It has not been proved that he broke it and sent those messages, it has only been proved that “he did not adequately prove his innocence” which is not the job of the defense. It is the job of the Prosecution to PROVE GUILT! which was not done, that is the injustice here!
Stephen: “Regarding the question of wages, there are currently about 300 registered factories and another 100 or so unregistered “home factories” in Mae Sot and surrounding districts. Not one of these, to my knowledge, pays a base daily rate that meets the current minimum wage requirement.”
1. The intention of the law was that the minimum wage apply to migrant workers too.
2. If it doesn’t then investigative reporting and law suits are probably about the only thing that could change this. (So keep up the good work).
3. Employers wiggle their way out of the law even in its application to Thai workers through various wage calculation loopholes and these have resulted in lawsuits and lower arbitrated compromises (that really go against the spirit and intention of the law).
4. It is certainly in the economic interest of Thai workers to have Burmese workers paid equally as they are supposed to be.. (Case in point: The Thai university I once worked at was built by a small army of underpaid migrant workers. Local people wanted these low level jobs, as they told me continually. As it stood, they only ended up with the security guard and maid jobs, another under-contract racket all over Thailand that usually lacks transparency, and also a way around providing worker job security and benefits.)
Laws are made by people and these are there to serve for the benefit of people.
What you’re doing is just trying to attract more criticism for the royal family.
We became citizens of countries such as Thai, Burma, Lao or Cambodia just because of our unfortunate birth over there. I always wish to avoid a person like you who think he or she is righteous enough to control our lives and willing to make sure our lives are in misery.
Has the author yet published a comment, in effect, an additional chapter covering the next big event in the life of Banharn and Suphanburi, the floods of the past year? A look at the map suggests that the strongly negative press on Banharn’s acts (“only Banharnburi all the time”) then may have been a bad rap in that the Chao Phraya basin seems to flow through the provinces to the east, Chainat, Singburi, Ang Thong to Ayutthaya, Phatum Thani, Nonthaburi and on through Bangkok. The only major dam apparent, Krasiao, is in the extreme north west. What could Banharn do that would change the effect where the damages were? Perhaps only that he could get the credit at home and the blame elsewhere that Nishizaki describes?
His book is an insightful one, an inportant insight into Thailand’s people and processes but only another clue I’m afraid into what might be coming next.
I have just seen BP’s comments of surprise about the contents of the 4 SMS messages. I too was surprised with what I read, in particular by the Saudi jewels reference, of which I have seen no report in the media.
This makes me think somebody connected with this case may have sent the messages which it appears did not come from Ah Kong .
I have been wondering for months why nobody has admitted, even anonymously, to sending the messages which may have led to Ah Kong being better treated and even given bail.
Don’t blame the law just because you don’t agree with it. He knew damn well and chose to break it. No need to bring up how and why and who did this to him.
If you love him so much then why don’t you just offer his family and any other people who don’t agree with lese majeste law the Australian citizenship ? So they could come here and enjoy the freedom in this country !
Is it possible that the base rate and piece rate interact? That one would sometimes/often/regularly exceed the base rate for total salary based on piece production? Do piece rates apply to groups or individuals and what classes of employees get a piece of the piece rate? Do we know that level of detail about compensation in these places?
This is a reprehensible example of “journalism” in Malaysia. If the NST concocts stuff about foreign politicians, one can only imagine what they fabricate about local opposition politicians and activists. Reading their recent biased and sometimes bizarre reports on Bersih confirms that journalism is dead, buried and rotting at the NST.
Phew! I hope the book isn’t as much hard work as the review. Having read the review twice I am picking up that this is a groundbreaking book. The subject interests me so I will buy the book and hope for the best.
Contrast this with the review of another groundbreaking book in New Mandala: Hjorleifur Jonsson’s Mien Relations: Mountain People and State Control in Thailand.
Greg,
Glad to hear that and Im sure Malaysia needs you. There’s a lot of work to do and the answers to the problems are actually not easy to find.
Look forward to reading your future comments.
Best Regards
Murray
Not looking for any recognition, or scoring points – just one of the millions of Malaysians trying to put this nation (Malaysia) back on track and New Mandala provides a platform for intelligent debates.
SB or News Police Branch (Tha-din-tat-phwaet) in Burma also is a historical organization established by the British since very early 1900s.
I still remember applying and picking up my Burmese passports so many times from the nondescript SB office at the corner of Maha Bandoola Road and Thein-byu Street just diagonally across from the old Secretariat Compound.
