Thanks for the link to Havel. I never read anything by the man before. I followed your link, then tried to get the whole essay… but it’s dammed behind an academic impoundment. Googling delivered the full text, but with errors courtesy of OCR… I tried to fix ’em up : The power of the powerless (pdf)
The manager of a fruit-and-vegetable shop places in his window, among the onions and carrots, the slogan:
“Workers of the world, unite!”
Why does he do it? What is he trying to communicate to the world? Is he genuinely enthusiastic about the idea of unity among the workers of the world? … If he were to refuse, there could be trouble. He could be reproached for not having the proper decoration in his window; someone might even accuse him of disloyalty. He does it because these things must be done if one is to get along in life. It is one of the thousands of details that guarantee him a relatively tranquil life “in harmony with society,” as they say… The slogan is really a sign, and as such it contains a subliminal but very definite message. Verbally, it might be expressed this way:
“I, the green-grocer XY, live here and I know what I must do. I behave in the manner expected of me. I can be depended upon and am beyond reproach. I am obedient and therefore I have the right to be left in peace.”
This message, of course, has an addressee: it is directed above, to the green-grocer’s superior, and at the same time it is a shield that protects the green-grocer from potential informers. The slogan’s real meaning, therefore, is rooted firmly in the green-grocer’s existence. It reflects his vital interests. But what are those vital interests?
Let us take note: if the green-grocer had been instructed to display the slogan
“I am afraid and therefore unquestioningly obedient”;
he would not be nearly as indifferent to its semantics, even though the statement would reflect the truth.
Substitute the Royalist slogan du jour for “Workers of the world, unite!”
I think Thailand fits into Havel’s taxonomy as a would-be totalitarian state trying to go post-totalitarian… from the ‘elite’ perspective.
From the redshirt perspective, suffering under Phuea Thai, it appears democratic… in need of turning the bend to post-democratic.
It is an article such as this by Somchai Menyaem that brings me even more shame to be a Thai.
Yes, some farangs are bad. But I doubt that all the Thai ways are good even for its own citizens. Yes, the western world once tried to control people’s thought and freedom of expression. We called that period in history the “Dark Ages.” But the western world has since progressed to a much different level. But I guess we in Thailand still live in the Dark Ages.
The world is more and more globalized and many values, especially human rights and freedom of speech, have become universal. Such argument that we Thais are different and we can justifiably hold different set of values is becoming weaker and weaker to the point that it is not worth arguing about.
True that a nuanced understanding of history is lacking among most Thai teachers and their students but the same applies in many countries, including the US where I had direct experience teaching US students at university level.
I spend a good deal of my time offering alternative versions or even versions of history unavailable in Thai schools although of course one has to be careful how such versions are scripted even with one’s own children. However, when I see that my nephews and neices who live in countries other than Thailand I realize Thais are not quite as non-global in their understanding of world histories as they are made out to be.
My children (at least my older daughter) via school know something about Nazism as they do about Communism although in the latter instance the understanding is not one that makes the subtle link between the rise of communism and national liberation movements and the subsequent demise of communism. However, through travel to places like Vietnam (not just to Hoi An), Lao PDR (not just to Luang Prabang), Cambodia (not just to Siem Reap) and China (not just to Kunming) our children have developed a somewhat keener appreciation of at least sub-regional history.
That does not mean the Disneyworlds or Universal Studios of the world (well both are now in the region) do not also attract children: of course they do. But living in Thailand even if the schools fall short in terms of developing more nuanced understandings of histories that Thais themselves have played a role in shaping its geographical location renders Thailand a great place to vist other places where much of the histroy of the latter part of the last century was made and is still contunuing to be made.
Bill, I believe that the Lese majeste laws also ban criticism of foreign heads of states too so we should all say what a good chap the Dear Leader was and how wonderful the Great Successor will be.
Regarding relevant sections of US Code:
Normally the
The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 would normally preclude the ability of someone from suing a sovereign state in United States Court except under certain conditions.
