Thailand has moved on without Prayuth
Real democracy is a concept Thailand's army seriously dislikes. The problem with democracy for Prayuth, is that it produces governments which serve the interests of ordinary Thai people and not the Palace, the army, the elite and big business. Obviously, General Prayuth needs to sort that out.
And no sooner has the NCPO junta announced that elections will be held in 2015, that Prayuth has got down to work to fix "the problem" of democracy. This time the General means business. NEVER again will democracy be allowed to interfere with the wishes of an elite minority in Thailand!
Ok, so the first thing to go will be the idea that poor people´s votes count the same as those of the "educated" elite. Actually, why should poor people be allowed to vote at all?! Thai farmers can´t be trusted to choose the nation's leaders. That's the army's job.
So, 30% of government seats should be "appointed" by Prayuth to ensure the army and the elite maintain control in parliament. After all, if all the parliamentary seats were elected, that would mean democratic "chaos" again, with elected representatives making the decisions. That can't be right.
This type of manipulation and election fixing, is what Thailand's self-proclaimed leader calls "overhauling democracy". The objective is to make it impossible for the wishes of Thai people to be reflected in parliament. Thus, shutting them out of the democratic process.
To Prayuth all of this sounds like music to his ears. By "overhauling" the system so that the vast majority of Thai voters have no effective voice in Thailand, it would no longer be necessary for the army to overthrow elected governments with yet another illegal coup.
manipulation
The question is, how should the international community react to this obvious manipulation of the electoral system? And secondly, how will Thai people themselves react? Is there any point in participating in rigged elections, the results of which are known even before the first vote is cast?
No, of course not. General Prayuth needs to be told that all the changes that he is making are not acceptable. Neither the new army charter, nor the interim regime he plans to impose on Thailand later this year, nor the rigged election system he is currently working on are acceptable.
ALL of these changes are illegal. The coup is illegal. Prayuth's junta is illegal. No-one will accept these changes and the sanctions against the junta will continue, until the General is isolated and forced to quit. The only acceptable changes are an end to Marshal law and a swift return to democracy.
Prayuth thinks that he can fool foreign investors and governments into accepting a bogus democracy that seeks to silence and exclude the majority of Thai people from power. He's wrong. He's wasting his time. The General needs to accept that he is living in the past. Thailand has moved on without him.