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Being cordoned off, in fact, is a way of life in Thailand -- far beyond the country's Songkran festival. Political activists, for example, are cordoned off locally and nationally by traditional power brokers and government officials working for their own interests. Democracy advocates are cordoned off from access to the country's media by so-called democratically elected administrations that work closely with the country's police and military to ensure that mainstream media says what it is allowed to say and not much more. Student wannabe activists also have been cordoned off by massacres and violent put-downs by the Thai establishment -- the lesson was last taught in Black May, 1992.
But more is going on than meets the eye. Former Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, for example, recently pointed out that someone was using media -- in the form of leaflets -- to make accusations against some of the country's leading personalities, including some members of the Privy Council.
In fact, this writer was a recipient, back in August 2007 -- prior to the December elections in Thailand -- of poison-pen media, including a CD packed with fleshy images of a very famous woman in Thailand. The CD and an accompanying English language letter made several accusations against the Privy Council president, General Prem Tinsulanonda, claiming that he was gay and ostensibly the "third hand" behind machinations against ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The letter's origin was not identified, but it asked supporters of its position to wear T-shirts with Manchester City logos. Manchester City is the English football team purchased by Thaksin -- who was not overly enamored with certain personalities close to the monarchy.
One who has avoided being cordoned off is a former close business associate of Thaksin, media baron Sondhi Limthongkul, leading member of the People's Alliance for Democracy and an anti-Thaksin critic. After being refused permission to broadcast balanced news in-country -- as balance would have to include criticism -- the Manager Media Group has used ground satellite stations outside Thailand to broadcast back home to cable operators, who then carry the eight ASTV channels in their lineups.
During Thaksin's administration, taped episodes of ASTV criticism of the prime minister and his Thai Rak Thai party were hunted down and seized. In Nakhonratchasima, in northeast Thailand, for example, the manager of a local branch of the SE-ED bookstore chain was surprised when police entered his store and demanded all copies of the offending CDs. The local media went wild, banding together to demand that this Gestapo-type behavior cease, but Thaksin had a lot of friends in powerful positions, as he still does.
Thailand's sumo-scale battle between officials who don't want a free media -- and indeed, can't afford one -- and persistent media-rights activists does not seem to be a show with curtains that will close anytime soon. For nearly a century the country's ruling elite has managed to muzzle free speech, and does not have any intention of relaxing its figurative and literal death grip. This is one of the themes that Limthongkul and his democratic alliance hold onto as a vanguard of protecting free speech in the kingdom.
The problem is that besides the vested interests of the media baron and his supporters, there is a great deal of divisiveness among the democracy-loving media, politicians, academics, the ruling elite and non-governmental organizations, as well as everyone in between. No one wants to be seen supporting a side that is considered extremist or out of touch with Thai complacency, whether it is disguised as nationalism or attempts to speak on behalf of others.
Just how divisive Thai society can be was illustrated on April 16, when the country's Interior Minister Dr. Chalerm Ubumrung gave an interview with the Thai media. He spoke out against former Prime Minister Chuan's latest allegation that someone had spent considerable amounts of money to distribute poison-pen leaflets insulting some of the country's leading persons, including General Prem. Rather than taking the bait -- possibly implying that Thai Rak Thai sympathizers were behind the distribution -- Chalerm told the media, "Why doesn't Chuan notify the authorities?"
This would be a good point if it weren't for the fact that "the authorities" are very loyal to the ruling majority party and not overly enthusiastic about finding out who did what when it points to the wrong people. As well, Thai society, including members of the judiciary -- thought to be the last remaining autonomous agency in Thailand -- is not prone to going out and punishing people who are responsible for doing what politicians and government officials want done, legal or otherwise.
Recently anti-government academics and pro-democracy activists met to discuss basic problems that continue to plague the country's search for sustainable democracy. The group recognized that while democracy was being touted, it was not being practiced. Parliamentary elections were seen by outsiders as democratic but close observers knew they were anything but, the academics said. Vote-buying is widespread in Thailand, but also contributing to weaknesses in the political process are apathy, greed and recognition that personal interests come first and foremost.
Thai politicians are quick to cite that they are running for office to contribute to the people and the nation. Yet somehow they manage to enrich themselves, their friends and benefactors while in office, while rarely accomplishing much for the nation and the people, by any empirical measurement.
This unfortunate condition seems to be the rule rather than the exception today, and not only in Thailand. Worldwide food and fuel prices are multiples of what they were less than five years ago, and everywhere the general public is the victim. In a Skype call from Fiji this week, for example, this writer was told by a resident that rice prices there had risen 500 percent. Rice is indeed an issue. Just after Thailand announced last month that US$100 million worth of rice stocks had disappeared, presumably due to hoarding by rice sellers, shelves in Thailand's huge supermarkets were also largely bare of white rice.
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(Frank G. Anderson is the Thailand representative of American Citizens Abroad. He was a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer to Thailand from 1965-67, working in community development. A freelance writer and founder of northeast Thailand's first local English language newspaper, the Korat Post -- www.thekoratpost.com -- he has spent over eight years in Thailand "embedded" with the local media. He has an MBA in information management and an associate degree in construction technology. ©Copyright Frank G. Anderson.)
