“Thailand still seeking a way forward: Thitinan” |
| Thailand still seeking a way forward: Thitinan Posted: 05 Oct 2010 10:31 AM PDT "The establishment is afraid of losing it all ... so they have tried to keep everything and risk losing it all," Thitinan told a public forum on transitions to democracy in Southeast Asia organised by ISIS at the university yesterday. The ISIS director said Thailand was also in a kind of political transition, although the transition might in fact be a "regression transition" in which political rights are curbed and self-censorship becomes widespread as the establishment becomes increasingly worried about the succession to the throne. He predicted that the political situation was unlikely to remain calm and clear indefinitely, adding that much would depend on the new Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha. "We will see a greater role for the military before we see it reduced," Thitinan predicted, adding that Prayuth's acceptance speech last week about possible future military intervention in politics was tantamount to a "self-invitation" for the military. Thitinan said Prayuth's pledge to protect national sovereignty and the Crown had become "a recipe for [military] intervention". The academic warned that growing self-censorship in Thai society had become the "most dreadful, dangerous kind of censorship", as it emanated from fear. The lese majeste law had become like a "deepening cancer", he said, as anyone could sue anyone who they claimed had offended the monarchy. "The trend is definitely not good," he said, adding that space for dissidents was being limited. Maung Zarni, a research fellow from the London School of Economics (LSE) and a current visiting senior fellow at ISIS, said the election in Burma scheduled for early next month (November 7) was like a transition to an economic and political "twilight zone". Maung Zarni said the junta-sponsored charter in 2008 had ensured that the legitimacy of military rule would extend well beyond the election, as it was designed to ensure the military class remained as the ultimate rulers. While self-censorship was a product of Burma's "neo-totalitarian system", Maung Zarni pointed out that even in jail, dissidents managed to resist by drawing paintings behind bars or getting news from the outside world. Indonesian Ambassador to Thailand Mohammad Hatta said his country had managed to put the military back in the barracks and a consensus for rule by the people had clearly been established. The military was forbidden from doing business, was no longer in Parliament nor in any other government offices except the Defence Ministry, Hatta said. "In Indonesia, democracy has reached the point of no return and that's only forward ... because the people have spoken." This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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