Army imposes martial law in Thailand

ICC Note:

Thailand’s military seized power of the country in a coup, suspending the constitution. Whenever a country imposes martial law, religious freedom is highly possible to  be restricted. According to Vision Beyond Borders, there are over a thousand Christian ministries based in Thailand because of its freedom and comparative stability. Those ministries mainly reach out to the closed countries around Thailand, including Burma, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and even China. Concern rises over the possibility that martial law may affect Christian ministries based in Thailand and impact the whole region.

05/21/2014 Thailand (MNN) — It’s tense in Thailand.

The nation has seen 11 coups since the end of direct rule by kings in 1932, and there’s concern that history might be repeating itself.

In case you haven’t been following what’s been happening there, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was toppled by a military coup after being accused of corruption, abuse of power, and disrespect for King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Six months later, political polarization has escalated to frenzy. Thailand has been without a fully functioning government since December, when Thaksin’s sister, then premier, hastily called for elections to ease the unrest.

Protests and counter rallies continued, some with deadly results. On Tuesday, the military stepped in to keep “peace and order,” although they deny that the move is precursor to a “coup d’état.” At the same time, nine cabinet ministers were removed from office, and a caretaker prime minister, the Deputy PM and Commerce Minister, appointed. Today, they are calling it a coup.

Dyann Romeijn with Vision Beyond Borders says, “Anytime a country goes into martial law, of course freedoms are restricted. So with that, and the pressure of the countries around them that restrict so many of the religious freedoms, that’s always a concern.”

She goes on to say, “A lot of the countries that we work in around Thailand are closed, so Thailand has always been an area where there have been freedoms, where we have been able to base out of.”

VBB wouldn’t be the only one affected by the disturbances. Romeijn explains, “It’s my understanding that there are well over a thousand ministries that are based out of there as kind of a stability, to be able to reach out to the other closed countries around Thailand.”

Meanwhile, Thailand’s government urged the country’s poll-organizing agency to hold nationwide elections on August 3, 2014. But will this solution bring the peace long sought after?

Romeijn offers this thought: “We understand that as the world moves closer to the world government and to the end times that’s prophesied in the Bible, we’re going to see more and more of the abuses of power, restrictions of rights, and things like that.”

However, that’s not to say VBB will give up on the people they help. “There are about 100,000 refugees in nine refugee camps along the border with Thailand and Burma, as a result of the genocide going on there; they’ve fled Burma and come into Thailand,” she says. Most of the camps are barely able to support the refugees they hold.

…