It is clear that former Pheu Thai party leader Charupong Ruangsuwan has decided he will not come home and instead live in self-imposed exile, at least until there is a democratically elected government.
Unlike his boss, fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who ran the Pheu Thai-led government of his younger sister Yingluck, and its earlier incarnations led by Samak Sundaravej and Somchai Wongsawat, via Skype and smartphones, former interior minister Charupong has chosen to lead an anti-coup movement, the Organisation of Free Thais for Human Rights and Democracy, or FT-HD, which was officially launched today.
Charupong Ruangsuwan announces the launch of the Organisation of Free Thais for Human Rights and Democracy on YouTube
The June 24 unveiling of the FT-HD was made in an announcement posted in the Facebook page of Jakrapob Penkair, a former PM’s office minister facing a charge of lese majeste who fled overseas.
The announcement is believed to have been penned by Mr Jakrapob, the man behind all the talk about governments in exile and, now, an exiled organisation to oppose the military junta and its successive interim civilian administration, which is yet to be formed.
The announcement is riddled with the fanciful rhetoric common to all propaganda -- "kingdom of fear", "sinners of society", "a tainted spot in human dignity", "Thailand trapped in a cycle of sin" and "sovereign power and basic rights of the people under a democratic system is the most precious asset of human beings".
The writer of the announcement charged that the coup-makers, or the "sinners of society" as he called them, have created a "kingdom of fear" in the country through their savage violations of the basic rights of Thai citizens and foreigners alike in Thailand.
The writer clearly chose to close his eyes and ears to the violence during the six months of protests against the Yingluck government, when more than 200 M79 grenades and countless gunshots were fired indiscriminately at the protesters by the red-shirt thugs. Otherwise he would chosen more suitable and acceptable rhetoric to criticise the coup-making generals.
"Kingdom of fear" or "reign of fear" is more appropriate for all the violence unleashed against the anti-government demonstrators, including the innocent children and women who were slain and were not even part of the protest.
It is a shame Mr Jakrapob or Mr Charupong do not have the chance to take a stroll around Victory Monument right now, to get a feel of their alleged "kingdom of fear" or "reign of fear".
They would certainly be disappointed, because most of the commuters and motorists would say in unison that they feel more comfortable there in the absence of all the minivans which once ruled the streets and blocked the traffic around the monument with impunity.
Instead of pretending to be on a higher moral ground than the coup-makers, they should look in a mirror and ask themselves out loud - where were they, and why were they completely silent when more than 20 innocent people were killed and about 1,000 injured by red-shirt thugs during the six-month anti-government protests?
Why was there such a deadly silence when at least 20 farmers committed suicide because they did not get paid for their rice crops sold under the government’s rice pledging scheme? And not a word of acknowledgement of the monumental mistake that was the awful rice scheme - a blunder that has cost taxpayers more than 500 billion baht in losses over just two years?
If Mr Charupong is smart, he should distance himself from Mr Jakrapob and the organisation that he has created because this fugitive who is beyond help will only drag others down the drain with him.