“For examples. [IF} a Thai, broad daylight, as an act of protest, through a beer bottle on a portrait of a Royal, sure, a few years to think about insulting actions. However, a tourist, at night, who doesn’t know what they are doing, drunk?”
I’m not sure, Gary, if you’re trying to be satirical or not. So forgive me if I misunderstand you.
I propose another scheme. Vandalism by anyone, Thai or foreign, should be punished with penalties that are appropriate to the misdemeanour. Any protest associated with the vandalism should be disregarded because everyone, Thai or foreign, should have the right to freedom of expression.
The rest of what you say I somewhat agree with. But in practice what is happening is quite different. The Nithirat group has exercised their right to freedom of speech by proposing a set of reforms. For this, they have been threatened with having their heads stuck on spikes to decorate the entrance to Thammasat University where I happen to work.
What has been the response by the government to this? To seek out the people who made these threats and charge them under the law? To charge these people with inciting murder?
No, it has been to say that we are watching you. Meaning Nithirat, and meaning civil society.
The legal battle between Aung San Oo and Aung San Suu Kyi over the property/inheritance is indeed going on for years. It started obviously already long before the property in Rangoon prices were surging.
Ironically, Aung San Suu Kyi uses against the claims of her only surviving brother the very law of an autocratic system that she is supposedly fighting. Under the current law, a foreigner has no right to own property and Aung San Oo became some time in the past 50 years a citizen of another country like many other Burmese who left the country. Therefore Aung San Suu Kyi seems to consider herself the only legitimate heir of their mother’s property.
Over the years, activists used to curse Aung San Oo and threaten him, even demonstrated in front of his house.
I can sympathize with this unlucky guy who just wants his justified share of the inheritance (who would not) but happens to be the brother of Aung San Suu Kyi. Justice?!
Nostitz you were almost always there during those sticky dangerous Red Shirts violent encounters . . . that’s what I could glean from all your testimonies (sworn or otherwise).
Did you not encounter any Red or Black Shirts armed with assault rifles or RPGs during all that time? Were you there when those Red Shirt leaders (Arisman et al) were openly urging their followers for battle and mass arson (one bottle of petrol per Red Shirt)?
I agree with you that those very young army recruits were scared and incompetent? Isn’t that what General Khattiya (and his leader Thaksin) was counting on as he continually provoked the military to respond in kind to the many random shooting/RPG attacks coming from the Red camp?
While I can appreciate the humour/satire of the last 2 blog posts on Singapore, it’s somewhat frustrating that New Mandala hasn’t had many rigorous contributions concerning the very important recent socio-political issues in Singapore, especially in the past month, which has been labelled a “scandal-hit January”. All of this information below has been circulating in the Singaporean mass media and online for some time now:
1.Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau investigating the heads of the Singapore Civil Defence Force and the Central Narcotics Bureau for allegedly being involved with a female IT executive
2. Former top school principal, a scholar and several senior civil servants embroiled in investigations into a prostitution ring allegedly dealing in Korean girls:
Hopefully someone at New Mandala or one of its guest writers will be able to discuss some of these issues at length and perhaps give insights into what is certainly an unprecedented period in Singaporean history.
[…] Often the answer is to reinvigorate the promotion of the homily called sufficiency economy. This time, however, the parroting of sufficiency economy comes at a time when ultra-royalists are reinventing “Thai-style democracy” as “sufficiency democracy.” […]
Not bad. The level of English in Thailand is indeed atrocious (to the point that Yingluck said to Hillary Clinton “it is always a pressure for us here in Thailand to welcome…”)
Another good point is the long-winded polite speech completely lacking substance, which often seems to be on a level of a 5-year-old.
Well! How tight-arse some comments are. I LOVE this article, which is in pretty good Singlish (If it were closer to perfect, we’d have to have our Coxford Dictionaries of Singlish beside us.) Nice to see some fun stuff on NM. The recent ‘Noose’ videos are an enhancement, too.
The elegant mansion in which Daw Aung San Suu Kyi lives has also been refurbished, as is evident in recent pictures of her with some of the visitors she has been receiving. A close look at the picture of the fence will reveal razor wire along the top. Meanwhile, a verdict is yet to be issued in a contempt of court case filed in August by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi against her brother, Aung San Oo, and ‘Monitor’ weekly newspaper over his reported comment to have won a long-running legal battle against his sister for ownership of the property. The dispute dates to 2000 when Aung San Oo filed a civil suit claiming a half share in the property, formerly owned by the pair’s mother. A property boom in Yangon has given Aung San Oo good reason to pursue ownership of the property: real estate developers say it is conservatively estimated to be worth at least $10 million (sic).
