Poor coup-makers, no one wants to see them on TV. At 6pm sharp when the theme song begins, there's a rush of hands to the remote control. Not that you can escape them. The true mark of dictatorship is audiovisual dictatorship: They beam their images on every TV and radio channel, monopolising your sensory reception, like a sci-fi movie, or like a spoiled child demanding your full attention. At 6pm every day for the past four years, the hands clutching the remote have reached for the only possible button. Off.
In desperation, they try to shore up the ratings by bringing in celebrities -- poor celebrities, those pretty faces exploited by something much less pretty. When the "request" from on high comes, damned if they say yes, damned if they don't. They won't even get paid for "doing this for the country".
The latest roster of stars asked to appear on the 6pm show has caused a stir, especially at the mention of Cherprang Areekul of the idol group BNK48. On Tuesday, Cherprang -- as well as a few other beautiful faces -- will have a rendezvous with the PM and the cabinet before they take turns hosting Dern Na Prathet Thai Wai Teen (teen as in teenage, not foot), a youth-friendly version of the coup's 6pm propaganda. The calling of the BNK48 frontwoman attracts controversy because 1) Cherprang, 22, appears to be an eloquent woman with a forward-looking attitude 2) she has a lot of devoted fans who adore her looks, intelligence and cutesy Instagram updates, and 3) a lot of anti-coup males are also her fans, and now they're put in an awkward position since they can't both support her and the military that's now using her as a puppet.
Ideology first or idol first? Truly a life-and-death dilemma for left-leaning BNK48 worshippers.
That the military government is so desperate that it has to hitch a ride on the skirts of a young woman in a frilly dress is all too apparent. True, the coup makers still have supporters -- the hard-core anti-Thaksin types who suddenly stopped caring about corruption or misspent budget -- but it's evident over the past four years that the junta has failed wretchedly to connect to the real world, especially in their communication strategy. Their TV shows are miserable. And their earlier version of the teen-oriented Dern Na Prathet Thai became the subject of national guffaws and irrepressible ridicule for its outmoded fashion, attitude and language. It won't win over a single teenager.
So in comes this new set of pretty faces, and now their participation in the military TV stint has sparked outcry among some heartbroken fans. Shouldn't these people say no, especially Cherprang, supposedly the idol of the new generation? Should they allow the men in uniform to use them as mouthpieces, dumb puppets working for manipulating ventriloquists, at a time when the government's popularity is sinking and the election is on the horizon?
Well. Can they say no?
One thing is clear about Thai celebrities, from the old days to the present. They know not to publicly express any political ideology. But if they do, the only one allowed is the conservative, nationalistic, pro-establishment ideology. Anything else, even in the slightest, will tarnish their image and thus work prospects. Thai stars -- in a way they're in an artistic profession -- paint a totally reverse image of the artist type: they must not drink, they must not smoke, they must not push any envelope, they must not voice support on any controversial subjects (abortion, same-sex marriage, military conscription, the Rohingya, luxury watches), they must not have lovers or mistresses, and if they go out to join a street protest, their weight is always behind the status quo -- and the military. Thai celebrities are conformists of the strictest kind. They don't rebel. They are perfect, and perfect means being traditional, being conservative, being Thai.
In Hollywood, it's cool to be on the left; here, it's safe and career-boosting if you stay on the right, far right if possible.
I have sympathy for these pretty men and women roped in by the invisible rope to salvage the unsalvageable. I believe that, as an individual, each one of them must have a belief, a worldview, a dream of how this country should move forward. But it would be naive to hope that they'd show even the slightest resistance to the system on which they've built their fame. Cherprang is an entertainer, a face of the new generation.
And yet our hope in the new generation lies with those students who have stood up and been locked up for saying things that you'll never hear on the 6pm slot. Those are the idols worthy of worship. And without a frilly dress.
Kong Rithdee is Life editor, Bangkok Post.