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Junta lies and repression continue
Ugly Truth Thailand - April 23, 2017
"If democracy just results in the election of corrupt politicians, why have democracy, he asked." He trotted out the usual excuses for military rule which have been used by anti-democrats for decades. Thai people are "stupid, backward and don't have any discipline", he claimed. "That's why we can't have democracy".
Dinosaurs like Meechai always crawl out of the swamp when the tanks roll into town. He, like other members of the elite believe that they are the only ones with any intellect and honesty. But his lies prove otherwise. The Thai military is renowned for its corruption and this always gets worse when they are running the country. [See http://bit.ly/2nRS0BG]
He is, however honest about one thing. His rants against democracy reveal that all the so-called "reforms" in which he is engaged are not really designed to restore democracy at all. The aim is bad old, Asian-style, "Guided Democracy".
As for Generalissimo Prayut, there seems to be no need for a quick return to democracy either. According to his angry exchanges with reporters, he said: "I am a democrat... If the country isn't ready for democracy, I'll stay on longer, even shutting the country off from the rest of the world. Those protesting against the government will be the first to be dealt with." He went on to explain that "so-called human rights activists complain about people being detained and sent to military camps for attitude changing sessions. If this is an abuse of human rights we can just throw them in jail, how about that?"
The junta shut down the non-government Voice TV station for a week for daring to air programmes critical of the junta. At the same time the junta has been explaining that democratically elected politicians in the past wanted to keep the people ignorant so that they could rule over them with ease. The military want people to "think for themselves", they claimed. The way to encourage people to think for themselves is obviously to make sure they all think in the same manner as the junta.
This explains why the junta has been cutting the education budget and always sends round the uniformed thugs to close down any academic seminars or meetings about the political situation in the country.
The junta's Foreign Minister also criticised a United States report on the lack of democracy in Thailand. He explained that Thailand now had "more democracy than before". It is a wonder he didn't go on to affirm that the Earth was flat and that democratically elected politicians in the past had all been aliens from outer space!
While the junta is busy crafting "democracy", the brutality continues. Following the extra judiciary murder of Chaiyapoom, the Lahu activist in the north, two further extra judiciary killings have taken place in the south, in Patani. [See http://bit.ly/2o4Wq99 about Chaiyapoom.]
In addition to this, the culture of militarism and violence is proving fatal for some young recruits. Private Yutenun Boon-nium is the latest to die after being violently punished for "breaking military discipline". His mother has vowed not to cremate his body until a proper investigation is carried out. Even if some low-ranking officer is found guilty of this latest crime, which is unlikely, the top commanders will get off scot-free. So will the generals who placed themselves in control of the country. This isn't just an isolated event. The fact that the junta placed soldiers in charge of every level of society and have created a culture where uniformed thugs can just search peoples' houses, drag them off for having the "wrong politics" and close down meetings and media at will, teaches soldiers at all levels that they can be as violent as they like.
There will be no freedom and democracy or any civilised society in Thailand until we get rid of the military.
Source: https://uglytruththailand.wordpress.com/2017/04/23/junta-lies-and-repression-continue/.
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