Comments

  1. COVID is proving to be both a boon and a bane for the “pro-democracy” advocates in Thailand whose most fervent wish is for anyone reading screeds like the above should forget altogether that Thailand exists in both geographical and historical contexts.

    Insofar as historical context is concerned, we need to ask ourselves which Thai governments, whether elected or not, have ever dealt justly with protest and protest leaders? Is this administration all that different from previous administrations? Can we seriously believe that the Thai people are “losing trust” in their institutional masters when that “trust” has rarely ever manifested itself?

    As to “geography”, let’s take a look at the region and compare Thai COVID statistics, all relevant statistics rather than a cherry-picked few that work to slap the junta, to those in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

    Malaysia is the real ‘tell’ here: higher infection rates and higher death rates, in spite of higher and faster vaccination rates and early entry into the COVAX program which the Thai government has been pilloried for not joining in time.

    And of course the very notion that a more democratic model of state organization might have led to better outcomes is given the lie by the record of the vaunted liberal-democracies of N America and Europe.

    I mean, really. Where is the critical intelligence to apply to a real examination of the actual performance of the junta, the Thai state and the Thai people in dealing with this global problem?

    Not on New Mandala with the usual suspects trotting out the same hollow verbiage as has characterized this site’s “coverage” of Thailand since at least 2006. Might as well be Reuters.

  2. Yaolong Xian says:

    This article has no intention of discussing any reasons behind the conflict between EAOs, and I want to make a few clarifications regarding your comment. First, the MNDAA itself is a member of the Northern Alliance so there is no jealousy of itself. Second, Shan State is a multi-ethnic area, but the RCSS wants to drive out other ethnic groups to create a Shan State with only Shan people, so there is no such thing as protecting the people. Third, the RCSS also has a lot of support from China in addition to Thailand (there are more than 1 million “Shan” people in China under the name of ethnic Dai). Fourth, China is supporting communism in northern Myanmar? That was back in the 1970s and 1980s.

  3. Ph.D. Jesper Dopping, MUIC says:

    NO, Leadership messed the COVID-19 organization up!

    It is always hard to tell if the authors actually chose the headline! Yet, assuming they did, everything single reference point to reality the authors make, points in the opposite direction what worked was exactly delegation, coordination, organization, management/administration on as low a level as possible. The strong central leadership has failed dramatically as the article actually show.

    From an organizational, management, and administration perspective we would normally separate between leadership and management. Leadership is the ability to influence how followers think, feel, and behave and presuppose that the followers are willing to give part of their autonomy and identity (see for instance Alvesson et al 2017). While management describe the careful organization of people & technologies, coordination of activities between stakeholders, employees, and groups. Classical Management from Fayol 1916 to Bernard 1938 stresses control as the ability of an organization to follow up on and control the result of organizational activities – NOT the control of people – a distinction that often are completely missed in US textbooks!

    What I think the authors and I actually agree on is that the traditional Thai version of “leadership”, as Larry Person for instance describe it, based on ultimately perceived “Barami” has failed spectacularly. Just as the western concept of leadership has failed see for instance Pfeffer’s Leadership BS, Helena Liu 2020 feminist critique, Svenningson et al 2018 and many more.

    To move on and make a positive contribution to what political, public, and business organization, administration, and organization means, historical work like Patrick Jory’s gives a basis for discussing where we are, what the “hidden” assumptions about leadership, management, and organization are. Turning to a positive contribution the study of the community groups, high skilled organizations, new modern forms of organization in Thailand is needed – just as it is in the west.

  4. Don says:

    I did a study of disability in 19th C Siam. (Thailand). Found references to mental illness in the Three Seals law under King Rama I

  5. Chris Beale says:

    Not so much COVID in northern Isaarn. Where the Secessionist Movement grows stronger.

  6. Ko Hlaing says:

    There are two key issues here – recognizing them as one of the country’s ethnic and granting them citizenship. I observe that there are few people who object the idea of granting them citizenship. However, overwhelming majority of people do not agree with the idea of recognizing them as one of the country’s ethnic groups. The CRPH/NUG has released an policy on this subject which has already alienated so many people.

