Not a bad article all things being equal although from the region it is perceived – at least until the partial rebuttal of Pompeo by Payne and Reynolds – that Australia was foolishly locking itself into the US “narrative” on China. If anything Australian domiciled SE Asian experts need to challenge the stupid assertions by conservative Australian “influencers” that SE Asia will forsake its ties with the Chinese dragon as it embraces “liberal democracy”. Such assertions demonstrate a lack of nuance and even common sense. So, up to those of you in Australia who have a good understanding of Southeast Asia and genuinely appreciate the diversity that the societies of the region bring to global culture to challenge the BULLSHIT that flows out of the mouths of those who neither possess the same knowledge or goodwill towards Southeast Asia.
Thank you for this presentation. It is important to highlight the damage that these dams cause beyond the direct impact on the waterways. Cambodia has substantial potential for generating solar power – but the political forces supporting hydro development also appear to be obstructing solar development.
What you claim the Suvarnabhumi to correspond with Tha-Hton without limiting of timeline by based on 15th century inscription seem being ignorant of other sources. In Cambodia, a new inscription that I discovered in late 2017 mentioned that King Īśānavarman I (616-639AD) is a King of Kings ruling over Suvarnabhumi surface and total vassal Kings in the territory carry his directives on their heads. That inscription is dated in 633 AD. Apparently, Khmer King employed this famous toponym Suvarnabhumi for calling her territory under the King’s dominance more than 800 years before the said Mon Kingdom.
This article is generally pretty good, but I have a few nitpicks. The biggest is a sin of omission. In an article about the excesses of King Vajiralongkorn, why isn’t the kidnapping and probable assassination of Wanchalaerm Satsaksit mentioned? Many are openly blaming the king, and listing the evidence. Thousands of students are in the streets raising this issue. Why not this article? Two, the tone of this article is slanted towards the king rather than his victims. For instance, in this sentence, “Errant court officials are dismissed and publicly humiliated.” Is there really any reason to guess they were errant? The king has a track record of cruel and vengeful behavior towards former friends and lovers. They never get due process, so we must all the more careful not to blame the victims of his extrajudicial attacks. Finally, the whole last paragraph seems farfetched and disingenuous. After throwing ex-lovers and their families in jail, beating servants, squandering billions of the Thai people’s money on wretched excess, condoning the banning of the Future Forward Party, and (according to Andrew MacGregor Marshall’s sources) randomly ordering the assassination of Wanchalearm Satsaksit to assuage his anger over protests in Germany that Wanchalearm has nothing to do with, there is nothing that King Vajiralongkorn can do to redeem himself.
I’m really struggling to understand the point of this peculiar analysis.
It seems to be written in semi-coded language, referring obliquely to many of the grimmest aspects of Vajiralongkorn’s rule using clumsy euphemisms — such as saying he has “exacting standards and expectations of obedience” instead of openly stating that he is notorious for punishing, jailing, torturing and often ordering the murder of those who displease him.
The conclusion is presumably also intended to be ironic. Despite the toothlessness and weird equivocation of the article, it still succeeds in summarising much of the evidence that shows Vajiralongkorn is intent on “turning back time” (as the headline says) and is not only trying to reverse the 1932 revolution that ended absolute monarchy, but is also obsessed with trying to erase all physical traces of 1932 and the era of constitutional monarchy from Thai history.
So when the article says “there are small grounds to hope that, if the king is confident that he has achieved his security and royal asset reclamation goals, he could return to Thailand and reign as a constitutional monarch”, and restore a legitimate role for a constitutional monarchy by ending military meddling, I assume we are supposed to interpret this paragraph to mean that in fact, it’s blindingly clear this is not going to happen.
I’d understand the reason for the coded language and understatement if the author had been brave enough to put their name on their article. But they weren’t.
So this is an anonymous article that still reeks of cowardice and fear. Honestly, what is the point of that?
i just saw this site. My grandparents were from South India who worked in Malaya in the rubber plantation. They worked in Malacca where my parents were born. Then they moved from Malaya to Singapore with their two sons, one of whom died before they got to Singapore. My paternal grandparents were born in Kumbakonnam, South India. My father’s name is Gopal Govindasamy and he passed away. Where can I go to find more information? Thank you for any help.
