How many let-them-eat-cake moments do you think the military regime can suffer from before it arrives at an emperor-wears-no-clothes finale?
After three years in power, the tide is turning against the ruling regime. Its functioning image of being the peace-keeper and do-gooder with no vested interests has worn off to expose iron-fist militarism at its core. The corrosion of the regime's redeemer image would have been of no problem had it meant to exit the political scene next year, as it should do under its own "roadmap to democracy".
But it's no secret that the regime wants to hang in there, if not physically in the form of having Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha in the top job for another term or two, then via government mechanisms --l aws, orders and personnel it put into place over the past several years to ensure its influence will remain.
It is increasingly doubtful, however, whether hard-core authoritarianism alone will carry the top brass to their final goal. Judging by how much the public love Deputy Prime Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwon's diamond ring and wrist watch, 20 years may be a dream too far for the military leaders.
Truth be told, the deputy premier's bling-bling is unlikely to do him in politically but in terms of public image, the glitter of these fancy items has somewhat blighted the public expectation that public officials will be modest. Besides, the ring and watch are but the latest in a series of scandals which the government has had to weather lately.
Gen Prawit himself has yet to recover from a previous wound caused by careless comments about the suspicious death of military cadet Pakapong Tanyakan. At that time, Gen Prawit vouched the cadet had died of heart failure, not because he was beaten up by military men in a display of allegedly unauthorised corporal punishment as suspected by his family.
Last week, the Justice Ministry's Central Institute of Forensic Science delivered its autopsy results to the cadet's family which indicated the young man had several bruises believed to stem from assault, and that his broken rib bone was not caused by cardiopulmonary resuscitation as earlier believed. The army cadet's family is keen to take the case to court to ensure justice for their 18-year-old son.
The family has not revealed full details of the autopsy findings but the pressure will still be on Gen Prawit. If forensic evidence suggests Pakapong did suffer assault while studying at the cadet school, what moral grounds will Gen Prawit have to stay on, given his earlier comment that hazing and corporal punishment are to be expected at the school?
Gen Prawit may be able to come up with reasons why his luxury items, estimated to be worth several million baht each, were not included in his assets declaration filed with the National Anti-Corruption Commission which requires disclosure of valuables worth more than 200,000 baht. But in terms of public communication, Gen Prawit flunked already when he refused to tell the public about the flashy ring and wrist watch straightforwardly. By insisting he only needs to report to the anti-graft authority, Gen Prawit again made himself appear arrogant, inconsiderate and above scrutiny.
Of course, he is not required by law to tell the public how he got his hands on the ring and watch but hasn't he thought about why public figures usually resort to press conferences or interviews to clear away any doubts that people may have about them? Full disclosure is the most effective public communication method in this case. Doubt about his assets is widespread but Gen Prawit would rather keep information about them confidential with the authorities. It's such a smart way to make the public wonder about what exactly he has to hide.
Worse, Gen Prawit is giving his own government's anti-graft campaign a bad name. Gen Prawit must strive to do more than the law requires. He must explain the matter to the public until there is no reasonable doubt about why the items were with him without them being declared.
Ironically, it's the government spokesman who seems to have suffered public rebukes lately. Lt Gen Sansern Kaewkamnerd has made so many gaffes lately -- implying that a protest leader was missing because he strayed with another woman for example -- that his boss the PM admitted the more his spokesman opened his mouth, the more bad press the government received. The problem, however, is the ring, the watch, the beleaguered deputy premier or a misspeaking spokesman may be early symptoms of exposed militarism. Worse could be in store and 20 years will be a long game.
Atiya Achakulwisut is a Bangkok Post columnist.
