“WE FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY AND JUSTICE”

After a historic election in 2001, Thaksin was the first democratically elected prime minister of Thailand to complete a full term in office and his rule is generally agreed to have been one of the most distinctive in the country's modern history. At the time, some academics called it the most open, corruption-free election in Thai history. Thai Rak Thai won 248 parliamentary seats. Not only that, he got re-elected and back in position again in 2005, winning 374 out of 500 seats in the Parliament. The election had been recorded as the highest voter turnout in Thai history. That means that the people of Thailand approved him democratically. And it’s the will of the people who decides that Thaksin is suitable for running the country. People are the voice and the absolute power of democracy. For those who observed the soldiers cold-blood murdered people on the streets of Bangkok, it may be tempting to assume the chaos is merely about different colored shirts and supporters of different political parties. But that is not the case. What we have been seeing in Thailand since late 2005 is a growing class war between the poor majority and the old elites. The military troops firing bullets and snipers on pro-democracy demonstrators in Bangkok aiming to protect the interests of the conservative elites who have run Thailand for the past 80 years. If you ask me why I’m red, if you ask me why I support Thaksin. It’s because I support democracy and looking for a true democratic rules and justice in this country. What had happened in 2006 was a military coup d’état in which the military has cancelled the thenupcoming elections, abrogated the Constitution, dissolved Parliament and Constitutional Court, banned protests and all political activities, declared martial law nationwide, arrested Cabinet members, and suppressed and censored the media. It’s the worst censorship ever in Thailand, censoring the Internet and the media in all shape and form. They even attack on the public social network such as Facebook. These practices drifted Thailand far away from democracy, liberty, justice and human rights. These practices were not democracy. These were unmistakably an act of tyranny, dictatorship, and fascism and of course these are the process to impede the democracy. According to Jatuporn Prompan, Thai politician and activist of Red Shirts said that from the coup d’état, more people from all levels of society have become Red Shirt supporters because they see the injustice occurred and the importance of fighting for true democratic rules and justice. All the corruption cases that against Thaksin, such as the seizing of Thaksin’s assets that worth 46 billion Thai baht, were imputed because of the coup d’état. The accusations against him were not democratic at all. They were done by the military in charge and therefore I don’t believe that Thaksin is guilty of those accusations. If someone wants to find him guilty of something, file him against the guilty based on democratic code of law not a code that was written by soldiers or military with guns standing behind. In the late 2007, when the first general election was held since the military coup in previous year, the People’s Power Party has won the election overwhelmingly, receiving 310 votes against 163 of the Democrat Party. Samak, the then party's leader, was elected as a prime minister. But not long after, in July 2008, Samak Sundaravej's 5-month-old government was in great trouble and was forced to resign from the premiership only because of Samak is running two cooking shows on television, which are Chim Pai Bon Pai and Yok Khayong Hok Mong Chao. Also, the People’s Power Party was accused of vote buying. Looking through the surface, this case maybe done democratically, but actually, there’s a general who stand behind the scene with their guns and tanks telling the court to pass the decision against the party. The military that want to overthrew a democratically elected leader away. And this is definitely non-democracy. There was a time during that period that Mr. Abhisit and Democrats Party came to power by the ballot of people in the House of Representatives. On the surface, this maybe sounds democratic when the Members of Parliament vote for the prime minister but really this’s abusing democracy. Those Members of Parliament and those smaller parties were scared by the military. The situation forced them to take the Democrats side. It’s all about tyranny with the soldiers behind the scene. We want the government that is democratically elected by the people not the military appointed. We want the government that comes from real people and that will do things for the people. That’s why we marched. That’s why we raise a protest to fight for the freedom and equality of ordinary citizens. In 2010, when the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), also known as Red Shirts, marched from the village in Korat down to Ayutthaya and to Bangkok, we marched for democracy and justice. We marched down to call for dissolution of the government and a new general election to reset Thailand’s troubled democracy. We marched peacefully. We exercised for our democratic rights to protect democracy, which had been overthrown by a military-backed coup d’état in 2006. But instead, the government brings armed soldiers and tanks onto the streets. They try to disperse our peaceful demonstration using armed tanks, guns, and so on. Live ammunition was fired at unarmed protesters and journalists. We even have people hiding in the religious ground, Wat Pathum Wanaram temple, and the soldiers were shooting at the civilians in the temple. At least 98 people died and almost 2,000 were injured. The soldiers murdered us. Abhisit ordered the soldiers to shoot us, to kill us. He’s the murderer. We are just innocent unarmed demonstrators exercising for our democratic rights, dignity, and social justice. So, demanding for proper democratic elections is perfectly legitimate.
But what the government did was injustice. Our democratic rights have been robbed and that this is part of the system that allows such inequality in Thailand. The government needs to be condemned. They must responsible for their fierce attack on our rights to freedom of speech. It has always been evil in the kingdom of Thailand. The rich take everything and the poor get nothing. But when Thaksin came into power in 2001, he brought prosperity and development to the country. Surachai Sae-Dan, former Communist Party of Thailand leader of Daeng Siam (Red Siam Group), who is currently imprisoned under lese majeste allegations, noted that Thaksin brought prosperity and development to the country. As he says, Thaksin worked in good faith for the masses, creating opportunities for people on an equal basis, and wanted to see social improvement through his populism scheme. Thaksin introduced a range of policies to alleviate rural poverty. He launched a village-managed microcredit development funds, low-interest agricultural loans, and the One Tambon One Product (OTOP) rural small and medium enterprise development program that promotes equal chances for all people. It creates job opportunities for us that give us a sense of self-worth and better life standard. These schemes help Thailand recover from the 1997 Asian financial crisis and substantially reduce poverty. Nationwide poverty fell from 21.3% to 11.3%. Moreover, the GDP has grown from 4.9 trillion baht in 2001 to 7.1 trillion baht in 2006. Thailand also able to repaid its debts to the International Monetary Fund two years ahead of schedule. Beside that he also introduced a 30-baht/visit national healthcare program in which I can go to the doctor with just 30 baht in the pocket. The program has been proved by the National Health Security Office (NHSO) to have help increase access to healthcare from 76% of the population to 96% From all the great schemes that Thaksin had initiated, we are able to support our family and ourselves. Thaksin gave us prosperity that no one else or no other government in the kingdom of Thailand has ever been able to do. The government that come from the real people and do things for the people is the deal we make in a democracy. The government that gives us prosperity and the right to simply be free and enjoy life. Call it populism or call it whatever you like but for me, I’m able to live a life better than ever before. And that is why I wear the red shirt and support their ideology.