Regime trawl for small fry no joke at all

The big fish hardly ever gets caught, not here. Only the small, the trivial, the nonsensical fish, the clownfish especially. As in school, or in prison, the bullies never bully the big kid. They only confirm their sense of power when they go after the small guys, the nerds, even the girls.

The weekly casualties of the junta follies continues. First, the cybercrime police swooped down on respected historian Charnvit Kasetsiri as a consequence of his Facebook post, in which the professor shared a photo of PM Prayut Chan-o-cha’s wife Naraporn and questioned if her handbag was an expensive luxury brand (it was not; she uses a local handicraft product). Mr Charnvit, former rector of Thammasat University, was slapped with the Computer Crime Act for introducing “false information” into the computer system. Since when is a handbag a national security issue, and since when is a PM’s wife fashion choice an untouchable subject? The whole thing — haven’t we grown used to this? — reeks of intimidation.

Then late Thursday night, the satirical Facebook page Khai Maew went offline. Details are murky at this stage, but it is suspected that the page, widely popular for its pokerfaced humour that swung hooks and jabs at the regime, was done in by the invisible power (the junta spokesman denied this). Khai Maew is an expert in a four-panel comic sketch that irreverently lampoons current affairs, including the ongoing fiasco about our timepiece collector du jour Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwon (25 glittering watches and counting).

If satire and humour is not permitted, then we’re really hitting a new new new nadir. If something frivolous — punchy yet frivolous — like Kai Maew is at risk, it seems the bullying machine has revved its menacing engine in anticipation of … what? The unveiling of a new “military party” maybe? Or the election that is likely to see the PM in full regalia jumping into the ring?

Time spent on these pettifogging pursuits is amazing. It’s as if a comet were about to hit Earth and the authorities are busy chasing neighbourhood card players. One wonders, do they have all time in the world? Because we clearly don’t.

Consider, too, the fact that the chief of the Royal Thai Police himself had to be present at the arrest of the rock star Seksan Sookpimay, also known as Sek Loso, after the errant musician fired shots into the air and was suspected of possessing narcotics. I mean, the chief of police led the whole precinct to nab, what, a half-drunk man with a penchant for weird Facebook live sessions. That was clearly not good management of human resources. Consider, too, an even more petty case of actress Apinya “Saipan” Sakulcharoensuk, who mistakenly uploaded a photo in which her boyfriend’s penis was visible (since deleted, of course) and who has been charged with cybercrime. Why would anybody be offended by the boyfriend’s little brother when we could go to any outdoor market to get professionally made porn, with better lighting to boot?

In any case, the netting of small fish is no laughing matter, especially in the matters of Mr Charnvit and the page Kai Maew, and especially in the larger context of censorship and state bullying, not to mention the wide interpretation of the cybercrime law.

What Mr Charnvit did — sharing content mildly critical of the junta — is what thousands of people do every day, including those who (still) champion the military government and promote content critical of the previous government. You can argue that Mr Charnvit is not a “small fish” but a widely respected scholar who disapproves of the regime. But seriously, to charge a retired professor for making a comment, clearly a non-libelous one, on a handbag is a major disservice to our law enforcement at a time when bigger, much bigger, fish are clearly swimming out there, unperturbed. And if the professor is really no small target, it’s even worse: It means his charge is clearly a censorship tactic, a warning, the muscle-flexing of a regime with a low tolerance for criticism.

Or a regime that is emotionally (if not physically) insecure, knowing they are running out of mileage, knowing they themselves are the big fish (with several watches) and one that can’t snap up other big fish (the Shinawatras, in their unperturbed exile). So the best they can do to console themselves and shore up psychological reinforcement from their die-hard fans is to go after whoever they can, no matter how trivial and inconsequential.

If this happens before the election date is announced, then what will happen afterwards — when the so-called military party unveils itself to muddy our swamp even further, stifling all fish, big and small.