Interview: One year on, security improves, economy underperforms in post-coup Thailand: academic

Thai military junta has managed to secure calm and stability over the past year, but its economic performance is mixed, a renowned Thai academic said.

Associate professor Thitinan Pongsudhirak from Bangkok-based Chulalongkorn University made the remarks ahead of the first anniversary of the military coup on May 22, 2014, which toppled the Yingluck Shinawatra administration.

The military government, headed by Prayut Chan-o-cha, who then staged the coup as the army chief, has been"focused on security over everything else and the security is very strong,"Thitinan told Xinhua.

The view was shared by spokesman of the coup-making National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) Winthai Suwaree, who told the media on the eve of the coup anniversary that compared with a year ago, the biggest change is an improved security situation, with people respecting the law, social issues being resolved and tourism picking up.

However, at the same time, the Thai economy underperforms, Thitinan underscored.

The economy is not contracting, but should be doing better, Thitinan said, citing problems including less than clear policy direction, planned tax reforms that are not being implemented, as well as"very slow and unclear"infrastructure investment.

Moreover, the government is also faced with problems in aviation standards, fishery and human smuggling, he added.

The calm and stability that the Prayut government has achieved "will be tested, if the performance is incompetent in the coming months,"Thitinan said, urging the government to pay attention to the economy and reforms while maintaining security during the interim.

The academic said that so far, the military government has done better than he thought, but needs better performance. "In the past, when we had governments like this, we would have rampant systematic corruption. Corruption has been manageable under the Prayut government,"he said.

The cabinet and the NCPO have recently agreed to amend the 2014 interim charter in order for a national referendum to be held on the draft of the new constitution.

If a referendum is organized, a general election, initially expected early next year, has to be further delayed, possibly till August 2016. "Most likely, it (new election) will be a little bit after August. We will be lucky in Thailand if we can have a democratically elected government by the end of next year," Thitinan said.

Charter referendum is not new to Thailand, as there was one held in 2007, but this time, the referendum, once held,"will be very contentious and much more confrontational and contested than in 2007,"he stated.

Thailand is now going through transition, and what needs to happen during the time in between is for Thailand to"come up with a reshaped, rebalanced political order"in order to move forward, Thitinan argued. "Compromise and accommodation is what we need,"he said. Endi