Trusted forms of repression

It was only a day or so ago that various junta allies reckoned that the activism that has bubbled up over the Deputy Dictator’s luxury watches and the “delays” to the “election” timetable would fade away.

It hasn’t and the junta is trying to erase activism. It is engaging in its trusted forms of repression: even deeper censorship of media and websites it finds critical and arresting and charging people.

Voice TV has again been taken off the air. This is the fourth time the channel has been suspended by the junta’s minions. This time, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission cited a program in October 2017 as the reason for the 15-day ban. Any excuse will do.

In Phayao, police arrested 14 activists of the People Go Network and involved in the “We Walk” anti-government campaign. As has been the case in previous movements that have displaced military regimes, several of those arrested were farmers and students. The junta fears such alliances.

The farmers’ group reportedly told police they joined the march because they had been oppressed by local, powerful landlords who charged them with trespassing on private property, despite their claims that the land actually belongs to them.

All denied the charges against them.

In Bangkok, the Democracy Restoration Group called off a news conference “following a police warning not to hold the event or risk violating a junta ban on public gatherings.” The activists “had planned to hold a news conference at the Maneeya Center in Bangkok – home to the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand (FCCT) – to call on the junta to keep its promise of an election this year…”. It seems that the FCCT was targeted by the police.

Also in Bangkok, police have charged all of the “39 demonstrators who protested on a skywalk near Pathumwan intersection on Jan 27 against a recently announced delay to the upcoming general election.” The charge is “illegal assembly.” The demonstrators also belong to the Democracy Restoration Group.

The junta thugs are seeking to silence dissent with constant harassment and a flurry of law cases that get very expensive when bail and fines are considered. Junta thugs also bring constant pressure on the families of activists.