{"id":6082,"date":"2023-11-09T10:24:20","date_gmt":"2023-11-09T10:24:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/markscogan.com\/?p=6082"},"modified":"2023-11-09T10:27:06","modified_gmt":"2023-11-09T10:27:06","slug":"isoc-once-again-puts-thailands-government-between-the-people-and-the-military","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markscogan.com\/index.php\/2023\/11\/09\/isoc-once-again-puts-thailands-government-between-the-people-and-the-military\/","title":{"rendered":"ISOC Once Again Puts Thailand\u2019s Government Between the People and the Military"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"924\" height=\"616\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/markscogan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/thediplomat_2022-10-06-215423.jpeg?resize=924%2C616&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6086\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Thailand&#8217;s national flag. Photo Credit: Depositphotos.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\"><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-red-color\"><strong>L<\/strong><\/mark>ast week, Thailand\u2019s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BangkokPostNews\/status\/1719566420445684058\">made his first visit<\/a>\u00a0to the headquarters of the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) at Ruen Ruedi Palace in Bangkok. In addition to serving as prime minister and finance minister, Srettha also serves as director of ISOC, which was set up in the 1960s as part of a broader effort to not only surveil potential communist threats but also\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.iseas.edu.sg\/publication\/2281\">extend the influence of the Thai military<\/a>\u00a0into broader areas of society. ISOC\u2019s less than stellar reputation was reflected in a social media post by Adisorn Piengkes, the chief government whip for the Pheu Thai Party in Parliament, who\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.matichon.co.th\/politics\/news_4258423\">called for ISOC to be disbanded<\/a>, saying that this\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/slide2495p\/status\/1718802640170262543?s=20\">would be<\/a>\u00a0\u201cthe equivalent of granting rights and freedoms\u201d to the Thai people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Adisorn\u2019s point, while largely unacknowledged by the Srettha government, which clarified that it has no plans to dissolve ISOC anytime soon, is a valid one and was repeated by the opposition&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bangkokpost.com\/thailand\/general\/2676323\/mfp-urges-srettha-to-change-mind-on-isoc\">Move Forward Party<\/a>&nbsp;(MFP). In July, ISOC\u2019s future was at the heart of one of seven bills aimed at both reforming the military and preventing corporate monopolies. MFP proposed an&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationthailand.com\/thailand\/politics\/40029473\">amendment to the 2008 Internal Security Act&nbsp;<\/a>as well as the abolition of all prior orders by the National Council for Peace and Order, the military junta that governed Thailand from 2014 to 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thediplomat.com\/2023\/11\/isoc-once-again-puts-thailands-government-between-the-people-and-the-military\/\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"65\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/markscogan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/TheDiplomatlogo-e1630482037575.png?resize=300%2C65\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4989\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">As featured in <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/thediplomat.com\/2023\/11\/isoc-once-again-puts-thailands-government-between-the-people-and-the-military\/\">The Diplomat<\/a><\/strong>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Both Adisorn and MFP echo sentiments that have been felt by many Thais for decades, as the institution has become synonymous with both regime repression and historic acts of state violence and bloodshed. Its history is replete with controversy. While the presence of the United States in the mid-1960s escalated a counterinsurgency to combat the threat of communism in Thailand\u2019s northeast, the American military at the time felt that the Thais had all of the institutional and professional military capacity to defeat a potential infiltration. Viewing the northeast with suspicion, Thailand&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/pdf\/30171893.pdf\">began laying the groundwork for domestic surveillance<\/a>&nbsp;of both university students, farmers, and associated labor movements. Into the 1970s, ISOC funded notorious pro-monarchy paramilitary organizations like the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1976\/11\/22\/archives\/thailand-and-the-us.html\">Red Gaurs<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/30171893\">Nawapon<\/a>, who were instrumental in demonizing and legitimizing violence against students, evidenced by the October 1976&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/southeastasiaglobe.com\/thammasat-massacre-act-of-organised-hate\/\">massacre at Thammasat University<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">More recently, ISOC has presided over nefarious cyber operations in Thailand\u2019s Deep South, where in 2020 it was accused and admitted to carrying out information operations targeting academics and politicians&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bangkokpost.com\/thailand\/general\/1867154\/isoc-says-cyber-war-only-on-fake-news\">working for peace in the region<\/a>. Alarmingly, under the direct supervision of former junta planner and former Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, ISOC created a blog that published stories that were deeply critical of activists and academics working toward a political solution. ISOC&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.khaosod.co.th\/politics\/news_3653749#google_vignette\">justified its actions<\/a>&nbsp;by claiming it was aiming to curb \u201cfake news\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The first legitimate attempt to handicap ISOC came in February 2020, when the Future Forward Party, the now-banned predecessor to the MFP, publicly accused the government of fraud, and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bangkokpost.com\/thailand\/politics\/1877599\/opposition-targets-governments-information-ops\">attempted to pull its funding<\/a>. Future Forward and some Thai news outlets also reported that ISOC was working to foment hatred between Buddhists and Muslims in the South, with Angkhana Neelapaijit, the former head of the Thai National Human Rights Commission, framing it as the \u201cgovernment using tax money to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bangkokpost.com\/opinion\/opinion\/1874484\/govt-gets-fs-for-protecting-women\">drive a wedge between people<\/a>.