This time last week, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, after feeling frustrated by a question about a list of potential candidates for vacant Cabinet posts, abruptly ended his own news conference, grabbed a bottle of alcohol-based sanitiser and walked toward the assembled journalists. Holding a surgical mask in front of his face, he proceeded to spray reporters.
After Myanmar Senior General and now-Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing seized power on February 1, one of his earliest acts was to compose a letter to Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha explaining why the military had taken control and asked for help to support democracy. More than a month since the Tatmadaw took power and detained Aung San Suu Kyi, democracy appears to have been suppressed, while ties between Thailand and neighbouring Myanmar are drawing closer.
Twenty-four hours ago Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy (NLD) were ousted from power by the military (Tatmadaw) in an early morning coup d’état. Journalists in Myanmar reported that phone and mobile services went dark, military vehicles were seen on city streets, and the state television network MRTV was unable to broadcast. The military declared a state of emergency that will last for a year and power has been vested in Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
After the Constitutional Court delivered Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha a not guilty verdict, members of the government and coalition members of Parliament warned opposition parties and others not to criticise the decision or face criminal prosecution. The Court decided on Wednesday that the Prime Minister had not abused his power or registered a conflict of interest by residing in Royal Thai Army housing despite the fact that he had retired from the military.
In Thailand’s turbulent politics, old political taboos are being shattered and the once off-limits monarchy is being subject to public criticism. Youth-led protesters are targeting 10 specific areas of government and monarchical reforms, demanding the removal of Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, but curbs on King Maha Vajiralongkorn’s unchecked power. With institutional reforms to the monarchy now the talk of the country, questions should naturally surface about where power lies. What would a diminished monarchy mean for Thailand’s military? These questions are critical for protesters as they formulate potential negotiations – if possible – with authorities. For some observers, it is like the proverbial “chicken or the egg” question, with both options symbiotically linked together. Inseparable.
There will be no Cambodian Spring anytime soon. This is the sobering reality to a question so tempting to ask – particularly in the shadow of what’s happening in Thailand and now in Lao PDR. So, why won’t a civil society uprising happen in Cambodia soon? Since its emergence from civil war and transition back to a state of external legitimacy through the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC), Cambodia’s democratic moment was fast, fleeting and has long since evaporated.
The death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej on October 13, 2016 marked a substantive shift in public sentiments toward the Thai monarchy. In mourning and in unity, hundreds of thousands of Thais gathered a week later at Sanam Luang Park, to sing the royal anthem, Sansoen Phrai Barami, in close proximity to the Grand Palace, where royal and religious rites had been taking place.
Thai society has watched the Royal Thai Police commit acts of professional misconduct, brutality, corruption, and violations of human rights without action by the government to reign it in. The youth-led pro-democracy protests have again afforded the police another opportunity to commit acts of brutality on Friday, re-arresting three of the most high-profile movement leaders— rendering one unconscious from an unnecessary choke hold.
Recent political turmoil in Thailand has broken many of the taboos surrounding its once-revered monarchy. The youth-led social movement that has demanded the resignation of Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has also submitted a list of reforms calling for substantive changes to the monarchy, including the repeal of its draconian lèse majesté laws, which forbid the insult of the monarch and have been used as a weapon to silence dissent. Reforms also call for more transparency and accountability as well as banning the monarch from endorsing political coups, which is a frequent occurrence.
