"The real danger is from the new king, much more than the junta," said Marshall. "Attempts to control information are now the most oppressive and extreme they have ever been in Thailand."
Marshall said he began defying the lese majeste laws because he believed "Thais deserve to know the truth about their history and politics."
Chachavalpongpun — an associate professor at Kyoto University who applied for refugee status with the Japan after a warrant was issued for his arrest in Thailand — said the state has certainly raised its level of absolutism following last year`s royal succession and amid a growing level of public discontentment.
"The situation does not help when the new king himself wishes to play politics. His eagerness only boosts the confidence of the military in its crackdown on critics," he said.
Another potential indicator of Thailand`s move into what Human Rights Watch calls a dictatorship is the removal of a commemorative plaque marking the birth of democracy in 1932.
The plaque, which celebrated the Siamese Revolution that abolished seven centuries of absolute monarchy, was removed from a square in central Bangkok and was replaced with a new one that heighten the importance of the monarchy, Reuters reported on April 15. The junta is detaining anyone who asks questions about it, according to Marshall.
While none of those changes has significantly impacted the domestic economy, which has been likened to Teflon for its resilience to messy politics, ISEAA`s Chambers said "free enterprise competition could ultimately fall victim to the rise of a new absolutism."
General elections are now due in late 2018 — they were previously scheduled for 2017 — but it`s unclear whether they will bring much change.
"Because of the content in the new constitution, we will not have a truly democratic government. The new government, if civilian, will be weak and vulnerable, allowing itself to be dominated by the old establishment," said Chachavalpongpun.
0 comments:
Post a Comment