Four years under the military regime headed by Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, the country has encountered a new socio-political phenomenon in which the men in green have tried to maintain their power.
In his studies on dictatorship, political scientist Pitch Pongsawat of Chulalongkorn University has noted that dictators cannot act in a normal way. This is because they have to "deform" society. For me, I look beyond that. Dictators force people to collectively live in an abnormal society. One thing that they have achieved, unlike the coup-installed Surayud Chulanond regime, is to silence all the critics. During the Surayud government, we witnessed the red-shirt movement, with protesters storming the residence of Privy Council president Gen Prem Tinsulanonda. Anti-coup people could protest then. But not under the current regime, which creates a climate of fear. They arrest everyone: academics, people, students and the media.
The current regime makes "fear" a normal affair. People in society have to keep others under surveillance. They examine each other. If we criticise the regime, some people will give us a slap on the wrist, saying "you have to stop" or "do you want to have fried rice and o-liang" -- which is a term used by inmates to refer to food and beverages. Someone has watched over us. For some people, we are in the same situation as those in 1984 and many have practiced self-censorship. In fact, power does not necessarily mean guns or weapons. It's kind of "bio-power" which makes people force themselves to remain silent. This is what the dictators have achieved.
The elites have made this systemic since 2007. Through propaganda and various discourses, those in power cast "elections" in a bad light for decades while politicians are demonised. "Thaksin is a demon that must be gotten rid of." This is a set of information that has been fed to new generations who see the following equation: election = politicians. Many young people who have never cast their ballot see elections as evil or demonic.
Power has been systematised through the education system and the media for more than two decades. That's why it's easy for dictators to take control and render the power of elites as something sacred. During a crisis, this special power can obstruct other powers. It should be noted that after the 2014 coup till now, the regime has reallocated power.
In the past 10 or 20 years during which the military taken power, it tried to project "politics" as a problem: a chaotic thing that is evil and which hinders the country's economic development. Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam praised the regime for making all street protests disappear, with no more "shutdowns". In a way he was right. Under the current regime, there is no space for people to express themselves as the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) uses its special powers, i.e. Section 44, Order 3/2558 and Section 116 to suppress its critics.
Under such a system, the regime inflicts heavy damage, not to the socio-economic system but to the country's justice system. The court and other judicial elements have lost their legitimacy as well as the public trust as it has condoned a coup d'etat. The damage has been so severe that it cannot be restored in 10 or 20 years.
But there remains some hope.
In my opinion, an election is a tool for revenge for small people who have no other power to confront a dictatorship with. An election is a form of revenge for the "nameless". No matter how the dictators interfere with the system, they can't have full control over an election. In fact, an election is the only thing dictators are afraid of. There are many examples of this. Myanmar's military was much more powerful that the NCPO. It had control mechanisms in place, and yet it eventually lost to Aung San Suu Kyi.
Now the "little people" are lying in waiting for the time they can cast their ballots again. An election is different from a referendum. Some people believe that only through election can they get rid of the NCPO. On the surface, people's politics seems to be fairly static, but really it isn't. It's just that people have no physical way to express themselves. Under such conditions, they look for new political spaces, like those who joined the "We Walk" movement, or the New Democratic Movement, and other non-formal spheres including those on social media.
I think elections have become more significant in the last two decades as they are more relevant to people's interests. An election is a tool that makes people exist in the eyes of the state. Some try to dismiss its importance, describing it as a process that only takes a few seconds (in marking the ballot). But an election is a process. It is tied to people's thoughts and judgement at each campaigning event. Since taking control of the country, the NCPO has blocked political process both at national and local levels.
What if the regime delays the election again beyond February? The regime will face much resistance. People are not satisfied with the Friday TV broadcast because what Gen Prayut says is not relevant to their lives. Over the past four years, the NCPO has blocked all channels. But the public knows that elections are not dead.
An election is not something we should ask for. It is our right.
Chaiyapong Samniang is a PhD student at Chiang Mai University. This is an abridged version of his interview with the programme 'We Watch' that appeared on the Prachatai webpage.