One of the biggest problems with LM, besides unwieldy enforcement and unequal enforcement, [ie what some people ‘can’ say and what others can’t, as exposed in Wikileaks *wink*] is the definition, or lack of, of what constitutes LM. [[[Anybody pressing ‘frivolous’ charges should be subject to years in jail if the motivation had nothing to do with defending the Monarchy.]]]
For examples. [IF} a Thai, broad daylight, as an act of protest, through a beer bottle on a portrait of a Royal, sure, a few years to think about insulting actions. However, a tourist, at night, who doesn’t know what they are doing, drunk? OK, a few thousand B fine and a mark in the passport for deportation on the next occurrence. < IF you want civilised. Now, The same Thai, who 'might' think Thailand would be better off as a Republic [it wouldn't be, but that's another whole Topic]; that Thai should be allowed to, openly write letters to Editors, create BLOGS and petition political candidates. ie; Thais should have 'free' NOT 'wild' speech as right. [Like freedom of religion] Right now, they both only 'on the books' but not in practise.
[[[Long Live the Monarchy is Shared Ruler-ship with the People]]]
One defense, for ‘some’ of the accused, could be a Freedom of Religion strategy and, ironically, HM is the Legal Defender of Buddhism. Those who display Buddhist virtues of Compassion and Equanimity, for example to speak out against the barbaric treatment of an innocent old man, or greater issues, like the clutching of Political Corruption on the Societal Milieu, with good intentions for fellow men, and no malice to the Monarchy; should be ‘safe’ to practise their religion.
Those who want Thailand to stand on the World Stage as a Civilised Nation are, actually, more patriotic to the Monarchy than those who would misconstrue enforcement in a myopic and unequal manner.
There are literally millions of internet Posts which Thailand in dim opinion when it comes to this ‘Issue’.
Those who, really, commit LM, of course, should be punished, but those with a bent for a fairer, cleaner Siam should be lauded.
I agree with the idea of having ONLY 1 office with the Authority to press LM charges. [More correctly, they might be agreeing with me, as I have been Posting this ‘partial’ remedy for years, before the Nitirat group suggested it.]
There are ‘other’ elements of the LM Law which need defining, but the easiest, most effective, CURE would be a Reconciliation of Democracy WITH the Monarchy. I’ve been informed that Josephocracy has been Discussed on a Thai TV & a Thai Radio Show, with favourable response from audiences.
As the post above. Where is the quality and the added value of these kind of articles? I really wonder why these contributions get access to the new mandala blog; which is normally of better academic quality.
Curtin University may regret this decision to confer an honorary doctorate to the wife of Malaysian prime minister, Rosmah Mansor. WA Today and The Age has the story.
This quote was quite interesting:
“This would be the equivalent of Julia Gillard’s partner using Australian tax payer’s money to set up day cares all over Australia and receives an award from a foreign university for his philanthropic work,” the letter said.
Your attempt to build a straw-man cannot obfuscate your lack of factual knowledge. No, in the early afternoon confrontation the military did not end up “retreating” – On the opposite – the units deployed achieved their stated aim: occupy the area until the Wisut Kasat intersection. Until that time the military’s operation that day went still more or less, somewhat, within the rules of engagement.
Things went bad during the late afternoon main attack. It is though quite impossible for the military to only have fired life rounds at the protesters after the grenade attack during which Col. Romklao was fatally injured (again: not RPG’s, but hand grenades, and previous to that at Khok Wua M79 grenades, which still are not RPG’s!), when the first Red Shirt died more than an hour before, and also before the Red Shirt militants arrived at the scene and then engaged the military.
It is indeed hard to discern what the military’s intend that day was. The military’s operation, especially the second part that started in the late afternoon was accompanied by at least incredible incompetence, if not worse.
Romklao was indeed involved in Sonkran 2009. There is clear proof that Red Shirt protesters were injured by military gunfire during the early morning attack on April 13, 2009, some maimed for the rest of their lives. The military until today refuses to acknowledge that they fired life rounds at protesters. But they lie – i was there and was shot at from the military lines.