However
Section 1605(a)(2) of the FSIA provides that a foreign sovereign and its agencies and instrumentalities:
shall not be immune from the jurisdiction of the courts of the United States or of the States in any case … in which the action is based … upon an act outside the territory of the United States in connection with a commercial activity of the foreign sovereign elsewhere and that act causes a direct effect in the United States.
Furthermore,
Not surprisingly, there is no sovereign immunity in a case “in which the foreign state has waived its immunity either explicitly or by implication,” 28 U.S.C. ┬з 1605(a)(1)
It could be argued that the amici argue that the Thailand has impliedly waived sovereign immunity under the FSIA by violating jus cogens norms of the law of nations. “A foreign state that violates these fundamental requirements of a civilized world thereby waives its right to be treated as a sovereign.”
A jus cogens norm is a principle of international law that is “accepted by the international community of States as a whole as a norm from which no derogation is permitted….” Committee of U.S. Citizens in Nicaragua v. Reagan, 859 F.2d 929, 940 (D.C.Cir.1988), quoting Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, May 23, 1969, art. 53, U.N.Doc. A/Conf. 39/27, 8 I.L.M. 679. Such peremptory norms are “nonderogable and enjoy the highest status within international law,” Committee of U.S. Citizens in Nicaragua, 859 F.2d at 940; they “prevail over and invalidate international agreements and other rules of international law in conflict with them,” and they are “subject to modification only by a subsequent norm of international law having the same character.” Restatement, supra, ┬з 102 comment k.
According to one authority, a state violates jus cogens, as currently defined, if it:
practices, encourages, or condones (a) genocide, (b) slavery or slave trade, (c) the murder or causing the disappearance of individuals, (d) torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, (e) prolonged arbitrary detention, (f) systematic racial discrimination, or (g) a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.
TITLE 28 > PART IV > CHAPTER 97 > ┬з 1605
Prev | Next
┬з 1605. GENERAL EXCEPTIONS TO THE JURISDICTIONAL IMMUNITY OF A FOREIGN STATE
(a) A foreign state shall not be immune from the jurisdiction of courts of the United States or of the States in any case–
(2) in which the action is based upon a commercial activity carried on in the United States by the foreign state; or upon an act performed in the United States in connection with a commercial activity of the foreign state elsewhere; or upon an act outside the territory of the United States in connection with a commercial activity of the foreign state elsewhere and that act causes a direct effect in the United States;
5) not otherwise encompassed in paragraph (2) above, in which money damages are sought against a foreign state for personal injury or death, or damage to or loss of property, occurring in the United States and caused by the tortious act or omission of that foreign state or of any official or employee of that foreign state while acting within the scope of his office or employment; except this paragraph shall not apply to–
(B) any claim arising out of malicious prosecution, abuse of process, libel, slander, misrepresentation, deceit, or interference with contract rights.
So the relevent facts would be where was the tort committed?
Does the action of the foreign sovereign have a direct effect in the United States?
Does the law that he was prosecuted under conform to the norms of international law?
Was his prosecution malicious? Was it an abuse of power?
Can a Thai law restricting an American’s First Amendment rights of Free Speech be adjudicated in a United States Court?
Is Thailands’s lese majeste law is an international norm?
Will a Colorado jury be amused by Thailand’s arguments.
Could a judgement from a Colorado jury be enforced?
Is the shackling of prisoners, denial of bail, locked in prison cells with both sentenced and pretrial inmates, and group cells of 24 or 48 meters sq with 25+ prisoners an accepted international norm?
I wonder?
Will a court room in the United States be a good place to answer those questions?
I once related the story of the Thai Ambassador to the US not delivering his country’s declaration of war to the State Department on 25 Jan 1942, so the US did not reciprocate. Not so in the UK, where the declaration was delivered.
There was a sharp intake of breath from the educated group of Thais I was with, accompanied by a mixture of quizzical and blank stares. The denials followed quickly – “no, no, no – this is not possible – you don’t understand…. it never happened” I am quite sure that for the all of them, it was the first time they had ever heard it.
Link to Matichon article in which Police General Vasit defends Thailand’s present Lese Majeste situation and the recent 20 year sentence handed down for 4 text messages and attacks U.S. Ambassador Kristie Kenney and the U.N. Not too different from Somchai’s point of view on Lese Majeste in comment #1….
