Everything goes in circles...och i kappvändarnas Thailand är inga allianser helt omöjliga, det kan man se genom att studera den thailändska "demokratiska" utvecklingen under 1900- och 2000-tal. Juntaregeringen har i och med den senaste regeringsombildningen minst två gamla thaksinister som ministrar, som ett exempel från nutid.
Att Demokraterna, som så sent som för fyra år sedan var instrumentala i det spel som ledde till Yingluck-regeringens fall, skule liera sig med PTP, känns kanske dock inte så troligt. Men vem vet?
Det vi vet, som kan dra utvecklingen mot till synes oheliga allianser är juntans fortsatta maktmissbruk. De verkar allt närmare att falla i samma fälla som sina företrädare, särskilt tidigare militärdiktaturer. Högmod går före fall som bekant.
Bland de senaste skandalerna kring nepotism och korruption, som börjar bli oräkneliga, sticker händelsen med en kadett som dog i sviterna av vad som förefaller vara misshandel av äldre kadetter, ut. Shit happens typ, verkar vara budskapet från tigerbrorsorna:
" In the most recent case, a response by Deputy Prime Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwon to the allegedly suspicious death of army cadet Pakapong Tanyakan has unified the country in fury. Even though autopsy results appeared to conflict with some of the information still not yet available, the "big brother" of the government and defence minister insisted Pakapong, 18, died of heart failure, not because of corporal punishment at the school as suspected by his family.
Without offering his condolences, Gen Prawit went all in to defend the practice of physical punishment, saying it's "normal" for military cadets to be subject to hazing or penalised for violating rules.
The retired general said he was subject to the same treatment to the point of passing out. "But I didn't die," he said, as if those who did were somehow at fault.
When asked what should be done to prevent the deaths of other military cadets, Gen Prawit said: "Then don't enrol. Don't study at the army cadet school. We only want those who are willing."
Willing to die? Gen Prawit was apparently keen to protect the armed forces preparatory school and by extension the army itself from criticism following the successive deaths of young men entrusted to their care. But to do so with no sympathy for a life lost in allegedly unclear circumstances was extremely inconsiderate.
The truth is that the remark about the cadet's death is but a more extreme version of the kind of thoughtless, uncaring response this government has made in response to people's hardship and an assortment of problems.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has been no less insensitive in his responses to growers suffering from declines in crop prices. All these "grow lemons if the rice price falls" or "go sell rubber on Mars" type of comments are equally crass, stemming from the same couldn't-care-less assumption that farmers or growers run into problems because they didn't try hard enough.
As for recent flood victims, the government at first vehemently denied the problem. Once it could not be covered up, the host of the regime's daily propaganda programme simply said villagers should take the opportunity to learn to live in harmony with nature.
This kind of irresponsible spin can be repulsive. It seems the old conviction that the military is here to "save" the country has forged the mistaken belief among the top brass that other people's lives may be treated as collateral damage.
Without a clear answer, the army cadet's death will shake up the entire system.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/1368267/cadet-case-reflects-regime-callousness
Nu har just denna juntaregering som det verkar varit extremt duktig på att manövrera bort sina motståndare, men för maktfullkomlighet finns alltid en yttre gräns, som i Thailand normalt verkar ha ett snabbare förlopp än i tex Zimbabwe. Men att Abhisit och låt oss säga Khuniyng Sudarat eller den fängslade (?) Jatuporn skulle göra gemensam sak och ställa sig på barrikaderna mot juntan? Föga troligt. I så fall troligare med en revolution inom de militära leden, stödd av de som sitter på slantarna.