Voice and the Thai Referendum

A few days before Thailand's constitutional referendum this August, I watched as government-sponsored "get out and vote" ads flashed across screens in one of the stations along Bangkok's Skytrain public transit system. After a battery of promotional advertisements and rallies, voters turned out on the seventh day of the month to decide whether or not the country's current military junta should play a role--a significant one--in the future of Thai democratic institutions. When results were announced the next day, a decisive 61 percent of voters supported the military's constitutional proposal, one that guaranteed strong military involvement in the government for the foreseeable future. However, even before voters first reached the polls, commentary -both from within Thailand and from outside--questioned the validity of the referendum's results. Preceding the election, the controlling military junta largely silenced opposition; bans were placed on open opposition of the draft constitution, protesters were arrested, and online dissent was censored. Moreover, external monitoring was banned, and rumors circulated online that the regime was arresting those expressing a desire to reject the draft. By removing the most powerful opposition voices in play, the controlling junta worked quietly to guarantee favorable results while lending the referendum an air of legitimacy. As a result, in the run-up to the election, important voices were lost. The most obvious of these was the voice of established opposition parties and groups playing the role of government watchdog, helping voters make a more informed decision about the referendum. Other, less obvious, oppositional voices were likely lost as well: the voices of independent citizens criticizing the referendum online--another independent source of information open to voters in other countries, but closed to referendum voters. Even less obvious were the silent voices of citizens who refused to turn out due to frustration at the vote. The ruling junta officially aimed for a turnout of eighty percent, using events and television advertisements to promote the election, banning alcohol sales and bars to force voters to the polls, and making election day a national holiday. Still, election commission estimates put turnout at only 55 percent, well below official targets. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Voices were silenced not only by the ruling junta. Even removing the military's influence over the vote, there should have existed a large pool of Thai voters dissatisfied with the pre-junta democratic regime. Perhaps this is only natural in a country that has experienced twelve successful coups since its constitutional monarchy began in 1932. …