Fears Thai election results could plunge the country into deeper climate of censorship

Thailand has held its first election since the 2014 coup, and with the military poised to remain in power, there are concerns about what it means for freedom of speech following a crackdown during the junta’s five-year rule. Abbie O’Brien is reporting to SBS from Bangkok, Thailand.

“Even though I’m suffering every day, I’m not afraid. Even though my two legs are chained, my two eyes still look to the sky.”

Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, one of Thailand’s most prominent les majeste prisoners, penned those words of hope from behind bars.

The 55-year-old spent seven years in a Bangkok prison for publishing two articles that were found to have defamed the country’s late king.

He was freed in 2018, he said, into an even harsher climate of censorship than when he was first arrested.

“Worse. Worse in terms of the atmosphere for Thai politics,” he told SBS News.

“In general, you can see that people are afraid to express their opinion.”

He said this has been the case since the military took power in the 2014 coup.

“During five years, there are still so many bad laws, dictatorship laws. Even though we have [an] election, the right of the people to express their opinion is still limited,” he said.

Two days after Thailand’s first general election in eight years, the country has plunged into even deeper uncertainty.

Dr Greg Raymond, an expert in Thai politics at the Australia National University, has been in Bangkok for the past week observing the election as part of his research.

He told SBS News the new constitution, drafted under the military government, is unfair.

“It’s an unfair constitution in the sense that the party which wins the most seats in the lower house, won’t necessarily be able to form government,” he said.

The pro-military party, headed by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, didn’t win enough seats to form a majority government.

Its main opposition Pheu Thai, the party aligned with ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatha, won the most seats in the lower house.

But given the Senate seats are all but guaranteed to go to the military, it’s likely General Prayuth will remain the leader if he can go into a coalition.

“This is because when the government is formed, the votes of unelected senators, 250 unelected senators, will count towards the selection of the prime minister,” Dr Raymond said.

After five years of military rule, it was hoped the election would restore democracy and stability.

But some fear that with the military poised to remain in power, there will be no relaxation towards political dissent which critics say the junta stifled during its reign.

Bussarin Paenaeh is from iLaw, a Bangkok based Human Rights non-governmental organisation that monitors the treatment of Thai citizens by the government.

She told SBS News the military has been using its executive power to stifle freedom of expression.

“It used the section 44 to issue many orders that have a direct impact on freedom of the people, such as banning the gathering of five people and more, and allowing the officers to search and arrest people for attitude adjustment for seven days,” she said.

The media also appear to be a target.

In the lead-up to the election, Pro-Thaksin broadcaster Voice TV was ordered to have its licence suspended for 15 days after two of its programs were found to have incited conflict.

“So we went dark literally on the air for a day. We took the case to court and we won in the administrative court, they’re now issuing an appeal,” Nattakorn Devakul, one of the stations political commentators, told SBS News.

Mr Devakul has been personally suspended from going on air on several occasions.

He said the panel on Thailand’s broadcast regulator, the National Broadcasting Telecommunication or NBTC, was appointed by the military government and it will remain intact, even now that the election has taken place.

“This very NBTC, set of appointees term has been extended indefinitely by order of the military junta,” Mr Devakul said.

Tags: Thailand