Various movements of the conservative wing of society, such as the protest in front of the US embassy on May 24 or the claim on the internet that the US interfered in the Thai elections so that the Move Forward Party won the election, are in fact a reflection of the far right in Thailand.
Although, the US ambassador to Thailand, Robert F. Godec, has already denied that America was using the Move Forward Party as a puppet to infiltrate the kingdom, neocon and overthrow the monarchy.
“I met a group of demonstrators outside U.S. Embassy Bangkok, received their petition and heard their views. I thanked them for coming and reiterated that the U.S. respects the institution of the Thai monarchy and the great esteem in which Thais hold the Royal Family.
I also emphasized that the U.S. did not have a preferred outcome in the election and does not support a party or candidate. We look forward to working with the government that emerges from Thailand’s democratic process. The Thai people alone should choose who governs them,” Godec was quoted as saying on the Embassy FB Page on May 25.
The far-right group still do not believe him.
Former actress Jarunee Suksawad, who came out in 2012 to endorse the former military’s plan for a five-year political freeze before the coup in 2014, showed up again at the United Thai Nation Party headquarter to promote Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha.
Jarunee said that she supported Gen. Prayut continuing to lead the country because she doesn’t want Thailand to become a “slave of America” and meet the same fate as Venezuela and Argentina.
At the same time, the US government’s refusal to supply F-35 fighter planes to Thailand fueled Thai far-right groups’ view that the US wields power over Thai politics.
According to an Airforce source who ask not to be named said on May 23 that US Ambassador Godec conveyed the decision to Thai Airforce commander Air Chief Marshall Alongkorn Wannarot. He said the US government will not sell F-35A fighter jets to Thailand due to unpreparedness in terms of facility and lack of security, particularly maintaining secret information security.
With the US decision, some Thai academics argued that if the US interfered in the Thai election in such a way that Move Forward won, it would not be so frightened of Chinese influence on the Thai army that it would not sell Thailand’s F-35.
According to the Associated Press, the U.S. and China are clearly engaged in competition with each other over military, political and economic might.
The U.S. is arguably the dominant global power, but China’s strength and influence continue to rise across Asia and Africa, as it has been making military agreements with such countries as the Solomon Islands, Djibouti and Thailand.
No matter how the United States and China compete with each other, most Thais believe that other countries did not interfere in the 2023 election.
The National Institute of Development Administration poll (Nida Poll) released on May 29, on ‘rumours or facts during the 2023 election period’ showed that most of people do not believe in international interference in the Thai election.
The survey was conducted between 18 and 22 May 2023. People aged 18 and over from all regions of Thailand and all levels of education, occupations and salaries were surveyed at random, totalling 1,310 samples.
Although some 31.22 per cent of respondents answered that they “most likely believe” and another 25.27 per cent said they “actually believe” that there are information operations to spread fake news and misinformation on social media, the majority of Thais do not believe in foreign interference in the recent elections
56.56 per cent of respondents said they “absolutely do not believe” in the claim, while 22.21 per cent said they were “not very convinced”. Another 11.76 per cent said they “somewhat” believed in the claim, while another 8.17 per cent said they “strongly” believed. In addition, 1.30 per cent of respondents gave no answer or said they were “not interested”.