While this is a very informative write-up on the issue of ‘Deep States’ the writer missed the forest for the trees. The ‘Deep State’ in Malaysia is no other than that of the Islamists wanting for Malaysia an Islamic State based on the Quran and Shariah.
IN MALAYSIA.
It’s not the Opposition, It’s not PH nor it’s the Non-Muslims or the civil service. It’s the Islamists and the Ummah.
ASWJ PAS+ASWJUMNO+ISLAMISTS of all colors.
It is the ISLAMISTS and the umat weaponizing Islam.
This is the ‘Deep State” the ‘Daulah Terpendam” that is what is causing these upheavals in cosmopolitan Malaysia. That yearning for that current, on-going Quranic mandate of a Global Caliphate, ‘the perfect form of governance.’
All Muslims countries finally comes to this fork on the road and Malaysia’s time down in the deep abyss has finally come. ‘Malaysia Negara Islam’ is here. So, don’t fool yourself, saying it’s the politicians and the secular politics.
IT’S THE ISLAMISTS THEY HAVE A FREE HAND THEY DON’T HAVE AN OPPOSITION TO CAUTION, CORRECT OR GUARD THEM. JUST TRY TO OPPOSE THEM, JUST TRY. On this score they have a free hand to perpetuate what they want.
Nobody has the guts to say it loud.
Our time for the Daulah Islamiyah, Malaysia Negara Islam is finally within reach, that’s the feeling of the Islamists. They had work hard for it. Lying at every nook and cranny of Malaysia, for the sole purpose of an exclusive Islam, a Malaysia without the non-Muslims, those ‘kafir’ those laknatullahs, cursed by Allah.
Salafi Wahhabi is here, Zakir Naik is here, the ustaz and ustazahs, PAS, ISMA, Hitzbut Tahrir Malaysia, has indoctrinated the masses for over a decade already, demonizing liberals, secularists, our British colonist ‘kafir’ Constitution in every nook and cranny of the nation, and they are ready for it, the Muslim masses to, are ready for it.
“Malaysia Daulah Islamiyah.”
Can you not feel it?
Nothing can stop it.
ISLAM
DAULAH TERPENDAM
THE DEEP STATE
BEGINS.
It’s happening the whole world over right now. Indonesia too.
People of the world should know that the “Deep State” have always been Islam, the Daulah Islamiyah, Negara Islam, ISIS, MORO, Caliphate, Sultanates, or whatever they name they want to embellish themselves with.
All of which without a care for the murder nor the genocide of ‘kafir’s’ or Muslims designated as ‘takfiris’ for not wanting to kill for the Daulah Islamiyah.
I have in my collection one of the first Quran and Hadith written in Java. The script is Makhani Arabic (derived from Makah-Mecca), written of palm leaves (one can even culture the fungi and bacteria that have stained the palm sheets). The Quran and Hadith have been dated by me using 14-C isotope dating to the late 16th Century. While the bark binding the holy books is difficult to ascertain with 100 % certainty, it is added by the smell of spice and the use of Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry with the control sample of the organic compound, used in perfumery, coumarin, and several control samples. I originally thought the bark might be the cinnamon tree, but it appears to be the nutmeg. Nutmeg is indigenous to the Molucca Islands, Penang Island and, somewhat later, Java. Comparison of chemical composition with old Nutmeg bark from Java and from Penang and Maluku indicates a Javanese origin from the Quran. In addition, use of Arabic was not widespread in the Moluccan Islands and Penang and Malay script is different, as is the binding. Lontar and kebang have different chemistry, and considering the action of microorganisms, one must take microbial enzymology into view. I learned from Dr. John Winters, late of the Chemical Conservation laboratory at the Freer and Sackler Galleries at the Smithsonian Institution, that the history of any object must take into account its provenance which usually requires chemical and isotopic methodologies.
