The quote above was one of the recent comments posted on Facebook by Sukunya Prueksakasemsuk, wife of red-shirt magazine editor Somyot Prueksakasemsuk who was sentenced to 11 years in jail for lese majeste in January last year. Somyot has been behind bars since his arrest on April 30, 2011, his bail requests denied by the court 15 times.
“Tame me please, So that I can live in this country safely. Change my attitude please, So that I can talk in the same language to my fellow Thais. Kill me please, So that I can keep my thoughts and freedom forever!”
In normal times, Mrs Sukunya’s post would simply be an example of bland prose boasting a noble political stance. But in this uncertain and fearful time, it’s an honest reflection of a subtle but bitter inner struggle to stay sane and true to oneself.
Mrs Sukunya and her activist son, a final-year university student, as well as her sophomore student daughter were detained incommunicado on May 25 at an unknown location for some five hours before being released by the junta.
Like some 200 others out of the nearly 400 people who have answered the junta’s summonses, Mrs Sukunya had to sign a document promising not to engage in any anti-coup activities or instigate any disturbances.
Today marks one month since army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha and his military colleagues staged the country’s 12th successful coup and tore up the 2007 constitution, which was actually drafted and endorsed by the previous coup-makers.
The first two weeks after the coup were turbulent, especially in the North and Northeast — strongholds of the red shirts and the ousted Pheu Thai Party — where regional military units were only too eager to execute the junta’s orders of “remanding” former Pheu Thai associates.
Domestic and international human rights communities have cried foul over cases of secret military detentions, arrests of political activists and forced disappearances. Concern has also been raised over the power of military courts to try those arrested under NCPO orders, including for lese majeste and sedition offences. Those set to face trial include Sombat Boonngamanong, who inspired peaceful anti-coup protests such as the “three-fingered salute” campaign; former education minister Chaturon Chaisaeng, who openly defied the junta’s summons and was arrested in front of foreign journalists at the FCCT; and Thammasat University law professor Worachet Pakeerut.
The summons and re-summons, arrest and re-arrest pattern has caused a spiral effect of fear and distrust across society.
In many provinces, it has provided an excuse for regional army commanders to settle old conflicts and silence critics of their own work, such as Malayu Muslim-sympathetic media and scholars in the far South who have been asked to be more “cooperative” and to “be more careful in expressing thoughts”.
The May 22 coup has unleashed the primitive aspects of military habits and customs that have been embedded all along — imposing monopolised interpretations of Thai identity (driven by Buddhism and subservience to conservative power) and forcing compliance.
The modus operandi of the coup-makers has also included the immediate removal of provincial governors, senior police officers, permanent secretaries of the Information and Communications Technology Ministry, the attorney-general as well as senior officials from agencies such as the Public Relations Department.
Image-boosting campaigns have held within the country as well as abroad. “Return happiness to society” has become one of the mainstay slogans of the coup enthusiasts. The military has organised festivals, doling out freebies such as packs of uncooked rice, T-shirts and lunchboxes.
The film King Naresuan 5, the fourth sequel in a series produced with taxpayer funding, was promoted with free tickets for people nationwide.
The Foreign Ministry has been busy shuffling from Washington DC to New York to Geneva, or singling out individual ambassadors for meetings to convince them of the positive prospects of the coup.
Infrastructure and populist projects initiated by the ousted government have been reviewed by the junta, many of them due to be replaced by new projects.
Perks are being reviewed for state enterprise executives, and board members have resigned one after another.
In driving the nation to review the indecent practices that led to cronyism and corruption, the military has pointed the finger at others but has ignored its own controversial, if not useless, billion-baht procurement items such as fake bomb detectors, surveillance blimps and amphibious tanks.
It has not bothered to set standards for asset declaration, despite dealing with multibillion-baht projects under review and new ones being cooked up.
The next three months to disburse the remaining 2014 budget and prepare for the 2015 budget before the end of the fiscal year in September is important not only for how the military will streamline state expenditure to serve its noble reform mission, but also to chart a course for the revival of the ailing economy.
But the coup hasn’t had only negative aspects. Many people are happy that peace has returned to the capital and the violence-mongering groups have been parted.
Among the most applauded of the junta’s moves has been efforts to clamp down on criminal gangs and extortion rackets throughout the transport sector.
In Phuket, for example, the military presence has led to the reclamation of beachfront public space — serving not only aesthetic and environmental benefits, but also social justice for beachgoers. This move has been welcomed by local residents, but has certainly caused headaches to the owners of bars, spas and restaurants that have been occupying the area for decades.
Board of Trade vice-president Pornsilp Patcharintanakul has recommended the junta use its absolute power to direct the budget strategy towards national modernisation.
“Borrowing is alright if the projects will generate income,” Mr Pornsilp said. “Rearranging infrastructure is also necessary, as is revitalising free trade area negotiations.”
A majority of the country is looking forward to more sincere, effective and decisive leadership from the junta. But the general sentiment is that the military must display tolerance for different ideas and dissent as part of building a polity grounded in human rights and the rule of law.
fight or flight: Red-shirt supporters of the 24 June Group Against Dictatorship group rally and attach thousands of red origami cranes to the gate of Government House, calling for the release of lese majeste convict Somyot Prueksakasemsuk.