\u201d During the 2023 election cycle, military reform was a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/asia.nikkei.com\/Politics\/Turbulent-Thailand\/Thai-youth-cling-to-hope-for-change-on-massacre-anniversary\">major topic of conversation<\/a>, particularly among youth, with MFP leader Pita Limjaroenrat pledging to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2023\/05\/17\/asia\/thailand-election-opposition-party-leader-interview-intl-hnk\/index.html\">\u201cdemilitarize\u201d the country<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">But with Pheu Thai in power, largely due to both a flawed electoral system created by Thailand\u2019s 2017 Constitution and a coalition built with the support of military-oriented political parties, Srettha has had to make many concessions. In a response to an inflammatory commentary in the Thai Enquirer,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bangkokpost.com\/thailand\/general\/2676919\/srettha-hits-back-at-stooge-comment\">Srettha stated that<\/a>&nbsp;his government believed in \u201cincremental changes, particularly amid two decades of political ideological conflicts that Thailand has experienced.\u201d He added, \u201cWe do not choose a path of confrontation and destruction but rather a path of harmonizing ideas and working for the benefit of the people. The continuity of governance through democratic elections is the essence of a lasting and peaceful democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">In other words, the reform-minded proposals of MFP, with whom it attempted to form a coalition after the election in May, have little weight in the new Pheu Thai government. Another term for the \u201charmonization of ideas\u201d is political pragmatism, or the path of least resistance. To maintain a stable coalition, some \u201cconfrontation\u201d must be avoided.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thaipbsworld.com\/we-miss-you-uncle-tu-thanakorn\/\">Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana<\/a>, the deputy leader of the United Thai Nation Party and former minister attached to former Prime Minister Prayut\u2019s Office, has been strongly opposed to the idea of ISOC dissolution, suggesting it&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bangkokpost.com\/thailand\/general\/2676323\/mfp-urges-srettha-to-change-mind-on-isoc\">still had a role to play<\/a>&nbsp;in both protecting internal security and preventing transnational crime.&nbsp; It is also worth noting that Thanakorn was among the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/jp.reuters.com\/article\/thailand-election-idAFKBN2YT034\">members of the conservative establishment<\/a>&nbsp;that helped ensure Pita\u2019s rejection as prime minister in July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">It\u2019s clear that any movement to dissolve ISOC will be lost in Parliament. When Romadon Panjor, an MFP MP, suggested a bill targeting the agency, the majority barely gave it any attention. On X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, Srettha&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bangkokpost.com\/thailand\/general\/2676854\/mp-downplays-online-opposition-to-ending-isoc?view_comment=1\">posted<\/a>, \u201cI\u2019m not out to please the military, but I must put people\u2019s interests before others. I\u2019ve said it before \u2013 the agency will have to focus on development work, not just security deterrence.\u201d Again, this suggested compromise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">As long as the current governing coalition holds and the military parties remain a significant part of the machinery of government, ISOC isn\u2019t going anywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last week, Thailand\u2019s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin\u00a0made his first visit\u00a0to the headquarters of the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) at Ruen Ruedi Palace in Bangkok. In addition to serving as prime minister and finance minister, Srettha also serves as director of ISOC, which was set up in the 1960s as part of a broader effort to not only surveil potential communist threats but also\u00a0extend the influence of the Thai military\u00a0into broader areas of society. ISOC\u2019s less than stellar reputation was reflected in a social media post by Adisorn Piengkes, the chief government whip for the Pheu Thai Party in Parliament, who\u00a0called for ISOC to be disbanded&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6086,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[30,476,52,428,456,21],"class_list":["post-6082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-thailand","tag-authoritarian","tag-isoc","tag-military","tag-pheu-thai-party","tag-srettha-thavisin","tag-thailand"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>ISOC Once Again Puts Thailand\u2019s Government Between the People and the Military &#8211; Mark S. Cogan<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/markscogan.com\/index.php\/2023\/11\/09\/isoc-once-again-puts-thailands-government-between-the-people-and-the-military\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ISOC Once Again Puts Thailand\u2019s Government Between the People and the Military &#8211; Mark S. Cogan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last week, Thailand\u2019s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin\u00a0made his first visit\u00a0to the headquarters of the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) at Ruen Ruedi Palace in Bangkok. In addition to serving as prime minister and finance minister, Srettha also serves as director of ISOC, which was set up in the 1960s as part of a broader effort to not only surveil potential communist threats but also\u00a0extend the influence of the Thai military\u00a0into broader areas of society. ISOC\u2019s less than stellar reputation was reflected in a social media post by Adisorn Piengkes, the chief government whip for the Pheu Thai Party in Parliament, who\u00a0called for ISOC to be disbanded...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/markscogan.com\/index.php\/2023\/11\/09\/isoc-once-again-puts-thailands-government-between-the-people-and-the-military\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mark S. 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Cogan","og_description":"Last week, Thailand\u2019s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin\u00a0made his first visit\u00a0to the headquarters of the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) at Ruen Ruedi Palace in Bangkok. In addition to serving as prime minister and finance minister, Srettha also serves as director of ISOC, which was set up in the 1960s as part of a broader effort to not only surveil potential communist threats but also\u00a0extend the influence of the Thai military\u00a0into broader areas of society. ISOC\u2019s less than stellar reputation was reflected in a social media post by Adisorn Piengkes, the chief government whip for the Pheu Thai Party in Parliament, who\u00a0called for ISOC to be disbanded...","og_url":"https:\/\/markscogan.com\/index.php\/2023\/11\/09\/isoc-once-again-puts-thailands-government-between-the-people-and-the-military\/","og_site_name":"Mark S. 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