Thai Junta: Our Poll Says 99.3% Like Military Rule

An astonishing 99.3% of Thais are perfectly happy with life under the country's ruling military junta, according to a poll carried out by the country's ruling military junta. Thai authorities say the poll of 2,700 people found that 98.9% believe the junta could solve Thailand's problems and 99.3% are satisfied with its overall performance since seizing power in a coup last year, reports the Guardian. Since the coup, the junta has been sending journalists, academics, and dissenters to military camps for what it calls "attitude adjustment," the Guardian notes, which may offer a clue to the whereabouts of the dissatisfied 0.7%.

In a year-end speech on Wednesday, junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha said the second phase of the military's reform plan will soon be underway and it will hold elections in July 2017, reports Reuters, which notes that he was "visibly" angry when he addressed accusations of human rights abuses. Prayuth blamed the detentions on dissenters, for violating laws against dissenting. "The law says you can't do this and yet they still do it," he said. "Now they say I violate human rights." Those dissenters include dozens of students detained earlier this month for protesting alleged corruption involving the construction of a lavish monument on a military base, the Wall Street Journal reports. (A Thai man faces a 32-year sentence for liking a Facebook photo.)