วันศุกร์, สิงหาคม 10, 2561

สื่อนอก Financial Times เริ่มจับตามองการเมืองไทยก่อนเลือกตั้ง โดยตั้งข้อสังเกตว่าการดำเนินคดีกับธนาธรและอนาคตใหม่ แสดงให้เห็นว่ารัฐบาลจะไม่ปล่อยให้ฝ่ายตรงข้ามลงเลือกตั้งอย่างเสรี



Thai junta opens investigation into opposition party


Growing signs that military reluctant to allow return to competitive democracy


Thailand’s ruling military junta is pursuing a criminal investigation into supporters of a rising political party headed by a former auto parts tycoon, signalling a hardline stance on challenges to its power before a possible election. 

Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, the former tycoon who founded the Future Forward Party in March, told the Financial Times he was called in for police questioning last week in connection with a Facebook Live post that prompted Thailand’s governing National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to file a complaint.

“They wanted to find out who uploaded it,” Mr Thanathorn said in a telephone interview. He said he was questioned on July 31 in Bangkok for about an hour and a half as a witness in the case but not as a suspect.

Under Article 14 of Thailand’s computer crime act, uploading content that is false or causes “panic” is a criminal offence. Future Forward is barred from engaging in political activities until an election campaign begins, and has been using Facebook to communicate with supporters.

Mr Thanathorn said the criminal probe was opened in response to a live feed on his Facebook page that was shared by Future Forward’s page, where party supporters claimed the NCPO was using the threat of lawsuits to lure former MPs from rival parties into its camp. Thailand’s junta seized power in May 2014, and has promised to hold elections in 2019 but has not yet set a date. Pro-democracy activists have accused it of stalling.

“It is clear over the past few months that the popularity of our party is increasing,” Mr Thanathorn said. “People are fed up with the current military regime and they want change.”

Thailand’s military rulers keep tight control over political activity and more than 100 people, including activists, students and academics, have faced criminal charges in recent months for taking part in unauthorised protests or other activities that challenged the authorities.

“They demand elections and we can see from the last four years that the military government has no clear road map to the election,” Mr Thanathorn said. “[Prime Minister] general Prayuth [Chan-ocha] has promised leaders of various countries about a road map to an election, but he broke all those promises.”

A Thai government spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on Sunday.

Last week, NCPO spokesman Maj Gen Piyapong Klinpan, said the legal action was not intended to intimidate the newly registered political party, but it accused it of distorting facts in its live-streamed comments.

Mr Thanathorn, 39, is one of a small group of younger aspiring Thai politicians to put their heads above the parapet ahead of a possible return to democracy. Many Thais are sceptical that the junta will allow opposition parties to contest freely any election.

“They are still trying to use fear and intimidation as a tool to suppress the opposition,” said Titipol Phakdeewanich, dean of the political science department at Thailand’s Ubon Ratchathani University. “The election, if we have it next year, would just be a mechanism to justify the military government in the international community to make sure they are more accepted.”

Follow John Reed on Twitter: @JohnReedwrites

Source: https://www.ft.com/content/12c5587c-986c-11e8-9702-5946bae86e6d


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