The director of a viral rap video that has racked up tens of millions of views on YouTube with lyrics flaying Thailand's military junta says the artists behind it have no intention of hiding from police.
Since the junta, led by Prayut Chan-o-cha, seized power in a coup four years ago and banned political gatherings, it has harshly punished any form of dissent, jailing scores of critics and opponents.
That's why it was something of a surprise when director Teerawat Rujintham and the collective Rap Against Dictatorship launched a broadside against the military by releasing a profanity laced video called My Country Has It on Oct. 22.
Teerawat told VOA the public response to the video, which has been viewed more than 23 million times on YouTube, had vastly surpassed the group’s expectations.
Waiting for reaction
"The project served its purpose, and for now each of the members of the group and I are just waiting for the reaction from those in power and the government to contact us," he said in an interview conducted partially through a translator.
He said he and the group were “not going to hide from the police. We're going to confront them, because I don't feel that [we] did anything wrong."
Teerawat said the video had tapped into brooding resentment that many Thais felt toward the junta "under the surface" but could not express.
"The country that points a gun at your throat. Claims to have freedom but no right to choose. You can't say [stuff] even though your mouth is full of it. Whatever you do the leader will see you," one artist raps in the video.
Police initially threatened to arrest group members after the song's release, but as online views of the video quickly shot up, they backed down.
Local media reported Deputy National Police Chief Srivara Ransibrahmanakul had filed a defamation suit against the group and stressed that its members remained under investigation. Police have not answered VOA requests for comment.
Prayut reportedly weighed in Tuesday, warning anyone who "shows appreciation for the song must accept responsibility for what happens to the country in future," according to the Bangkok Post.
"I do not care if they attack me. But if they do so against the country, I do not think it is appropriate," he reportedly said.
Undeterred, anti-junta punk rockers plan to hold a concert Saturday in Bangkok at the site of a notorious 1976 massacre of student protesters opposing military rule.
The massacre is regarded as a highly sensitive topic for the junta and is graphically depicted in Teerawat's video when the camera pans to an effigy of a corpse hanging from a tree, representing the lynchings that took place. Teerawat said he chose to use the cover-up of the massacre as a metaphor for the present.
Thitinan Pongsudhirak, an associate professor of international political economy at Chulalongkorn University, said the artists are helping vent pent-up public frustration as long-delayed elections, expected now by mid-2019, draw closer.
More expected
"It strikes a chord because they feel that they themselves are fed up and frustrated with no way out, no voices to be heard. So these guys are speaking up for them, and I think we will see more of it going forward," he said.
Political figures ranging from former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, the young billionaire leader of the progressive new Future Forward party, have come out in support of the rappers' right to speak out.
Their support and the huge popularity of the artists means silencing them outright has become a precarious proposition, Thitinan said.
"The military government will be in a dilemma now because on the one hand they want to suppress it, there's no doubt. But if they do suppress it they have less chance of winning the election, because these groups are popular," he said.
"On the other hand, if they allow it to go on, to take place, then they would invite other groups, other movements to come to the fore against the military government," he said.
Meanwhile, street graffiti artist Headache Stencil has gained notice for skewering senior regime leaders, including Prayut, in his satirical works.
Paul Chambers, an expert on Thai politics and lecturer at Naresuan University, said Rap Against Dictatorship's video has gained strong popularity among urban voters, many of whom had originally supported the military coup.
"Thus the writing is on the wall: More and more former junta supporters want the military to return to the barracks," he wrote in an email. "The surprise is that more and more urban Thais, who tended to remain supportive or apathetic to the junta, have now jumped on the bandwagon of demanding a return to democracy now."
Prayut repeatedly has delayed promised elections since staging the 2014 coup, Thailand's 12th since 1932. He also passed a new constitution that grants him extraordinary power and the military virtually total control of parliament.
Some steps have been taken to loosen the bans on political activities he implemented after seizing power, though many remain.
Rangsiya Ratanachai contributed to this report.