Nowadays, since MIS was dismantled in 2005, the SB has taken the role of Political Police which used to be the main job of MIS (Military Intelligence Service) since 1950s.
Since SB is not as strong organizationally and not ideologically powerful as MIS the political repression nowadays is not as ruthless and brutal as before in the MIS era.
PITY MANY SCHOLARS TEND TO HAVE A MENTAL BLANK ABOUT THE “SB” IN SABAH AND SARAWAK.
You cannot talk about “Malaysia” and confine it to Malaya. After this neo-colonial political creation now includes Sabah and Sarawak whether the people there like it or not!
Sabah and Sarawak existed separately from Malaya and have different histories.
The independence movement in Northern Borneo (Brunei Sabah and Sarawak) also experienced repression and suppression by the Special Branch. Malayan SB operatives were seconded to serve in the 3 colonies and this escalated with the anti-Malaysia independence struggle starting with the Brunei Uprising Dec 8 1962 and the Sarawak guerrilla independence war till 1990.
We need to give a more “whole” picture of the fascistic anti-democratic role of the SB in not just Malaya but its new colonies Sabah and Sarawak!
Regarding the question of wages, there are currently about 300 registered factories and another 100 or so unregistered “home factories” in Mae Sot and surrounding districts. Not one of these, to my knowledge, pays a base daily rate that meets the current minimum wage requirement. For more on this issue, I recommend a DVB article published last year entitled “Minimum wage and the migrant ‘bogeyman’”, about whether and how Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s electoral pledge of a nation-wide 300 baht minimum wage would affect migrant workers.
Just as there will be better organised protests in the future based on this, there will also be attempts to identify key personnel involved and somehow neutralise them.
There are even far more Burmese workers isolated and in worse conditions than this in Thailand alone. It is a good thing to have realization of that.
Soon these will be common place event in Burma itself. With labour intensive job for lowest wage being the global progressive business practice. The worse side effect is not even the wage but the social and
communal destruction of the tradition.
When the price of a highly technical DVD writer is around 20 dollars, people should start to realize that somewhere someone is seriously given a rough shod. By wishing to get things for as little cost as possible, people habitually does ignore the sufferings of the workers involved in the process.
While settlement like this and improvement in appalling workers condition of Foxconn for cheap iPAD’s are welcome progress for the moment, the root of the problem lies prevalent global consumerism based economy which is quickly running out of suckers
The two Andrews are now coming across like two dogs pissing on their respective door posts. Their consideration for Ah Kong and his family is taking a distant second place. And Spooner: You started it.
Well done, Stephen. Your presence definitely helped I’m sure. Labour must organise, there’s no two ways about it. Solidarity pays dividends and industrial action remains the effective strategy.
Thai LPO, Yaung Chi Oo and JACBA ‘s involvement must help, along with some sound legal advice. JACBA’s U Moe Kyo was great. Burmese do very naturally sit on their haunches whereas Westerners would be more conscious of body language and grab a chair to sit on with their legs crossed fashionably and aggressively with one foot levelled at the person opposite.
John Grima’s point needs to be addressed. How come there is one rule for Thai workers’ minimum wage and another for Burmese workers’? Like the prevailing global management bias that enables employers to hire and fire at will, is this also an individually negotiated local arrangement in favour of employers that weakens the position of non-unionised labour?
Great reporting and fantastic detail. The details of what is actually happening, the actual reactions, adaptations, legal cases and resolutions, as 300-baht daily min wage comes into effect nationwide are so important. Hope you continue the reportage 🙂 Thanks.
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Ar Kong dead
Jesse “He knew damn well and chose to break it. ”
It has not been proved that he broke it and sent those messages, it has only been proved that “he did not adequately prove his innocence” which is not the job of the defense. It is the job of the Prosecution to PROVE GUILT! which was not done, that is the injustice here!
Anatomy of a Burmese migrant strike
Stephen: “Regarding the question of wages, there are currently about 300 registered factories and another 100 or so unregistered “home factories” in Mae Sot and surrounding districts. Not one of these, to my knowledge, pays a base daily rate that meets the current minimum wage requirement.”
1. The intention of the law was that the minimum wage apply to migrant workers too.
2. If it doesn’t then investigative reporting and law suits are probably about the only thing that could change this. (So keep up the good work).