Little has changed in Singapore. You have a doctrinaire regime still trying to brainwash younger voters, and are appealing to older voters with traditional Chinese(and Malay and Indian) customs and law and order platforms that resonate with the elderly as protecting Singapore and with the youth as continued autocracy. I will focus on one key change that is appalling and demonstrates the hypocrisy with “Papa knows best” government-mandated social change. The PAP long the Party that argued against change (or at least change outside their purview) has decided to lower the voting age from 21 to 18. Humans that weren’t mature enough to help run Singapore are now mature enough to vote for PAP, which is to say, LHL doesn’t care where the votes came from, as long as they were votes for LHL and PAP. I have decided in comparing the goofiness to the cynicism of this stupid action, that goofiness outweighs cynicism. It is best not to let children worry too much about other children, or adults will disappear. Or, maybe that’s LHL’s point.
‘It’s time the media stop’s harping on this issue and consider the merits of the PAP style of succession planning.’ The author has taken pains to show the rigidities of the succession which has mysteriously left out the best man for the top job.
The semantics are all wrong. Every election in Singapore is normal, but each one is different. If one cannot distinguish the two, which is evident here, they should be covering Formula 1 racing. I don’t care what LHL says, the evidence is for all to see. Differentiation certainly takes place here and it is in fact, differentiation from election to election that drives Singapore’s normality or normalcy if you prefer.
We’ve got them in Thailand of course but probably not on the same scale. They could be abandoned in the future but rather mothballed and maintained than dismantled – they are after all less prone to breakdown due to sun spot activity and the like.
Actually AFPFL Kyaw Nyein was in charge of assassination plot and mastermind killing Galon U Saw also. Ne Win, Aung Gyi, Maung Maung and Yagon Ba Swe, Thakin Kyi Shein ( Leiway , Pyinmana) , the socialist group was responsible for the crime.
Thank-you! I love the simplicity of colonial bungalows, but after moving to Medan saw LOTS of houses that I knew were post-colonial, and whose exterior designs fascinate me. I guessed the sixties, but have long wondered the history of this style.
Not sure if this the right place for me to post this but I have a small collection of 50 good quality books on Thai politics belonging to my deceased father I would like to donate to a library. Any suggestions please?
The so-called “Rohingya” identity was first created in 1948 by leadership of that ethnic community, represented by two identities, Sultan Ahmed & Abdul Gaffa; both of whom were included in first independent Burma parliament as transitional measures. Burmese government used that term “Rohingya” in 1948-1961. That would be only so far as we can ever trace back that name. Details on given website. Cheers, U Ne Oo.
As the scholar Thibaut d’Hubert has observed : “Muslims settled in Arakan in waves” and he quotes the Bengali poet Alaol (captured incidentally along with his father in a piracy raid) as lauding the multicultural origins of Muslims at the Mrauk-U Court: “Various individuals [coming from] various countries, informed about the delights of Rosang [Mrauk-U], came under the King’s shadow: Arabs, Egyptians, Syrians, Turks, Abyssinians, Ottomans, Khorasanis, Uzbeks, Lahoris, Multanis, Hindis, Kashmiris, Deccanis, Sindhis, Assamese, and Bengalis…..Many sons of Shaykhs and Sayyids, Mughal and Pathan warriors”.
In addition, there are the many Chittagonian settlers who came to Arakan during British rule 1826-1948. These new arrivals and their descendants soon exceeded the descendants of the old settlers listed by Alaol by a ratio of almost 4 to 1 – 56,963 “old” against 201,912 “new”, according to the Census conducted by the British in 1931.
It is for these reasons, and especially because the main influx of today’s Rohingya from Bengal occurred during the last Quarter of the 19th and the first Quarter of the 20th Centuries, that I doubt we can seriously regard the Rohingya generally as “indigenous”. Even so, the origins of a small minority of today’s Rohingya no doubt predate even the “indigenous” Rakhine.
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ASEAN and Australia: a new rhythm
“AFTER Covid-19” ?? It’s far, far from over yet. Economic ramifications for decades.
ASEAN and Australia: a new rhythm
Not a bad article all things being equal although from the region it is perceived – at least until the partial rebuttal of Pompeo by Payne and Reynolds – that Australia was foolishly locking itself into the US “narrative” on China. If anything Australian domiciled SE Asian experts need to challenge the stupid assertions by conservative Australian “influencers” that SE Asia will forsake its ties with the Chinese dragon as it embraces “liberal democracy”. Such assertions demonstrate a lack of nuance and even common sense. So, up to those of you in Australia who have a good understanding of Southeast Asia and genuinely appreciate the diversity that the societies of the region bring to global culture to challenge the BULLSHIT that flows out of the mouths of those who neither possess the same knowledge or goodwill towards Southeast Asia.
