While the politicians asking for your priceless vote were trying to make appointments at the spinal replacement clinic, the general prime minister went to Germany. Chancellor Angela Merkel told him he should restore democracy in Thailand. He said he's going to have an election next year, and that was the end of it.
"Next year". He said that when he seized power in 2014. He promised "next year" to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2015. He said after the 2016 constitution referendum there would be elections next year. In 2017, he swore to Donald Trump he would hold elections in 2018. In writing.
One year ago this month, in his New Year's message to the nation, Gen (Ret) Prayut said there would be elections. When? Next year.
Tomorrow hasn't come, and the self-styled democrats (including the Democrats) are downright blase about it.
Or perhaps "fearful" is a better word. With the tiniest handful of individual exceptions, the alleged "loyal opposition" really doesn't exist. At times, it seems they've entirely lost the plot on both their duty and goals.
It's difficult to imagine an easier target for a political opponent than the world's last remaining military regime, commanded from the top in its anti-democratic form by a National Council for Peace and Order (junta). But almost the entirety of the political class don't just miss this easy target, they don't even shoot.
When Gen (Ret) Prayut flew into yet another vulgar rage on politics, it was all about the media. "They just keep nagging me about the constituency demarcations". Well, yeah. The junta-appointed Election Commission received a powerful Section 44-magnum junta order to change the timeline on drawing electoral boundaries that will affect the junta's political arm in junta-ordered elections to be supervised by the junta.
"Gosh-darned politicians, I don't know anything about drawing constituency lines," explained the general prime minister, although he didn't say exactly "gosh-darned". He was criticising those who took a dig at his Section 44-magnum order.
Political parties bravely held the coats of the journalists for the fight. Their faith in the belief that Gen (Ret) Prayut will lift all free-speech bans on Friday is charming.
Timidity is catching. The more often you do it, the more you do it. For more than five years the political class (with those tiny few exceptions noted, not named) have performed with the fortitude of a United Nations human rights committee.
And now in the face of the first large and blatant misuse of election law, their reaction of outrage and democratic criticism has had the moral courage of a United Nations human rights committee.
Ms Merkel's public advocacy for Thai democracy got exactly as much support from the politicians as it got from Gen (Ret) Prayut -- which was none at all, not even an empty promise. The general prime minister used the tired old trick of "elections equals democracy". It's one of the dictator's most pernicious tricks, used worldwide for a couple of centuries.
And the men and women whose common task is to put the country back on a track that encourages democracy over dictatorship let it slide.
It's what they do. This is no one-time deviancy. It's their policy.
Politicians now demanding to lead the country knew in June and July of 2016 that the regime was pulling a fast one on the constitution.
The general prime minister, his hand-picked charter author Meechai Ruchupan and their hired hands wrote, signed and sealed a constitution that extremely charitable experts label "semi-democratic".
A handful of young people stood up, called for a "No" vote, and some went to prison for it. But political leaders caved. Their excuse then was that citizens should vote "Yes" in the referendum because otherwise there wouldn't be an election.
Shock and surprise: They were wrong to acquiesce to the referendum question and completely wrong about the outcome. They voted "Yes" and there was no election.
Now the political class have done it again.
Lunch with the media: No problem making honest talk. They all feel the junta-handpicked Election Commission members are in the generals' back pocket.
They fed the press with their outrage of how the EC gerrymandered the electoral constituencies to provide certain victory by far too many pro-military hopefuls.
But invited to turn the accusations into action, they left the field like rabbits ahead of the hounds. Once again, they are justifying accepting the military's browbeating.
"We can live with the constituency map, otherwise the election will be delayed."
Newsflash: As of now, the election has been delayed for four years, and there is still no election date. The Lord knows this is a spot where containers of criticism of military rulers are often available.
But the result of the professional politicians' ignoble acquiescence to green-shirt rule for five years is clear.
This military regime has won more consecutive victories than Manchester City. At least City's opponents have the sand and the stamina to sometimes battle them to a draw.
