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.
Social media giant Twitter last week blocked nearly one thousand accounts linked to the Royal Thai Army, which were in violation of its policies on manipulation of information. According to a statement released by Twitter, the accounts were “engaging in amplifying pro-RTA and pro-government content, as well as engaging in behavior targeting prominent political opposition figures." Some of those figures included now-banned opposition leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit of the defunct Future Forward Party.
Last Friday’s Constitutional Court verdict saw the dissolution of the second largest opposition party in Thailand, the Future Forward Party. The Thai Court dissolved the party after their charismatic leader, Thanathorn Juangroonggruangkit gave the party a $9 million loan to finance their election campaign, supposedly violation of the 10 million baht ($315,000) limit.
At issue with the Future Forward Party is the continuing decline of political pluralism in Thailand, which has a troubling history with opposition political parties. Millions of young Thais voted for the Future Forward Party, partially because of its young leadership and its opposition to excessive military spending. Future Forward Party members have been rather outspoken in their criticism of the military’s influence on Thai politics.
Thailand’s Constitutional Court, in a 7-2 decision has stripped Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, the leader of the Future Forward Party (FFP) of his MP seat because he broke election rules by owning shares in V-Luck Media Company, which the Election Commission in March noted violated election rules.
While the results of Thailand’s March 24 elections are somewhat undetermined, the advent of a new progressive pro-democracy voice has ruffled the feathers of the ruling class. Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, the multimillionaire leader of the upstart Future Forward Party (FFP), which took third place overall is under fire from his political opponents.
