RIDING AGAINST the visible global trend towards authoritarianism and autocracy, young billionaire politician Thanathorn Juangroong-ruangkit wants to jockey Thailand towards the leading democracy in the region.

“My mission is to install functional democracy with civilian supremacy in Thailand, send the military back to the barracks and rearrange civilian-military relations as it is supposed to be in a democratic country,” Thanathorn said in an interview with The Nation. A former student activist, businessman Thanathorn and a number of scholars and social activists have formed a political party, Future Forward, which will take the political leap when the junta allows the next election.

Thai politics is faced with a dilemma as the established elite and dominantly conservative middle class lack faith in democracy. They are afraid of elections as that could bring only the party inspired by former premier Thaksin Shinawatra to power, he said.

The elite and conservative have never allowed democracy to function properly since the revolution in 1932, he said, adding the most democratic charter lasted only nine years – from 1997-2006. The military was invited to topple Thaksin in 2006 and again in 2014 to oust his sister Yingluck Shinawatra. “I don’t want to see any more military coups for the rest of my life,” he said.

In the meantime, those who prefer elections are too focused on Thaksin and forget about the functioning of the parliamentary system, he said. “What we have to do is restore democracy and allow it to work to settle our conflicts,” he said. “We need more democracy, not less, to solve our problems. Thailand has a lot of problems such as poverty and inequality, but we want to lay a solid ground for democracy first, so human rights and the rule of law are important.”

Restoration of democracy will be an uphill task as people are increasingly of the view that democracy is in decline and perhaps has failed to benefit the majority. It has become an instrument for a handful of wealthy elite to maintain their status quo, so Donald Trump won the presidency in the US and so did Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines, he said. “This trend is dangerous for popular politics in the world.”

“That’s the reason why we need somebody to protect democracy and I believe many countries have remained faithful to a democratic system.” However, democracy also evolves in accordance with the geo-political and local environment, he said. “We also can use modern technology to develop democracy.” New technology allows people to vote via applications to make decisions on any particular matter directly, he said. “In this sense, technology can bypass representatives, enabling people to make decisions to manage the budget and resources by themselves.”

He was clear that China, despite its economic success, was not a model for the Future Forward Party to shape Thailand’s future since the success has come at the expense of human rights and a large number of people could be left behind, he said. “The junta looks at the China model since it could serve their status quo.”

If his party won the election and managed to restore democracy in Thailand, the country could resume its position as the genuine leader of Asean, Thanathorn said. “If we succeed, we could inspire other countries in the region to follow our model,” he said. “Millions of people in Asean countries are suffering from suppression of rights.” With democracy, Thailand could be an active player in the international community and inspire other countries to respect human rights, he said. Many factors such as the military, the bureaucracy, big capitalists, cronies as well as the culture of authoritarianism and attitudes among Thais are an obstruction for the restoration of democracy in Thailand, he said. “We have to promote a democratic culture and human rights principles in our society too,” he added.

Respect for human rights and democratic values are not so popular in Thailand and this could be major obstacles for his party to win the election or even get people to join the party, he said. “But that’s fine, we are looking at things in the long run. We might not succeed in the first election. I can wait.”

“Our first party congress – when the junta allows such activity – would be open to all people. We will follow the democratic process in electing party leaders. In the end, I might not be the party head. I will not use my wealth to dominate the party,” Thanathorn said.

Note : To extricate Thai politics from the status quo, a new generation of volunteers are entering the political fray in the coming election. This is one of a fivepart series by The Nation, presenting their vision, their platform and the personalities behind the movement.