Source: Isaan Record
KHON KAEN- This week marks the second anniversary of the coup d’état that ousted the elected Pheu Thai Party government on May 22, 2014, and put Thailand under the rule of the military-led National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO). Under the slogan “Return Happiness to the People,” Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha has been promising political reform, a return to democracy, and reconciliation to the deeply divided country.
But the military government has been facing a sluggish economy, international criticism on its human rights record, and wide opposition to the second draft constitution, which is planned to be put to a referendum in August.
People in the Northeast have been found to be the least happy when compared with people in other regions since the NCPO came into government, according to a recent nation-wide poll by Rangsit University.
The Isaan Record talked to people in Khon Kaen city and surrounding districts about the state of the country after two years of military rule. Many were reluctant to talk or refused to give their full names, citing the current political climate that they said bans people from speaking freely.
