Over the past four and a half years of military government, the Thai people have been physically cowed. Sure, there are many, possibly a silent majority, who may be waiting for the poll to have their say in opposition to the military junta that seized power in May 2014, led by then-army chief Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, the incumbent prime minister. But few have been able and willing to stand up and stare down the ruling generals who routinely resort to intimidation and coercion, armed with guns and the law, which they sometimes interpret as they see fit. Just about everyone in Thailand is physically afraid of the junta in one way or another. Otherwise, there would have been more anti-junta demonstrations in public view.
During this junta period, the only individual in the national spotlight who has gone toe to toe with the ruling generals is an internationally obscure but domestically well-known ex-cop, one Pol Gen Sereepisuth Temeeyaves, who leads the newly launched Seri Ruam Thai (Thai Liberal Party). To non-Thais, his name has so many spelling variations in English, including Seripisut Temiyavet. The first name used to be Seri but was changed, as some Thais do, on religion-related superstition
Thitinan Pongsudhirak teaches International Relations and directs the Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University.
Pol Gen Sereepisuth would normally be just another run-of-the-mill politician positioning for the upcoming poll if it were not for his exceptional reputation and constant challenging of to the military regime. Those who want to say something back to Gen Prayut or Gen Prawit Wongsuwon, the deputy prime minister and defence minister, can simply tune in to social media and listen to Pol Gen Sereepisuth say it for them.
On a number of occasions, Pol Gen Sereepisuth has called out the junta for being a bunch of "cheats" from the constitution all the way to the ballot paper. Mincing no word, he derides the military for manipulating and distorting the transition back to popular rule by seeing to it that a constitution is crafted to its advantage -- for example, with a third of the assembly appointed according to junta preferences. The latest poll manipulation is to do away with uniform party numbering and symbols nationwide, meaning candidates will have different numbers in different constituencies, a move which undermines party-voter bonds and the party system more broadly.
In his tough-talking style, Pol Gen Sereepisuth has called out Gen Prayut for interfering with the Election Commission (EC), which is increasingly seen as being pro-junta more than pro-democracy. The EC has apparently gerrymandered constituencies and come up with ballot papers that will favour pro-military, pro-Prayut parties.
Another classic Sereepisuth expose is to label the prime minister e-ab, which refers to those who hide their true intentions and ulterior motives behind a feminine veil of pretension. If Gen Prayut wants to contest the election and return as an elected leader, according to Pol Gen Sereepisuth, the former army chief should do it like a man by declaring his candidacy. It is unbecoming and uncharacteristic, the former top cop said, of a four-star general, who graduated from Thailand's leading military academy where students are taught to be forthright and honourable, to feign ignorance and manipulate from behind the scenes.
In another episode, Pol Gen Sereepisuth takes issue with Gen Prayut's and Gen Prawit's harassment of reporters who are just doing their job. Both ruling generals are on record as having threatened to punch certain reporters for posing questions they did not like. Pol Gen Sereepisuth, in a similar nakleng (tough guy) style, dared the generals to pick on him instead for a fairer fistfight.
The junta has duly sued Pol Gen Sereepisuth recently for posting his anti-junta comments on social media. But Pol Gen Sereepisuth remains unfazed and unafraid. To him, Thai politics at this stage is binary -- between dictatorship and democracy.
His audacity and confidence partly stem from his personal credentials. Pol Gen Sereepisuth cut his teeth as a newly commissioned police officer in the hotbed of the communist insurgency in Na Kae district of Nakhon Phanom province in the Northeast during the 1970s. For military and police officers, fighting communists in the jungle back then was akin to being engaged in a full-blooded unconventional war. After spending nearly a decade in Northeast battlefields against communists, Pol Gen Sereepisuth was awarded the highest decorations for uncommon valour and courage in combat. His nickname to locals and in the popular media is veera burut Na Kae, or "hero of Na Kae".
Later, he won awards for being a "model citizen" and was seen as a straight cop in a corrupt police force. Pol Gen Sereepisuth led memorable arrests of infamous mafia godfathers, particularly Somchai Khunplome, or "Kamnan Poh", whose clan has controlled Chon Buri province and its environs. Somchai was eventually convicted and given a jail term, only to abscond. In recent months, his sons have been given government-related positions, while he no longer has to serve jail time.
For his combat valour and anti-graft crusade, Pol Gen Sereepisuth's police career took off. He became national police commissioner in 2007 but made many enemies and rivals along the way. Just months after he became national police chief, the government of prime minister Samak Sundaravej that was aligned with ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra stripped him of the job, although this order was rescinded under the Abhisit Vejjajiva administration in 2010.
But it is hard to pin Pol Gen Sereepisuth to either side of the Thai divide. From being seen as a thorn on the pro-Thaksin side, he and his anti-military Seri Ruam Thai Party are now viewed as pro-Thaksin. In fact, Pol Gen Sereepisuth is a maverick and a political misfit. To be sure, he has an outsized ego, volunteering to serve not just as prime minister but also defence minister to reform the military. His party is all about him, a cult following of sorts. His party platform is hazy, weak on growth strategies and international affairs, more against this and that, without a forward outlook.
Yet listening to him is a tonic in Thailand's air of oppression and dictatorship. It is important for Thai politics in this pre-election period to have someone able and willing to physically stand up to the ruling generals who are bent on staying in power after the poll through all means at their disposal. Lacking sufficient resources, policy ideas and teamwork, with a strongman style that poses a liability if he gains political power, Pol Gen Sereepisuth is unlikely to rise anywhere near the top but he can serve as an example by speaking the truth to the powers-that-be and by calling a spade a spade.