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By sending a military representative to attend Myanmar dictator Min Aung Hlaing’s Armed Forces Day celebration this past weekend, the Thai army showed just how morally corrupt it is.
Even while the world, and much of ASEAN, stood up to condemn the atrocities going on in Myanmar, the Thai military establishment and its proxy generals running the government have stopped short of condemning its longtime allies in the Tatmadaw.
Even as Myanmar military jets were bombing ethnic villages and Myanmar soldiers were shooting dead medics and children, the Thai army saw it fit to send a representative to attend a celebration of the Tatmadaw.
The Thai military over the past two weeks denied that it was choosing sides in the conflict in Myanmar.
It denied that it was sending rice to the Myanmar Army conducting operations on the borders against the ethnic armies – saying instead it was just business as usual for rice traders.
The Thai military denied that it had put up warning posters in refugee camps and that it had threatened to deport any leaders of the Myanmar opposition pro-democracy movement that might find their way to Thailand.
But it cannot deny sending a representative to attend the victory parade of a neighboring dictator that had just toppled a democratically elected government in February. It cannot deny that a member of the Thai armed force stood in Naypyidaw next to their Myanmar brethren while a few miles away people were being shot for protesting for democracy.
It cannot deny that, it is for all the world to see. Should we be surprise, should we quote old adages about birds of the same feather?
We probably shouldn’t. But the next time someone in Thailand talks about the Thai army’s divine moral position to protect the nation and its sacred institutions, point to this weekend.
#Myanmar army chief Min Aung Hlaing attended a dinner for the junta's Armed Forces Day tonight, as his fighter jets bombed an ethnic Karen area, forcing villagers to flee – several are reported killed.#WhatIsHappeningInMyanmar pic.twitter.com/IgfWjQ1RBZ
— Poppy McPherson (@poppymcp) March 27, 2021
How self obsessed and delusional is Min Aung Hlaing? Last night as his soldiers murdered more than 100 people across Myanmar, including young children, he celebrated the "glorious" history of the military at a lavish dinner complete with a drone portrait of himself. pic.twitter.com/W7MCCv7xNy
— Timothy McLaughlin (@TMclaughlin3) March 28, 2021
#Myanmar army chief Min Aung Hlaing has arrived at the Armed Forces Day parade in Naypyitaw, to the sound of a brass brand. Last night, state media warned protesters against his coup would be shot in the head.#WhatsHappeningInMyanmar pic.twitter.com/y5NKLLOcNw
— Poppy McPherson (@poppymcp) March 27, 2021