As Thailand's ousted prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra made her way through a line of fans, some cried, others screamed and a few embraced her. "She touched my hand! She touched my hand!" one woman yelled at a Buddhist temple in the rural northeast where several hundred people came to see her Monday.
This was not a political campaign stop. If it had been, the generals who ousted Yingluck two years ago never would have let it happen. She's banned from politics, and the military government has banned the entire country from trying to sway voters, who will decide August 7 whether to accept a new constitution drawn up by the junta.
Yingluck says she's simply greeting and thanking her 5 million Facebook fans for their support, but she appears to be hoping that by touring the country, she can galvanize supporters without saying a political word.
"She will show to her opponent and also to the public that, 'We are still here and there is a huge support for us,'" said Kan Yuenyong, executive director of the Siam Intelligence Unit think tank. "I think this is very important message, a hidden message, that she would like to send to the public."
Yingluck herself conceded no hidden messages in an Associated Press interview.
"I am still banned from being involved in politics for five years, even if the law from the constitution that was used to impose the ban on me is no longer in use," she said.
"I still want to work closely with people in whatever capacity. Today I am meeting the fan page followers because during this time of economic hardship, people want tourists to visit their provinces. So we're using this as an opportunity to promote tourist destinations and make them well-known. This is one of the many ways to strengthen the economy at the grassroots level."
The junta wants voters to approve the constitution and a related measure. They would, among other things, allow a non-elected prime minister to lead the country, create an appointed rather than an elected Senate and give unprecedented power to the Constitutional Court.
"This draft will lead the country backwards," Yingluck and her Pheu Thai Party said in a March 30 statement. The military government, officially called the National Council for Peace and Order, has made it illegal for anyone but itself to advocate for or against the proposed constitution. Expressing a strong opinion for or against it before the referendum could bring a jail term of up to 10 years, a 200,000 baht (USD 5,600) fine and revocation of voting rights for 10 years.
