It was one of those moves with an ulterior motive where the organisations would have had to compromise on their independence. But members of long-standing civil society organisations, political activists, and academics from the region said they smelled a rat from the start. Many refused to buy the bait and because of that they continue to be seen in a bad light by the authorities. Since the announcement of the Bt50-million budget in August 2017, at least 488 CSOs have put in their claims for cash. Until then, Thai security officials and policymakers can forget about getting any meaningful CSOs on board their project, no matter how good their intentions may be.

Source: The Nation Bangkok December 30, 2017 18:00 UTC