Rupture—hydropower dams in Cambodia as “engines of extraction”
Thank you for this presentation. It is important to highlight the damage that these dams cause beyond the direct impact on the waterways. Cambodia has substantial potential for generating solar power – but the political forces supporting hydro development also appear to be obstructing solar development.
Cambodia is not a province of Thailand
What you claim the Suvarnabhumi to correspond with Tha-Hton without limiting of timeline by based on 15th century inscription seem being ignorant of other sources. In Cambodia, a new inscription that I discovered in late 2017 mentioned that King Īśānavarman I (616-639AD) is a King of Kings ruling over Suvarnabhumi surface and total vassal Kings in the territory carry his directives on their heads. That inscription is dated in 633 AD. Apparently, Khmer King employed this famous toponym Suvarnabhumi for calling her territory under the King’s dominance more than 800 years before the said Mon Kingdom.
Thailand’s King Vajiralongkorn: turning back time
This article is generally pretty good, but I have a few nitpicks. The biggest is a sin of omission. In an article about the excesses of King Vajiralongkorn, why isn’t the kidnapping and probable assassination of Wanchalaerm Satsaksit mentioned? Many are openly blaming the king, and listing the evidence. Thousands of students are in the streets raising this issue. Why not this article? Two, the tone of this article is slanted towards the king rather than his victims. For instance, in this sentence, “Errant court officials are dismissed and publicly humiliated.” Is there really any reason to guess they were errant? The king has a track record of cruel and vengeful behavior towards former friends and lovers. They never get due process, so we must all the more careful not to blame the victims of his extrajudicial attacks. Finally, the whole last paragraph seems farfetched and disingenuous. After throwing ex-lovers and their families in jail, beating servants, squandering billions of the Thai people’s money on wretched excess, condoning the banning of the Future Forward Party, and (according to Andrew MacGregor Marshall’s sources) randomly ordering the assassination of Wanchalearm Satsaksit to assuage his anger over protests in Germany that Wanchalearm has nothing to do with, there is nothing that King Vajiralongkorn can do to redeem himself.
Thailand’s King Vajiralongkorn: turning back time
I’m really struggling to understand the point of this peculiar analysis.
It seems to be written in semi-coded language, referring obliquely to many of the grimmest aspects of Vajiralongkorn’s rule using clumsy euphemisms — such as saying he has “exacting standards and expectations of obedience” instead of openly stating that he is notorious for punishing, jailing, torturing and often ordering the murder of those who displease him.
The conclusion is presumably also intended to be ironic. Despite the toothlessness and weird equivocation of the article, it still succeeds in summarising much of the evidence that shows Vajiralongkorn is intent on “turning back time” (as the headline says) and is not only trying to reverse the 1932 revolution that ended absolute monarchy, but is also obsessed with trying to erase all physical traces of 1932 and the era of constitutional monarchy from Thai history.
So when the article says “there are small grounds to hope that, if the king is confident that he has achieved his security and royal asset reclamation goals, he could return to Thailand and reign as a constitutional monarch”, and restore a legitimate role for a constitutional monarchy by ending military meddling, I assume we are supposed to interpret this paragraph to mean that in fact, it’s blindingly clear this is not going to happen.
I’d understand the reason for the coded language and understatement if the author had been brave enough to put their name on their article. But they weren’t.
So this is an anonymous article that still reeks of cowardice and fear. Honestly, what is the point of that?
Indian migrant workers in Malaysia – part 1
i just saw this site. My grandparents were from South India who worked in Malaya in the rubber plantation. They worked in Malacca where my parents were born. Then they moved from Malaya to Singapore with their two sons, one of whom died before they got to Singapore. My paternal grandparents were born in Kumbakonnam, South India. My father’s name is Gopal Govindasamy and he passed away. Where can I go to find more information? Thank you for any help.
