Further updated: No sense and nonsense

When the military are in charge, a new “logic” takes hold. Hierarchy, impunity and power lead not just to arrogance but to some quite nonsensical media events.

For example, just a few days ago we had the military junta telling the world that it had 98-99% support for almost everything it did. No sensible person believes this horse manure, except for those in the junta who thought it a great idea to disseminate such claims.

Adding to the view that Thailand is in the control of dangerous dimwits, the police have piled cartloads of organic, brown fertilizer onto the junta’s compost. Sadly, the story at the Bangkok Post is about the death sentences handed out to two Burmese migrant workers for the murder of two British tourists.

Appeals are pending and there’s been plenty of reporting about police incompetence, torture and more. The government in Myanmar has expressed concerns about the case both before and since the the verdict, and there have been demonstrations of hundreds and perhaps thousands in Myanmar.

So what do the police in Thailand do? They hold a media event and make extraordinarily daft claims.

They say that the “protests against the death sentences handed down in the Koh Tao murders might be politically motivated and have ill intentions.” Pol Maj Gen Piyaphan Pingmuang said the “protests in the Koh Tao case were suspicious.”

Clearly not a genius, Pol Maj Gen Piyaphan isn’t reported to have explained what the “motivations” might have been, what kind of “ill intentions” were in play or why the demonstrations were “suspicious.”

Despite lacking explanation and apparently without a shred of evidence, Piyaphan declared that “[s]ome groups” were using the verdict “as an opportunity” and he warned that “general people should not fall victim to the movement or let the issue be politicised…”.  He “warned that the issue could have an impact on international relations.”

PPT doubt the policeman has no real idea who he is threatening. Perhaps it is the international media. It could be the Myanmar government and people, stirring so-called historical enmity. Whoever it is is, Piyaphan is doing his bit to convince the rest of the world that Thailand is indeed in the hands of dangerous dimwits.

Update 1: As if to prove the point we made above, General Prayuth Chan-ocha has also released a similar bilious nonsense. Reported as “visibly angry,” The Dictator “lashed out on Monday at protesters who took to the streets of Yangon…”. Yes, he was criticizing protests in another country. He said “critics should respect the verdict and that Thailand’s justice system would not bow to public pressure.” Maybe he can have them arrested for sedition or lese majeste.

Update 2: Angry police have again declared – despite denials from the Myanmar government – that there is an instigator of protest or maybe more. The police chief seemed befuddled and declared that protest instigators might be in Thailand, saying, “In Thailand police are preventing it [protest]…”, adding:

Police are looking for the people who instigated it. I ordered all units related to security, especially the Special Branch division, to find the groups that are behind the demonstrations by Myanmar people … admitting he had “no idea” who the supposed instigators are or if they are even in Thailand.

Keystone cops.