The Nation has different headlines for its story on Abhisit Vejjajiva’s last rally speech before the election. On the story it says “Abhisit: It’s us or chaos” while the banner headline at the website is “Abhisit: Keep Thais ‘under same sky’.” This last phrasing invokes the monarchy.
As reported, Abhisit Vejjajiva “called on voters to choose his party over the rival Pheu Thai Party. In doing so, Abhisit promised, Thais could be assured that the country would go forward and his new government would serve all groups of people fairly – like being ‘under the same sky’.”
PPT recalls when Abhisit demanded that no politician should draw the monarchy into election politics. And yet here he is doing exactly that with a claim that only the Democrat Party can do this. Desperate times call for means that royalists think will draw on allegedly deep feelings for the monarchy.
That the Democrat Party is the party of royalists has never been in doubt since the day the party was formed. The Party has a record of low blows to defeat those it sees as enemies of the monarchy. Historians tell us that it was the Democrat Party that was responsible for spreading rumors in Bangkok back in 1946 that held Pridi Phanomyong to blame for “killing” King Ananda Mahidol. Democrat Party stooges yelled this accusation in darkened cinemas. Pridi went into exile and remained outside Thailand for the rest of his life.
Abhisit is likewise shouting to “protect” the monarchy. He shouts, “Vote for the king’s party, us, or there will be chaos and “mob rule.”
Abhisit made it clearer when he stated that “people who love Thailand” had to vote for his Party. And he invoked his election mantras: terrorists in government, Thaksin whitewashed and his confiscated money returned to him if Puea Thai win.
The audience knew what Abhisit was saying, and The Nation seemed convinced it needed to convey this clearly: “Holding a Nation reporter’s hand firmly and looking into the journalist’s eyes, Mariam Saisanae, 57, said: ‘I will vote for any party that protects the monarchy. You know well which party is attacking the monarchy. I can’t accept that. Those who are the enemies to the monarchy, I’ll fight to death’.”
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