Turbulence here to stayThe decision of the Election Commission (EC) to pursue criminal charges against Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit and the 16 former executives of the now-defunct Future Forward Party (FFP) over the 191-million-baht loan that led to the party's dissolution deserves public outrage. Mr Thanathorn and his wife separately made 10 million baht donations which the court also ruled against. If guilty in the criminal case, Mr Thanathorn, who formed the Progressive Movement group, could be jailed for up to 5 years and fined up to 100,000 baht. The controversial EC decision came at the same time as the charter court's verdict to disqualify Move Forward MP Tanwarin Sukkhapisit for breaking the law relating to shareholdings in media firms. As long as the state cannot ensure fairness to all, political turbulence in Thailand is here to stay, and the road to reconciliation will be rough.

Source: Bangkok Post October 29, 2020 23:26 UTC