Pol Gen Vasit Dejkunjorn, former palace police chief and former Deputy Police Chief, has published an article in Matichon in response to recent comments by the US Ambassador and the United Nations Office of Human Rights on Thailand’s lèse majesté law.
Vasit wrote that he was not really surprised to hear that Kristie Kenney, the US Ambassador to Thailand, and Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, had ‘come out to make comments critical of the Thai court in the case of Amphon Tangnoppakul who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for lèse majesté.’
He was not surprised, in the case of Kenney, because he had studied in an American university where he had several American friends. And as he has known many more Americans, he is aware that a number of Americans know and understand other peoples and countries only superficially, no matter how highly educated they are or how many degrees they have got from universities.
Citing Kenney’s degrees from various universities, Vasit said that he doubted whether those universities’ curricula had provided her with enough understanding about foreign countries including, in particular, Southeast Asian countries, and made her sufficiently aware that ‘the Thais’ feelings toward their King are completely different from those of Americans toward the President of the United States of America.’
Considering her record of having served only in European and Latin American countries and the Philippines, he assumed that the Ambassador would never have had time to really study and get to know Thailand and the Thai people.
As for Ravina Shamdasani, he said that he could not find her record, except that she is a human rights advocate, ‘seeming quite young and looking Indonesian or Malay.’
‘However, both Kenney and Shamdasani may not know that the Thai King has been enthroned by succession in the dynasty, not by election for a four-year term like the American president,’ he said.
‘More importantly, the King is the institution which unifies the whole Thai nation and guarantees the continuity of the rule which has lasted for over 700 hundred years,’ he said.
He believed that Kenney and Shamdasani did not know much about Thailand’s criminal law, otherwise they would have known that lèse majesté offences were not like offences against ordinary people, but were against national security.
Citing that people are not aware of the fact that ‘all constitutions of the Kingdom of Thailand stipulate that the King shall be enthroned in a position of revered worship and shall not be violated [and] no person shall expose the King to any sort of accusation or action,’ he said that they therefore had come out to criticize or reproach the Thai court’s handling and ruling as inconsistent with universal standards on freedom of expression and in breach of international agreements on human rights.
‘This even goes so far as to demand the amendment of the lèse majesté law,’ he said.
‘I want to inform the US Embassy in Thailand and the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights that I well understand how humans are entitled to rights, but I also understand that any human has duties as well,’ he said.
He said that, ‘to defame, insult, or disparage those worshipped by other people is the exercise of rights and freedoms beyond the boundaries any person should use and is a dereliction of duty or betrayal by that person.’
‘Especially in Thailand where the King is ultimately loved, respected and worshipped by the Thai people, such acts are deemed the ultimate offence which is not forgivable by the Thai people,’ he said.
He took note that Kenney and Shamdasani’s acts took place when insults to the King were rampant on the internet, as if they had never been aware of them or had never been informed by their staff.
‘Or is it their intention to join in the fray?’ Vasit asked.
‘A certain number of ungrateful Thai people are trying to destroy democracy with the King as Head of State. If the US or the UN are of this opinion or support this, they should know that the Thai people who worship and want to protect the King are ready to be their enemy and will fight both the US and the UN,’ he said.
I found this quote from a Bangkok Post editorial published today to be somewhat interesting:
“he engineered a personality cult, where his pictures and statues are everywhere, and the legend held that he made no errors and governed perfectly.”
The balance of the editorial painted a very unflattering portrait of the Dear Leader, Kim Jong Il. It went on to suggest that if North Korea wants to make progress politically, socially and economically, there will need to be a dramatic change in the way things are done there.
One wonders if the North Koreans may take offense to these rather frank comments and organize protests against Thailand for interfering in their internal political affairs.
Perhaps there will even be calls by senior government and military officials for those who don’t agree with the right-wing, militaristic establishment of North Korea to leave that country if they don’t agree with and embrace the dictatorship.
Change is definitely in the wind in North Korea. I guess I’m lucky I live in Thailand.