  7. Önar Önarsson says:

    Interesting analysis of The East. It should be noted however that the vast majority of early film perjuangan/film nasional focus on the difficulties and doubts faced by soldiers who are most often closer to anti-heroes (even The Long March has plenty of this, and was protested by the actual military division whose march it represents). While not rejected completely, the very foundations of nationalism and the nation that resulted are routinely held up for serious interrogation in these films. It is also notable that Asrul Sani’s 1962 Pagar Kawat Berduri focused on the doubts and psychological issues faced by a member of the Dutch forces during the independence struggle. The man comes to doubt his own faith, and in the end commits suicide. The historical narrative arc you draw between various groups and eras of film perjuangan hence lacks some key nuance, especially in regards to the earliest period.

  8. Nel Adams says:

    This is the reason why there is a conflict between the SSPP/Northern Alliance and RCSS in the Northern Shan States. The Northern Alliance Alliance is carving out territories from the Whole Shan States and its people.
    The Northern Alliance is envious of the Kogang and the Wa States because they are rewarded with help from China, in weapons and construction of infrastructure for supporting communism. RCSS is not and is trying to prevent and protect the whole Shan States and the suffering of its people.

  9. Elly Kent says:

    The English version of this article and report was published last week, you can read it here: https://www.newmandala.org/frontline-women-unrecognised-leadership-in-indonesias-covid-19-response/

  10. Abdi says:

    Thank’s For Sharing

  11. Frank Palmos says:

    Is that Risma (masked) in the background of Rebecca Meckelberg’s fine article? Bahasa is fine for us Indonesianists, but a kesimpulan (summary) would be helpful to most of New Mandala’s readers.

  12. Yusef says:

    I would add that in the northern states of Kelantan and Terengganu, which are mostly Malay (at 94%+), Jawi is required by law on all outdoor signboards and advertisements. Enforcement is lax in Terengganu, as the requirements there are newer, but Jawi is widespread in Kelantan. This holds even for businesses focused primarily or solely on non-Malay customers, such as wine shops and non-halal restaurants.

  13. Michael Giles says:

    Events have shown that apparently she did not know her place

  14. Virginia Hooker says:

    Great article – well done Caitlin and New Mandala.
    We want more like this

  15. Nadia says:

    Thank you for information

  16. Rengadhar Horia@Ringoh says:

    Wonderful history, in which year the first batch of Indian came to malaya and also which part’s of India.

  17. Min Kyaw says:

    I think the dictator has been doing a good job since not many Thais have died from Covid-19, comparing with US, Brazil, etc. But I think the protesters should be very careful not to be spreading the virus. I think you can’t blame anyone in any country for bad economy during this time. Tourists would not be back to Thailand anytime soon – both because of bad economy in their countries and fear of infection. Australia is totally close – not even letting the citizens return.
    Just stay safe

  18. MC says:

    Democracy, I think such can be of benefit for it empowers popular will. Rather democratic mismanagement that is open to criticism without much of any dictatorial beneficence; the just outcome of that ought to get agreed upon, with no awesome conflictual relations

  19. Jit Jarvis says:

    Neutrality is not possible with China in Burma Loas Cambodia, they might end up provinces like Tibet did. ASEAN needs to uphold the Law of Seas vis a vis the West Philippine ocean beset wih Chines fishermen stealing fish from the Philippines. BRI is imperialism by economic soft power

  20. Maybe Bhutan doesn’t want to be a develop country. One thing that is always a miss is that Bhutan wants to remain truly Bhutan; with a true identity, a strong culture and yes, happiness, and our country lead by our beloved King and a democratically elected government does its maximum to protect that.
    While the conflict with the immigrant Nepalis can not and should not be forgotten, the idea behind was to protect our identity and culture, which is hard to do when 1/5 of the population doesn’t speak the national language and doesn’t share the same culture and religion.
    To these days, Bhutan is not an overdevelop country. It doesn’t have the most advance medical equipments, but what it does is provide healthcare for free to all their citizen, and actively extend healthcare reach throughout the country. And when they can’t treat a case, then they send the person to India to receive appropriate treatment and cover the charges. Please point me to the direction of another country doing that.
    We also don’t lack in education. We are taught in English from a very young age and if we are bright, we receive scholarship to go and study abroad – with many of us having a master or a phd from the United Kingdom, Australia, USA, Korea.
    Please enlighten me and tell me what is so good about being a developed/industrialised country ? We believe it is better to work the land than work in a factory were you can’t see the sun. We believe that fresh air and organic produce are better than city air and packaged food.
    We are not envious of the developed country lifestyle, time as shown that it is not beneficial for the individual, for the society or for the planet. But unfortunately even from our remote mountains we can feel the negative impact of your lifestyle and suffer its consequence.