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Ending the rule of the junta in medical gowns

Choltanutkun Tun-atirujbyCholtanutkun Tun-atiruj
July 20, 2020
in Current Affairs
Ending the rule of the junta in medical gowns

Photo: Sunai Phasak, Thailand Senior Researcher at Human Rights Watch

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Sunai Phasak, 51, is the Thailand Senior Researcher at Human Rights Watch. He has been working for the organization for 12 years, monitoring the political climate and human rights violations in the kingdom.

On 26 March, the government ordered the emergency decree, citing reasons for combating the COVID-19 pandemic. It was met with mixed responses. A portion of the public applauded the move, another portion said the Communicable Disease Act would have been the right measure. 

The Emergency Decree was extended on 30 June and will expire by the end of July. 

With Thailand experiencing no local infection for over 50 days, and growing concerns over dictatorial power and human rights violations, there’s a debate on whether the decree should again be extended. 

Do you think the emergency decree has helped contain the pandemic?

When the government first announced the emergency decree, it was at the peak of the virus outbreak and it was understandable.

But if you read between the lines, the emergency decree prioritizes things that have got nothing to do with containing the virus. It stresses that the people must receive information only from the government and that other sources may be mis-informing.

Thailand has the Communicable Disease Act, which can be used to contain the pandemic, but the government wouldn’t have the power for complete control and get everyone to fall in line, hence the emergency decree.

It seemed understandable at first, but it’s actually for the purpose of silencing [the people]. It’s also used to harass whistleblowers. And since they kept extending it, we can be even more certain that the reason they used to justify the emergency decree at the beginning is no longer valid. 

Thailand is not facing the COVID-19 threat anymore, so there’s no justification as to why we still need the emergency decree.

Why do they keep dragging the emergency decree along, then?

I think there are two reasons. 

First, Prayut [Chan-ocha] is taking advantage of public frustration regarding the pandemic by declaring the state of emergency. He uses it to control freedom of speech, both in the offline and online world. 

Also, it’s obvious that Prayut doesn’t know how to manage a coalition government, so he wants to concentrate power in his hands. 

Second, the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) is just the junta in medical gowns, using health as an excuse. They have absolute power and cannot be criticized, which is basically the same as the junta from five years ago, but just wearing medical gowns and not the green uniforms.

It’s just an excuse for the government to consolidate power and violate human rights, and stop people from criticizing them.

Does the emergency decree have any benefits?

It all started with government incompetence. 

Under the Communicable Disease Act, this government would not have the ability to coordinate between the different departments. It’s not that the emergency decree is not effective, it is, but it was chosen because of the government’s shortcomings. 

Another benefit is when the public challenges the government, whether on corruption or anything else, it is used to suppress the public. To control the diseases, we have other ways to do it, we have a very strong medical team, which has absolutely nothing to do with the government.

Will they again extend the emergency decree?

At this point, there’s no signal to reassure us that the emergency decree will be dropped, even though it’s no longer relevant and it’s no longer justifiable. 

What harm will the emergency decree do, if extended?

I’m afraid that it would eventually turn into a new comfort zone for Prayut to rule with absolute, unaccountable, and unsupervised power.

It allows the government to function without oversight. The government polices itself. It has full power to authorize and implement. So there are no checks and balances, which are the principle of democracy. 

Emergency power is completely unaccountable. So if the CCSA messes up or does harm, there’s nothing we can do about it. There’s no way to compensate. 

For example, the Royong Province and affected businesses, there’s nothing they can demand [from CCSA’s mistakes].   

Choltanutkun Tun-atiruj

Choltanutkun Tun-atiruj

Choltanutkun Tun-atiruj is a journalist covering culture, human-interests and politics. Her words are on BK Magazine, VICE, Al Jazeera English, Vogue International and CNN. She co-founded Thisrupt.

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In Chiang Mai, it's worrying to see a large number of motorbikes at night without backlights. Thankfully most have functional brake lights, but many have no lights at all, which cause road accidents. Chiang Mai Safe City is a public safety organization concerned with reducing the number of Thai people dying on the roads. When I got my first Thai license, I was happily doing the theory exam, and I got two questions wrong where the answer had broken tail lights. I found out it was legal to drive tanks on Thai streets, but not vehicles without taillights. We all drive on some of the most dangerous roads in the world, with Thailand's road fatalities perennially in the top ten of the United Nation's lists. Even after concerted efforts to reduce the road toll through road safety initiatives, the average daily death toll is more than 60. Statistics from the UN and local traffic reporting sources regularly highlight three factors: 1. Around 75% of all fatalities are people on motorbikes. 2. Around 30% of all accidents involve driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. After 10pm these percentages rise dramatically. We don't need reduced testing. We need more testing and harsher penalties. 3. Only 50% of motorbike riders wear helmets. These figures are alarming, but we are not seeing any significant reductions in recent times except for earlier this year when Thailand was in lockdown and had 10pm to 6am curfews in place. Also, there were no alcohol sales for a week. Many developed countries have responsible alcohol laws, which prohibit sales of alcohol to visibly intoxicated customers. However, in Thailand, the service of alcohol is self-regulated with drink top-ups by table friends. No one knows how much they are consuming before trying to drive or ride home. The Thai Government has had limited success with law enforcement and road safety awareness campaigns. Social media and news outlets regularly show mangled vehicles and lifeless bodies, but we seem desensitized to real effects. We comment RIP, or we use the "sad" emoji, and we get on with scrolling our feeds for the next cute cat picture or celebrity lifestyle picture. Chiang Mai Safe City is a safety initiative proposing a local approach, Thai people helping Thai people. Safety is something everyone can play a part in. Our roads. Our responsibility. We can all tell others if their light is broken, right? Right now, we all need to check our vehicle and motorbike lights. This takes around 30 seconds or less if a friend helps. It's a simple 20 baht five-minute fix at any mechanic. When riding, look around, and someone doesn't have a backlight or brake light, you can simply tell that person, and hopefully, they will listen. We need to reduce Thailand's road fatality statistics. Roads are for everyone to use. Let's make them safer.
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