Reading the comments, it is clear that Zulkifli failed miserably with his crooked arguments to convince the readers. Fortunately he is not debating with Wafa Sulltan, Ali Sina and the likes. He would be torn to shreds.
As a Thai, reading the New Mandala, and this thread in particular, always brings the feeling of sahme, guilt and being humiliated. But somehow I can’t help but feel that we rightly deserve all the criticisms.
This morning I heard a news report on Thai TV (Channel 3) saying that according to the BBC, an unprcedented massive crowd in North Korea mourns the death of its leader Kim Jong Il. The news went on to say that the reason for much reverence given to the N. Korean leader is the huge propaganda being broadcasted on national TVs on a daily basis. If I didn’t know it was the news about North Korea, I would have thought the BBC was talking about my beloved country.
I wonder if those soldiers have their jackets reinforced to carry all those medals, usually not won in battle but more like fancier versions of boy scout badges. Medals of cooking, keeping your room tidy, excellence in ironing creases into trousers, do they really know how ridiculous they look? Not that they aren’t usually skilled in beating and killing unarmed civilians, suppose there are e few medals for that as well.
These large infrastructure projects generally involve massive kickbacks to the politicians and public servants involved (with dams though that is a lot of substandard steel and concrete waiting to collapse). As such there would seem little doubt it will go ahead once the divisions of ill gotten gains are agreed to. Would suspect an environmentalist win being allowed is just a negotiating ploy for a better cut.
Government graft is where the real money is made these days, whether that be Asian Infrastructure or US Lobbyists and Bankster fraud, it is all about getting snouts into the ever flowing National Treasuries.
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Chinese merchants of Vientiane
All the reportage is about Chinese… not the Lao… says it all, doesn’t it?
Chinese merchants of Vientiane
I should really write up my thesis as a journal article. Everyone’s jumping aboard the IR Laos train. I jumped on first!
Another academic victim of 112
Ricky Ward at number 36
Thanks for the link to Havel. I never read anything by the man before. I followed your link, then tried to get the whole essay… but it’s dammed behind an academic impoundment. Googling delivered the full text, but with errors courtesy of OCR… I tried to fix ’em up : The power of the powerless (pdf)
Substitute the Royalist slogan du jour for “Workers of the world, unite!”
I think Thailand fits into Havel’s taxonomy as a would-be totalitarian state trying to go post-totalitarian… from the ‘elite’ perspective.
From the redshirt perspective, suffering under Phuea Thai, it appears democratic… in need of turning the bend to post-democratic.
As are all Western democracies.
New Mandala: cowardly, stupid and lacking in wisdom
It is an article such as this by Somchai Menyaem that brings me even more shame to be a Thai.
Yes, some farangs are bad. But I doubt that all the Thai ways are good even for its own citizens. Yes, the western world once tried to control people’s thought and freedom of expression. We called that period in history the “Dark Ages.” But the western world has since progressed to a much different level. But I guess we in Thailand still live in the Dark Ages.
The world is more and more globalized and many values, especially human rights and freedom of speech, have become universal. Such argument that we Thais are different and we can justifiably hold different set of values is becoming weaker and weaker to the point that it is not worth arguing about.
Prayuth’s dream
This is brilliant! Reminds me quite a lot of what was on TV all day a few mondays back….
Thailand’s high calibre Ministry of Foreign Affairs
True that a nuanced understanding of history is lacking among most Thai teachers and their students but the same applies in many countries, including the US where I had direct experience teaching US students at university level.
I spend a good deal of my time offering alternative versions or even versions of history unavailable in Thai schools although of course one has to be careful how such versions are scripted even with one’s own children. However, when I see that my nephews and neices who live in countries other than Thailand I realize Thais are not quite as non-global in their understanding of world histories as they are made out to be.
My children (at least my older daughter) via school know something about Nazism as they do about Communism although in the latter instance the understanding is not one that makes the subtle link between the rise of communism and national liberation movements and the subsequent demise of communism. However, through travel to places like Vietnam (not just to Hoi An), Lao PDR (not just to Luang Prabang), Cambodia (not just to Siem Reap) and China (not just to Kunming) our children have developed a somewhat keener appreciation of at least sub-regional history.
