The latest barbaric assault on anti-junta activist Sirawith Seritiwat sends a chill down the spine with the prospect that, given the current trajectory of polarised Thai politics, the worst is probably yet to come.
While the attack follows a pattern of similar previous assaults on two other anti-regime activists over the past 18 months, the frequency of the violence has been on the rise. And the majority of the attackers have neither been identified nor arrested.
On Sunday, Mr Sirawith, also known as Ja New, gathered signatures in Bangkok's Ratchadapisek area for his campaign to urge the 250 senators handpicked by the military regime not to vote in a joint session in parliament today to select a new prime minister. After finishing up, Mr Sirawith was attacked by a group of five or six men and sustained serious injuries.
Since the beginning of last year, anti-coup activist Ekachai Hongkangwan has been physically attacked seven times. The timing of the attacks, which have become increasingly violent in recent months, has appeared linked to his planned political activities. His car was burnt beyond repair in April. Recently, he said he received a death threat.
Another activist, Anurak Jeantawanich, has been assaulted twice this year. The second attack by six men was more violent than the first, resulting in the activist suffering a severe head injury.
According to the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) group, which has documented the cases, the attacks against the three activists have become more systematic and are similar in nature. Each fresh assault usually involves more attackers wearing motorbike helmets who removed the licence plates. The attacks took place right before or after the activists' political activities in busy public places where CCTV cameras were installed. The series of attacks has been perceived by some as an attempt to threaten the activists and halt their campaigns.
So far, only two of the men who assaulted Mr Ekachai last year have been apprehended by police. But there has been little progress in the other two cases. The rest of the attackers remain at large.
The TLHR group warned that this trend of physical attacks could broaden to include other activists and intensify in both frequency and severity.
This type of orchestrated violence is disturbing and worrying, given that there have been other forms of state intimidation and bullying against critics of the regime since the 2014 coup.
These include the filing of criminal lawsuits to implicate people for harmless acts, arrests by security officers and "house visits" for so-called attitude adjustment by soldiers. Some dissidents have fled to live in exile abroad.
Since last December, six Thai exiles in Laos accused of expressing anti-monarchist views have disappeared in dubious circumstances -- four are presumed dead while bodies of the other two were found in the Mekong River. Other activists living in exile in the neighbouring country told the Associated Press last month they fear being kidnapped or murdered.
While there is no evidence yet to indicate that the string of assaults on the three activists involves state elements, the lack of progress by the police in solving the cases has raised suspicions of state involvement.
The police must act swiftly to bring the attackers to justice. Otherwise, the ongoing climate of fear will only worsen. Indeed, the perceived lack of action may be seen by these and other attackers as a licence to escalate their campaigns of violence or even to kill.