The National Reform Committee has made a dramatic start in its work toward national reconciliation by seeking to eliminate the problem of ‘double standards’. In a move that took most observers by complete surprise – and shocked the government to its core – it ordered Maj Gen Chamlong Srimuang, one of the five leaders of the People’s Alliance for Democracy, to report for psychological testing.

It is believed that the Committee’s decision was provoked by the treatment handed out to a high school student in Chiang Rai who has been accused of taking part in a rally in defiance of Emergency Decree regulations. Maj Gen Chamlong also recently organized a much larger demonstration in front of the UNESCO office in Bangkok. The Emergency Decree is currently in force in both Bangkok and Chang Rai.

The Chiang Rai student, after being visited repeatedly by police and having his notebook computer confiscated, was ordered by the provincial Juvenile Observation and Protection Centre to undergo 3 hours of psychological testing, at the end of which he was given a letter from a psychologist at the Centre, requiring him to attend 2 days of psychotherapy.

‘If a student is crazy enough to think he can get away with walking round downtown Chiang Rai with a placard questioning government propaganda, then anyone organizing hundreds in a brazen protest in broad daylight, and blocking a major Bangkok thoroughfare to boot, must be equally insane’, said a source close to the Committee.

Maj Gen Chamlong’s apparent flouting of the Emergency Decree at first passed without interference by the authorities – protest leaders from the PAD were in fact invited to met the Prime Minister at Government House later that day. The move by the Anand Panyarachun Committee is therefore baffling Government House.

‘They don’t seem to have taken into consideration the motives in this case,’ said a government spokesperson who requested anonymity. ‘This wasn’t a Thaksin-inspired terrorist attempt to disrupt the return to normalcy and national unity. These are true Thai patriots who merely wish to make their views known.’

When it was pointed out to the spokesperson that the language of the Emergency Decree only specified only activities that were banned and made no mention of motives for the activities, he shrugged his shoulders and said that everyone understood that these laws were only to be used against anti-government groups.

Reports say that the psychological testing of Maj Gen Chamlong by the Geriatric Observation and Protection Centre did not proceed smoothly. Apparently the retired military officer took offence at questions about whether he smoked, drank alcohol or stayed out late at night.

Immediately after the test was finished, Maj Gen Chamlong was issued with an order to report for 2 days of psychotherapy. Reporters asked a Geriatric Observation and Protection Centre psychologist how the Centre was able to determine, before the test results had been analyzed, that Maj Gen Chamlong was in need of treatment.

‘It’s an obvious case,’ replied the psychologist. ‘He claims to be a former military officer but his behaviour patterns do not conform to the norm in any way. He seems to practice abstinence, which is unknown among the Thai military leadership. He doesn’t smoke, he doesn’t drink, he doesn’t womanize. He doesn’t even play golf wearing a white belt and dark trousers. This is totally abnormal.’

‘We believe he is suffering from severe schizo-nationalist disassociation syndrome. This is common among PAD supporters. They are very assertive in proclaiming their Thai patriotism, but ethnically many of them are Chinese, like Maj Gen Chamlong,’ said the psychologist.

He pointed out that even one of the PAD leaders, Dr Tul Sitthisomwong, speaking as a doctor, has said that love of the country was embedded only in Thais’ DNA, not that of other peoples. ‘We believe that schizo-nationalists attempt to compensate for their faulty DNA by irrational behaviour.’

It is assumed that after his 2 days of treatment, Maj Gen Chamlong will be fully cured and will start behaving like any other retired general, though psychologists warn that he may still try to lead demonstrations and should be kept under surveillance.

The fate of the National Reform Committee is not so clear. After embarrassing the government with this attempt to put an end to ‘double standards’, the Committee is rumoured to have a new target in its sights.

Observers have noted that the Prime Minister invited 4 PAD leaders to meet him at Government House. With the presence also of Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya this means there was a gathering of 5 or more people for political purposes, a clear violation of the Emergency Decree.

‘We don’t think this was a deliberate attempt to break the law,’ said a Committee source. ‘But anyone who asks to talk to the PAD is clearly off their rocker, so we’ll be sending the men in white suits over any day now.’

About author: Bangkokians with long memories may remember his irreverent column in The Nation in the 1980's. During his period of enforced silence since then, he was variously reported as participating in a 999-day meditation retreat in a hill-top monastery in Mae Hong Son (he gave up after 998 days), as the Special Rapporteur for Satire of the UN High Commission for Human Rights, and as understudy for the male lead in the long-running ‘Pussies -not the Musical' at the Neasden International Palladium (formerly Park Lane Empire).