As to the alleged complicity of the monarchy – many Red Shirts are under this impression. So far the was only one single pubic statement regarding the violence of 2010 by a member of the Royal family made, and that was during Woodie’s interview with Princess Chulabhorn. That statement, as you can surly recall, was not exactly sympathetic to the Red Shirts.
Naturally, we cannot conclude that this statement means that the entire Royal Family was supportive of Chulabhorn’s view, yet there has been no indication either that the family, or individual members would oppose her publicly stated views.
Nevertheless, we can clearly state that sizable sectors of Thai society do not support the monarchy (to differing degrees) anymore, and that the establishment is so far at a loss how to deal with the situation and the perception of the Red Shirts, other than by confrontation (increased use of lese majeste laws, threatening statements by the Army chief and other high ranked officers, etc).
Thank you for your contribution. Indeed, the first video does capture the Thai-style pronunciation of the English language quite well. However, I wonder whether this post is a noteworthy contribution to an academic debate, such as failed education policy in Thailand e.g., or just to make us laugh. The former would be an interesting point, the latter does not fit imho into this forum though.
One death at 18:40 is hardly a massacre. Considering all the heavy weaponry described, one death makes it highly unlikely that their intent was to “come out and kill the people.” If that was their intent, there would have been a slaughter right from the start, and there wasn’t. So, not so hard to discern what their intent was.
Considering the hand-to-hand combat on the streets all afternoon, in which the soldier did not resort to heavy weapons and ended up retreating, it’s not suprising that Col. Romklao would be yelling at his soldiers to fight and not retreat.
The videos show that Romklao’s unit was firing in the air when the RPG hit. Once again, that doesn’t seem like intent to kill the people. Romklao also reportedly played a large part in the 2009 operations, in which basically no one was killed. What was different this time around? The armed wing of the Reds began shooting and firing RPGs at the soldiers. When you shoot at soldiers, they shoot back. And when you shoot at soldiers, you share in the responsiblity for what follows.
In any event, none of what anyone has written here lends any credence to the original poster who claimed that the monarchy was complicit in the army supposedly coming out to kill the people.
I think this is the result of the phrase that some old Thai elites like to say to Thai people “we should be proud of being Thai and speaking Thai”.
They do the same thing in every nation in the world where the language of inevitability (not to be confused with superiority; but there’s no faster way to guarantee inferiority than to get your victims confused about their own best interests) is fiercely resisted by those who ‘protect’ their little pockets of control from the inevitable big – bad – world.
The Westphalian illusion of the ‘sovereign nation-state’ may be dead or dying, but the exploitation will rage on. You’ll be in a better position if you’re not ‘protected’ from it by an illusionary patriotic bubble. I had parents that once ‘protected’ me from Reality, this way. Boy did I struggle to deal with inevitability, when it hit. I was armed only with Fantasy. I barely coped, in Reality. It’s time people stopped looking to their lords for spiritual and moral guidance; and started tending to their own best interests. Including the lords, who have always had overlords. But sovereigns come in different shapes and sizes.
Alternatively, non-English speakers can continue to believe the slaves of other plantations have a motive to harm or hurt you; when they would probably just want to play, trade and engage. If someone doesn’t want you to be able to communicate with the world, it should ring alarm bells.
But vassals are notoriously gullible in every nation. In particular, those in the Land of the Free who are terrified of those in the Religion of Peace. Freedom and Peace mixed together created 3 million orphans recenty. It’s a great cocktail, that one – but the hangover is a killer. This is what it sounds like:
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Thailand’s Fearlessness: Free Akong
“For examples. [IF} a Thai, broad daylight, as an act of protest, through a beer bottle on a portrait of a Royal, sure, a few years to think about insulting actions. However, a tourist, at night, who doesn’t know what they are doing, drunk?”
I’m not sure, Gary, if you’re trying to be satirical or not. So forgive me if I misunderstand you.
I propose another scheme. Vandalism by anyone, Thai or foreign, should be punished with penalties that are appropriate to the misdemeanour. Any protest associated with the vandalism should be disregarded because everyone, Thai or foreign, should have the right to freedom of expression.
