With his political future in question, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha circled back today to his original justification for bringing down civilian rule and seizing power eight years ago: corruption.
In comments marking International Anti-Corruption Day, 68-year-old Prayuth insisted that he not only wouldn’t tolerate corruption within his government, he also vowed to fight all injustices, and denied with a totally straight face ever being corrupt.
“I am speaking about this today because I’ve never been corrupt. If I was corrupt I would not be able to show my face to all Thai people,” he said at a panel discussion. “As the person in charge of policies, there absolutely won’t be any corruption in policies, and if anyone is wrong, they must be punished accordingly.”
Much like Communism was the bogeyman used by his dictator forebears, Prayuth conjured a manichean fight against corruption to delegitimize the civilian government that he ousted by force and presented himself as the only one selfless enough to bring honor to the realm.
With elections looming, it’s unsurprising that he would return to that tried-and-tested message, but it may struggle to land with the electorate given the clouds of scandal, corruption, unaccountability, and accusations of nepotism throughout his eight-year tenure.
That the man who tried to impose “happiness” by fiat along with decades of prescribed planning on a nation has no new ideas to sell the public might owe to his own uncertain future. Prayuth has signaled he may jump ship from his longtime ally’s political party. And even if he won, he would be unable to complete his term because of constitutional limits.
Today, Prayuth pointed out that most corruption stems from problems with the patronage system (rife in his military, police, and family), bribery (don’t ask about his No. 2’s million-dollar watches or weapons deals) and use of legal loopholes (from the man who tore up the constitution to grant himself absolute power).
It’s just as likely that his lackluster messaging is a consequence of knowing the fix is in. The constitution that he forced through in 2017 enshrined military rule. So maybe he doesn’t have to try that hard.
“As direct and disguised authoritarian rule has become increasingly entrenched in recent years, the main institutions, policymakers, political actors, and adjustment mechanisms have been compromised and co-opted,” political analyst Thitinan Pongsudhirak wrote in today’s Bangkok Post. “This means that Thai mainstream media is not investigating and asking tough questions about government performance and the role of traditional institutions, such as the military and judiciary” and instead has become their mouthpiece.
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