The Newspeak is the Oldspeak. The New Testament is the Old Commandments. When they say the clock strikes 13, it means the clock strikes 13. The writing isn't in the law but on the wall.
The semantic logic of the state continues to exist outside the logic of the universe. It goes beyond the Oxford and Webster dictionaries, and it's time for another glossary of our post-coup years, when the established definitions of simple words have been arm-twisted to acquire new meanings and insinuations. Because when you control words, you control meaning, then you control everything.
Reform: In 2017 Thailand, "reform" has come to mean an extension of the status quo: Reformists, in the official lexicon, are conformists whose ideology is to perpetuate the system that safeguards the old power.
The 11 new "reform committees" appointed by the state on Wednesday confirms the bastardisation of the word "reform". Familiar faces from previous regime-appointed assemblies, panels and committees (so many we're lost in the maze of acronyms) populate the new oracles. Some names may offer a glimmer of hope -- but very few, since the rest is a collection of technocrats, civil servants (retired!), conservative scholars and business leaders who have circled the core of power from years. The New Order will be nothing but the old one.
"Do not detest civil servants in the committees," said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. Basically, he's asking us to trust a blueprint of reform to be formulated by an institution -- the bureaucracy -- that hasn't been genuinely reformed in a century. Meanwhile, others in the 120 members look like repeat winners of a secret government lottery to award those who serve it well, those who sing and dance to the (bogus?) gospel of reform.
Forty-five more slots of these 11 committees (and there will be more sub-committees) will be filled at a later date. A slim hope is that they will consider including the party that will be most affected by the so-called "reform": The people, always ignored and relegated to the lowest rung.
Co-operation: This is the clearest example of Newspeak, one that reeks of a psychological threat typical of a dictatorial era.
On Tuesday, a strange "request for cooperation" came to light: Government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd asked TV stations to do scoops of different ministers during the mobile cabinet meeting next week. "I requested co-operation, asking which channels were interested in covering which ministers, to ensure the news about the ministers reaches the people."
When the state "invites" you to a coffee, you know what that cafe will look like. Likewise if the state "requests cooperation" from the media to cover its activities, the media know it is an order. They cried foul, at least some of them, calling it interference and expressing disbelief. "In what age are we living in?" said an executive of PPTV.
Another lexical ambiguity is central to this case: Report vs propaganda. And I believe the government spokesperson sincerely does not know the difference between the two. In the mindset entrenched by the post-coup domination, the government (and army) actually believes the media's job is to support whatever campaign it is implementing, so there's no distinction between a report and propaganda, between a request and a mandate. The revolution will not be televised but a cabinet meeting in Korat will.
Academic conferences: There is no "academic conference" in the new dictionary; there are only political gatherings that need to be monitored and quashed. This week five scholars and activists were summoned by Chiang Mai police. Their "crime"? Participating in a major academic conference on Thai studies taking place earlier last month, which included an episode where over 100 scholars read out a declaration calling for the state to respect academic freedom. Some participants took photos with a sign that read: "An academic forum is not a military camp."
The branding of "academic conference" inside the periphery of unlawful gathering is a real menace. It means from now on, any "academic conference" will be held in a state of anxiety, since the term has been appropriated by the junta as something half-illegal. This isn't new: Academics have been warned, censored and summoned since the 2014 coup. But for the state to target such a high-profile event is tantamount to a declaration of war against academia -- against progress, and against knowledge itself. That is, unless "knowledge" and "progress" have also acquired cynical new meanings in the Newspeak of old Thailand.
Kong Rithdee is Life Editor, Bangkok Post.