The coup to end corruption was a hideous lie.
Corruption is still rampant and in many areas, it has worsened.
Corrupt civil servants are still asking for money to speed up administrative processes. Licenses, visas, and national IDs can be bought.
Police are still taking bribes to look away from crimes to the point that Yaba (methamphetamine) now costs as low as 10-20 Baht per pill while a Chinese syndicate was roaming free with happy water.
Politicians are still selling their ideology and MP seats for money and power.
A pro-military government that accepted a convicted drug smuggler as one of its deputy ministers who lied that heroin was flour in parliament before being linked to a triad.
A deputy prime minister who falsely declared assets and get away with it by saying that he borrowed luxurious watches from a dead friend.
A prime minister who has been in power for more than 8 years but still has yet to declare his assets to the public because no one can check him.
The so-called independent institutions are full of bootlickers with judges who believe that turning protected forest areas into a village for their summer homes was okay.
Appointed senators who paid for their seats are still in power and they will be able to participate in picking the next premier again.
And, large corporates are still doing whatever they want including the expansions of their grip on monopoly, duopoly, and oligopoly, especially the ones that sponsored the coup.
All of this happened within the 3 Ps Regime (Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Deputy Prime Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan, and Interior Minister General Anupong Paochinda).
The 3 generals said they conducted the coup to get rid of corrupted politicians but they became more corrupt than the people they wanted to eradicate.
In the end, the generals are now shopping for politicians without a backbone who would side with a military regime just to be in power.
The entire system is rotten and the ones to blame are the coupmakers who took over power with tanks to serve nothing else but their own interests.
The statements by Prime Minister Prayut to “behave with honesty”, “avoid fraud”, “adhere to justice” and “adhere to common interests more than self-interest”, on International Anti-Corruption Day was another attempt to fool the people who are still blindingly supporting him.
There is no honesty in this government. Look at how it was formed and look at the politicians who were working with them.
There is fraud everywhere. Look at the corruption within the promotion system of the police and the military along, look at the Chinese mafias, and look at all the dubious decisions made by independent institutions.
There is no justice in this government. Look at how they are suppressing political opposition and dissidents.
Gen. Prayut only serves his own interests, the interest of his friends, and the interests of the people in power who put him in the premier position.
This can be seen in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) which showed that Thailand currently ranked 110 out of 180 countries compared to 85th place in 2014 when Gen. Prayut conducted the coup.
Even the National Anti-Corruption Commission, which has been finding excuses for the 3 Ps, had to conclude in 2020 that the junta government of Gen. Prayut, the so-called National Council for Peace and Order, was the most corrupt government in Thai history.
Gen. Prayut brushed aside the NACC’s findings by simply saying that he did not believe them.
He also ignored the CPI, well except for the years when the ranking improved slightly.
These lies have to stop if there is any chance for this country to progress. But, this deception will continue if any of the 3 Ps managed to sit on the premier seat again.
Let us hope that the Thai people pick leaders who know how to do their job at the next general election instead of these liars who serves only themselves.