IMPORTANT NOTE: These interviews were taken before the suspension of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha from his duties by the Constitutional Court of Thailand on the 24th of August, 2022.
BANGKOK – Thailand is known for many things – for instance, its natural travel destinations, its cuisine, nightlife, and vibrant culture. However, on the flip side, it is also known as a country with a history of political instability throughout the 20th to 21st centuries, facing 24 coups and coup attempts. Simultaneously, due to these coups, conflict has arisen between different political factions, which can be broadly described as the monarchy and royalists, the military, the civilian government and ordinary citizens. The most recent coup took place on 22 May 2014, which saw General Prayut Chan-o-Cha, or ‘Lung Tu’, take power and become appointed Prime Minister of Thailand.
Prayut has presided over the Thai government for 8 years, having been elected in the 2019 general election, which has been described by critics as having been fraudulent or ‘rigged’. Additionally, around 97% of Thai citizens do not wish for him to continue being Prime Minister, according to a poll conducted by Thairath. Many protests against his premiership also have taken place, especially in the years 2020 – 2021.
With Prayut’s term set to expire on 24 August 2022, several protesters have decided to organize different events calling for the resignation of the Prime Minister on August 23 in different locations around Bangkok. These included the Government House, Victory Monument and Democracy Monument.
“Lung Hun” (ลุงหุ่น) is the pseudonym of a 57-year-old protester hailing from Phitsanulok province in Northern Thailand. He says that he attended the protest to ‘help chase [Prayut] away’.
“So from midnight [of the 24th of August], Prime Minister Prayut will be considered an illegitimate prime minister. I came, because it’s been 8 years already, and it’s about time he resigns. His cabinet will also be illegitimate according to the rules of the Constitutional Court. You can’t flip-flop or try to avoid it, so I am here to help chase him away,” he told The Union International.
When asked about his thoughts on the prime minister and his administration, he stated that Prayut and his government should immediately resign, due to how he came into power.
“If he has any sense or any leadership ability, it would be a good idea for him to resign from being Prime Minister because he should know that the way he came into power was illegal and wrong. He should consider this, and that he is not fit to be the leader of Thailand,” Lung Hun said.
When asked if he believed Prayut’s government had done anything good or successful in the past, Lung Hun responds as quoted:
“Oh, he does and certainly has achievements! His achievements throughout the past 8 years have been to silence dissidents and people with differing opinions! These are very clear achievements! He’s been arresting anybody with different opinions, whether it be students, academics or the elderly, with the use of [Article] 112. These are his achievements right here! Nothing good!”
Article 112 is a section of the Thai Criminal Code which effectively punishes anybody criticizing the Thai royal family and monarchy with imprisonment of 3-15 years.
Daeng is a middle-aged woman who has decided to attend the protest hosted by the Red Shirts – a political movement which originally was formed to support then-Thaksin Shinawatra against the 2006 Coup d’etat.
“Today, there are many protests that have been organized to chase Prayut out of office, and I came to join the protest organized by the Red Shirts. I am basically just here to chase Prayut out, that’s it,” she told The Union International.
When asked about the worst thing Prayut has done in office as prime minister, she says that he has caused the country to fall into massive debt and that he was unable to help farmers.
“I think he’s unable to manage the country, because ever since he’s been in power for 8 years, the country has only gone backwards, and never progressed forward. He doesn’t know how to export our country’s products and he is unable to help farmers at all. Essentially, he hasn’t even done anything, except mope around. He has made the country fall into debt collapse, and now has left the younger generation to have to sit and pay the debt that he has borrowed a lot,” she told The Union International.
Punn is a 60-year-old man who has attended the protest to put pressure on Prayut to resign.
“…I want to put pressure on General Prayut to resign because he has been in power for too long, and the results of it have only been negative. The people cannot stand for it anymore, so we have to chase him out,” he told The Union International.
When asked about his opinion on critics of the protest movement claiming that the protesters were violent and that they are traitors who hate the country, he said that this statement was false and that the protesters were the real patriots of the country.
“What they’re saying about us ‘hating the country’ or being ‘traitors’ to the country is something I disagree with greatly. In fact, I think it’s the opposite. We love our country and that is why we have to come out to fight for our rights and the rights of the people. If we do not love our country, we wouldn’t do this and leave our country as it is. I strongly disagree,” he told The Union International.
Throughout the protest at Democracy Monument, many police officers were gathered to monitor the situation. Many of them had previously gathered around the Government House.
Nitiphon Yangjeen is one of the police officers who monitored the situation. He has been a police officer for 25 years.
“The protests are a political conflict and are also a conflict of opinion,” he told The Union International.
Officer Yangjeen did not comment on his stance on the Prayut government, stating that it would go against his orders as a police commander.
“As a [police] commander, I cannot voice my opinions on such matters,” he told The Union International.
When asked about allegations of wrongdoings, misconduct and police brutality during protests, he stated that he had to follow orders from superiors.
“The police did not act violently. We’re just villagers and ordinary people as well, who have come to work to provide [for our families]. We have to perform duties and we must follow the orders of our superiors,” he said.
However, when asked about his thoughts on the future of Thailand and its political instability, he said that there was ‘no future’ and that the people in power were to blame for the current situation.
“There is no future at all. If the people that are in power did the right things, there wouldn’t be these sorts of protests happening here.”
Later on, in the evening, several protesters held a rally in front of Bangkok’s City Hall building. The rally was observed by several police officers along with foreign and domestic news outlets.
Tony Cheng is an international correspondent for Al Jazeera English based in Bangkok. He has previously worked for the BBC and CGTN (China Global Television Network). He said that although Prayut came from a ‘concerning’ military background, he’s ‘there’, that ‘we’ll just have to see’ whether or not he abides by the decision of the Constitutional Court or not.
“Well, as a journalist, I mean, if you look at this from the perspective of the fact that he took power via a coup in 2014… certainly he is currently in power through an election of sorts, although I would have to say that it is a flawed election. His history as a military man is concerning, and the impact the military still has in Thai politics… but he’s there. I mean, he says that he’ll abide by the law… by the decision of the Constitutional Court, so I guess we’ll just have to see,” he told The Union International.
When asked about Prayut’s actions toward the opposition and Thai democracy, Cheng said that there has been continued erosion of democratic rights since the 2014
coup.
“We’ve seen continued erosion of democratic rights since the coup in 2014, since the protests in 2020, again, targeting General Prayut. We’ve seen many student leaders targeted and hit by all sorts of charges, and I think that it’s really problematic for the people in Thailand – particularly for young people, in fact.”
Finally, when inquired about the future of Thailand, he stated that although the future was not ‘rosy’, there was still some hope for Thailand to ‘make it work’.
“My personal opinion as a journalist… I’m not sure it’s that important, but as a journalist who came here in 2002, at a time when democracy was messy in Thailand but certainly very vibrant. I think if you look at the changes that have happened since then, there have been 3 coups, a number of different prime ministers, and it doesn’t look rosy, frankly. But, this is a country that has picked itself up and continues to carry on despite many of the obstacles it faces. One can only hope that there is a new generation of Thais that can take on the mantle of democracy, whatever that means for Thailand in particular, and try to make it work.”
Currently, Prayut has been suspended from his duties as Prime Minister by the Constitutional Court as part of an ongoing investigation on whether or not he has exceeded his term limits as Prime Minister or not. Prawit Wongsuwan, the Deputy Prime Minister has assumed the role of Acting Prime Minister in the wake of his suspension from office.
Photos and Videos Captured from the Protest:
— Writer Ohn Onkchareon can be reached at ohn2005@gmail.com. Follow him on Instagram @ost_chy.
