It’s time for the global community of democrats - whether on the left or the right - to stand shoulder to shoulder with those battling extremism in Thailand.
Andrew Spooner is a London-based blogger who writes regularly on Thai politics
Mention Thailand and most people will think of beaches, backpackers, Buddhism and its famous tourism industry. But you can bet as British tourists pack their sun-cream and beach-towels for a Winter holiday they won’t be thinking of one particular ‘F’ word – fascism.
Yet, last week, amidst the worst violence Thailand has witnessed in several years, the word ‘fascism‘ was uttered by a leading group of progressive Thai thinkers and academics.
In the shadow of protests led by Suthep Thuagsuban, a former ‘Democrat’ party deputy prime minister who is tainted not only with highly credible claims of corruption dating back to the 1990s, but who is also awaiting to be indicted for the murder of pro-democracy protesters in 2010, these thinkers/academics had come together to form the Alliance For the Defence of Democracy (AFDD).
Suthep, who resigned from the Democrat Party only last month, is still closely allied to his former boss and former PM, the present Democrat Party leader, Abhisit Vejjajiva (Abhisit, who is also a British citizen and Old Etonian, is a close friend of London Mayor, Boris Johnson), who was himself indicted for the 2010 murders only last week.
It is quite easy to see how the AFDD came to use the ‘F’ word. Suthep’s People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) protest movement is made up of senior Democrat Party figures, Thai aristocrats, the super-rich and Bangkok’s middle classes all of whom are desperate to cling onto the status and power they’ve enjoyed for so long.
The PDRC’s avowed programme has morphed from preventing a controversial amnesty bill – the bill was dropped in mid-November – through to its present aim of ‘stopping’ the February 2014 general election called by the 2011 general election-landslide-winning Thai PM, Yingluck Shinawtra.
Instead the PDRC is seeking to impose a ‘People’s Council‘ – a wholly appointed body drawn from Thailand’s elite – on the country in order to enact what the PDRC calls ‘reforms’. These reforms include, among various vague proposals to ‘stop corruption’, forbidding what the PDRC calls Yingluck’s ‘populist policies’ or, more accurately, what The Economist calls good old-fashioned Keynesian economics‘.
In an article in the Bangkok Post entitled ‘Academics brand people’s council ‘fascism‘, the AFDD were damning in their analysis of the PDRC. The Post quoted Piyabut Saengkanokkul, an AFDD member, who said that
“The idea of setting up a people’s council comprising members of various professions was an idea inherited from fascist corporatism, as seen in Italy during the period of Benito Mussolini’s fascist dictatorship.”
You don’t have to delve too deep to see who is backing the PDRC’s “fascism”. In fact, many Thai aristocrats and super-wealthy openly boast of their disdain for democracy, accompanying this derision with sneering contempt for ordinary Thai voters.
A recent Reuters article examined the Thai aristos and billionaires who have taken a full and active part in the PDRC protests. Reuters’ damning expose partly focuses on one Chitpas Bhirombhakdi an “heiress to a $2.6 billion family fortune” and a Democrat Party spokesperson who has been in the forefront of the protests. Recently Chitpas was quoted in another newspaper stating that ordinary and poor Thais don’t have a “true understanding of democracy…especially in the rural areas”.
Of course Chitpas’ Democrat Party – the absolute bastion of the Thai establishment – have never won a parliamentary majority with their last semblance of success coming over twenty years ago when they managed to become the largest party in the Thai parliament with 21 per cent of the vote.
Since then Abhisit seized power in what was widely termed a ‘judicial coup‘ in 2008 – an act which later led to huge pro-democracy protests in 2010 and the brutal slaughter of almost 100 Thai civilians of whose murder he know stands charged – which was followed by PM Yingluck’s huge landslide election victory in 2011.
And now, unable to win an election, this once seemingly ‘liberal’ party – it’s simply shameful that the UK Liberal Democrats are allied and connected directly to the Thai Democrat Party via the Liberal International – have now veered towards political extremism.
Once the darlings of Bangkok’s notoriously tepid international media corps, articles are now appearing in the global media exposing the Abhisit-led ‘Democrats’ as the anti-democracy activists they’ve become. Time magazine ran a searing article entitled ‘Thailand’s Democrat Party Is Hilariously Misnamed‘, whilst Associated Press speared Abhisit’s party with this single line – ‘The enemy of the Democrat Party? It’s democracy‘.
