Infiltrating Society by Puangthong Pawakapan

Author:Puangthong Pawakapan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: POL007000, JPHV
Publisher: ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute
Published: 2021-01-11T00:00:00+00:00

1.the national level chaired by Prime Minister Prayut;

2.the provincial level chaired by a provincial governor or the permanent-secretary of the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority;

3.the district level and Bangkok’s communities chaired by a district chief or Bangkok’s district director; and

4.the subdistrict and Bangkok’s community level.

At the subdistrict level, the district chief in the provinces or district director in Bangkok had to set up an operational unit of seven to twelve people including civil servants, security officers, a local wise man (prat chaoban or local philosopher), and members of the volunteer/mass organizations in the area (Khom Chad Luek, 3 November 2016). The Thai niyom programme emphasized kan op-rom, educational training or indoctrination. ISOC, which was the main organization in charge of the learning centres, formed a hundred instructor teams (Prachachat, 15 February 2018; Ministry of Interior 2018, p. 2). Many of the people recruited to the training programmes under the Pracharat and Thai niyom flags appeared to be members of ISOC’s mass organizations.

In 2018 the Ministry of Interior produced a 66-page “Manual for National Development in Line with the Sustainable Thai-ism Project”, providing instructions on how to operate training courses, how to persuade people, and what issues should be emphasized. Predictably, this indoctrination relied largely on the late king’s legacy. For example, the manual suggests instructors begin the information sessions with withi thai pho-phiang, the Thai way of life of sufficiency, by letting people watch a video clip titled, literally We will be strong for King Rama 9 (Ministry of Interior 2018, p. 32). The highly sentimental six-minute video clip, produced by a private advertising firm Box Wedding and released to the public at the end of October 2016, begins with scenes of the night of the king’s decease, 13 October 2016, showing the deep sorrow and great sense of loss among Thai people. It ends with the message that Thais will always stand together for King Rama 9.8

In essence, Thai niyom reflects the anxiety of the conservative elites over societal polarization, corrupt politicians, majoritarian politics, people’s free choice of politicians, and the influence of Western democracy, which, they claim, is not compatible with Thainess. The solutions to such problem are to change people’s mindset on their way of life; to persuade them to practise the king’s sufficiency economy; to persuade them not to sell their votes and to educate them on the importance of voting for khon di (a good person) and khon keng (a capable person); to educate people on the attributes of khon di; to keep watch of politicians’ use of the national budget; to take care of the poor who register in the junta’s social security programme; to promote Thainess; to educate people on the flaws of Western democracy and the importance of prachathipatai thai niyom or Thai-ism democracy; and to respect the rule of law (Ministry of Interior 2018).

These concerns were emphasized at the launch of the Thai niyom campaign by General Anupong. He did not try to hide the perception of the conservative elites that Thai people

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