The three-finger salute by five Khon Kaen students in front of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha last month revived the spirit of dissent against the regime and earned them international recognition.
UP IN ARMS: Students flash the three-fingered salute as Gen Prayut speaks in Khon Kaen.
After the May 22 coup, protest against Gen Prayut and his National Council for Peace and Order has been scant and uncoordinated, with few willing to express their disagreement with the military regime for fear of retribution.
But in a scene that would be at home in the Hunger Games films, from which the gesture of defiance is borrowed, five young men stood in front of Gen Prayut as he gave an address to a large public audience, a giant image of himself projected onto a screen.
The five members of the Dao Din group wore black T-shirts carrying the message: “No to the coup d’etat.”
Despite the instant notoriety the group earned, it’s far from the first time Dao Din has been involved in political activism.
Hitting back: Four Dao Din members appear at the Office of the National Human Rights Commission to reject claims they were paid to protest.
STARS ON EARTH
Dao Din, which translates as “stars on earth”, began as a student movement more than a decade ago, working on human rights issues with disenfranchised villagers in the Northeast.
The group was formed by a dozen law students from Khon Kaen University, who gathered regularly to embark on field visits to impoverished rural communities and publicise their plight.
“We have been engaging with the villagers’ struggles all along; from the anti-gold mining fight in Loei, to anti-potash mining in Udon Thani, helping farmers without land title deeds in Chaiyaphum, and supporting Kalasin villagers in questioning oil and petrochemical ventures,” said Khornchanok Saenprasert, one of Dao Din's founding members.
Mr Khornchanok is now director of the Legal Centre for Human Rights. In the seven months since the coup, his office has become one of the havens for student activists who have been hounded by the military.
Dao Din House, a residence and working space which the students rented for their political activities, has been vacated due to relentless military surveillance and intimidation from unknown groups of thugs.
Despite focusing on natural resources and environmental struggles and having no political ties, the legal centre has also been the target of intimidation, mainly due to its involvement with Dao Din and its anti-coup stance.
At least three members of the centre, which is situated in a suburban area of Khon Kaen municipality, were summoned by the military for “attitude adjustment”, accused of leading subversive Dao Din activities.
“We are brothers and sisters,” said Mr Khornchanok, who is also a former student leader. “They [Dao Din] have their own course, we just talk and exchange opinions. The students are independent.”
BROUGHT DOWN TO EARTH
One of the activists from the legal centre who was summoned by the military, Petong, who preferred not to use his real name, said the soldiers he spoke to believed Dao Din was funded by the red-shirt movement. But he rejected that accusation, saying the students ran fundraising ventures amongst themselves and earned extra revenue selling T-shirts and magazines.
Petong only joined the centre this year. But since he signed a petition on Nov 4, along with 15 other NGO workers, to denounce the coup and reject engagement with any coup-related forums, Petong said he has faced continued harassment.
Prior to that, Petong joined a group of Dao Din students on June 1 in raising the three-finger stunt at the Khon Kaen Central Plaza, an act of protest which earned little publicity.
The military has subsequently left messages saying that Petong was a wanted man everywhere that legal centre representatives have travelled, whether it be in communities or universities. No warrant has been issued for his arrest.
Petong also receives visits men, who he believes are soldiers even though they don’t wear uniforms, at his house in Chaiyaphum province day and night.
Petong refused to sign a document handed to him by the NCPO which would have made him promise to refrain from all political activities. His colleagues at the legal centre, “Bom” and “Bee”, both signed the document, but both have still faced the same forms of harassment and intimidation, constantly kept under military surveillance.
“Fame”, a fourth-year Dao Din member, has also been singled out by the military. Her parents have been visited by soldiers, and she was summoned to have a “coffee” with soldiers, which she declined. But the feeling that she is being constantly monitored has affected Fame’s studies during an exam month.
“They have made it more difficult for us to proceed with our lives, both as students and as activists,” she said.
A HISTORY OF DEFIANCE
Only two of the five Dao Din members held for saluting Gen Prayut last month agreed to sign a compliance document.
Jatupat “Phai” Boonpattaraksa, 23, a Dao Din leader and one of the five protesters who stood before Prayut, was one of the three who refused to sign. He and the two others who did not sign are now living mostly in hiding.
Mr Jatupat made his first public appearance after the Khon Kaen protest to receive an award from the National Human Rights Commission on Dec 12, in recognition of Dao Din’s work last year in supporting the environmental and community rights, particularly in Loei.
