“Does Thailand plan to continue swinging between military coups and civilian rule?” Thanathorn

PHOTO: asia.nikkei.com

“It is about time we make some noise and guide our society out of this cycle.”

Appearing at the Thai Constitutional Court, in defence of his media shareholding case, Future Forward’s party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit used his written closing statement to ask judges if they were happy for Thailand to continue swinging back and forth between civilian rule and military coups.

Thai PBS World reports that Thanathorn, who held a significant share in the V Luck Media company, says the company closed down on November 26 last year, prior to the Royal Decree on January 23 which announced a general election for March 24.

He insists it was not a media company, saying its magazines had nothing to do with politics and were not politically biased in any way. He points out that the magazines produced by the company included such publications as Who magazine, for which V Luck produced the last issue, along with an in-flight magazine for Nok Air and Wealth magazine for Siam Commercial Bank.

Thanathorn claims that the reason he’s had to defend himself in court is not really due to his stake in a media company, but because he dared to challenge the junta’s stranglehold on Thai politics. He says he created the Future Forward party by following proper legal procedure with the aim of amending the Constitution by peaceful and legal means.

“I have a dream that everybody is equal and there is rule of law, a dream of Thailand being prosperous and with no more coups. Is having these dreams a cardinal sin?”

Thanathorn says he’ll accept the court’s findings when it delivers its verdict on November 20 but that he plans to continue trying to fulfill his political aims, asking the judges if they really want to see the country continue back and forth between military coups and civilian leadership.

“Several judges are over 70 and have gone through several coups, while I was born in 1978 and have been through four coups. Do we want society to carry on like this? It is about time to review our history over the past ten years. It is about time we make some noise and guide our society out of this cycle.”

SOURCE: Thai PBS World