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Published on September 3, 2007

The price to be paid is the declining status of Thailand as an aspiring democratic country. Suspicions over why the denial was quick and over the top will not easily go away.

If Thailand is still plagued with vote buying, as stated by the junta and its installed government of Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont, then it can only be good to have foreign election observers here.

The junta made a big allegation that many of the people who voted against the junta-sponsored draft constitution in the recent referendum were influenced by Thaksin Shinawatra's money. It also predicted that the upcoming general election would see an unprecedented amount of money spent on buying votes.

If that is the case, then there is no reason why the EU election observers should not be welcomed, given that the details of the MoU are "totally negotiable", according to last week's remark by the EU's representative in Bangkok.

One cannot help but think about a much-played-down or even ignored report by Poll Watch's chairman General Saiyud Kerdphon that the referendum had the fingerprints of the junta and the military everywhere in trying to direct the vote to go in one direction. Saiyud did not simply cook up the conclusion by himself at home; it was the result of the observation of 4,000 Poll Watch volunteers deployed in 41 provinces.

So what do the junta and its regime have to hide beneath the cloak of nationalistic jingoism?

The junta, by playing the nationalistic card, is enabling some Thais to temporarily forget about internal oppression and lack of freedom. Thirty-five provinces, or nearly half the Kingdom, are still under martial law and junta leader General Sonthi Boonyaratglin insisted on Saturday that it would not be lifted prior to the promised general election. He reasoned that martial law was needed in order to keep "good citizens safe".

The junta is also pushing ahead with its draconian internal security bill. Its recently introduced cyber crime law, according to Britain's Financial Times on Saturday, allegedly led to the arrest of two Thais who made offensive comments against the monarchy without recourse to lese majeste law.

On Friday, Sombat Boon-ngam-anong, a leader of the anti-junta and largely pro-Thaksin Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship, was also arrested because he made a target with the faces of two junta leaders on it.

The list of countries where the EU has sent its election observers includes Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Ecuador, Sierra Leone, Togo, Malawi, East Timor, Rwanda and Mozambique. Apparently, Thailand's level of democracy, in the eyes of the EU, is now in the same league as those nations.

Some Thais can go on criticising the old colonial habit of the White Man's Burden, which may be harder to quit than drugs, but the junta and its regime's response doesn't help improve anything.

Their deeds over the past year indicate they are more interested in taking a roadmap to democracy which more resembles that of Burma.

Pravit Rojanaphruk

The Nation