Richard S. Ehrlich: Time Machines Hurt Military Regime

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Twenty-five wristwatches totaling $1.24 million have become painful tourniquets on the arm of Thailand's coup-installed defense minister.

The luxury timepieces are also threatening to derail Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha's chances of remaining in power after elections in November or 2019.

For the past six weeks Defense Minister Gen. Prawit Wongsuwon, who is also deputy prime minister, has been targeted by media photographs purportedly documenting the dates and venues when he has worn 25 different expensive watches in public.

"I have friends, and my friends lent me those watches. They did not buy them for me," a visibly irritated Mr. Prawit told reporters on January 16.

That explanation drew immediate demands by activists and others for a public naming of people who lent watches to Mr. Prawit, plus serial numbers and receipts proving the purchases.

The escalating scandal over possible corruption is now impacting upon the upcoming election to change the military regime into a civilian-led government.

"Prime Minister Prayuth has played down the scandal even though it has the potential to undermine his credibility and jeopardize his chances of becoming a non-elected premier after the next general election," wrote Bangkok Post Deputy Editor Soonruth Bunyamanee on January 17.

Public complaints about the scandal has led the junta-appointed head of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to open an investigation.

"I have never committed malfeasance. No way," Mr. Prawit said on December 6 before meeting the NACC.

Mr. Prawit's explanation to the NACC was not revealed.

The commission's decision may be announced in coming weeks.

"If found guilty, I will resign," he told reporters January 16.

Serious allegations of corruption among the junta could make the regime reluctant to hand over power if they are worried about prosecution.

"There are fears among regime members that dirt under their rug may be exposed once their power is stripped away," columnist Wasant Techawongtham wrote on January 6.

That could prompt the U.S.-trained military to again delay the polls, which it has done each year since toppling a civilian government in a 2014 coup.

Elections are widely expected to be held only when the military is confident it will remain in control with military officers and supporters in a partially-appointed Parliament and a pro-military future prime minister.

"Today, nobody nominates me and I don't know if I will accept it," Prime Minister Prayuth told journalists on January 4 amid speculation that he will try to stay on after the polls.

When he was army chief, Mr. Prayuth led the 2014 coup and then retired as a general to become prime minister.

His military government recently rewrote the constitution, allowing Parliament to choose an "outsider" if they cannot agree to select a member.

"I am convinced that Prayuth will become prime minister [again] after election," Titipol Phakdeewanich, political science faculty dean at Ubon Ratchathani University, said in an interview.

"With or without elections, the military is likely to continue to play a central in Thai politics, at least for the next decade," Mr. Titipol said.

"They [the junta] have been wholly unable to imagine giving up any real power," David Streckfuss, an independent academic in northeast Thailand, said in an interview.

"In the minds of the military and the conservative and desperate Bangkok elite, they must still see the political situation as threatening, given their fear of having a free and fair election even under the undemocratic constitution they have imposed," Mr. Streckfuss said.

Pro-democracy activists and a previously pliant local media recently realized the 25 wristwatches provide a way to criticize the military government without risking detention in dreaded "attitude adjustment" re-education camps which have silenced most public political dissent.

Defense Minister Prawit unknowingly created his own suffering when he lifted his right arm and shaded his grinning face during a sun-drenched political ceremony on December 4.

His immaculate white uniform's sleeve retracted and exposed an expensive watch on his wrist above a fat diamond ring.

Internet-savvy Thais on Facebook and other social media -- where they frequently attack the government with some anonymity -- claimed the wristwatch was a Richard Mille model worth more than $75,000.

A popular activist Facebook group called CSI LA 90210 (https://www.facebook.com/CSILA90210/) quickly flooded its site with previous photos of at least 25 timepieces on Mr. Prawit's wrist, seen while he attended political meetings, lit Buddhist candles, tested weapons, congratulated newlyweds, signed documents, prayed at a temple, announced edicts, or gesticulated at news conferences.

CSI LA 90210 estimated the unconfirmed value of the 25 watches total $1.24 million.

They appeared to include watches by Rolex, Patek Philippe, Richard Mille and other brands.

Thais also debated online the carat weight and value of his diamond ring.

Government leaders, when starting their jobs, are required to declare their personal assets and list expensive items such as jewelry, cars, real estate and investments.

Mr. Prawit's previous asset declarations reportedly did not mention so many wristwatches or the ring.

"Why do you see [the wristwatches] on social media and question me?" an exasperated Prime Minister Prayuth responded to journalists on January 8.

As prime minister, he remains a strong ally of Mr. Prawit who in turn bolsters Mr. Prayuth.

"The Prawit wristwatch case has been handed to junta opponents as if on a silver platter," Paul Chambers, a Naresuan University lecturer who specializes in Thailand's military, said in an interview.

"They are using it to extend more indirect attacks on the junta itself.

"It weakens the legitimacy of the 2014 coup which was necessary, according to [military] leaders, to stop the corruption of civilian leaders. It might add doubt among Thais to the authenticity of any future military-backed political party," Mr. Chambers said.

"Opponents of the current military government are targeting Prawit and his watches as a point of vulnerability and apparent hypocrisy in terms of corruption, but given Prawit's utter flouting of the matter, it is most unlikely to have any significant effect," Benjamin Zawacki, American author of a new book titled "Thailand: Shifting Ground Between the U.S. and a Rising China," said in an interview.

"Prawit has obviously done something that is not above board, and the public and the media are right in pointing it out," Tom Kruesopon, a former political advisor to the previous coup-toppled government said in an interview.

"It's a personal embarrassment to Deputy Prime Minister Prawit and certainly to his political partner Prime Minister Prayuth," Mr. Kruesopon said.

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Richard S. Ehrlich is a Bangkok-based journalist from San Francisco, California, reporting news from Asia since 1978 and winner of Columbia University's Foreign Correspondent's Award. He is a co-author of three non-fiction books about Thailand, including "'Hello My Big Big Honey!' Love Letters to Bangkok Bar Girls and Their Revealing Interviews," "60 Stories of Royal Lineage," and "Chronicle of Thailand: Headline News Since 1946." Mr. Ehrlich also contributed to the chapter "Ceremonies and Regalia" in a book published in English and Thai titled, "King Bhumibol Adulyadej, A Life's Work: Thailand's Monarchy in Perspective." Mr. Ehrlich's newest book, "Sheila Carfenders, Doctor Mask & President Akimbo" focuses on a San Francisco psychiatrist who abducts a female patient to Asia.

His online sites are:

https://asia-correspondent.tumblr.com

https://www.facebook.com/SheilaCarfenders/

https://www.amazon.com/Sheila-Carfenders-Doctor-President-Akimbo/dp/1973789353/

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