Playing the Trump card in our backyard
Is there a pattern here? The world watches in incredulity at the apparent display of right-wing, ultranationalist, anti-otherness outpouring that crosses the line from ideology into bigotry — from Donald Trump and his “No-Muslim” policy to the xenophobia-toeing Marine Le Pen in France, to Thailand’s own finger-pointing mobs shouting hatred at student activists, the threat of mass arrests and now the criminalisation of Facebook’s “likes”. Seriously? When squeezed, a wound bursts with pus. And pus is everywhere in the news.
First we laughed at Donald Trump, shaking our heads in condescension and dismissing him as a rabid reactionary with bad hair and a badder mouth. He wants to ban Muslims from entering the US, and he never said no when someone suggested to him that American Muslims should be registered and monitored. The Horseman of the Apocalypse has arrived, big and bloated, pink-skinned and blond-haired, and the scariest thing, the thing that stops us from laughing, is not seeing Mr Trump charging down that infernal path — it’s the fact that he has a solid, large base of admirers who cheer his every incendiary remark.
“He speaks my mind,” that has become a common view among his fans, the semblance of racism totally escaping them — or maybe they just don’t care. Mr Trump is a diabolical evangelist in a democratic race to define America’s conscience. His views are outrageous, but the worst thing he has done is cracking open a can of worms — the can and the worms that have always been right there anyway.
There are cans of worms here too (and 99% democracy, according to official estimates). Judging from recent events, the can has popped open and the lid crushed: on Monday a group of hyperroyalists shouted abuse at students who were making a trip to Rajabhakti Park, accusing them of disrespecting the monarchy for trying to find fault with the project. Their tempers were heated, their hatred apparent, and the fury with which they demonised the students — the other side, the men on evil’s payroll — reminded us of nothing else except the pre-Oct 6, 1976 nationalist fever that led to bloodshed. That was the closest thing to Apocalypse we ever experienced, and the cycle is coming back in full swing.
Then came detention of the student activists, the surreal bid to probe the US ambassador for his remarks, and on Thursday the arrest of a man who shared an infographic about the Rajabhakti Park scandal. The police have also looked into a possible mass arrest of 20 administrators and members of a Facebook group — which has nearly 100,000 members — who may have violated the lese majeste law, including by clicking “Like” on some posts. So, 32 years in jail for clicking “Like”? Of course, all of this has made news around the world. If we laugh at Mr Trump’s polemical stand-up comedy — his bizarre disregard for history and humanity, for his country’s past pain and present condition — imagine people doing the same reading about Thailand.
In the US and parts of Europe, the catalyst for the far-right surge is a crunched economy, global competition, immigrant issues and the existential threat of terrorism. Some people feel trapped, and along comes a prophet, a mad visionary, a vanquisher of the imagined enemy who promises to restore the nation’s long-lost glory. That’s why Mr Trump and Ms Le Pen, from France’s right-wing National Front, are “speaking the mind” of their voters. It doesn’t matter that it’s impossible to ban Muslims from entering a country, or to register them like criminals, or to get rid of all immigrants — it doesn’t matter because at least these politicians have given voice to the hidden fear, prejudice and anger.
The catalyst for Thailand’s mentality of intolerance is more convoluted. It’s fear eating people’s souls. It’s a reaction against unchecked liberalism, or maybe it’s a cycle, a tug-of-war, or because the clock has never ticked forward from 1976 without us noticing. What makes our case more alarming is that Mr Trump, no matter how offensive he is, will have to go through a long and intense election campaign. His fans are many, but they can’t just have what they want without listening to the rest of the country. Marine Le Pen of France and her voters, too.
For now the reactionaries in Thailand don’t have to listen to anyone. Without the due process of hearing all voices, regardless of how constructive or nonsensical they are, the course of our history has lost its compass. It’s all emotionalism, chauvinism, intolerance. It’s detention of people under vague laws, and statements read on national TV like it was still the 1970s. We laugh at Donald Trump, but a Donald Trump would thrive like wild flowers here.