Thailand: Pro-Democracy Activists call for Resignation of Prayut-Chan-o-cha and his Bonapartist Regime
Fight for an Indefinite General Strike and a Workers Government
Article by Joseph Adams, RCIT Britain, www.thecommunists.net
Thailand is ruled by a Bonapartist military dictatorship, although there was a general election in 2019. Prayut-Chan-o-cha and his military dictatorship have ruled Thailand since 2013 when he and the army overthrew the populist, capitalist government of Ying Luck Shinawtra of the Thai Pheu Party. In 2019 Prayut-Chan-o-cha (the coup leader) called a general election which produced an inclusive result. The Thai Pheu party won the most seats in the lower house and tried to form a coalition with other bourgeois democratic parties. However, under Thailand’s corrupt constitutional monarchy Prayut-chan-o cha and his Palang Pracharat party was able to win a majority by appointing 250 senators in the upper house, depriving the Thai Pheu party of forming a government.
Future Forward Party was Banned
Under Thailand’s anti-democratic constitution, bribery and corruption are rife with harassment and provocations by the state police force and army. Many Thai Pheu members of parliament were persuaded by bribes to switch parties. The populist, bourgeois-liberal Future Forward Party led by a young capitalist Billionaire was banned and its leader, Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, was arrested and jailed under some trumped up politically motivated charge.
As the RCIT commented at the time, the regime of Prayut-Chan-o cha would brook no opposition from any quarter.
“The Future Forward party, a bourgeois liberal party which is well supported by the youth and students, gained 89 seats in the 2019 General Election. The Prime Minister of Thailand, Prayut Chan-O-cha influenced the decision of the constitutional court to ban the Future Forward party because its leader had given a large loan to the party. However, the real reason for this decision was to eliminate any opposition to his rule. The decision to ban the Future Forward party was a deliberate decision by the regime in Thailand to eliminate any opposition to its rule. Thailand with its notorious, undemocratic system of government faces demonstrations and protests from mainly students in the universities opposed to the decision of the courts to ban the Future Forward Party. Political analysts in Thailand have also pointed to the crisis of the Coronavirus epidemic coupled with climate change which is affecting Thailand’s ability to compete on the capitalist markets in Southeast Asia”.[1]
Pro-Democracy Demonstrations
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, which has affected Thailand badly, the masses have erupted in demonstrations in Bangkok and other areas against this reactionary police state.
“Around 2,500 Thai protesters took to the streets in Bangkok on Saturday night demanding the resignation of the government and the dissolution of parliament, defying a coronavirus ban on gatherings in one of the largest street demonstrations since a 2014 military coup.
People at the student-led rally near Bangkok's Democracy Monument cited a litany of complaints against the year-old civilian government of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, the former army chief who ousted an elected government six years ago.
Organisers issued three demands: the dissolution of parliament, an end to harassment of government critics, and amendments to the military-written constitution that critics say virtually guaranteed victory for Prayuth's party in elections last year”.[2].
“Though pandemic lockdowns prematurely quashed a burgeoning anti-government movement in March, recent days have seen some of Thailand’s largest anti-government protests since its 2014 military coup.
According to Reuters, around 2,500 mostly young Thai protesters gathered at Bangkok’s Democracy Monument on Saturday to demand sweeping changes: the dissolution of parliament, an end to official harassment of government critics, and a rewriting of the nation’s constitution, which was most recently revised under the provisional military government in 2017. Smaller groups of protesters gathered at a military base and the prime minister’s office on Monday evening, the AP reports”. [3]
Most of these young pro-democracy activists have demonstrated through the Covid-19 pandemic where there were lockdowns enforced. Unlike most of the centrist left throughout the world, these young activists (mainly students) ignored the bonaprtist measures and turned out to protests against Thailand’s police state.
“Several thousand anti-government protesters rallied in Thailand’s capital on Saturday to call for a new constitution, new elections and an end to repressive laws.
Chanting and waving placards, the demonstrators, comprising mainly younger Thais, converged on Bangkok’s iconic Democracy Monument in the old part of the city, a popular venue for dissent.
The gathering, organized by a group calling itself Liberation Youth, was the biggest of its kind since the government called a state of emergency in March to deal with the coronavirus”.[4]
“Several thousand anti-government protesters rallied in Thailand's capital on Saturday to call for a new constitution, new elections and an end to repressive laws.
Chanting and waving placards, the demonstrators, comprising mainly younger Thais, converged on Bangkok's iconic Democracy Monument in the old part of the city, a popular venue for dissent.
The gathering, organized by a group calling itself Liberation Youth, was the biggest of its kind since the government called a state of emergency in March to deal with the coronavirus.
Protests against the government of former army Chief Prayuth Chan-ocha had been drawing increasingly large crowds at the time.”[5].
For a Worker's Government based on the Urban and Rural Poor
Thailand was one of the strongest economies in South-East Asia, but the onset of the competing rivalries of imperialism has battered the country. The truth of the matter is that Thailand since the Covid-19 pandemic started, faces ruin and bankruptcy with the onset of the immense crisis of capitalism. This has led to Thailand’s major tourist industry facing a 40% reduction largely due to the pandemic. There are no holiday makers and local beaches are empty, with no chance of improvement. The hotel and tourism industry is on the verge of collapse leading to mass unemployment, austerity, starvation and poverty for a massively growing number of people. This weak economic basis combined with the bonapartist regime could provoce a pre-revolutionary situation in Thailand and affect other capitalist countries in South-East Asia.
The RCIT puts forward the following demands to unite the workers, the poor peasants, the youth and the urban poor to overthrow this reactionary bonapartist regime and establish a workers government.
* Support the strikes and demonstration by the Pro-Democracy Movement, without landing any political support for liberal bourgeois forces. Extend the protests to include the working class and the urban poor and fight for a revolutionary, working-class perspective of the movement!
* Overthrow the Prayut-Chan-o-cha regime! Organise strikes up to Indefinite General Strike to bring down this Reactionary Bonapartist Regime!
* For a Constituent Assembly under the control of the organized popular masses! For a Workers Government based on councils of the urban and rural poor!
* For Armed Self-Defense Guards of workers, students and the poor peasants to protect their communities, towns and villages against attacks by Police, Army and Fascist Gangs.
* Abolish all foreign debt without compensation! Expropriate the Multinational Corporations and put them under Workers Control!
* We call on all workers and poor peasants to fight for these demands with us! Join the RCIT as a first step towards the creation of a Revolutionary Socialist World Party, the 5th International.
Footnotes
(3) https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/v7gyby/thailand-largest-anti-government-protests-since-coup
(4) https://globalnews.ca/news/7192586/bangkok-democracy-protests-thailand/
(5) https://www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacific/thousands-bangkok-rally-against-thai-government