The Thai junta's decision to lift martial law was denounced by critics today as cosmetic, with Washington and the United Nations warning that replacement security measures would not loosen the military's grip on power.
In an announcement late yesterday, Thailand's generals officially lifted martial law 10 months after seizing power in a coup.
But the controversial law, which western allies had called on Bangkok to revoke, was replaced with a new executive order retaining sweeping powers for the military and junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha.
Those measures were passed under Section 44 of the junta-written interim constitution, a controversial provision handing Prayut power to make any executive decision in the name of national security.
The new order includes a continuance of a ban on political gatherings of more than five people, while the military retains the right to arrest, detain and prosecute people for national security crimes or those who fall foul of the country's strict royal defamation laws.
A new rule also appears to deepen censorship of the media, by allowing military officers to stop the publication or presentation of any news they deem to be "causing fear or distorted information".
The UN's human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein described the new powers as "even more draconian" than martial law.
He added he was "alarmed" by the move "which bestows unlimited powers on the current prime minister without any judicial oversight at all".
A US State Department official said Washington expected the Thai military to end trials of civilians in military courts, detention without charge and to allow people to express their opinions freely.
"We are concerned that moving to a security order under Article 44 will not accomplish any of these objectives," the official said.
Thai analysts and critics pilloried the replacement measures as martial law in all but name.
"Section 44 is actually worse (than martial law)," constitutional scholar Khemthong Tonsakulrungruang of Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University told AFP, adding that the new order allows Prayut to execute key decisions without the oversight of a military court.
