The reason why Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul cannot see anything wrong with the prolonging of the state of emergency decree is because it is not being used to arrest and prosecute any of his friends and family. |
There is no doubt now that the state of emergency decree, which was announced in March 2020, in order to prevent the spread of Covid-19 is also being used by the government to discourage people from protesting.
More than 1,400 activists and protesters were prosecuted for the violation of the emergency decree since May 2020, according to the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights. None of those cases had anything to do with Covid.
And even though the government is relaxing entry regulations and domestic restrictions ahead of declaring Covid as endemic by July, the government is still not lifting the SOE.
Anutin did hedge his position slightly on Thursday.
"Personally, I cannot see any problem with the existence of the emergency decree because it makes it easier to prevent the spread of the disease. But if Covid is declared as endemic, the law might no longer be necessary," he told reporters.
"The health sector is ready and there will be no need to depend on the power of security officers to help enforce the law to prevent the spread of the disease," he said.
Will Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha agree with the statement? We will have to wait and see.
Doing so would make it harder for the government to arbitrarily arrest protesters but they still have other tools at their disposal such as the Computer Crime Act, the sedition and lese-majeste laws, with which to continue to suppress activists, dissidents and political oppositions.
The government is in a precarious situation with rumors swirling that Prayut Chan-ocha might be on his way out.
That means they will be extra sensitive to protests and rallies that defy their rule.
Don't forget in the Deep South the SOE has been extended indefinitely because it makes it easier for them to control the population and exploit resources without having to find sustainable solutions.
They would love to do the same here.