Thailand: The Surge of People’s Resistance to Elitist Establishments
by Baibua Noi*
Having been taken over by the military in 2014, Thailand is entering its 7th year of being ruled by Gen. Prayut’s junta government. The country has endured 13 successful coup d’états with numerous other unsuccessful attempts, a figure that is amongst the highest in the world. A Thai person born in the 21st century would have already been through 2 coups, and for those older, this disruption to the democratic process has simply become typical political culture. These defining political events reveal the root of such a self-perpetuating cycle: the institutional structure and societal order that are exceptionally elitist. They have ignited the current political unrest in Thailand as it has never been clearer that change is much needed to restore hope amongst the youth. Hence, massive protests have been regularly taking place to restore the voice of the people into an increasingly elitist political landscape.
Military Juntas Formation
Gen. Prayut, leader of the military coup, justified his revolutionary seizure of power as a means to end ongoing political unrests and to oversee the country while in the process of awaiting an election to form a new government. A junta, theoretically, is supposed to ensure an orderly transition and step away from power once the democratic procedure is back in order (NPR, 2014). However, as history has shown us, this is rarely the case and the current Thai government is no different.
Since gaining absolute power in 2014, Gen. Prayut formed the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) and amended the constitutions to essentially guarantee his party’s victory in the long-awaited 2019 election. Thus, it is misleading for Prayut’s government to claim democratic legitimacy when the election lacked transparency and fair rules. A clear example is the appointment of 250 senators by the NCPO, who were given power by the 2017 constitution to vote for a Prime Minister, in addition to the 500 votes by elected members of parliament. 249 senators voted for Prayut, allowing him to form a government despite not having a majority in the House of Representatives as the Bangkok Post reports.
In fact, Pheu Thai, the biggest opposition party, won most seats in the House of Representatives but was prevented from forming a government in alliance with other anti-military parties due to the Senates’ votes — a clear demonstration of the people’s voice being disregarded in favour of the elite’s.
The traditional political methods people typically rely upon for the opportunity to be heard have clearly failed them. This is even more evident when the constitutional court ruled in favour of the dissolution of the Future Forward Party (FFP), the second biggest opposition party, and to ban many of the party’s executives from participating in politics for 10 years. The FFP was particularly popular amongst young voters. Following this event in February 2020, people responded to this rejection of their voting rights with a series of pro-democracy protests as covered by the BBC.
One demand of the current pro-democracy demonstration is for Prayut to resign, but it is clear that without a new constitution where elections can be held fairly, Thailand would continue to be ruled under Prayut or another military-backed Prime Minister. Hence, another demand of the protestors involves constitutional amendment to eliminate the role of the military-backed senators in choosing the Prime Minister. Still, many argue that the very root of this issue is the role of the Monarchy.
While the King is supposed to stay ‘above politics’ as outlined by the constitution, he has been the most significant force behind every successful military takeover as the King’s signature is required to approve the operation. This leads to the most revolutionary demand in the history of Thai pro-democracy movements — reform of the Monarchy.
The Royal Propaganda and Demise of the King
For decades, the King has been an untouchable god-like figure, praised and glorified by Thai students every morning before class as a symbol of Thai nationalism. And for anyone who dares to disrespect him, there is the vaguely defined lèse-majesté law that allows any criticism of the Royal Family to be punishable by up to 15 years in prison per count. This law has, on numerous occasions, been exploited as a dissident silencing tool and used to preserve the monarch’s virtuous image — including their dogs as reviewed by The Guardian.
The propaganda that sells King Bhumibol (Rama XI) as the soul of the nation is heavily reinforced by the military. These two institutions have become the most prominent players in Thai politics that repeatedly disrupt the dynamic of democratic processes. For a long time, most Thais would see politics as a game played by corrupt politicians, and that every once in a while, the military needed to step in to reinstate order and discipline the amoral politicians.
As historian Thongchai Winichakul explains in his 2007 book, there are misunderstandings about the political role of the King in the context of a constitutional monarchy where the King is placed ‘above politics’. Since any effort to critically examine anything related to royalty is discouraged by the risk of lèse-majesté law, the scope of political power the King is granted by the constitution remains unclear and unchecked. In fact, many Thai scholars have become political exiles for publishing criticism of the Monarchy. During the reign of King Bhumibol, the phrase ‘above politics’ has been redefined from its original intention of meaning ‘staying out of politics’ to mean ‘being on top of politics’.
King Bhumibol’s many endorsements of military coups were not perceived to be undemocratic nor unconstitutional at all. In comparison to the corrupt politicians, the King’s proclaimed moral high ground completely justified his involvement in the eye of the Thai public, whose distrust of politicians continued to grow, and whose love of the King was constantly reinforced through state propaganda and many glorification schemes.
However, as Professor Chachavalpongpun, another Thai political exile, notes, the emergence of social media no longer permits the Monarchy to escape scrutiny. As most Thais are battling with Covid-19 and the pandemic-induced recession while reading headlines about King Vajiralongkorn’s (Rama X) lavish lifestyle in Germany that is sponsored largely by taxpayer’s money, many start to question whether the institution of the monarchy is still relevant since it is clear that the King is so disconnected from the reality of his people’s struggle.
The Elite’s Cronyism
The current government has proven itself to be incompetent for the job on several occasions, but perhaps the most evident damage it has caused the public is in its mishandling of the pandemic. Shortages of quality vaccines have prolonged the impact of the pandemic on the economy and the numerous poorly designed cash handout schemes did little to stimulate economic activity. To make the matter worse, evidence gathered by opposition parties suggests numerous conflicts of interest in government vaccine contracts. The most controversial is the government’s choice to purchase 61 million AztraZeneca doses solely from Siam Bioscience, a company with a record of financial losses and no experience as a vaccine producer, but owned directly by King Rama X. This overreliance has proven disastrous for Thailand as warned by Thanathorn, leader of the now-dissolved FFP, who was charged with lèse-majesté and computer crime act for his criticism of the ‘royal vaccine’, the Financial Times reports. (Financial Times, 2021).
The computer crime act is another censorship instrument and it is aimed at limiting the spread of information deemed to be false — mostly claims against the government. Many young activists have been charged with these suppressive laws that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has repeatedly called on the Thai authority to comply with its international obligation (UNHR, 2020).
The Challenge
The strong partnership that the monarchy and the military strategically consolidated throughout Thai history positions them as the dominant force in the political landscape. All other major establishments are therefore under their influence and we observe dissidents being subject to unfair legal treatment. The police often use teargases and rubber bullets against protestors and those arrested are denied the right to lawyers and bail (Human Rights Watch, 2020). The elitist structure underlying how Thai society is shaped makes any meaningful change almost impossible. The power lies in the hand of institutions that are so well-designed to collaboratively repress the people living under their regime. Basic human rights like the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly can be legally taken away if it threatens state security. Such systems that fail to give hope to the youth have forced them to take on the street to reclaim their democratic rights and bring the monarchy under the constitution. Considering the structures underpinning political order, all the key demands of protestors must be met before any consequential reform can be achieved, but to expect those with absolute power to give it up is, unfortunately, rather unworldly and utopian.
*The author wishes to remain anonymous due to safety concerns. References for the academic sources used in this article can be found here