That does not mean the Disneyworlds or Universal Studios of the world (well both are now in the region) do not also attract children: of course they do. But living in Thailand even if the schools fall short in terms of developing more nuanced understandings of histories that Thais themselves have played a role in shaping its geographical location renders Thailand a great place to vist other places where much of the histroy of the latter part of the last century was made and is still contunuing to be made.
New Mandala’s top ten for 2011
I missed some 112 articles like; Uncle SMS or Joe Gordon, just to mention two of them…
New Mandala: cowardly, stupid and lacking in wisdom
Bill, I believe that the Lese majeste laws also ban criticism of foreign heads of states too so we should all say what a good chap the Dear Leader was and how wonderful the Great Successor will be.
FACT’s plea for Joe Gordon
Regarding relevant sections of US Code:
Normally the
The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 would normally preclude the ability of someone from suing a sovereign state in United States Court except under certain conditions.
However
Section 1605(a)(2) of the FSIA provides that a foreign sovereign and its agencies and instrumentalities:
shall not be immune from the jurisdiction of the courts of the United States or of the States in any case … in which the action is based … upon an act outside the territory of the United States in connection with a commercial activity of the foreign sovereign elsewhere and that act causes a direct effect in the United States.
Furthermore,
Not surprisingly, there is no sovereign immunity in a case “in which the foreign state has waived its immunity either explicitly or by implication,” 28 U.S.C. ┬з 1605(a)(1)
It could be argued that the amici argue that the Thailand has impliedly waived sovereign immunity under the FSIA by violating jus cogens norms of the law of nations. “A foreign state that violates these fundamental requirements of a civilized world thereby waives its right to be treated as a sovereign.”
A jus cogens norm is a principle of international law that is “accepted by the international community of States as a whole as a norm from which no derogation is permitted….” Committee of U.S. Citizens in Nicaragua v. Reagan, 859 F.2d 929, 940 (D.C.Cir.1988), quoting Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, May 23, 1969, art. 53, U.N.Doc. A/Conf. 39/27, 8 I.L.M. 679. Such peremptory norms are “nonderogable and enjoy the highest status within international law,” Committee of U.S. Citizens in Nicaragua, 859 F.2d at 940; they “prevail over and invalidate international agreements and other rules of international law in conflict with them,” and they are “subject to modification only by a subsequent norm of international law having the same character.” Restatement, supra, ┬з 102 comment k.
According to one authority, a state violates jus cogens, as currently defined, if it:
practices, encourages, or condones (a) genocide, (b) slavery or slave trade, (c) the murder or causing the disappearance of individuals, (d) torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, (e) prolonged arbitrary detention, (f) systematic racial discrimination, or (g) a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.
TITLE 28 > PART IV > CHAPTER 97 > ┬з 1605
Prev | Next
┬з 1605. GENERAL EXCEPTIONS TO THE JURISDICTIONAL IMMUNITY OF A FOREIGN STATE
(a) A foreign state shall not be immune from the jurisdiction of courts of the United States or of the States in any case–
(2) in which the action is based upon a commercial activity carried on in the United States by the foreign state; or upon an act performed in the United States in connection with a commercial activity of the foreign state elsewhere; or upon an act outside the territory of the United States in connection with a commercial activity of the foreign state elsewhere and that act causes a direct effect in the United States;
5) not otherwise encompassed in paragraph (2) above, in which money damages are sought against a foreign state for personal injury or death, or damage to or loss of property, occurring in the United States and caused by the tortious act or omission of that foreign state or of any official or employee of that foreign state while acting within the scope of his office or employment; except this paragraph shall not apply to–
(B) any claim arising out of malicious prosecution, abuse of process, libel, slander, misrepresentation, deceit, or interference with contract rights.
So the relevent facts would be where was the tort committed?
Does the action of the foreign sovereign have a direct effect in the United States?
Does the law that he was prosecuted under conform to the norms of international law?
Was his prosecution malicious? Was it an abuse of power?
