This episode is much better. Hope it goes as viral as a 28 minute panel discussion can go. It would be good if Ajarn Charnvit Kasetsiri was interviewed for the Interview section. Seems like an interesting character.
Just a note to say that we have now severed all ties with the M4AM program and had all references to the temple here at Wat Sri Boen Ruang removed from their site.
They are now concentrating on other programs and we have placed a note on our FAQ page of our own blog advising people that we have no affiliation with 3rd party operators.
From here on all inquiries will come through either our own blog or through other sites that have been set up by past guests that are designed to let people see what we offer here.
The program is basically the same, however there is not so much emphasis on the temporary novice ordination, though it is still available for those who have a genuine interest in seeing what it is like to live in robes(i.e. those who may be considering ordaining).
With metta,
Phra Greg Chuntawongso
“Purity of Blood” is a political term not a genetic one.
Obama’s a mutt, I’m a mutt, you’re a mutt, we’re all mutts.
Deal with it!
Personally I prefer swimming in a deep, diverse gene pool than a shallow one.
Far healthier in my opinion.
I’ve refrained from posting, but I guess nobody else is going to point out the bleeding obvious fact that this time it isn’t like the battle reports before the ceasefire. Today we have the internet (we had it back then, but it was nothing like now). The casualty reports I’ve been reading have been off the Kachin New Group website; they’ve got a Facebook page. Maybe somebody from New Mandala should simply ask them how these numbers are derived, and what about the wounded? It may not resolve the issue, but it would least we’d have some basis for discussion.
“…The Selangor Sultan ruled that the state religious authority’s raid on Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) on August 3 was legitimate. But Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah said today that although the Selangor Islamic Religious department (Jais) had found evidence of attempts to subvert Muslims, it was “insufficient” for further legal action.
The Ruler said therefore no one would be prosecuted, and Jais will provide counselling to the Muslims who were present in the church during the raid…”
That the “Reds want Pheu Thai to see their electoral support as ‘conditional’, not automatic” is a positive step, I believe.
This conditionality evidences that not all ideas within the red shirt cum puea thai dynamic are top-down (i.e. from Thaksin), some instead could be thought of as bottom-up.
Interesting point you made. Depends whether these satellite images are recorded and more importantly released. More likely they get archived classified highly confidential if not top secret by the intelligence services concerned.
Going off topic on a tangent, I believe foreign embassies in Burma have at least photos if not video clips of previous protests, riots and crackdowns, from the beginning of the military era such as the July 7, 1962 massacre of Rangoon University students, anti-Chinese riots of 1967 (some foreign embassies from the Eastern Bloc as well as the West were said to be distributing fuel and chocolate to the mob many still partly in army clothing), U Thant’s funeral riots and workers’ strikes of1974 and so on. Will they ever see the light of day? Or will they remain as some kind of bargaining chips? Your guess is as good as mine.
The judges on Joe Gordon’s trial has postponed the sentencing until early next month, citing the need to “further background check” on the accused. Joe’s lawyer is somewhat optimistic, saying when such thing happens, it could mean a “lighter” sentence than would normally be, even possibly a suspended one. I really hope he’s right. It could be that the “American factor” (Joe being a US citizen, plus the crime allegedly committed happened on US soils) could now be of the Judges’ consideration. I hope the Embassy would do what it can to “signal” to Thai authorities that sentencing an American for “speech crime” committed on American soils doesn’t look good, etc.
Re: “…the extraordinarily high ratio of men killed to men wounded either suggests fabricated statistics, or something else – for example a policy of executing the wounded…”
The latter came up, interestingly, in congressional inquiries into the U.S. conquest of the Philippines (starting in 1899, when the American civil war was still very much in living memory). It is indeed from the ratio (as you mention it) that this is generally inferred (or first detected). Since the end of Soviet alliances and hostilities, there has been remarkably little interest in the principle of not killing the wounded, even betwixt the powers of the decadent west. I can’t say that I’ve ever read any positive reports of Burmese treatment of prisoners of war… but I’ve seen some gruesome accounts of their executions.