So what next? Suthep has now taken to threatening PM Yingluck’s 11year old son from the protest stage whilst his acolytes have said they will lead a mob to ‘storm’ the US Embassy. The PDRC, who have vowed to stop the February 2014 general election, still rely on the support of Abhisit’s Democrats who look increasingly likely to boycott the elections. And, waiting in the wings, is the notoriously coup-happy Thai Army.
The experienced and widely-published Bangkok-based German photojournalist, Nick Nostitz, who has been covering Thailand’s political upheavals for the last decade – he was recently singled out for physical attack by the PDRC and then later produced an exceptional report on PDRC attacks on a pro-democracy Red Shirt rally – told me this about possible future Thai Army involvement.
“After the PDRC met the top brass on Saturday, it looks that presently the military still refuses to intervene any further than offering itself as a facilitator for possible negotiations. However, the Thai military is notoriously secretive in their decision making processes, next week the configuration could completely change again.”
Thailand stands at crossroads – the potential for civil war is now obvious and fascism is rearing its ugly head. It’s time for the global community of democrats – whether on the left or the right – to stand shoulder to shoulder with those battling extremism in Thailand.
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27 Responses to “The global community should support those battling extremism in Thailand”
J. Smith
You give the impression that your understanding of Thai culture is limited to Nana Plaza.
I don’t have to ask your bargirl GF to to know how voting works. I just see
it in wife’s Isaan village. There, the DP candidate always makes a point of doubling
the PT offer. He has never got over 20%.
I write “offer” because many villagers refuse to take money. Even your poor, uneducated “peasants” have their pride. Surprised?
This ridiculous “custom” of giving money at elections could easily be stopped
if all parties agreed to it. It could, for example, have been one of the points in the talks
that the PM pleaded to have,but were categorically rejected by Suthep.
No talks, no elections: clearly, his own dictatorship is all that the “corrupt-free
Democrat” Suthep will accept
J. Smith
There are two basic “facts”:
1. Thaksin parties have won all their elections, five in a row.
2. The Democrats last won an election 21 years ago.
It is clear to me that it’s a simple “fact” that Thaksin parties are genuinely
popular. “Corruption” (which exists throughout Thai society) and “vote buying”
are just smokescreens to hide the simple “fact” that the majority just don’t
like the Democratic Party.
The Democrat’s answer to their continued rejection by the majority?
Abolish democracy through military coups, rigged courts and now a
People’s Council,aka dictatorship.
Brown Note
Interestingly, in the 10 years I have been living in Thailand, I have never set foot in Nana Plaza, nor has my wife of 5 years. Clearly the mocking condescension of my tone was lost on you, as was the facetious use of the word voting. FYI condescension means I’m talking down to you. You seem pretty passionate about the topic though, and quite defensive. Part of me wonders if you’re just one of Robert Amsterdam’s hired goons (like Spooner himself). Otherwise, I’m curious which Isan village you reside in, to have such in-depth knowledge of the inner workings of the bribery system amongst the uneducated peasants (your words).
Simon Churchill
I can ask my Thai girlfriend about voting in Thailand and she will tell you that yes some do take money for votes, but they DO NOT vote for the most generous payout and will take the money with glee. This point seems to be lost somewhere? By the way my girlfriend is a Bangkok political science graduate not a bar girl. She knows her political history very well and being born in 1963 we are not talking about the last few years. How come you can claim supporters of Democracy are misinformed? Typical yellow stance, all red shirts are misinformed yet make up the majority (democracy). I would like to see how informed you are compared to my girlfriend. Guess your just another stupid right wing extremist, elite supporter?
Brown Note
I feel quite satisfied that you needed to resort to personal name-calling, similar to a 12-year old schoolgirl, as it essentially nullifies any validity your other points may have had. It’s frankly hilarious that you all get so worked up over local politics, in which you have no say, no influence, and do not matter at all. I’m not red or yellow, and Thailand’s current political landscape consists entirely of two big rich families battling it out. Everyone else is just a pawn in their elaborate game. You can paint it any way you want – democracy vs. fascism, the rich vs. the poor, a class struggle. In fact that’s how both sides want you to paint it, to give it some legitimacy. But at the end of the day, none of that is true, and whichever big rich family you decide to believe, you’re still being lied to. For me, I really don’t care about sides – the entire spectrum is pathetic. I really don’t care about anything for that matter, and neither should you. I’m just a make-believe anti-democratic communist here to piss in the cornflakes of old crusty expats who have nothing better to do than get overly emotionally entrenched in contemporary Thai politics.