Thanathorn” remembers the incident of October 6, citing the case of a soldier who was beaten to death – the Tak Bai case, reflecting the failure of not being able to hold anyone accountable even once, inviting the people to move forward for a society of “freedom, freedom, brotherhood”
Mr. Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, former leader of the Future Forward Party and chairman of the Progressive Movement, gave a lecture on the topic of 48 years of October 6, a mirror reflecting Thai society. He said that at first, he had mixed feelings and did not want to come because everything that needed to be said had already been said. Things that could not be said could still not be said. But in the end, he thought that it would be better to come and fill each other with hope and encouragement.
Thanathorn said that several years ago, he had the opportunity to visit the Red Barrel Historical Park in Phatthalung Province, which was the first time he had heard about the brutal stories from his own experience. Since 1972, th
e military has settled in to sweep away suspected communists. They have arranged for people to be interrogated, beaten until they lose consciousness, stuffed into red barrels, and burned, which is where the park got its name. The number is said to be as many as 3,000 people. It is interesting that the state chose to deal with dissidents by creating fear, hoping that the people would distance themselves from them and not support the work of the Communist Party. However, the situation turned around when the people became angry, and murders occurred.
‘I would like you to imagine if our parents and siblings were the ones who were burned in the red barrels, hot oil, how would you feel? Currently, the families of the deceased have not received any compensation. There is only a monument built by the people themselves, as a reminder to those who see it and as a representative of the deceased. The history of the red barrels has never been included on the day of the national recount. The case against those involved ha
s never been closed,’ said Mr. Thanathorn.
Mr. Thanathorn continued that one of the demands of the students of Thailand is to dissolve the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC). He sees that the demands are still current to this day. To this day, no one involved in the Red Barrel incident has been punished. No citizen has received any compensation from the state.
Mr. Thanathorn told the second story that last week, there was a period when he could not work. He felt angry and resentful when he heard the news of Sirawat Jaidee, a 21-year-old soldier assigned to the Royal Thai Navy Police, who passed away on July 2. However, it only became news recently because his friends revealed that he trained very hard. He was ordered to run many laps. The instructor kicked his leg with a combat boot in the face because he thought he was being coy. He also ordered his friends to put him in the middle of the field without giving him first aid until Private Sirawat died. According to his sister, Private Sirawat was a
good student but had no money at home, so he applied to be a conscript soldier, hoping to make a living by serving in the military. His sister also said that from the doctor’s autopsy, it was found that his ribs were broken, and many fellow soldiers were ready to testify that he died during training.
‘To raise a person to 21 years old, how much money do you think your family spends? How much money does the whole society spend? I am a father too. I can’t imagine if something like this happened to my child. How would I cope? Would I have the strength, the will to carry on with my life? If it happened to me, I am not sure,’ said Thanathorn.
Thanathorn told the third story, the Tak Bai incident, that this incident began with a protest rally against the arrest of 8 village security guards on charges of supplying guns to a group of rioters. Approximately 1,000 protesters gathered unarmed, but the state used violence to disperse the rally. The military commander made the protesters lie on top of each other in a ve
hicle for over 3 hours, resulting in over 70 deaths. The court indicated that the cause was suffocation. While the legal case was being prosecuted by state officials, while the public sector repeatedly demanded it, there was no progress. Until the case was about to expire, the group of victims sued again. Arrest warrants were issued for 7 high-ranking soldiers and police officers. But as of today, 19 days from the statute of limitations, not a single defendant has been arrested and brought to court. One of them is a member of the House of Representatives who was the former commander of the 4th Army at that time. He sent a letter of resignation to the Speaker of the House from August 26 to October 31, claiming that he went abroad to receive cancer treatment.
Mr. Thanathorn said that he brought up these three examples to talk about. How can we accept such an event? These three events have something in common, which is the existence of a culture of impunity in Thai society. Those who do wrong have never been pr
osecuted even once.
“I think this is a major failure of common sense in Thai society. State officials who violate people’s freedoms and kill people cannot be prosecuted. This is a major failure of common sense in society,” Thanathorn said.
Thanathorn added that this is not a failure of the system, but rather a necessity for the system to have this kind of culture. He has tried very hard to participate in creating a democratic Thailand with freedom, progress, and equality. Since the establishment of the political party, today, the rights have been revoked. He is a defendant in two cases under Section 112. However, this is not the time to be discouraged.
‘What happened in 2020-2021 clearly shows that Thailand’s ideological ceiling has progressed a lot. The 2023 election clearly showed that the amendment of Section 112 became a widely discussed topic in mainstream media. In the major debates of the election, it showed that society has come a long way, has progressed a lot. So this is the most exciting time in
history. There has never been a time in history where such a progressive agenda has been widely discussed and made commonplace,’ said Mr. Thanathorn.
Mr. Thanathorn concluded by saying that many people have already been through October 6th, many people have gone through many other events. If you think that you have done your best in the past, I think it is not enough. I believe that important changes will come. I strongly believe that the political awakening of the people today cannot be easily erased. I want everyone to be strong and have the encouragement to move forward to create a society with freedom, independence, and brotherhood.
Source: Thai News Agency