One thing that has changed since the U.S. conquest of the Philippines is the proliferation of satellite photography; pretty much every battle in this conflict will be attested to (if not in every detail) by satellite imagery (yes, even at night, and even under a canopy of trees, you do get records of flashpoints, and can add up the number of explosions, etc., and during the day you can track the number of people fleeing across rivers and open areas, even if you can’t see the ones in deep cover, etc.).
It’s hard to say if this makes war more or less gruesome a spectacle; however, many things that people politely pretend to be unknowable are indeed knowable –and, for a few, known.
Notorious to deal with Kachins who are perfect hunters by born. As a Kachin man, I know how the Kachins maneuver the jungle warfare which can noway be understood and managed by the plain dwellers. The Kachins feel bitterly that they have been repeatedly cheated and enslaved, they firmly believe that their rights can only be brought by fighting and choose to die instead of living under the brutal inhumane regime. We Kachins had to sign the Panglong to join the Bama to set up the Union in parallel because we were independent separate Nation before the Union of Burma, we were never under the Burmese Kings, we even did not know the name Bama, we imitate later from Chinese and Shan and call them Mien. We had our own war with the British and occupied by the British only in the beginning of 20th Century. If we were not independent Nation, Aungsan did not need to invite us to sign the Panglong agreement, just signing with British would be sufficient. We were denied our rights, our land has been ransacked to the ground by Bama and his Pawk Phaw Chinese. We have no options left but to grab the guns, if no bullet, we will use our knifes and barehand.
The comment by Somsak # 161 :
“the newly installed “pro-democracy” government and its “pro-democracy” UDD ally, would not try to intervene, even just to secure their temporary release on bail. ” shows there is a rare opportunity to enhance the King’s prestige vs Thaksin’s.
Sadly the adoption of “double standards” by the government and UDD is clear for all to see. The King has in past speeches expressed his discomfort at having to deal with Lese Majeste cases and in one speech, when Thaksin was PM, made references to “double standards” which was interpreted by many as a criticism of the PM.
Should the King use his birthday speech this year to express sorrow at the suffering caused by the Lese Majeste and demand repeal of the law and freeing of all those jailed because of it, this act of kindness will be seen for what it is and genuine accolades will flow from around the World.
It is ridiculous really that the allege his act of “providing the link to TKNS” as a threat to national security.
This is because the established legal principle is clear that matters of “national security” will remain so only if it is not available in the public domain. If you can prove that the information is available in the public domain, then the revelation of such information is not a threat to national security. Or if that is what has been alleged, proving that the information is available in public domain will successfully challenge the allegation.
It seems to me that in LM cases, all the legal principles seem to go away. It is ridiculous enough that the Court deems even the “truth” to be statement of defamation to the Monarchy, whereas the principle of defamation is clear that “the truth will be the complete defence to all defamation allegations”. Now they are alleging that sharing the information which is widely available is a threat to national security!
Which other legal principles would be the next which will be ignored and/or distorted by the Thai Courts?
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Nation, Religion, King – Episode 3
This episode is much better. Hope it goes as viral as a 28 minute panel discussion can go. It would be good if Ajarn Charnvit Kasetsiri was interviewed for the Interview section. Seems like an interesting character.
Mixing religion and commerce: The Monk for a Month Program in Fang, Chiang Mai
Just a note to say that we have now severed all ties with the M4AM program and had all references to the temple here at Wat Sri Boen Ruang removed from their site.
They are now concentrating on other programs and we have placed a note on our FAQ page of our own blog advising people that we have no affiliation with 3rd party operators.
From here on all inquiries will come through either our own blog or through other sites that have been set up by past guests that are designed to let people see what we offer here.
The program is basically the same, however there is not so much emphasis on the temporary novice ordination, though it is still available for those who have a genuine interest in seeing what it is like to live in robes(i.e. those who may be considering ordaining).
