An anti-coup movement, officially named the Organisation of Free Thais for Human Rights and Democracy (FT-HD), was launched on Tuesday with former Pheu Thai party leader and former interior minister Charupong Ruangsuwan as its secretary-general. Jakrapob Penkair, fugitive former Prime Minister’s Office minister, is its secretary.
The timing of the official launch of the movement in exile coincided with the 1932 Revolution, a historic event 82 years ago when a group of young Western-educated military officers and bureaucrats staged a bloodless coup to change the country’s ruling system from an absolute to constitutional monarchy.
The two founding members of the FT-HD and probably the brains behind the movement might want to convey a message to members of the public and others that they share the same political ideology and aspirations with the progressive-minded revolutionaries eight decades ago. Hence the deliberate choice of the term "Seri Thai", or Free Thai in English, to lend credibility to the organisation in exile.
Although there is no law which mandates the term "Seri Thai" as exclusive to the movement which fought to liberate the country from occupation by the Japanese Imperial Army during the Second World War, the use of the term by the FT-HD is misleading and abuses the ideals of the courageous men who made up the Seri Thai movement including its leader, the late statesman Pridi Banomyong, as pointed out by well-known social critic Sulak Sivaraksa.
The FT-HD vows to prevent the re-entrenchment of anti-democratic elements in Thailand, to defend all forms of freedoms, to respect all forms of human rights, to promote a free and fair economic system, to make Thai culture more democratic, to improve human resources to meet international standards, and to establish a full democracy as the permanent pillar of society.
The FT-HD may achieve its political goal to build up anti-junta momentum. But given its close ties with the Pheu Thai Party and the Pheu Thai-led government’s poor record of respect for human right and rule of law, its high-minded objectives are viewed as sheer rhetoric at best.
It is undeniable that Pheu Thai’s rigging of parliamentary procedures to push for the wholesale amnesty bill or its attempt to change the composition of the Senate to make it a rubber stamp body betrayed the rule of law.
Pheu Thai’s winner-takes-all politics also triggered a massive anti-government movement and threatened to sink the country into violent political turmoil. The May 22 May coup has opened the country to international scorn. Yet Mr Charupong cannot deny his and his party’s roles in intensifying the colour-coded conflict which was used by the military to justify its intervention.
Respect for democracy means respecting the voice of the minority and upholding checks and balances to prevent abuse by the majority. Pheu Thai miserably failed this yardstick through its political over-confidence and abuse of power. Yet, it cannot be denied that FT-HD uses “Seri Thai” as the name of its organisation because it knows that the term still strikes deep resonance with ordinary Thais. It reflects people’s genuine desire for freedom and human dignity.
The original Seri Thai movement defines the spirit of the people and the goals the country should strive for — democracy and freedom from all forms of dictatorship no matter whether it comes under military rule or civilian majoritarianism in the guise of democracy.