The rest of what you say I somewhat agree with. But in practice what is happening is quite different. The Nithirat group has exercised their right to freedom of speech by proposing a set of reforms. For this, they have been threatened with having their heads stuck on spikes to decorate the entrance to Thammasat University where I happen to work.
What has been the response by the government to this? To seek out the people who made these threats and charge them under the law? To charge these people with inciting murder?
No, it has been to say that we are watching you. Meaning Nithirat, and meaning civil society.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s house
@aggadassavin
The legal battle between Aung San Oo and Aung San Suu Kyi over the property/inheritance is indeed going on for years. It started obviously already long before the property in Rangoon prices were surging.
Ironically, Aung San Suu Kyi uses against the claims of her only surviving brother the very law of an autocratic system that she is supposedly fighting. Under the current law, a foreigner has no right to own property and Aung San Oo became some time in the past 50 years a citizen of another country like many other Burmese who left the country. Therefore Aung San Suu Kyi seems to consider herself the only legitimate heir of their mother’s property.
Over the years, activists used to curse Aung San Oo and threaten him, even demonstrated in front of his house.
I can sympathize with this unlucky guy who just wants his justified share of the inheritance (who would not) but happens to be the brother of Aung San Suu Kyi. Justice?!
Jory on Thai monarchy
Nostitz you were almost always there during those sticky dangerous Red Shirts violent encounters . . . that’s what I could glean from all your testimonies (sworn or otherwise).
Did you not encounter any Red or Black Shirts armed with assault rifles or RPGs during all that time? Were you there when those Red Shirt leaders (Arisman et al) were openly urging their followers for battle and mass arson (one bottle of petrol per Red Shirt)?
I agree with you that those very young army recruits were scared and incompetent? Isn’t that what General Khattiya (and his leader Thaksin) was counting on as he continually provoked the military to respond in kind to the many random shooting/RPG attacks coming from the Red camp?
For Singaporeans, Bangkok is the new Johor Bahru
While I can appreciate the humour/satire of the last 2 blog posts on Singapore, it’s somewhat frustrating that New Mandala hasn’t had many rigorous contributions concerning the very important recent socio-political issues in Singapore, especially in the past month, which has been labelled a “scandal-hit January”. All of this information below has been circulating in the Singaporean mass media and online for some time now:
1.Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau investigating the heads of the Singapore Civil Defence Force and the Central Narcotics Bureau for allegedly being involved with a female IT executive
http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20120125-323860.html
2. Former top school principal, a scholar and several senior civil servants embroiled in investigations into a prostitution ring allegedly dealing in Korean girls:
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/80-people-being-investigated-in-online-vice-probe–report.html
3. Leading opposition member and current MP expelled and left the country
amidst allegations of having had affairs with 3 women:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1183169/1/.html
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/singaporescene/poreans-yaw-vanishing-act-leaving-country-not-101715242.html
Hopefully someone at New Mandala or one of its guest writers will be able to discuss some of these issues at length and perhaps give insights into what is certainly an unprecedented period in Singaporean history.
Best Regards,
-Tan L.
Chai-anan’s sufficiency democracy
[…] Often the answer is to reinvigorate the promotion of the homily called sufficiency economy. This time, however, the parroting of sufficiency economy comes at a time when ultra-royalists are reinventing “Thai-style democracy” as “sufficiency democracy.” […]
Aung San Suu Kyi’s house
“White House” which will belong to the citizens of a free & democratic Burma.
For Singaporeans, Bangkok is the new Johor Bahru
Not bad. The level of English in Thailand is indeed atrocious (to the point that Yingluck said to Hillary Clinton “it is always a pressure for us here in Thailand to welcome…”)
Another good point is the long-winded polite speech completely lacking substance, which often seems to be on a level of a 5-year-old.
For Singaporeans, Bangkok is the new Johor Bahru
I would have to agree that these silly Singlish posts are becoming a bit too frequent..
Sibeh Ah Beng returns
Well! How tight-arse some comments are. I LOVE this article, which is in pretty good Singlish (If it were closer to perfect, we’d have to have our Coxford Dictionaries of Singlish beside us.) Nice to see some fun stuff on NM. The recent ‘Noose’ videos are an enhancement, too.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s house
Are those surrounding poles survillance cameras? Suu Kyi did not demand the old ones to be removed or installed new ones for security reason?
