Prominent social critic offers moral support to leaders of Future Forward Party

[webfact]

Prominent social critic offers moral support to leaders of Future Forward Party

By The Nation

 

 

The three men had dinner together on December 2 and Sulak,centre, had posted on his Facebook page on December 3 a picture of the three sitting together in a restaurant.

 

Outspoken social critic Sulak Sivaraksa has clarified in a Facebook post that there were no motives behind his meeting with Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, leader of the Future Forward Party, and Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, the party's secretary-general, on December 2.

 

 

The three men had dinner together on December 2 and Sulak had posted on his Facebook page on December 3 a picture of the three sitting together in a restaurant.

 

Sulak's move comes after the Constitutional Court disqualified Thanathorn as a member of the House of Representatives on the grounds of holding a stake in a media company.

 

Sulak said that there was nothing special about the meeting and that he just wanted to offer moral support to the two men.

 

He also said that Thailand was still under the control of the military despite the country holding a general election in March. 

 

“Thai political form is democracy but the essence is dictatorship,” he wrote.

 

He suggested that Thanathorn and Piyabutr remain patient and use peaceful means to fight the military's meddling in politics.

 

Another prominent political figure of the past also came into the limelight: former prime minister Anand Panyarachun came to listen to Thanathorn give a talk on Thai politics at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand on December 2.

 

Sulak's and Anand's moves have been interpreted by many as an important political signal.

 

Anand had long distanced himself from politics, while Sulak has often come out to voice his support for Thanathorn, Piyabutr and pro-democracy activists at crucial events.

 

The Election Commission will meet on Wednesday to look into whether Thanathorn had violated the law by lending Bt191 million to his party. Some have speculated that the latest case could lead to the banning of his party and its executives being banned from politics for 10 years.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30379213

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2019-12-09

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[Thaiwrath]

3 minutes ago, webfact said:

He also said that Thailand was still under the control of the military despite the country holding a general election in March. 

 

“Thai political form is democracy but the essence is dictatorship,” he wrote.

 

I think most Thais are well aware of this, but are not prepared to admit it, or do anything about it.

[FarFlungFalang]

2 hours ago, Thaiwrath said:

I think most Thais are well aware of this, but are not prepared to admit it, or do anything about it.

You mean they aren't prepared to die or go to prison?Are you?Half of the population voted for the opposition which means they did something about it,and since you don't know most Thais or what they do they your comment is rather baseless.

[rkidlad]

19 minutes ago, FarFlungFalang said:

You mean they aren't prepared to die or go to prison?Are you?Half of the population voted for the opposition which means they did something about it,and since you don't know most Thais or what they do they your comment is rather baseless.

Oh, yea. Half voted for the junta. Results were announced within 24 hours, right? 

[FarFlungFalang]

17 minutes ago, rkidlad said:

Oh, yea. Half voted for the junta. Results were announced within 24 hours, right? 

Agreed it wasn't somthing that could be remotely considered fair or  democratic but my point is that a lot of Thais care and are doing something about it some have already died apparently.

[Orton Rd]

Can we have a poll asking what we think they will charge him with? ????

[FarFlungFalang]

1 minute ago, Orton Rd said:

Can we have a poll asking what we think they will charge him with? ????

They will charge him with being in the opposition?Maybe being a threat to dictatorship which is heinous crime in the eyes of some.

[yellowboat]

The Thai army is like a bad rash.   It will take a long time of constant care to get rid of it.  It will go eventually. 

[Reigntax]

26 minutes ago, yellowboat said:

The Thai army is like a bad rash.   It will take a long time of constant care to get rid of it.  It will go eventually. 

More like herpes. Seems to disappear for a while but you know one day it will be back!

[JimHuaHin]

15 minutes ago, yellowboat said:

The Thai army is like a bad rash.   It will take a long time of constant care to get rid of it.  It will go eventually. 

 

There are probably many good soldiers and officers in the Thai Army.

 

I have spoken with some, and I stress some, young Thai soldiers and junior officers in recent years, and all expressed disgust with Generals Prawit and Prayut and their actions of the past 5.5 years.  As a result of this disgust and their disillusionment with the actions of senior Thai Army officers, some of these good young men and women are exiting the Thai Army.

 

Two other things that came up in many conversations were, firstly, that some young male soldiers wear caps in public to hide their short hair (a sign they are soldiers) and others refuse to wear their uniforms off base; and secondly, soldiers have come in for a lot of criticism on Thai social media - thus the feel they no longer have the respect of the Thai people.

 

[yellowboat]

3 hours ago, JimHuaHin said:

 

There are probably many good soldiers and officers in the Thai Army.

 

I have spoken with some, and I stress some, young Thai soldiers and junior officers in recent years, and all expressed disgust with Generals Prawit and Prayut and their actions of the past 5.5 years.  As a result of this disgust and their disillusionment with the actions of senior Thai Army officers, some of these good young men and women are exiting the Thai Army.

 

Two other things that came up in many conversations were, firstly, that some young male soldiers wear caps in public to hide their short hair (a sign they are soldiers) and others refuse to wear their uniforms off base; and secondly, soldiers have come in for a lot of criticism on Thai social media - thus the feel they no longer have the respect of the Thai people.

 

There are Hong Kong police officers who have the very same feeling of disgust for the Curry Lam government, but they are stuck trying to get the brass ring at the end.  Once attained, retirement in China awaits.  They wanted be welcomed in Hong Kong. 

 

The polls sent a very strong message.   

 

Glad to hear some in uniform in Thailand can think for themselves.  That could save the country one day.  It is sad they must endure such shallow, entitled and selfish non leadership.