article_snippet.sent: Critics have expressed alarm at the move, with Human Rights Watch's Asia director Brad Adams saying it marked the country's "deepening descent into dictatorship.
article_snippet.sent: "Thailand's friends abroad should not be fooled by this obvious sleight of hand by the junta leader to replace martial law with a constitutional provision that effectively provides unlimited and unaccountable powers," Adams said in a statement.
article_snippet.sent: This is a dangerous indication that the junta is not going to keep the junta promise to restore democracy and respect for human rights in Thailand," the junta leader said.
article_snippet.sent: But I am alarmed at the decision to replace martial law with something even more draconian, which bestows unlimited powers on the junta leader without any judicial oversight at all.
article_snippet.sent: Thai political scholar and coup opponent Pavin Chachavalpongpun told CNN that the move from martial law to the new security order amounted to "pouring the same wine into a new bottle."
article_snippet.sent: The junta is trying to reinvent The junta, but the substance is still there," Thai political scholar and coup opponent Pavin Chachavalpongpun said.
highlights_snippet.sent: Martial law has been replaced by a new order granting sweeping powers to the military junta .
  
highlights_snippet.sent: Critics warn the move deepens the country's "descent into dictatorship" 