As an American who lived in Thailand for five years, with their draconian free speech restrictions and authoritarian regime, I think it's easy to just ignore it

As an American who lived in Thailand for five years, with their draconian free speech restrictions and authoritarian regime, I think it's easy to just ignore it. You aren't part of the culture, the politics are opaque, there's no reason to form an opinion and go around telling everyone about it. I found it refreshing to live in the fog of not understanding or caring about Thai politics -- it let me focus on making friends and having fun.