Opinion: Post-coup oppression teaches

Thais a lesson in human rights

Pic: AP.
By Saksith Saiyasombut & Siam Voices Dec 17, 2014 -By Thitipol
Panyalimpanun
In the past several weeks Thailand has witnessed a series of incidents
that altogether signal the beginning of the publics shift in perception. Slowly, Thais
are becoming more and more concerned about the abuse of human rights, freedom
and democracy. Now, Thai liberals have a reason to be optimistic despite the
continuous oppression by the junta. A whiff of change is in the air.
It began with the public broadcast service Thai PBS on November 15 when it was
reportedly pressured by the junta to, and eventually did, replace program host Nattaya
Wawweerakupafter she questioned the coup. The incident kicked off a campaign by
her fellow Thai PBS fellow journalists in which they closed their eyes, ears and mouths
as a protest symbol on social media. Thai PBS, which had been considered by many as
pro-coup, now stood against the junta. And this was just a starter for that very busy
week for Thai politics.
Several days later, on November 19, while junta leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha was

giving a speech in Khon Khaen, five university students flashed the Hunger Games
three-finger salute. These students from the Dao Din movement were then taken to a
military camp to get their heads fine-tuned. They still managed to show the three
fingers everywhere, on the police truck that took them away and in front of the camp,
rollicking like rockstars. Coming long after the first waves of demonstration against the
junta, this protest resonated in other parts of the country, including the 11 Bangkok
students who symbolically picnicked in front of the Democracy Monument that same
evening.

A protester shows the three-finger salute during an anti-coup demonstration in

Bangkok earlier this year. Pic: AP.
Then National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) chief Amara Pongsapitch spoke
out against martial law and the arrest of the student protestors. Although this sounds
like a fitting action for a person of her position, it in fact came as a surprise. This was
the first time Amara took a clear stance against the juntas oppression since May 22.
Last Saturday, when Amara was presenting awards for contribution to human rights,
of which a representative of the Dao Din movement was a recipient, the ceremony was
disrupted by students again showing up with banners protesting the NHRCs lack of
action. Where were you when people were taken to camps? being an example of the
criticisms. Yet, from a broad view, that six-month-late remark she eventually made still
spoke volumes, implying that the total compliance the junta had been enjoying was not
set in stone.
After the May 22 coup and the following crackdown on academics and activists, many
fled to social media. Facebook has become a hotbed of commentary and opinion from
liberal advocates. On November 22, there was collective ecstasy online when the social
media heard of Somsak Jeamteerasakul s return to Facebook. The outspoken

Thammasat University professor has always been quick to cricize Thailands draconian
the lse majest law and had disappeared from the scene since the coup (his house was
the target of gunfire in February. The rapture went beyond the Internet as Thammasat
students threw flyers celebrating his comeback. With Somsak joining forces with vocal
advocates like The Nation journalist Pravit Rojanaphruk and Fah Diew Gan magazines
editor Thanapol Eawsakul, Facebook became even more active on the Thai political
front.
The junta knows well theres no easy way in stopping this online information, as
demonstrated when it allegedly tried and failed to shut down access to Facebook in
Thailand. When newspapers and TV are busy with self-censorship, social media probes
and speculates.
In this series of incidents, extreme royalists too were triggered to question their
support of the lse majest law after the arrest of the police officers and relatives of
Princess Srirasmi, as Reuters reported, who were charged for citing the monarchy for
benefit and were later stripped of their royal surname. While the story was reported
internationally, major news outlet could only beat around the bush. Before the event
concluded last week with the then princesses resignation from the royal position, the
ambiguity surrounding the issue has put the public at unease. This is not to mention
the significant rise of the lse majest cases, which are now handled by the military
court, including the imprisonment of 23-year-old Pornthip M. for her political play
about a fictional monarch in August.
When basic rights are threatened time after time even downright conservative Thais
struggle to justify such counter-intuitive measures. The oppressive acts of the junta
and the authorities have been increasingly raising awareness about human rights or
lack thereof. Thai society is not by any mean stupid. Ignorant, maybe, but only because
we have been raised and educated without the notion of political correctness. The
ethnocentric Thai society is learning an important lesson at a high price; and some of
us are taking a beating. It will require not only time, but courage, a lot of courage.
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