Thailand's junta releases poll showing 99.3% of citizens happy with its performance

Thailand’s military junta, which took power in a coup last year and has smothered public criticism of its rule, has conducted a poll that found more than 99% of Thais are happy with its performance.

The National Statistics Office released the results of the poll, which questioned 2,700 people nationwide, one day before the government was due to present its one-year performance review.

Thailand’s rulers, who toppled the administration of Yingluck Shinawatra in a coup in May 2014, have stifled the media and banned political gatherings. They have promised to bring stability to a country that suffered months of bloody protests.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has attempted to boost morale in the country while also detaining journalists, academics and activists. The general wrote a new song this week for the end of the year titled “Because You Are Thailand” in an attempt to boost morale.

“I have only two hands and breathe alone. There may not be enough power to make a dream come true,” the song goes. “But if we join hands and breathe together, the day we hope for is not far away.”

It is not clear if the lyrics refer to general elections, which the military has promised to hold but not until at least 2017 as part of a complicated roadmap that can be delayed at several points.

Prayuth’s other tune, written a month after his military took power and called “Returning Happiness to the People”, is frequently played on state media.

The performance poll found 98.9% of respondents were confident in the government’s efforts to solve Thailand’s problems and 99.3% said they were satisfied with the overall performance.

The Thai economy has suffered this year, with the IMF cutting growth forecasts for 2016 from 4 to 3.2%. A lack of private investment, in part due to political instability, has hampered economic gains.

The military-run government has been loath to accept criticism of its efforts and rights groups accuse it of using the country’s strict lèse-majesté law, written to protect the reputation of the monarchy, to silence those who oppose it with long jail terms.

Earlier this year, Prayuth said he had the power to shut down news outlets and when asked how the government would deal with journalists who do not “report the truth”, he responded: “We’ll probably just execute them”.

He has also defended the use of “attitude adjustment”, a detention program where anyone can be held for a few hours to several days to be scolded for criticism of the government.

“If you let them blame me, the people and society will listen to them every day, and one day they’ll believe in the things they say,” Prayuth explained in September after two politicians were brought in for questioning his handling of the economy.

Asked who else he would use the law against, Prayuth said: “Everyone whose comments cause division, bad intent to the government, criticising the things the government didn’t do, causes trouble and blames a government that’s trying to improve the country, I will consider.”

The Guardian