With metta,
Phra Greg Chuntawongso
Nation, Religion, King – Episode 3
[…] New Mandala and at YouTube there is a new 30-minute podcast available in NM’s series on Nation, Religion […]
Bailing out the red shirts
Every incoming Thai government has to issue its mafias with a licence to continue with their murder, theft and vandalism with complete impunity.
Nationalism and genetics: Thai obsession with race
“Purity of Blood” is a political term not a genetic one.
Obama’s a mutt, I’m a mutt, you’re a mutt, we’re all mutts.
Deal with it!
Personally I prefer swimming in a deep, diverse gene pool than a shallow one.
Far healthier in my opinion.
On Burmese Army combat losses
I’ve refrained from posting, but I guess nobody else is going to point out the bleeding obvious fact that this time it isn’t like the battle reports before the ceasefire. Today we have the internet (we had it back then, but it was nothing like now). The casualty reports I’ve been reading have been off the Kachin New Group website; they’ve got a Facebook page. Maybe somebody from New Mandala should simply ask them how these numbers are derived, and what about the wounded? It may not resolve the issue, but it would least we’d have some basis for discussion.
FACT’s plea for Joe Gordon
Wonder what NM’s knowledgeable readers think of this claim (http://thaipoliticalprisoners.wordpress.com/2011/10/10/joe-gordon-forced-to-plead-guilty/) that the treatment of Joe Gordon and others on lese majeste could constitute torture?
Malaysia’s Islamic future
Extracted from, “Selangor Sultan backs Jais church raid, no one to be charged“, Shazwan Mustafa Kamal, The Malaysian Insider, 10 October 2011.
Can anyone explain how does one have evidence but insufficient for further legal action?
Bailing out the red shirts
That the “Reds want Pheu Thai to see their electoral support as ‘conditional’, not automatic” is a positive step, I believe.
This conditionality evidences that not all ideas within the red shirt cum puea thai dynamic are top-down (i.e. from Thaksin), some instead could be thought of as bottom-up.
On Burmese Army combat losses
Eisel Mazard,
Interesting point you made. Depends whether these satellite images are recorded and more importantly released. More likely they get archived classified highly confidential if not top secret by the intelligence services concerned.
Going off topic on a tangent, I believe foreign embassies in Burma have at least photos if not video clips of previous protests, riots and crackdowns, from the beginning of the military era such as the July 7, 1962 massacre of Rangoon University students, anti-Chinese riots of 1967 (some foreign embassies from the Eastern Bloc as well as the West were said to be distributing fuel and chocolate to the mob many still partly in army clothing), U Thant’s funeral riots and workers’ strikes of1974 and so on. Will they ever see the light of day? Or will they remain as some kind of bargaining chips? Your guess is as good as mine.
FACT’s plea for Joe Gordon
presume the judges now have to get advice from Prem on the political tactic
FACT’s plea for Joe Gordon
The new sentencing date for Joe Gordon is 9 November 2011. For details, see this Prachatai post:
http://prachatai.com/journal/2011/10/37320
FACT’s plea for Joe Gordon
UPDATE:
The judges on Joe Gordon’s trial has postponed the sentencing until early next month, citing the need to “further background check” on the accused. Joe’s lawyer is somewhat optimistic, saying when such thing happens, it could mean a “lighter” sentence than would normally be, even possibly a suspended one. I really hope he’s right. It could be that the “American factor” (Joe being a US citizen, plus the crime allegedly committed happened on US soils) could now be of the Judges’ consideration. I hope the Embassy would do what it can to “signal” to Thai authorities that sentencing an American for “speech crime” committed on American soils doesn’t look good, etc.
Floods, hacks and the Nitirat effect
Thais begin to question whether dams are adding to the flooding problem.
Thai Intelligence News
Royal motherhood statement
Yingluck is indeed a reincarnation of true angel. She has now surpassed all Thai women for the capacity to do good deeds for the country.
