote-buying (popularized by Thaksin and TRT) do not reassert itself in Surayud’s supervised elections.
A bought ballot box is not superior to a military dictatorship.
A very corrupt elected Prime Minister is as worthless as a military dictator . . . and both are equally dangerous.
4 Srithanonchai // Oct 16, 2007 at 2:02 am
I am a little confused about the role of martial law in Thailand. Matichon (Oct. 14) had an article saying that with an announcement made on November 13, 1998, 20 provinces, 89 districts, and 7 semi-districts were put under martial law. Thus, the elections of 2001 and 2005 seemed to have taken place under martial law in these provinces. On January 26, 2004, Satun and Pattani were added to the list of provinces under martial law. All that was before the coup took place.
Has martial law been a routine element of the Thai legal scene for quite some time? What is the relationship between martial law and an emergy decree? Perhaps, a reader with knowledge on these issues could provide some more information.
5 krid // Oct 16, 2007 at 4:29 am
Incredulous some may be, but this sham is getting more and more bizarre. Chang Noi has another brilliant analysis in yesterday’s (15th Oct.) Nation. The puppetmaster will in due time reveal the plan he has laid out all along with the help of his henchmen Prasong and Meechai. I still believe the entire political likay currently played (including “censor” motions by Prasong etc.) was carefully scripted for months before the coup. Sonthi will be prime minister as he’ll join the “right party” at the right moment. PPP will be red-carded; but not yet, but rather shortly before the election, not to give the Thaksin camp time to regroup. The election is just a ploy to placate the international community and as a sorry pretense for Sonthi’s power grap.
6 nganadeeleg // Oct 16, 2007 at 9:15 am
Krid: Has all the old ginger apparent bumbling along the way also been part of this ‘carefully scripted’ master plan?
You sound a bit spooked, but don’t worry because a large money bag combined with voodoo worship can still command unconditional support.
7 fall // Oct 16, 2007 at 12:17 pm
Ah, yes…the Chang Noi piece was brilliant, as usual. The power of love.
All these act by the Sonthi & Co. are so cliche and by-the-book typical junta to the degree that it does not really funny anymore. Using martial law as political tool is just uncreative, and gross abuse of power.
But really, Prachai L. freak me out. God forbidd he become political, let alone PM.
8 Lleij Samuel Schwartz // Oct 16, 2007 at 2:59 pm
Re: nganadeeleg,
Don’t tell me you think this current government has been entirely above-board concerning this electorial process.
If you think “the Generals” are not making deals in small, smoke-filled rooms, then I would like to present you the opportunity to purchase several bridges over the Chao Phraya river at a very reasonable price!
9 nganadeeleg // Oct 16, 2007 at 8:27 pm
LLeij: Why would I think that everything is entirely above-board?
Politicians, Generals, Thailand, influentual persons, Samak – need I say more?
The point I was making is that it’s not only the pro Thaksinites that should be spooked.
10 krid // Oct 17, 2007 at 2:32 am
@nganadeeleg: It doesn’t really matter if the bumbling was scripted, because puppets don’t stand for re-election. After the coup one had to ask the question: Why would they ever relinquish power? And: How CAN they relinquish power while Thaksin is still so popular? This is how they shot themselves in the foot. I might be too pessimistic at times but from historical experience, as a German, I have taken to heart: Wehret den Anfängen! (Literally: Fight the beginnings!). You have to nip dictatorship in the bud, or you will end up with just that. Now the ISOC law was changed to put the PM in charge. And who will be PM? That’s right, you guessed it.
11 Ex-Ajarn // Oct 17, 2007 at 6:24 pm
“Surayud’s government would want to ensure that old-style mega vote-buying (popularized by Thaksin and TRT) do not reassert itself in Surayud’s supervised elections.”
Vote-buying in Thailand has a long-history in Thailand which started long-before Thaksin came to power. Sure, the TRT used the technique but so did the opposition. The TRT are the only party in Thai political history that actually campaigned directly to the people through the use of policies (whether or not these were good policies is another debate, one that in civilized countries is decided by elections). What are the platforms of the political parties for this upcoming election? These parties aligned with the government are not even making a pretense of campaigning to win the votes of the people, instead it is all about forming alliances with individuals who can deliver the votes through vote-buying.
There was no creditable polling that ever showed that Thaksin did not have the support of the majority of Thai voters. Love him or hate him, he would have won the election that coup was staged to stop, whether vote buying occurred or not.
A “bad” elected official is a 100 times better than a “good” dictator, because there is a sure-fire way to replace the “bad” elected official while removal of dictators has consistently proven to be difficult.
And who is to say who is a good leader or a bad leader? Was Ronald Reagan a good or bad leader? How about Jimmy Carter, or Bill Clinton? It is not hard to find a difference of opinion on whether these were good or bad leaders. Just because col. jeru and myself think Thaksin was a bad leader, does that mean we are right and the voters of Thailand are wrong?
12 Sidh S. // Oct 17, 2007 at 7:22 pm
It is very interesting times in Thai politics and will be a critical election. Post PMThaksin hegemony, many aspirants see that they have a decent chance at power whether through money or the gun – or if via policies, it has to be ‘populist’. I don’t think it is a return to the ‘bad old days’ – it is a new playing field with old players. I don’t know what this would yield after Dec 23 or in 1 year or 5 years (a return of a ‘re-constituted’ PMThaksin as ’saviour’ – after leading ManCity to a premiership title!). The most likely scenario is a continued ‘bumbling on’ as an imperfect democracy. It make for frustrating watching and requires too much patience and tolerance – much like being stuck in Bangkok traffic.
Leave a Comment
Please note: New Mandala encourages vigorous debate. However, for the moment we will only be publishing high-quality comments that make original contributions to discussion. There will, of course, still be space for pithy, humorous, eccentric and cheeky input. Short and sweet will usually trump long and involved. Repetitive ranting, unimaginative point-scoring and idle abuse will not be entertained. Comments which carry a real name are also more likely to be approved. Thank you for your ongoing interest and contributions.