Began since last spring, Thailand has suffered one of the most serious political unrest on its history. Though this movement that leads by students and young elites cause massive influence and attention in world, Thailand political situation has not been improved until today. The action and call out protesters have made are very likely lead to nothing but long term prisons.
The immediate cause of the revolution is on last spring when some high school students pushing for changes to school uniform rules, then expanded to the call of searching various dissidents who have disappeared while in exile overseas. The reason that stands behind is the unlimited power of the royal and the autocratic rule by the military government.
According to The New York Times, by the summer the protesters, who gathered every few days despite fears of an army crackdown, were calling for the resignation of Mr. Prayuth, a former general who led a 2014 coup, and for the monarchy to come under the Constitution. However, their demands have not been met, nor are they likely to be taken seriously by the political establishment. Mr. Prayuth is still in charge. The king continues to stay above the laws.
Now the Thailand government starts their massive retaliatory actions toward protesters. An actress stands accused of breaking the law by cheering on and delivering food to hungry members of the protest movement. A woman who is accused for insulting the monarchy was sentenced in January to 43 years in prison. In fact, some young protesters have as many charges laid against them as years they have been alive,
So what we get? Despite to admire and salute the courage protesters have demonstrated, we have to sadly acknowledge their actions haven’t made big enough change to this country. In fact, in recent years the civil disobedience and protest have successfully rise in various states, including the newest one in Myanmar. However, none of them get success or achieve the goal that they established at beginning. As a Southeast Asia country that is similar to Thailand in many ways (military regime, long time authorized rule, and strong conservative tradition in religion), Myanmar’s revolt is very likely get a similar result.
The fundamental reason behind these tragedies is the extreme imbalance between the force of protesters and government. Controlling the army that can easily turn guns against their own people, the legislative/judicatory branch that serve for the executive and sometimes even the media both in tradition and in internet(by simply ban those media accounts). While for the protesters, to organize a large scale assemble and maintain the peace inside is already difficult. Except umbrellas, their weapons usually only left constitutions that lack of constraining force.
In conclusion, countries like Thailand and Myanmar has been suffered for the issue of democracy in decades. Locate at a relatively not that attention area, the pro democratic protest and revolution become even more difficult to achieve. Now the movements in these regions are like suns that have been obscured by murky clouds. However, just like that cloudy sky, these protests and movements are also the sign of a heavier storm and it is reasonable to believe that the high pressure policy authoritarian apply will automatically leads to the storm. Sun can be obscured for awhile, but finally it shall appears on the sky again and spread light to all.
Reference: Thailand Targets Pro-Democracy Protesters in Sweeping Legal Dragnet, Hannah Beech and
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