Can a Thai law restricting an American’s First Amendment rights of Free Speech be adjudicated in a United States Court?
Is Thailands’s lese majeste law is an international norm?
Will a Colorado jury be amused by Thailand’s arguments.
Could a judgement from a Colorado jury be enforced?
Is the shackling of prisoners, denial of bail, locked in prison cells with both sentenced and pretrial inmates, and group cells of 24 or 48 meters sq with 25+ prisoners an accepted international norm?
I wonder?
Will a court room in the United States be a good place to answer those questions?
Thailand’s high calibre Ministry of Foreign Affairs
I once related the story of the Thai Ambassador to the US not delivering his country’s declaration of war to the State Department on 25 Jan 1942, so the US did not reciprocate. Not so in the UK, where the declaration was delivered.
There was a sharp intake of breath from the educated group of Thais I was with, accompanied by a mixture of quizzical and blank stares. The denials followed quickly – “no, no, no – this is not possible – you don’t understand…. it never happened” I am quite sure that for the all of them, it was the first time they had ever heard it.
Thailand’s high calibre Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Link to Matichon article in which Police General Vasit defends Thailand’s present Lese Majeste situation and the recent 20 year sentence handed down for 4 text messages and attacks U.S. Ambassador Kristie Kenney and the U.N. Not too different from Somchai’s point of view on Lese Majeste in comment #1….
http://www.prachatai3.info/english/node/2957?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+prachataienglish+%28Prachatai+in+English%29
http://www.matichon.co.th/news_detail.php?newsid=1324391460&grpid=no&cat…
==================================
Vasit: We have to fight even the U.S. and UN
Wed, 21/12/2011 – 23:55 | by prachatai
Pol Gen Vasit Dejkunjorn, former palace police chief and former Deputy Police Chief, has published an article in Matichon in response to recent comments by the US Ambassador and the United Nations Office of Human Rights on Thailand’s lèse majesté law.
Vasit wrote that he was not really surprised to hear that Kristie Kenney, the US Ambassador to Thailand, and Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, had ‘come out to make comments critical of the Thai court in the case of Amphon Tangnoppakul who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for lèse majesté.’
He was not surprised, in the case of Kenney, because he had studied in an American university where he had several American friends. And as he has known many more Americans, he is aware that a number of Americans know and understand other peoples and countries only superficially, no matter how highly educated they are or how many degrees they have got from universities.
Citing Kenney’s degrees from various universities, Vasit said that he doubted whether those universities’ curricula had provided her with enough understanding about foreign countries including, in particular, Southeast Asian countries, and made her sufficiently aware that ‘the Thais’ feelings toward their King are completely different from those of Americans toward the President of the United States of America.’
Considering her record of having served only in European and Latin American countries and the Philippines, he assumed that the Ambassador would never have had time to really study and get to know Thailand and the Thai people.
As for Ravina Shamdasani, he said that he could not find her record, except that she is a human rights advocate, ‘seeming quite young and looking Indonesian or Malay.’
‘However, both Kenney and Shamdasani may not know that the Thai King has been enthroned by succession in the dynasty, not by election for a four-year term like the American president,’ he said.
‘More importantly, the King is the institution which unifies the whole Thai nation and guarantees the continuity of the rule which has lasted for over 700 hundred years,’ he said.
He believed that Kenney and Shamdasani did not know much about Thailand’s criminal law, otherwise they would have known that lèse majesté offences were not like offences against ordinary people, but were against national security.
Citing that people are not aware of the fact that ‘all constitutions of the Kingdom of Thailand stipulate that the King shall be enthroned in a position of revered worship and shall not be violated [and] no person shall expose the King to any sort of accusation or action,’ he said that they therefore had come out to criticize or reproach the Thai court’s handling and ruling as inconsistent with universal standards on freedom of expression and in breach of international agreements on human rights.
‘This even goes so far as to demand the amendment of the lèse majesté law,’ he said.
‘I want to inform the US Embassy in Thailand and the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights that I well understand how humans are entitled to rights, but I also understand that any human has duties as well,’ he said.