On Burmese Army combat losses
Re: “…the extraordinarily high ratio of men killed to men wounded either suggests fabricated statistics, or something else – for example a policy of executing the wounded…”
The latter came up, interestingly, in congressional inquiries into the U.S. conquest of the Philippines (starting in 1899, when the American civil war was still very much in living memory). It is indeed from the ratio (as you mention it) that this is generally inferred (or first detected). Since the end of Soviet alliances and hostilities, there has been remarkably little interest in the principle of not killing the wounded, even betwixt the powers of the decadent west. I can’t say that I’ve ever read any positive reports of Burmese treatment of prisoners of war… but I’ve seen some gruesome accounts of their executions.
One thing that has changed since the U.S. conquest of the Philippines is the proliferation of satellite photography; pretty much every battle in this conflict will be attested to (if not in every detail) by satellite imagery (yes, even at night, and even under a canopy of trees, you do get records of flashpoints, and can add up the number of explosions, etc., and during the day you can track the number of people fleeing across rivers and open areas, even if you can’t see the ones in deep cover, etc.).
It’s hard to say if this makes war more or less gruesome a spectacle; however, many things that people politely pretend to be unknowable are indeed knowable –and, for a few, known.
E.M.
One observation, ten questions and much to ponder about the new Kachin war
Notorious to deal with Kachins who are perfect hunters by born. As a Kachin man, I know how the Kachins maneuver the jungle warfare which can noway be understood and managed by the plain dwellers. The Kachins feel bitterly that they have been repeatedly cheated and enslaved, they firmly believe that their rights can only be brought by fighting and choose to die instead of living under the brutal inhumane regime. We Kachins had to sign the Panglong to join the Bama to set up the Union in parallel because we were independent separate Nation before the Union of Burma, we were never under the Burmese Kings, we even did not know the name Bama, we imitate later from Chinese and Shan and call them Mien. We had our own war with the British and occupied by the British only in the beginning of 20th Century. If we were not independent Nation, Aungsan did not need to invite us to sign the Panglong agreement, just signing with British would be sufficient. We were denied our rights, our land has been ransacked to the ground by Bama and his Pawk Phaw Chinese. We have no options left but to grab the guns, if no bullet, we will use our knifes and barehand.
FACT’s plea for Joe Gordon
The comment by Somsak # 161 :
“the newly installed “pro-democracy” government and its “pro-democracy” UDD ally, would not try to intervene, even just to secure their temporary release on bail. ” shows there is a rare opportunity to enhance the King’s prestige vs Thaksin’s.
Sadly the adoption of “double standards” by the government and UDD is clear for all to see. The King has in past speeches expressed his discomfort at having to deal with Lese Majeste cases and in one speech, when Thaksin was PM, made references to “double standards” which was interpreted by many as a criticism of the PM.
Should the King use his birthday speech this year to express sorrow at the suffering caused by the Lese Majeste and demand repeal of the law and freeing of all those jailed because of it, this act of kindness will be seen for what it is and genuine accolades will flow from around the World.
Floods, hacks and the Nitirat effect
From Matichon Online:
FACT’s plea for Joe Gordon
It is ridiculous really that the allege his act of “providing the link to TKNS” as a threat to national security.
This is because the established legal principle is clear that matters of “national security” will remain so only if it is not available in the public domain. If you can prove that the information is available in the public domain, then the revelation of such information is not a threat to national security. Or if that is what has been alleged, proving that the information is available in public domain will successfully challenge the allegation.
It seems to me that in LM cases, all the legal principles seem to go away. It is ridiculous enough that the Court deems even the “truth” to be statement of defamation to the Monarchy, whereas the principle of defamation is clear that “the truth will be the complete defence to all defamation allegations”. Now they are alleging that sharing the information which is widely available is a threat to national security!
Which other legal principles would be the next which will be ignored and/or distorted by the Thai Courts?