Quote:
ThailandтАЩs Dictators in Denial
The Wall Street Journal Europe
3 Feb 2015
The U.S. offered muted criticism of ThailandтАЩs military coup last MayтАФ no doubt because the country is designated a тАЬmajor non-NATO allyтАЭ and the coup plotters promised to restore democracy quickly. But the juntaтАЩs decision last month to abandon political reconciliation and impeach former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra for alleged corruption has prompted the Obama administration to speak up.
Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel, the most senior U.S. official to visit Thailand since last MayтАЩs coup, used a speech at ThailandтАЩs most prestigious university last week to call for an end to martial law and restrictions on free speech and assembly. With classic diplomatic understatement he warned that тАЬthe international community is left with the impression that [the prosecution of Ms. Yingluck] could be politically driven.тАЭ The U.S. has also scaled back the annual тАЬCobra GoldтАЭ joint military exercise.
The junta responded with outrage, while the pro-government media whipped up a frenzy of anti-American anger at this supposed interference in ThailandтАЩs internal affairs. If that accusation has a Chinese ring, it is no coincidence: Beijing has seized the opportunity to cozy up to the junta. Dictator Prayuth Chan-ocha visited Beijing to meet President Xi Jinping on Dec. 23. While the U.S. Embassy fields complaints and protests, Chinese companies sign contracts to build railways.
Meanwhile, on Sunday night two small improvised bombs exploded outside BangkokтАЩs busiest shopping mall, injuring one person. Nobody claimed responsibility, but the incident is reminiscent of a 2010 episode in which largely peaceful antigovernment protests were disrupted by mysterious men firing military weapons. These so-called тАЬblack shirtsтАЭ were never caught, and their activities provided a justification for the military to clear the streets at the cost of about 100 lives.
In December, a former Prime Minister and Army chief Chavalit Yongchaiyudh warned of the possibility that a faction of the military could attempt a counter-coup. That remains unlikely, but reports of political divisions within the Army have filtered out steadily since the last coup in 2006. That may have helped push the junta to become more hard-line.
This hasnтАЩt stopped public discussion of the contradictions underlying military rule. Ms. Yingluck is accused of corruption for a massive effort to boost the incomes of rice farmers and could face 10 years in prison. While undoubtedly bad policy, if the rice program constitutes vote- buying as the junta alleges, most of the worldтАЩs politicians deserve to be locked up.
The junta has also invited derision by inventing its own lexicon, in which military rule is тАЬThai-style democracy.тАЭ Deputy Foreign Minister Don Paramatwinai chided Mr. Russel last week for using the word тАЬcoup.тАЭ тАЬI insist that the military takeover in Thailand is not a coup, theoretically speaking,тАЭ he said. тАЬIt was in fact a revolution to install stability.тАЭ
The generals continue to close avenues to compromise and a return to democracy. As ThailandтАЩs friend and ally, the U.S. has a duty to warn that a show trial and imprisonment of Ms. Yingluck would undermine stability.
The countryтАЩs elite may not like the populism that Ms. Yingluck represents, but she remains popular with the majority of the population. The coup plotters justified their illegal overturning of the constitution as necessary for reconciliation, but they have now revealed it to be another naked grab for power.