He said that, ‘to defame, insult, or disparage those worshipped by other people is the exercise of rights and freedoms beyond the boundaries any person should use and is a dereliction of duty or betrayal by that person.’
‘Especially in Thailand where the King is ultimately loved, respected and worshipped by the Thai people, such acts are deemed the ultimate offence which is not forgivable by the Thai people,’ he said.
He took note that Kenney and Shamdasani’s acts took place when insults to the King were rampant on the internet, as if they had never been aware of them or had never been informed by their staff.
‘Or is it their intention to join in the fray?’ Vasit asked.
‘A certain number of ungrateful Thai people are trying to destroy democracy with the King as Head of State. If the US or the UN are of this opinion or support this, they should know that the Thai people who worship and want to protect the King are ready to be their enemy and will fight both the US and the UN,’ he said.
New Mandala: cowardly, stupid and lacking in wisdom
I found this quote from a Bangkok Post editorial published today to be somewhat interesting:
“he engineered a personality cult, where his pictures and statues are everywhere, and the legend held that he made no errors and governed perfectly.”
The balance of the editorial painted a very unflattering portrait of the Dear Leader, Kim Jong Il. It went on to suggest that if North Korea wants to make progress politically, socially and economically, there will need to be a dramatic change in the way things are done there.
One wonders if the North Koreans may take offense to these rather frank comments and organize protests against Thailand for interfering in their internal political affairs.
Perhaps there will even be calls by senior government and military officials for those who don’t agree with the right-wing, militaristic establishment of North Korea to leave that country if they don’t agree with and embrace the dictatorship.
Change is definitely in the wind in North Korea. I guess I’m lucky I live in Thailand.
Prayuth’s dream
Vichai N – 4
Wow, seriously I was seriously thinking that you where talking about the old man and his pal.
Thailand’s high calibre Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Poor Thai – 26
I shared your sentimental, I’ve a feeling that when the old man die we would see something pretty similar.
Prayuth’s dream
The problem of Thai generals is that they lack of certain skills. Keep on dreamin’ boys.
http://kimjongildroppingthebass.tumblr.com/
Refining the misconception of apostasy in Islam
Reading the comments, it is clear that Zulkifli failed miserably with his crooked arguments to convince the readers. Fortunately he is not debating with Wafa Sulltan, Ali Sina and the likes. He would be torn to shreds.
р╕Др╕▒р╕Щр╕лр╕╣ : Nong Ja ahead of Democrats!
[…] parte de la informaci├│n que aqu├н utilizo es de un art├нculo de New […]
Thailand’s high calibre Ministry of Foreign Affairs
As a Thai, reading the New Mandala, and this thread in particular, always brings the feeling of sahme, guilt and being humiliated. But somehow I can’t help but feel that we rightly deserve all the criticisms.
This morning I heard a news report on Thai TV (Channel 3) saying that according to the BBC, an unprcedented massive crowd in North Korea mourns the death of its leader Kim Jong Il. The news went on to say that the reason for much reverence given to the N. Korean leader is the huge propaganda being broadcasted on national TVs on a daily basis. If I didn’t know it was the news about North Korea, I would have thought the BBC was talking about my beloved country.
Prayuth’s dream
I wonder if those soldiers have their jackets reinforced to carry all those medals, usually not won in battle but more like fancier versions of boy scout badges. Medals of cooking, keeping your room tidy, excellence in ironing creases into trousers, do they really know how ridiculous they look? Not that they aren’t usually skilled in beating and killing unarmed civilians, suppose there are e few medals for that as well.
Beneath the surface bonhomie of Mekong multilateralism
These large infrastructure projects generally involve massive kickbacks to the politicians and public servants involved (with dams though that is a lot of substandard steel and concrete waiting to collapse). As such there would seem little doubt it will go ahead once the divisions of ill gotten gains are agreed to. Would suspect an environmentalist win being allowed is just a negotiating ploy for a better cut.
Government graft is where the real money is made these days, whether that be Asian Infrastructure or US Lobbyists and Bankster fraud, it is all about getting snouts into the ever flowing National Treasuries.