Aung San Suu Kyi’s house
The elegant mansion in which Daw Aung San Suu Kyi lives has also been refurbished, as is evident in recent pictures of her with some of the visitors she has been receiving. A close look at the picture of the fence will reveal razor wire along the top. Meanwhile, a verdict is yet to be issued in a contempt of court case filed in August by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi against her brother, Aung San Oo, and ‘Monitor’ weekly newspaper over his reported comment to have won a long-running legal battle against his sister for ownership of the property. The dispute dates to 2000 when Aung San Oo filed a civil suit claiming a half share in the property, formerly owned by the pair’s mother. A property boom in Yangon has given Aung San Oo good reason to pursue ownership of the property: real estate developers say it is conservatively estimated to be worth at least $10 million (sic).
Thailand’s Fearlessness: Free Akong
One of the biggest problems with LM, besides unwieldy enforcement and unequal enforcement, [ie what some people ‘can’ say and what others can’t, as exposed in Wikileaks *wink*] is the definition, or lack of, of what constitutes LM. [[[Anybody pressing ‘frivolous’ charges should be subject to years in jail if the motivation had nothing to do with defending the Monarchy.]]]
For examples. [IF} a Thai, broad daylight, as an act of protest, through a beer bottle on a portrait of a Royal, sure, a few years to think about insulting actions. However, a tourist, at night, who doesn’t know what they are doing, drunk? OK, a few thousand B fine and a mark in the passport for deportation on the next occurrence. < IF you want civilised. Now, The same Thai, who 'might' think Thailand would be better off as a Republic [it wouldn't be, but that's another whole Topic]; that Thai should be allowed to, openly write letters to Editors, create BLOGS and petition political candidates. ie; Thais should have 'free' NOT 'wild' speech as right. [Like freedom of religion] Right now, they both only 'on the books' but not in practise.
[[[Long Live the Monarchy is Shared Ruler-ship with the People]]]
Thailand’s Fearlessness: Free Akong
One defense, for ‘some’ of the accused, could be a Freedom of Religion strategy and, ironically, HM is the Legal Defender of Buddhism. Those who display Buddhist virtues of Compassion and Equanimity, for example to speak out against the barbaric treatment of an innocent old man, or greater issues, like the clutching of Political Corruption on the Societal Milieu, with good intentions for fellow men, and no malice to the Monarchy; should be ‘safe’ to practise their religion.
Those who want Thailand to stand on the World Stage as a Civilised Nation are, actually, more patriotic to the Monarchy than those who would misconstrue enforcement in a myopic and unequal manner.
There are literally millions of internet Posts which Thailand in dim opinion when it comes to this ‘Issue’.
Those who, really, commit LM, of course, should be punished, but those with a bent for a fairer, cleaner Siam should be lauded.
I agree with the idea of having ONLY 1 office with the Authority to press LM charges. [More correctly, they might be agreeing with me, as I have been Posting this ‘partial’ remedy for years, before the Nitirat group suggested it.]
There are ‘other’ elements of the LM Law which need defining, but the easiest, most effective, CURE would be a Reconciliation of Democracy WITH the Monarchy. I’ve been informed that Josephocracy has been Discussed on a Thai TV & a Thai Radio Show, with favourable response from audiences.
For Singaporeans, Bangkok is the new Johor Bahru
While I do cherish the academic nature of this blog, it is great to see there’s space for a comedy approach, too (intra-Asian, even!).
Nicely done 🙂 Thanks for the links, Limpeh.
Sibeh Ah Beng returns
As the post above. Where is the quality and the added value of these kind of articles? I really wonder why these contributions get access to the new mandala blog; which is normally of better academic quality.
1Contradiction: Malaysia’s handbags
Curtin University may regret this decision to confer an honorary doctorate to the wife of Malaysian prime minister, Rosmah Mansor. WA Today and The Age has the story.
This quote was quite interesting:
Jory on Thai monarchy
“JG45”:
Your attempt to build a straw-man cannot obfuscate your lack of factual knowledge. No, in the early afternoon confrontation the military did not end up “retreating” – On the opposite – the units deployed achieved their stated aim: occupy the area until the Wisut Kasat intersection. Until that time the military’s operation that day went still more or less, somewhat, within the rules of engagement.
