Pro-democracy activists wearing masks mock Thailand's Prime Minister
Prayuth Chan-ocha as Pinocchio during a protest against junta at a
university in Bangkok, Thailand, February 24, 2018. Source:
Reuters/Panarat Thepgumpanat
THAILAND’S military junta has come under fire for a history textbook
which claims that its non-elected government has established “true
democracy” in the Southeast Asian kingdom and has eliminated corruption.
While History of the Thai Nation was
released by the Ministry of Culture’s Fine Arts Department in 2015 to
promote nationalism and patriotism among the Thai people, it recently
came under scrutiny when a snippet of the book was posted by prominent
scientist Jessada Denduangboripant to Facebook.
“Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha as Prime Minister has carried out a policy of
reforming the country, reforming politics to be truly a democracy,
eliminating corruption and using moral principles to lead the country to
be truly a democracy,” reads the textbook as quoted by Prachatai English.
The so-called National Council of Peace and Order (NCPO) has ruled
Thailand for almost four years after the army staged a coup d’état on 22
May 2014, with General Prayut Chan-ocha becoming Prime Minister.
While the NCPO promised to reinstate electoral democracy once the
country was deemed stable, it has since repeatedly delayed elections,
with the likely date now set for February 2019.
Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha arrives for a meeting with
Jack Ma, founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, in Bangkok,
Thailand, April 19, 2018 during the latter’s visit to the country to
announce the group’s investment in the Thai government’s Eastern
Economic Corridor (EEC) scheme. Source: Reuters/Jorge Silva
According to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU),
its political system has slid from being a “flawed democracy” in 2013
to “hybrid regime” in 2018. It is approaching the EIU’s “authoritarian
regime” characterisation alongside China, Cambodia and Vietnam.
“The content of the book is misleading and it will lead to the
distortion of the country’s history if the department leaves it just
like that,” activist named Srisuwan Janya said as quoted by the Bangkok Post. He has said he will sue Thailand’s government if it fails to recall the book.
“If they are not destroyed, these books will end up in public and school
libraries. The misinformation will seep into the minds of students. I
cannot let that happen because the reality has been so different.”
“The prime minister has not restored democracy nor brought the end to
corruption as portrayed in the book,” Srisuwan added. Other netizens
have mocked the book’s claims.
Thailand was ranked 96 out of 180 countries on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index in 2017, below neighbouring Brunei Darussalam, Singapore and Malaysia. Its ranking improved only marginally from 101 in 2016.
