November 3, 2020 | Reema Gupta '22
On October 16th, BBC reported that tens of thousands of citizens had gathered in Bangkok for a protest against mass political corruption in Thailand, leading the Prime Minister to declare an official state of emergency. Thailand's government system functions much like the UK’s, headed by the parliament but padded with a constitutional monarchy. The parliament is currently led by PM Prayuth Chan-o-cha, formally elected in 2019, and has been recognized by the Human Rights Watch to have disregarded many of the rights of its citizens. The protests, which started in February, were originally set to battle the collapse of the Future Forward Party. However they have now adapted to a battle against a corrupt monarchy, a failing leader, and the case of a currently missing prominent activist.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha’s rise to power is definitely not traditional. Coming from a military background that heavily opposed democratic views–he cracked down on the Red Shirt group protesting for democratic parliament in 2010–Chan-o-cha’s succession to power and his actions as PM are not unexpected. In 2014, former PM Yingluck’s government was in shambles and a temporary government was instituted. Subsequently, on May 22nd of that year, Chan-o-cha decided to hold a military coup, repeal the constitution, and instate the NCPO (National Council for Peace and Order), with him as the head, as the formal government. The corruption began as soon as Chan-o-cha stepped into power.
According to multiple sources, soon after he came to power, Chan-o-cha led multiple efforts to filter the media of any opposition. When the coup happened, the first thing he did was order local and international news programming to halt and contacted the state telecommunications commission to censor any messages that instated fear or “distorted'' the PM’s actions. Between 2014 to 2018, the government arrested almost 105 people for “criticizing the monarchy,” which is criminalized under the law. Protests obviously erupted after the coup, however the NCPO created a regulation of no more than 5 people at political gatherings, which remained in place for nearly 4 years. Due to the Coronavirus, this policy has been reinstated and reduced to no more than 4 people. The ban on media that “incites fear” is still in place as well. These actions have resurfaced now as the Thai government recently arrested Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, who recently gave a speech arguing for defunding the Thai Monarchy’s funds and relaxing the laws restricting speech about the monarchs. In addition, the chief of police just signed into order a ban on and the deletion of all the content on websites covering the student-led protests live.
In 2019, when Thailand’s first election since the coup was held, Thailand’s biggest democratic party, the Future Forward Party, was the leading opposition to the current PM. Led by Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, the party appealed to young voters since it was very anti-military. However, the court ruled that a money transfer from the Thanathorn to the party was an illegal donation and, as a result, not only are the leaders banned from serving in Thai politics for 10 years, but it inadvertently led Prayuth to win the election as the major democratic opposition was dissolved. Additionally, the 70 parliamentarians were required to move to a different party as FFP was officially dissolved as well.
To add to the list of the Thai authorities’ crimes, protestor Wanchalearm Satsaksit was kidnapped in Cambodia in June. He spread valuable anti-monarchy and anti-government messages that opposed the current authority. As we’ve established, both of these actions hold heavy sentences under the PM’s government. Satsaksit supposedly fled to Cambodia after the coup to avoid being arrested and censored. He, unfortunately, isn’t the first. According to Reuters, “at least eight Thai activists who fled after a 2014 military coup have disappeared from Laos, Cambodia, or Vietnam, with the bodies of two of them later found floating in the Mekong River.” The Thai government has denied any responsibility for these charges, however many people think otherwise. This incident also led to the rise in protests over the last few weeks.
As of now, only Beijing has reached out to help back the Thai government. Since Thailand is a valuable asset to its ongoing Belt and Road Initiative, China immediately stepped in and offered economic support to “return to social stability.” The United States is currently an ally of Thailand, but hasn’t stepped in to offer assistance so far, especially when they are up against China, a country that, in recent years, has been in opposition to the US.
After the surge in Black Lives Matter protests over police brutality and the abuse of law enforcement, the resurgence of political protests has come back more powerfully than ever. A student-led protest pushed the government to declare a state of emergency. Whatever the outcome of the situation is, the spirit of those who want to seek change will not die down.
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