Thailand and the Coup

People are concerned about the recent developments in Thailand especially after the military coup of October 1976. The Thai student movement was well known for its genuine struggle for people's democracy and independance and because of this struggle and the success of the integration of the movement with the people, the reactionaries were very much frightened. Because the imperialists were not willing to withdraw their interests, the Thai student movement was smashed resulting in the military coup.

But the military coup does not mean that the Student movement has come to an end. It merely shows very clearly that the imperialists themselves are weak and they are frightened by the growing strength of the peoples power. They could only resort to violent means as a way to suppress the people's movement. They thought that they could kill the people and suppress the student movement which, in fact, they could not be achieved, because the Thai students have a famous saying — "One of us has fallen, yet thousands stand up", and the Thai students say that where there is more suppression, more people will become awakened. When more of their brothers and sisters are tortured and killed, they will become braver.