Things went bad during the late afternoon main attack. It is though quite impossible for the military to only have fired life rounds at the protesters after the grenade attack during which Col. Romklao was fatally injured (again: not RPG’s, but hand grenades, and previous to that at Khok Wua M79 grenades, which still are not RPG’s!), when the first Red Shirt died more than an hour before, and also before the Red Shirt militants arrived at the scene and then engaged the military.
It is indeed hard to discern what the military’s intend that day was. The military’s operation, especially the second part that started in the late afternoon was accompanied by at least incredible incompetence, if not worse.
Romklao was indeed involved in Sonkran 2009. There is clear proof that Red Shirt protesters were injured by military gunfire during the early morning attack on April 13, 2009, some maimed for the rest of their lives. The military until today refuses to acknowledge that they fired life rounds at protesters. But they lie – i was there and was shot at from the military lines.
As to the alleged complicity of the monarchy – many Red Shirts are under this impression. So far the was only one single pubic statement regarding the violence of 2010 by a member of the Royal family made, and that was during Woodie’s interview with Princess Chulabhorn. That statement, as you can surly recall, was not exactly sympathetic to the Red Shirts.
Naturally, we cannot conclude that this statement means that the entire Royal Family was supportive of Chulabhorn’s view, yet there has been no indication either that the family, or individual members would oppose her publicly stated views.
Nevertheless, we can clearly state that sizable sectors of Thai society do not support the monarchy (to differing degrees) anymore, and that the establishment is so far at a loss how to deal with the situation and the perception of the Red Shirts, other than by confrontation (increased use of lese majeste laws, threatening statements by the Army chief and other high ranked officers, etc).
For Singaporeans, Bangkok is the new Johor Bahru
Thank you for your contribution. Indeed, the first video does capture the Thai-style pronunciation of the English language quite well. However, I wonder whether this post is a noteworthy contribution to an academic debate, such as failed education policy in Thailand e.g., or just to make us laugh. The former would be an interesting point, the latter does not fit imho into this forum though.
Jory on Thai monarchy
One death at 18:40 is hardly a massacre. Considering all the heavy weaponry described, one death makes it highly unlikely that their intent was to “come out and kill the people.” If that was their intent, there would have been a slaughter right from the start, and there wasn’t. So, not so hard to discern what their intent was.
Considering the hand-to-hand combat on the streets all afternoon, in which the soldier did not resort to heavy weapons and ended up retreating, it’s not suprising that Col. Romklao would be yelling at his soldiers to fight and not retreat.
The videos show that Romklao’s unit was firing in the air when the RPG hit. Once again, that doesn’t seem like intent to kill the people. Romklao also reportedly played a large part in the 2009 operations, in which basically no one was killed. What was different this time around? The armed wing of the Reds began shooting and firing RPGs at the soldiers. When you shoot at soldiers, they shoot back. And when you shoot at soldiers, you share in the responsiblity for what follows.
In any event, none of what anyone has written here lends any credence to the original poster who claimed that the monarchy was complicit in the army supposedly coming out to kill the people.
For Singaporeans, Bangkok is the new Johor Bahru
They do the same thing in every nation in the world where the language of inevitability (not to be confused with superiority; but there’s no faster way to guarantee inferiority than to get your victims confused about their own best interests) is fiercely resisted by those who ‘protect’ their little pockets of control from the inevitable big – bad – world.
The Westphalian illusion of the ‘sovereign nation-state’ may be dead or dying, but the exploitation will rage on. You’ll be in a better position if you’re not ‘protected’ from it by an illusionary patriotic bubble. I had parents that once ‘protected’ me from Reality, this way. Boy did I struggle to deal with inevitability, when it hit. I was armed only with Fantasy. I barely coped, in Reality. It’s time people stopped looking to their lords for spiritual and moral guidance; and started tending to their own best interests. Including the lords, who have always had overlords. But sovereigns come in different shapes and sizes.
Alternatively, non-English speakers can continue to believe the slaves of other plantations have a motive to harm or hurt you; when they would probably just want to play, trade and engage. If someone doesn’t want you to be able to communicate with the world, it should ring alarm bells.
But vassals are notoriously gullible in every nation. In particular, those in the Land of the Free who are terrified of those in the Religion of Peace. Freedom and Peace mixed together created 3 million orphans recenty. It’s a great cocktail, that one – but the hangover is a killer. This is what it sounds like:
Boom.
Boom. BOOM.