3. Employers wiggle their way out of the law even in its application to Thai workers through various wage calculation loopholes and these have resulted in lawsuits and lower arbitrated compromises (that really go against the spirit and intention of the law).
4. It is certainly in the economic interest of Thai workers to have Burmese workers paid equally as they are supposed to be.. (Case in point: The Thai university I once worked at was built by a small army of underpaid migrant workers. Local people wanted these low level jobs, as they told me continually. As it stood, they only ended up with the security guard and maid jobs, another under-contract racket all over Thailand that usually lacks transparency, and also a way around providing worker job security and benefits.)
Ar Kong dead
What a loser you’re Jesse !
Laws are made by people and these are there to serve for the benefit of people.
What you’re doing is just trying to attract more criticism for the royal family.
We became citizens of countries such as Thai, Burma, Lao or Cambodia just because of our unfortunate birth over there. I always wish to avoid a person like you who think he or she is righteous enough to control our lives and willing to make sure our lives are in misery.
Review of Political Authority and Provincial Identity in Thailand
Has the author yet published a comment, in effect, an additional chapter covering the next big event in the life of Banharn and Suphanburi, the floods of the past year? A look at the map suggests that the strongly negative press on Banharn’s acts (“only Banharnburi all the time”) then may have been a bad rap in that the Chao Phraya basin seems to flow through the provinces to the east, Chainat, Singburi, Ang Thong to Ayutthaya, Phatum Thani, Nonthaburi and on through Bangkok. The only major dam apparent, Krasiao, is in the extreme north west. What could Banharn do that would change the effect where the damages were? Perhaps only that he could get the credit at home and the blame elsewhere that Nishizaki describes?
His book is an insightful one, an inportant insight into Thailand’s people and processes but only another clue I’m afraid into what might be coming next.
Ar Kong dead
I have just seen BP’s comments of surprise about the contents of the 4 SMS messages. I too was surprised with what I read, in particular by the Saudi jewels reference, of which I have seen no report in the media.
This makes me think somebody connected with this case may have sent the messages which it appears did not come from Ah Kong .
I have been wondering for months why nobody has admitted, even anonymously, to sending the messages which may have led to Ah Kong being better treated and even given bail.
Ar Kong dead
Don’t blame the law just because you don’t agree with it. He knew damn well and chose to break it. No need to bring up how and why and who did this to him.
If you love him so much then why don’t you just offer his family and any other people who don’t agree with lese majeste law the Australian citizenship ? So they could come here and enjoy the freedom in this country !
Anatomy of a Burmese migrant strike
Is it possible that the base rate and piece rate interact? That one would sometimes/often/regularly exceed the base rate for total salary based on piece production? Do piece rates apply to groups or individuals and what classes of employees get a piece of the piece rate? Do we know that level of detail about compensation in these places?
Anatomy of a Burmese migrant strike
Thanks for the excellent report. Is this the same Champion company that was mentioned here (http://kevinhewison.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/arnold_hewison-2005.pdf)? If so, this struggle has links back to a round of labor dispute in the early 2000s.
Malaysia’s struggle for reform is on the streets, and in the news
This is a reprehensible example of “journalism” in Malaysia. If the NST concocts stuff about foreign politicians, one can only imagine what they fabricate about local opposition politicians and activists. Reading their recent biased and sometimes bizarre reports on Bersih confirms that journalism is dead, buried and rotting at the NST.
Review of Political Authority and Provincial Identity in Thailand
Phew! I hope the book isn’t as much hard work as the review. Having read the review twice I am picking up that this is a groundbreaking book. The subject interests me so I will buy the book and hope for the best.
Contrast this with the review of another groundbreaking book in New Mandala: Hjorleifur Jonsson’s Mien Relations: Mountain People and State Control in Thailand.
The review of this book by Douglas Miles got me excited and I couldn’t wait to buy the book which didn’t disappoint.
Agriculture in Malaysia’s economic and social transformation
Greg,
Glad to hear that and Im sure Malaysia needs you. There’s a lot of work to do and the answers to the problems are actually not easy to find.
Look forward to reading your future comments.
Best Regards
Murray
Agriculture in Malaysia’s economic and social transformation
Appreciate the feedback Murray.
Not looking for any recognition, or scoring points – just one of the millions of Malaysians trying to put this nation (Malaysia) back on track and New Mandala provides a platform for intelligent debates.
Political policing: from Britain to Malaysia – Part 1
SB or News Police Branch (Tha-din-tat-phwaet) in Burma also is a historical organization established by the British since very early 1900s.