Unpacking the idea of Malaysia’s ‘deep state’
While this is a very informative write-up on the issue of ‘Deep States’ the writer missed the forest for the trees. The ‘Deep State’ in Malaysia is no other than that of the Islamists wanting for Malaysia an Islamic State based on the Quran and Shariah.
IN MALAYSIA.
It’s not the Opposition, It’s not PH nor it’s the Non-Muslims or the civil service. It’s the Islamists and the Ummah.
ASWJ PAS+ASWJUMNO+ISLAMISTS of all colors.
It is the ISLAMISTS and the umat weaponizing Islam.
This is the ‘Deep State” the ‘Daulah Terpendam” that is what is causing these upheavals in cosmopolitan Malaysia. That yearning for that current, on-going Quranic mandate of a Global Caliphate, ‘the perfect form of governance.’
All Muslims countries finally comes to this fork on the road and Malaysia’s time down in the deep abyss has finally come. ‘Malaysia Negara Islam’ is here. So, don’t fool yourself, saying it’s the politicians and the secular politics.
IT’S THE ISLAMISTS THEY HAVE A FREE HAND THEY DON’T HAVE AN OPPOSITION TO CAUTION, CORRECT OR GUARD THEM. JUST TRY TO OPPOSE THEM, JUST TRY. On this score they have a free hand to perpetuate what they want.
Nobody has the guts to say it loud.
Our time for the Daulah Islamiyah, Malaysia Negara Islam is finally within reach, that’s the feeling of the Islamists. They had work hard for it. Lying at every nook and cranny of Malaysia, for the sole purpose of an exclusive Islam, a Malaysia without the non-Muslims, those ‘kafir’ those laknatullahs, cursed by Allah.
Salafi Wahhabi is here, Zakir Naik is here, the ustaz and ustazahs, PAS, ISMA, Hitzbut Tahrir Malaysia, has indoctrinated the masses for over a decade already, demonizing liberals, secularists, our British colonist ‘kafir’ Constitution in every nook and cranny of the nation, and they are ready for it, the Muslim masses to, are ready for it.
“Malaysia Daulah Islamiyah.”
Can you not feel it?
Nothing can stop it.
ISLAM
DAULAH TERPENDAM
THE DEEP STATE
BEGINS.
It’s happening the whole world over right now. Indonesia too.
People of the world should know that the “Deep State” have always been Islam, the Daulah Islamiyah, Negara Islam, ISIS, MORO, Caliphate, Sultanates, or whatever they name they want to embellish themselves with.
All of which without a care for the murder nor the genocide of ‘kafir’s’ or Muslims designated as ‘takfiris’ for not wanting to kill for the Daulah Islamiyah.
Daulah Terpendam.
The Deep State.
Islam, the weapon.
Spread the word, the truth of the matter.
Filipino students use “padungog-dungog” to resist educational inequality
informative and realistic
Writing History in Premodern Java
I have in my collection one of the first Quran and Hadith written in Java. The script is Makhani Arabic (derived from Makah-Mecca), written of palm leaves (one can even culture the fungi and bacteria that have stained the palm sheets). The Quran and Hadith have been dated by me using 14-C isotope dating to the late 16th Century. While the bark binding the holy books is difficult to ascertain with 100 % certainty, it is added by the smell of spice and the use of Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry with the control sample of the organic compound, used in perfumery, coumarin, and several control samples. I originally thought the bark might be the cinnamon tree, but it appears to be the nutmeg. Nutmeg is indigenous to the Molucca Islands, Penang Island and, somewhat later, Java. Comparison of chemical composition with old Nutmeg bark from Java and from Penang and Maluku indicates a Javanese origin from the Quran. In addition, use of Arabic was not widespread in the Moluccan Islands and Penang and Malay script is different, as is the binding. Lontar and kebang have different chemistry, and considering the action of microorganisms, one must take microbial enzymology into view. I learned from Dr. John Winters, late of the Chemical Conservation laboratory at the Freer and Sackler Galleries at the Smithsonian Institution, that the history of any object must take into account its provenance which usually requires chemical and isotopic methodologies.
