No right to bear arms, no right to violence
Three separate incidents in last few weeks defined a deeprooted malevolence that continues to tear the fabric of Thai society apart. A weapons cache claimed to belong to Wuthipong “Kotee” Kochathamakun, a self-declared revolutionary and “hardcore” red-shirt leader was seized by the military on March 18, while nine suspects closely linked to him were arrested. The firearms included assault weapons of various kinds. Some were allegedly used during the red-shirt protests in 2010 and skirmishes during the now-defunct People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) uprising against the then Yingluck Shinawatra government in 2014.
The police also claimed the weapons were amassed in preparation to cause unrest in case Wat Phra Dhammakaya was raided by the authorities during last month’s siege.
Dressed in army fatigues, Kotee, who is a fugitive in Laos running an underground anti-government radio station, recently gave an interview denying the charges. The government quickly moved to use the seized weapons as a basis for charging Kotee and friends with terrorism among other offences and to seek his extradition (in his latest video clip, he said he was in hiding on Mars).
The skepticism surrounding this latest development is that a thorough sweep and search of red-shirt members’ houses, offices and hideaways was conducted by the military after Kotee fled the country following the 2014 coup d’etat. He was obviously among the prime red shirts the raids targeted. So how could such a large quantity of firearms have been missed during these previous searches?
This harks back to political conflicts of the past. In the Oct 6, 1976 bloody crackdown, students at Thammasat University were accused of being armed communist insurgents. After the university was raided, the then military government arranged a press conference displaying weapons neatly laid out on tables, together with “dangerous” propaganda material and pamphlets.
During the series of red-shirt protests in 2009-2010, a similar weapons show and conspiracy revelation was staged that included the infamous “anti-monarchy chart” — a map linking those in the opposition together with far-fetched and vivid claims that were later discounted.
The history of Thai politics is littered with similar kinds of theatrical scripts. Since they invariably resulted in trumped up charges — often prosecuted without going through any judicial process — doubts always lingered. It is quite understandable if many think this latest arms discovery was stage managed.
Of course, the public must not condone violence and the use of firearms. Kotee, if he really was involved in previous shootings and instigated violence, must be put on trial and sent to prison. The dilemma is that many in the present military regime’s leadership were part of the colour-coded political conflict during the past decade in which both sides had their own “men in black” armed units, supported by men in uniform. Their arsenals were heavy and there were casualties on both sides, as well as innocent people.
A case against the loser of a political power game should not be used to justify the violence employed by the winner. The public must closely watch to see if any court cases or public opinion are manipulated with stories along the lines that Kotee and red-shirt protesters were armed and dangerous, which led to violence and deaths, which meant the 2010 army crackdown on the red-shirt protests was legitimate.
If this happens, divisive sentiments will never heal.
In another incident, the Appeal Court last Tuesday convicted and immediately imposed jail sentences for 13 red-shirt leaders for disrupting an Asean Summit in 2009. Bail was denied even though the accused have the right of appeal in the Supreme Court.
In parallel, similar cases against the red shirts’ opponents — yellow-shirt protesters for their illegal occupation of Suvarnabhumi Airport and seizure of other regional airports in 2008 seem to have stalled. Moreover, cases against PDRC members for storming and shutting down government offices in 2014 are still moving at a snail’s pace.
Both sides of the political divide were wrong in resorting to such violent tactics. But if the prosecution and judicial process appear to be lopsided — vengeful feelings will not subside.
The third incident was the extrajudicial killing of ethnic Lahu activist Chaiyapoom Pasae on March 17 in which armed authorities took matters into their own hands in dubious circumstances.
Chaiyapoom, 17, was a local antidrug activist and well respected in his community. At a checkpoint in Chiang Dao district in Chiang Mai, an army unit claimed Chaiyapoom and his friend were trafficking illicit drugs and Chaiyapoom resisted arrest with a knife and a grenade in his hand. A single bullet took his life.
Again, Thai history is full of such episodes. Political activists, farmers and labour leaders, young teenagers in the deep South have died in unresolved cases — the killers were unknown or exonerated — where the authorities were blatantly involved.
These three incidents reflect what genuinely needs to be reformed in this country.
First, stricter gun control laws must be implemented. The right to bear arms does not mean the possession of military hardware or automatic weapons. Gangs, mafia warlords, hardcore political factions and especially men in uniform moonlighting as security guards, professional gunmen for hire or arms dealers must be brought under control.
Second, law enforcement and the justice process must be transparent and accountable. If the law is skewed, the alternative is violence.
As part of the ongoing reconciliation process, the judicial system must be fair, transparent and impartial. Any fact-finding body must be independent, investigate cases thoroughly and made them public in a detailed sequencing of events. The courts have a vital role to play in ascertaining what happened and who is responsible for it.
The justice system, from the prosecutor’s office to the judicial bodies, must take an active role without exception. This includes violent acts conducted by the state.
Third, no government — democratically elected or a military one — has the right to bear arms and instigate violence against the people. A built-in process to make officials accountable for their actions is essential for public acceptance of the system. The people cannot be left to feel helpless against those with power, whether it be with financial and political leverage or via the barrel of a gun.
Some may laugh at Kotee in fatigues. But one must not forget history’s mistake in underestimating a librarian named Mao Zedong or a revolutionary cadre named Hun Sen.
The dissatisfaction of people, under a continuously unjust system, when it reaches its peak can bring out the worst in all of us.