I still remember applying and picking up my Burmese passports so many times from the nondescript SB office at the corner of Maha Bandoola Road and Thein-byu Street just diagonally across from the old Secretariat Compound.
Nowadays, since MIS was dismantled in 2005, the SB has taken the role of Political Police which used to be the main job of MIS (Military Intelligence Service) since 1950s.
Since SB is not as strong organizationally and not ideologically powerful as MIS the political repression nowadays is not as ruthless and brutal as before in the MIS era.
Ar Kong dead
Jon Wright #86
“The two Andrews are now coming across like two dogs pissing on their respective door posts. ”
We probably were, in previous incarnations.
Political policing: from Britain to Malaysia – Part 1
PITY MANY SCHOLARS TEND TO HAVE A MENTAL BLANK ABOUT THE “SB” IN SABAH AND SARAWAK.
You cannot talk about “Malaysia” and confine it to Malaya. After this neo-colonial political creation now includes Sabah and Sarawak whether the people there like it or not!
Sabah and Sarawak existed separately from Malaya and have different histories.
The independence movement in Northern Borneo (Brunei Sabah and Sarawak) also experienced repression and suppression by the Special Branch. Malayan SB operatives were seconded to serve in the 3 colonies and this escalated with the anti-Malaysia independence struggle starting with the Brunei Uprising Dec 8 1962 and the Sarawak guerrilla independence war till 1990.
We need to give a more “whole” picture of the fascistic anti-democratic role of the SB in not just Malaya but its new colonies Sabah and Sarawak!
Anatomy of a Burmese migrant strike
Regarding the question of wages, there are currently about 300 registered factories and another 100 or so unregistered “home factories” in Mae Sot and surrounding districts. Not one of these, to my knowledge, pays a base daily rate that meets the current minimum wage requirement. For more on this issue, I recommend a DVB article published last year entitled “Minimum wage and the migrant ‘bogeyman’”, about whether and how Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s electoral pledge of a nation-wide 300 baht minimum wage would affect migrant workers.
Anatomy of a Burmese migrant strike
“Our solidarity, of course!”
Solidarity does win the day.
Just as there will be better organised protests in the future based on this, there will also be attempts to identify key personnel involved and somehow neutralise them.
There are even far more Burmese workers isolated and in worse conditions than this in Thailand alone. It is a good thing to have realization of that.
Soon these will be common place event in Burma itself. With labour intensive job for lowest wage being the global progressive business practice. The worse side effect is not even the wage but the social and
communal destruction of the tradition.
When the price of a highly technical DVD writer is around 20 dollars, people should start to realize that somewhere someone is seriously given a rough shod. By wishing to get things for as little cost as possible, people habitually does ignore the sufferings of the workers involved in the process.
While settlement like this and improvement in appalling workers condition of Foxconn for cheap iPAD’s are welcome progress for the moment, the root of the problem lies prevalent global consumerism based economy which is quickly running out of suckers
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-02/euro-defaults-loom-as-national-ponzi-schemes-run-out-of-suckers-books.html
and this dance of the deaths will march on until people realise the real danger they are putting themselves into.
Ar Kong dead
The two Andrews are now coming across like two dogs pissing on their respective door posts. Their consideration for Ah Kong and his family is taking a distant second place. And Spooner: You started it.
Anatomy of a Burmese migrant strike
Well done, Stephen. Your presence definitely helped I’m sure. Labour must organise, there’s no two ways about it. Solidarity pays dividends and industrial action remains the effective strategy.
Thai LPO, Yaung Chi Oo and JACBA ‘s involvement must help, along with some sound legal advice. JACBA’s U Moe Kyo was great. Burmese do very naturally sit on their haunches whereas Westerners would be more conscious of body language and grab a chair to sit on with their legs crossed fashionably and aggressively with one foot levelled at the person opposite.
John Grima’s point needs to be addressed. How come there is one rule for Thai workers’ minimum wage and another for Burmese workers’? Like the prevailing global management bias that enables employers to hire and fire at will, is this also an individually negotiated local arrangement in favour of employers that weakens the position of non-unionised labour?
Anatomy of a Burmese migrant strike
Great reporting and fantastic detail. The details of what is actually happening, the actual reactions, adaptations, legal cases and resolutions, as 300-baht daily min wage comes into effect nationwide are so important. Hope you continue the reportage 🙂 Thanks.