When carrots are not enough: Singapore’s actually fairly exciting general election
Little has changed in Singapore. You have a doctrinaire regime still trying to brainwash younger voters, and are appealing to older voters with traditional Chinese(and Malay and Indian) customs and law and order platforms that resonate with the elderly as protecting Singapore and with the youth as continued autocracy. I will focus on one key change that is appalling and demonstrates the hypocrisy with “Papa knows best” government-mandated social change. The PAP long the Party that argued against change (or at least change outside their purview) has decided to lower the voting age from 21 to 18. Humans that weren’t mature enough to help run Singapore are now mature enough to vote for PAP, which is to say, LHL doesn’t care where the votes came from, as long as they were votes for LHL and PAP. I have decided in comparing the goofiness to the cynicism of this stupid action, that goofiness outweighs cynicism. It is best not to let children worry too much about other children, or adults will disappear. Or, maybe that’s LHL’s point.
Singapore’s mystifying political succession
‘It’s time the media stop’s harping on this issue and consider the merits of the PAP style of succession planning.’ The author has taken pains to show the rigidities of the succession which has mysteriously left out the best man for the top job.
Singapore’s ‘Not Normal’ Election
The semantics are all wrong. Every election in Singapore is normal, but each one is different. If one cannot distinguish the two, which is evident here, they should be covering Formula 1 racing. I don’t care what LHL says, the evidence is for all to see. Differentiation certainly takes place here and it is in fact, differentiation from election to election that drives Singapore’s normality or normalcy if you prefer.
Vietnam’s public loudspeaker system: a means of communication to combat COVID-19
We’ve got them in Thailand of course but probably not on the same scale. They could be abandoned in the future but rather mothballed and maintained than dismantled – they are after all less prone to breakdown due to sun spot activity and the like.
Burma in Limbo, part 4
Actually AFPFL Kyaw Nyein was in charge of assassination plot and mastermind killing Galon U Saw also. Ne Win, Aung Gyi, Maung Maung and Yagon Ba Swe, Thakin Kyi Shein ( Leiway , Pyinmana) , the socialist group was responsible for the crime.
Indonesia: The Years of Building Dangerously
Thank-you! I love the simplicity of colonial bungalows, but after moving to Medan saw LOTS of houses that I knew were post-colonial, and whose exterior designs fascinate me. I guessed the sixties, but have long wondered the history of this style.
Thai studies in Australia
Not sure if this the right place for me to post this but I have a small collection of 50 good quality books on Thai politics belonging to my deceased father I would like to donate to a library. Any suggestions please?
The hidden heterogeneity of Rohingya refugees
The so-called “Rohingya” identity was first created in 1948 by leadership of that ethnic community, represented by two identities, Sultan Ahmed & Abdul Gaffa; both of whom were included in first independent Burma parliament as transitional measures. Burmese government used that term “Rohingya” in 1948-1961. That would be only so far as we can ever trace back that name. Details on given website. Cheers, U Ne Oo.
The hidden heterogeneity of Rohingya refugees
As the scholar Thibaut d’Hubert has observed : “Muslims settled in Arakan in waves” and he quotes the Bengali poet Alaol (captured incidentally along with his father in a piracy raid) as lauding the multicultural origins of Muslims at the Mrauk-U Court: “Various individuals [coming from] various countries, informed about the delights of Rosang [Mrauk-U], came under the King’s shadow: Arabs, Egyptians, Syrians, Turks, Abyssinians, Ottomans, Khorasanis, Uzbeks, Lahoris, Multanis, Hindis, Kashmiris, Deccanis, Sindhis, Assamese, and Bengalis…..Many sons of Shaykhs and Sayyids, Mughal and Pathan warriors”.
In addition, there are the many Chittagonian settlers who came to Arakan during British rule 1826-1948. These new arrivals and their descendants soon exceeded the descendants of the old settlers listed by Alaol by a ratio of almost 4 to 1 – 56,963 “old” against 201,912 “new”, according to the Census conducted by the British in 1931.
It is for these reasons, and especially because the main influx of today’s Rohingya from Bengal occurred during the last Quarter of the 19th and the first Quarter of the 20th Centuries, that I doubt we can seriously regard the Rohingya generally as “indigenous”. Even so, the origins of a small minority of today’s Rohingya no doubt predate even the “indigenous” Rakhine.
Academia.SG on New Mandala
Excellent collaboration!