By James Buchanan
Standing with the world’s more developed nations has long been an obsession for Thai elites – and a source of anxiety.
Thailand’s political crisis has been dragging the country down for nearly a decade now but things went from bad to worse in 2015. The military junta, which grabbed power in May of the previous year, shows no signs of loosening its grip and will likely remain in direct control for the foreseeable future. Even a draft constitution written by conservative royalists who were handpicked by the junta was rejected in September. The draft, specifically designed to maintain military dominance and hobble elected politicians, could have allowed the return of a weak, illiberal democracy in late 2016. This is now impossible, leaving Thailand with the unwelcome distinction of being the only country in the world currently ruled so openly by its military.
The 2015 report “Freedom in the World” – published annually by Freedom House – downgraded the country from “partly free” to “not free” based on events in 2014. Thailand will almost certainly stay in this category in the 2016 report and may even find its score slips further, given that the generals have gifted themselves almost unlimited power, civilians continue to be tried in military courts, and several harsh sentences have been handed down for the notorious lèse-majesté law, which prohibits criticism of the monarchy. Recent months have also seen the new and worrying trend of high-profile prisoners dying in police custody. So it seems Thailand will remain “not free” throughout 2016 – a designation that will be hurtful to Thais, who often claim that the country’s name means “the land of the free.”
The country’s international standing has suffered in other respects too. In 2014, the United States released its annual Trafficking in Persons report (TIP), which documents human trafficking globally. Thailand was downgraded from Tier 2 status to Tier 3, the worst possible classification. The report identified Thailand as a “source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking” and concluded that Thailand “does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.” It also found that corruption at all levels and complicity on the part of civilian, police and military officials was at the root of the problem. The downgrade could hardly have come as a surprise to the Thais, who had narrowly avoided falling to Tier 3 in 2012 and 2013 by being granted two consecutive waivers – the maximum number allowed – based on a written plan to bring itself up to standard. Evidently this plan was not followed.
Read the full story at The Diplomat