Music
Thailand's tyrant Prime Minister keeps releasing pop songs
by Jeremy Mersereau
January 10, 2017
When he's not threatening to kill journalists or seizing power through violent military coups, Prayuth Chan-ocha loves to record and release pop songs.
Thailand’s non-democratically-elected Prime Minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha, is a former army general who seized power in a military coup in 2014 and has since cracked down on dissent, free speech, and freedom of expression. That last one only goes for regular Thai citizens, of course, and not for himself: he loves to write cloying, nationalistic pop songs in his free time.
Here’s the latest in Chan-ocha’s musical tradition, “Bridge”:
Well that’s… something. Due to Chan-ocha’s 2015 statement that he would close down any media outlets that criticize him and “probably just execute” any journalists who don’t toe the government line, I don’t imagine a piece of shameless propaganda like “Bridge” will be getting too many negative reviews inside Thai borders, where punishment for giving a Chan-ocha jam less than the equivalent of a Pitchfork BNM is apparently life-threatening.
The lyrics, which were penned by Chan-ocha, follow the blueprint laid down by his past musical forays: they romanticize some beautiful past vision of Thailand as a shining beacon that’s in danger of being despoiled by all kinds of disloyal elements, both domestic and foreign. Hmm, I’m getting deja vu here, I know I’ve seen this political strategy somewhere else before.
A free, democratic election was scheduled to take place this year, but it now looks likely it won’t happen until 2018. It seems like the Thai people can look forward to their Prime Minister churning out several more syrupy propaganda ballads before they have a chance to shut the government hit parade up.
[H/T PRI]
