he barrage of statements from countries and organizations who count themselves among friends of Thailand including Indonesia, Japan, the European Union, the UK, the US and Australia expressing concern over the declaration of Martial Law amounts to nothing but a self-serving attempt at leveraging their bargaining chips to minimize the impact of political uncertainty on their interests in this country. While foreign affairs is ultimately the safeguarding of a country's fundamental interests, doing so with callous disregard for the lives of Thai protestors and innocent civilians is abhorrent.
These very countries, with large diplomatic presence in Bangkok, held their tongue and averted their eyes from the senseless killings of innocent civilians by shadowy and cowardly assassins using weapons of war including grenade launchers. Never before had such violence been perpetrated with impunity against a group of protestors, yet the response from the international community remains deafeningly silent. Not a single word was apparently worth uttering in expressing condolences to the bereaved and the victims or in calling on the Thai law enforcement agencies to bring the perpetrators to justice instead of playing the political blame game. Yet when it was plain to see that a violent clash was imminent and inevitable and the last resort of security measure was invoked, these countries are jumping up and down voicing their disapproval in the name of democracy, basic human rights and civil liberties in a thinly veiled disguise to protect their national interests even at the cost of bloodshed on the part of the Thai people. A case in point: the grief concern expressed by Japan's chief cabinet secretary was clearly spelled out when the Japanese representative attending the briefing on the declaration of martial law at the Foreign Ministry asked whether such measure would allow Japanese businesses to operate normally. Clearly, the economic interest of our foreign friends unashamedly takes precedence over that of their concern for the well-being of Thai citizens and their rights to peaceful existence.
If our foreign friends are concerned about their interests in Thailand, make sure they are at least equally concerned about the Thais losing limbs and lives to protect their fundamental rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness free from the evil clutches of Thaksinocracy. The crux of the matter is simple: your collective national interests in this country surely do not trump that of the lives of Thai people.