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1 1 (January 26, 2022)

handle is hein.crs/govegzc0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Updated January 26, 2022 Thailand: Background and U.S. Relations Thailand is a long-time military treaty ally and economic partner ofthe United States. The United States operates numerous regionaloffices fromthe Bangkok Embassy, one of the largestAmerican diplomatic mis sions in the world. Bilateral cooperation includes security initiatives and operations, law enforcement efforts, andregionalhealth and education. These ties endure, but more than a decade of political turmoil in Thailand, including military coups in 2006 and 2014, have complicated U.S.-Thairelations. The Thai government's efforts to manipulate political processes and suppress critics have raised questions about Thailand's prospectsforreturning tofulldemocratic governance, including the peacefultransfer ofpower and protection for civilliberties. Internationalorganizations have alleged numerous human rights abuses, including the government's curtailment offreedoms of speech and as sembly, harassmentofgovernment critics,use of lese majeste (offenses against the monarchy) laws to muzzle dis sent, arbitrary arrests, and a lackof protections for human trafficking victims, laborers, and refugees. 20 9 Elections Thailand conducted nationwide elections in March 2019- its first since 2011-and seated a new governmentled by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, the former Commander-in-Chief of the RoyalThaiArmy who led the junta responsible for the 2014 coup. The polls were conducted under new rules drafted by the junta that provided structural advantages for military -backed p arties, raising questions about the new government's popular legitimacy. Voting ran smoothly overall, but the Election Commission of Thailand was widely criticized forreleasing inconsistent and delayedresults, raising skepticismabout the credibility of the tallying process. Officialresults showedthatthe main oppositionpartyhad wonthe highest number ofelected seats. Prayuth's party, however, was able to form a coalition government with the support of the military-appointed Senate. On July 19, 2019, the U.S. State Department notified Congress of its certification that a democratically -elected government had taken office in Thailand, signaling that it was lifting coup-related aid restrictions that had been in place since the 2014 coup (see Security Relations below). Political Divisions and Protests Thailand remains deeply politically divided, with the potential for more conflicts ahead. The politicalturmoilhas involved a broad clashbetween the politicalestablishment (a mix of the military, royalists, senior bureaucrats, and many urban and middle-class citizens) and democracy activists, rural Thai citizens, and backers of former Prime MinisterThaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed in the 2006 coup and nowresides overseas. The country's political oppositionhas evolved in recent years with the establishment of a range ofnew p arties, but the military's controlover thepoliticalprocess remains largelyprotected. Since February 2020, protesters have takento the streets in Bangkok and in other provincial capitals. Students led the initial wave of protests-which were largely peaceful- after a Thaicourt dis solved an opposition politicalparty. The protesters called for politicalreformand constitutional revisions and openly challenged the monarchy. After the protests peaked in July 2020, the government cracked down, arresting severalof the protestleaders, declaring a state of emergency, and instituting restrictions on gatherings-ostensibly to curtail the spreadofCoronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Smaller but more aggressive protests have continued, calling for a range of economic and social changes as well as criticizing the government's pandemic response after cases and deaths swelled. As anger has intensified, thePrayuthgovernment has respondedwith more force and further criminalized dissent, drawing condemnationfrominternationalrights groups. Figure 1. Thailand at a Glance Source: CIAWorld Factbook,2020,World Bank. Criticizing the monarch has long been illegalin Thailand, and the definition of lese majeste has expanded in recent years to include even subtle criticisms of the king, palace, or government. King MahaVajiralongkorn, who succeeded his widely revered father in 2019, is reportedly deeply unpopular with the public for his profligate lifestyle and history of capricious and often violent behavior. The 2020 pro-democracy protests were notable not only for their overt criticismof the monarchy, but also because they drew support froms tudents fromacros s thepolitical spectrum. Thailand and the COVID-1 9 Panderm The pandemic has badly damaged Thailand's economy. The tourism-dependent country has imposed strict and shifting restrictions on travelers, and many analysts see the industry's ability to reopenas criticalto helping Thailand's economy recover. Infectionrates haveremained high: as of January 25, 2022, the country had reported nearly 2.4 :WluressIoflLd Re'ew%

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