Do you know what the hullabaloo over the single internet gateway policy is reminding me of? It makes me think back to the disastrous blanket amnesty policy.
Considering how determined the military regime has been in proving the previous administration wrong, it's ironic that the men in green are behaving the same way with their political opponents.
What is more confounding is if the military leaders do enjoy the benefit of hindsight and see how the fundamentally wrong blanket amnesty bill ended up in misfortune, taking down the Yingluck government in the process, why is it rebooting this past mistake?
The Yingluck government obviously misjudged the power of public opinion with its all-out push to exonerate all political wrongdoings starting from the September 2006 coup onward.
The most notable beneficiary of the bill would have been the then prime minister's brother Thaksin Shinawatra.
The Yingluck government, however, never acknowledged the bill's major flaw and kept standing on impossibly thin ground, saying the bill was meant to foster political reconciliation.
It should have come as no surprise that the thin ground finally gave way and took her government along with it.
An attempt to hoodwink the public is happening again with the single internet gateway proposal.
Explanations from government ministers about how having a single gateway for all international internet connections will benefit the country and the people do not make much sense. In fact, they seem to insult common sense.
How could a single gateway be more effective for online traffic than 10?
Attempts to wag the dog on this question only make the authorities appear more and more like they have been getting their information from AltaVista using a five-inch floppy disc.
The result is not just a feeling of frustration that the authorities are not speaking the same language, but resentment of being lied to. Resistance has inevitably followed.
That was what happened when the amnesty bill was passed by the House despite public opposition.
In hindsight, it has become evident the Yingluck government's gravest mistake which augmented a pocket of protest into a million-people march was its inability to show the public it had discarded the unpopular bill altogether.
When faced with the growing protest, Ms Yingluck promised that her government would not pursue the bill if it was rejected by the Senate.
Under parliamentary rule, however, the government could still resuscitate a bill that was rejected by the Senate and send it back to the House within 180 days.
Even though Ms Yingluck insisted that her government would not take that step, it was already too little, too late. Her government had already lost its credibility.
The rest is history. The protest against the amnesty bill expanded to become one that demanded Ms Yingluck's resignation. A House dissolution soon followed, then protests over the new election, several bloody confrontations and finally the May 22 coup.
The military regime may not realise it but it is standing on the tipping point regarding the single internet gateway just like the Yingluck government did with the blanket amnesty.
The authorities may think saying the single gateway is under study and not being implemented is enough to calm incensed online users.
But is this assurance sufficient when the authorities' credibility is exceedingly low? Are they misreading public sentiment, just like Ms Yingluck did?
The evidence goes against the officials. Not only do they sound incoherent when justifying the single gateway policy, but the "under study" rationale is also inconsistent with what the cabinet resolution on the issue said.
The PM's official order in the document can't be mistaken. It is for relevant ministries to expedite the "setting up" of a single internet gateway in order to screen inappropriate websites.
Nowhere can the words "to study" be found in the cabinet resolution.
Neither was later spin by government ministers about combining small lanes into one big road or preparing internet infrastructure for the digital economy vision mentioned.
The command is rather succinct and it does not seem to be open to interpretation.
How can an order to "set up" something be taken to mean to "study" it?
Unless the military abandons the single internet gateway plan completely, conflict and unending protests could re-emerge from the recycle bin.
Atiya Achakulwisut is Contributing Editor, Bangkok Post.
