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| Image: Flickr User - Abhisit Vejjajiva |
By Joshua Kurlantzick
Given recent comments by Prayuth, it is unclear when Thailand will return to democracy.
In a recent letter to the Washington Post, Thailand’s new ambassador to the United States insisted that despite the May 2014 coup, continued martial law, crackdowns on activists of all types, and an unclear path to election, Thailand remains a democracy. “Thailand has not wavered in its commitment to democracy…progress is being made,” the ambassador insisted. His letter was written in response to a Washington Post editorial entitled “Thailand’s Ineffective Rule by Force,” which argued that the generals are holding hundreds of political prisoners, have mismanaged the Thai economy, have failed to bring stability to the country, and are trying to “permanently hobble democracy” in Thailand.
Although some Thai supporters of the junta will claim that elections are only a subsidiary part of democracy, democracy cannot exist without some type of elections. (Of course, democracy requires much more than just regular elections, but without elections there cannot be democracy.) Yet junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha, and his powerful number two Prawit Wongsuwan, seem to be coming up with reason after reason why Thailand should not hold elections anytime soon. In the early days after the coup, the junta declared that a new charter would be drafted to reform the political system and that elections would be held in 2015. Then, the government announced that the date for elections would be pushed back to early 2016, a promise the ambassador to the United States reiterated in his letter to the Post.
Read the full story at The Diplomat