Are selfies a sign of a military coup in Thailand?

Above: people have their pictures taken with soldiers in central Bangkok

One of the responses by people on the streets of Bangkok to the declaration of military control was a surge of “selfies” – people photographing themselves in front of soldiers and jeeps mounted with machine guns.

Thailand’s army has been behind 11 coups since 1932, most recently in 2006 when Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted.

The selfie is particularly widespread in Thailand. Professor Duncan McCargo

Professor Duncan McCargo, professor of political science at the University of Leeds, said the “selfies” being taken on the streets of Bangkok today are a case of history repeating itself.

“It is exactly what they did in 2006,” he told Channel 4 News (see picture, below). Asked if the army will be promoting people taking photographs with soldiers, he said: “I am sure they are.”

Above: two Thai girls take a selfie following the 2006 military coup

He added: “A lot of Bangkok’s residents, a lot of the middle class, have been supporting, or tacitly going along with, the PDRC (People’s Democratic Reform Committee) protest movement.

“They will be sympathetic to this non-coup. They will see it as a next step in removing what is left of the old government from office.”

Better hurry and get your ML selfies this afternoon b4 they have all returned to barracks! #MartialLaw #thailand pic.twitter.com/oIErVnMXAv

— Tom S (@sternos) May 20, 2014

He said people took “selfies” (or having other people snap them with soldiers) in 2006 and also in 2010 (see picture, below) when the military declared martial law to stop violent protest – an occasion that did not lead to a coup.

There is a large number of pictures of people standing in front of the CentralWorld mall which was gutted by fire in protest action in 2010.

“The selfie is particularly widespread in Thailand,” he said.

Above: a woman has her photograph taken in front of the burnt out remains of the CentralWorld mall in Bangkok in 2010. The Thai military declared martial law to stop the violence.

But it is not just the selfie that echoes previous military involvements in political affairs. Professor McCargo said the fact that the army has made a number of statements denying that a coup is taking place “doesn’t tell us a great deal”.

He said: “It is normal that before a coup there will be a series of statements that there is not going to be one. We had statements along those lines in 2006.”

However, Professor McCargo said, we really do not know if this is a coup or not yet – and the military may not know either.

“The benevolent view is that this is simply martial law to restore order, the cynical view is that this is a coup by another name,” he said.

“We don’t know which it is yet and it’s quite possible the military commanders have not yet decided how far it is going to go.”

He said the key period is the next two to four days – and the measures the military takes.