Claim that communist will rise again is an illusion

Jaturon

People in this country may have believed this illusion because a leader of the reds, Surachai Danwattanusorn, wore a communist insurgent uniform when he turned himself in to police at Nakhon Si Thammarat to face charges relating to the riot at the Asean summit in Pattaya.

Surachai may have wanted to give an impression he had rekindled the insurgents' struggle he joined before the 1980s, but it doesn't mean communism has returned.

This philosophy has died in the Thai political arena, in all forms; neither ideology nor any leftist movement exists any more.

At its peak in late 1970s, the Communist Party of Thailand (CPT) had around 6,000-8,000 fighters when hundreds of student activists and intellectuals joined after the bloody crackdown at Thammasat University on October 6, 1976.

Changes in international and domestic politics caused the CPT to decline in the early 1980s. The party and its armed struggle came to an end when many key figures decided to return home. The authorities granted an amnesty to leftists and the anti-Communist Law was eventually abolished a decade later.

Students resumed their education. Some finished with degrees and doctorates, before working in the business sector and having no problem making money in a capitalist economy.

Many who wanted to maintain the dream of a fair society joined or set up non-government organisations to do development work and try to lift living conditions for the poor or to protect the environment.

Many peasant insurgents returned home and to struggle on their farms.

Former communist insurgents gather some times to recall the good old days, but their activities are nothing more than an exchange of views and merit making for former comrades who passed away during the struggle in the jungle.

Former intellectuals from big cities and the capital have travelled sometimes to rural areas in the North and the Northeast to meet peasant comrades but the visits are mostly gestures of goodwill.

Many former communist insurgents entered politics and spread to all political parties and factions, on both government and opposition sides. Never mind about ideology and political platform, the former communists joined both progressive and conservative movements in politics. Some are with the Democrats, such as Chamni Sakdiset, while many joined Thaksin Shinawatra's now defunct Thai Rak Thai Party and stayed with him until now.

The Democrats is a conservative party but Thai Rak Thai could not be regarded as progressive, either. Former communists have made little difference join both sides. Thaksin might get a little bit more due to his pro-poor push, which fits the old dreams of former communists.

Former communist insurgents in Thai Rak Thai included Chaturon Chaisang, Adisorn Puangket, Phumtham Wechaychai, Prommin Lertsuridej and Surapong Suebwonglee.

But some former insurgents, such as Thredphum Jaidee and Amorn Amornratananont, even joined the royalist movement - People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) - to topple Thaksin and their former comrades from the power.

Whatever side they joined, they couldn't carry their old ideology to modern political activities. Thai society is too conservative to consent to such ideology. Even socialism is not easy to speak about in public.

It would be more accurate to say the leftist movement in Thailand does not exist in real terms. Fugitive academic Ji Ungpakorn said he is a Marxist and voiced support for the red movement but he has less influence over the DAAD.

Down in Nakhon Si, Surachai said he wanted to reactivate the Communist Party but only a few back him on this. And a attempt to recreate a socialist party in Thai politics by a group of politicians led by former socialist politician Insorn Buakiew has been questioned as to whether it is realistic.

An intelligence report that accused the red protesters of preparing for a communist-style armed insurgency against the government needs to be verified for reliability. This report could be misinterpreted by people in power and lead a mistreatment of the reds and even worsen the current social division.