A Chaiyaphum native and son of a lawyer-cum-rights activist, Mr Jatupat was a natural leader of the group and has led lively discussions on politics with his Dao Din peers throughout the recent years of political turbulence.
Late last year, as the People’s Democratic Reform Committee laid siege to Bangkok and campaigned against the planned Feb 2 elections, Mr Jatupat and his Dao Din peers gathered on the Dec 31 in Khon Kaen municipality. They lodged a complaint against the Election Commission at the provincial Administrative Court, accusing it of failing to carry out its duties in organising the election.
“Participating in an election is a citizen’s basic right,” Mr Jatupat said.
Dao Din also organised democratic rallies early this year, including lighting candles to call for an end to violence and the freedom to exercise election rights following a spate of bombings in the capital leading up to the ouster of the Yingluck government.
Dao Din was also vocal in its opposition of the blanket amnesty bill, although supported campaigns for the release of political prisoners. The group puts out an irregular magazine called Dao Din and frequently updates its Facebook page, “Dao Din Belonging to the Commoners”.
Responding to accusations that the group was simply seeking publicity and notoriety, Fame said the critics were misguided. “We have worked on these issues for a long time and we will continue to do so. Nothing changes us.”
SMEAR CAMPAIGN
Mr Jatupat said people were free to pass judgement, but Dao Din was pleased that “at least society now realises that a commoner can express themselves without having to wait for a hero or somebody to lead them”.
That realisation hasn’t stopped the slander. In the aftermath of last month’s protest in Khon Kaen, Dao Din was accused by First Army Region commander Kampanart Ruddit of receiving money from red-shirt politicians, even though he put forward no evidence to support that claim.
“We were not hired to do this; we did it with our hearts,” Mr Jatupat said. “Some red-shirt politicians [later] offered us legal help, but we didn’t accept it. We are poor but we have dignity.”
Ranong Kongsaen, member of Loei Khon Rak Ban Kerd, or Love Your Native Home, said she was not convinced by what she labelled a military smear campaign against Dao Din.
“The kids sometimes hitchhiked to our communities, asking for food and listening to our problems. They helped in the way they could: by communicating with society,” said Ms Ranong, who actively fought against a proposed gold mine in Loei.
Loei Khon Rak Ban Kerd, comprised of locals from six villages affected by the gold mining operations of Thung Kam Co Ltd, has struggled for justice for the past decade.
The Legal Centre for Human Rights and Dao Din have worked together to help the Loei people fight against the mining company.
THE FIGHT CONTINUES
Vichakorn Anuchon, known to his peers as Fluke, is a Khon Kaen native and one of the three students who refused to sign the compliance document after the three-finger salute protest. He said he was concerned for his family during the tense day and night of military detention and subsequent harassment campaign by the military.
His parents have received frequent phone calls, believed to be from members of the military, warning them about their son’s behaviour and issuing threats. “They threatened to kick us out of university, but this bothered me less than what they did to my family. After all, we know what we are doing and we’re prepared to bear the consequences,” Mr Vichakorn said.
Like the others, Mr Vichakorn said he was not trying to act the hero; he simply wanted to see a more open political atmosphere which encouraged rather than stifled debate.
“I hope Thailand will not be kept under authoritarian rule for too much longer,” Mr Vichakorn said.
Mr Jatupat added: “Now we are just trying to stay afloat, and safety is the foremost importance for the group members now.”
He said the main issues remained campaigns to revoke martial law and advocate free debate from the people of Isan on their pressing problems such as land and energy rights. “Under Thaksin [Shinawatra] we had to fight with capitalist issues. Now we face two prongs — capitalist exploitation with military force.”
LEARNING TOGETHER
Payu Boonsophon, 20, a second-year student and one of the protesters, hoped people would realise what they did was not just a political act but a quest for freedom of expression.
Fame said Dao Din had tirelessly tackled issues close to the students’ and people’s heart — previously the group criticised plans to withdraw state support for Khon Kaen University, a move they believed move would limit access to education for the poor.
Jatesalid Namkhot, 19, also a second-year student and member of the three-finger salute protest, said Dao Din runs as a fraternity, with no clear line of command.
“Of course, those with a more analytical approach and better communication skills can expand their thoughts to the younger or more timid members, but there is no rigid structure like those during the Oct 14, 1973 movements,” Mr Jatesalid said. “We just help each other and learn together, suffer and fear together.”
Mr Jatupat said it was important to break down the wall of fear that had pervaded Thai politics. “We may be afraid of monopoly by certain political parties like Pheu Thai, but as long as the ballot is kept running every four years, people can learn to be more critical and become the country’s check and balance system,” he said. n