As I live in Thailand, I feel I have to leave comment on Para 1) to others who are less vulnerable to sanction than I am.
Para 2) largely fits in with my understanding – though the main role is likely to have been played by the police. The army’s role was probably greater in the border areas.
Para 3) – particularly “he [Thaksin] was really just tagging along…” does seem to paint a picture of an unwitting (almost unwilling?) PM simply caught up in events. Looking at both public statements of intent and internal orders issued from the PM’s Office, it’s very difficult to accept that interpretation. Highly ambitious targets and very tight deadlines were set for local forces to meet – with clear, dire warnings of repercussions for those who failed to meet them. A ‘data collection’ phase to produce categorised lists of drugs-involved individuals was closely followed by phases which demanded comprehensive action against those identified – in most categories the target being to reduce the list to nil. As a former Police Lt-Colonel, it’s difficult to accept that Thaksin could have been unaware of where all those “most urgent” directives were at least very likely to lead.
Ever wondered why Thais in uniform wear so many medal ribbons? One reason is a series of so-called Royal Cypher medals, with the medal bearing the stylized initials of each ranking member of the royal family and suspended from a distinctive ribbon. That’s a minimum of six medals.
In the Australian Army a soldier is required to wear on his uniform the ribbons of every medal to which he is entitled. In the Thai Army, it’s a matter of personal preference.
When I attended the Thai Army Staff College, some of my Thai classmates made a habit of wearing the yellow and white ribbon of the crown prince’s medal; some the yellow and purple ribbon of Princess Sirindhorn’s medal; some both and some neither.
Then one day the crown prince, who had attended the college in 1977-78, visited the college to address the class. EVERYONE chose to wear his yellow and white ribbon on that day. Apparently he tends to notice such subtle indications of where loyalties lie.
I have no way of knowing whether the army acted independently or under the orders of the PM at Tak Bai or during the Red Shirt. However, given the generally accepted view that Abhisit only became PM because of the army, it’s unlikely that he had the authority to order them to do anything much. They certainly didn’t obey his order to cooperate with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission investigation into the dispersal of the Red Shirt rally.
Not attacking you, comrade. Simply pointing out that the use of a pseudonym doesn’t necessarily mean that our posts, yours and mine, are lacking in value or credibility. Lacking in a carefully nuanced choice of words, perhaps, but still worth reading.
Seh Fah is my real nickname. The Thai Army Staff College is called the Rong Rian Senathikan Thahan Bok, with rong rian meaning school, senathikan meaning staff duties and procedures, and thahan bok meaning military.
Any graduate of the school is entitled to put the informal title “seh”, the first syllable of senathikan, in front of his nickname. Strictly speaking it could perhaps be translated as “staff”, but that is the English nickname for a lowly staff sergeant, whereas the typical staff college graduate holds the much more exalted rank of lieutenant colonel, hence the preference for transliteration.
No doubt you have heard of the late Seh Daeng, hero of the Red Shirt revolution and a fellow graduate of the Thai Army Staff College. Daeng means red and is a common Thai nickname for someone of ruddy complexion. When I told him that in Australia someone with red hair used to be nicknamed Bluey, he took to calling me Seh Fah (fah meaning blue) and the nickname stuck.
Had Seh Daeng survived to rise to the rank of general and to occupy a powerful command position, he would have become Big Daeng, big being short for big boss. Transliteration works both ways. I would love to see my Thai Army colleague Seh Mac become a general.
So why Ralph Kramden? A physical resemblance to Jackie Gleason? A natural comedian?
Tarrin #31 I think you are right that wristbands have replaced shirts. But do they signify a “hardcore royalist”?
If/when a time comes when the CP is established as Rama X it is hard to imagine that we shall see the same number of wristbands (or other fashion accessory) worn to support him. Support for the highest institution will likely evaporate. So I think you should describe most wristband wearers as “Hardcore supporters of Rama IX”.
Of course in a democracy with constitutional monarchy you might expect Gallup or similar could give us some empirical data on this topic. But 112 leaves us all in the dark.
Michael #29. Thankyou for your better recollection. You are right.
@Everyone, thank you for answering my question in detail. Oh and also thank you for giving me the URL address to see the analysis of the case. Now I understand this case much more than I used to.
@Khun Tarrin, thank you for your explanation. And yes, you are quite right that I should have used the word “conflict of interest”. But even then, the worst which would happen (assuming that it can be proven that there really was a conflict of interest) is the transaction would be void. But he would not have to go to jail. Jail term is something which should never be ordered unless the crime is a serious one.
@Gunter #46, are you sure that the war on drugs is instigated by the K? I do not mean to undermine your assertion, but I would like to know what makes you believe that the K is behind it? (ie. any ‘circumstantial’ evidence?) I have not been interested in politics during that period, so I actually don’t know much about what happened back then. Please explain (actually anyone please explain, if you know)…thanks.
So why the PULO website still states that they demand Thaksin to be brought to trial for crimes against humanity? Why the southern three provinces are still loyal Democrat followers (as evidenced by latest election result)? If the K is really behind it, they would have stopped supporting the Democrats I would think.
Excellent summary Gunter,just a shame Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International don’t read this blog,because up until now it seems that according to them responsibility rests with just the one man and thats Thaksin himself who by all appearances and wording in the Thai constitution appears just like many other Thai prime ministers and took orders directly from the palace.But hey, the label “Thaksin’s WOD”.is now stuck with araldite.So even when the Thai constitution gives the King most power and says “..the idea of war came from this man…” it means nothing to Brad Adams and Benjamin Zawacki who trot out”accountability from all parties” or ask you to “guess who”.
In my workplace, back in 2006, people were given yellow shirts and yellow jackets by management. The shirts were free and an overwhelming majority of people wore them every Monday.
New Mandala encourages vigorous debate? South’s post looks like a rather pathetic attempt to silence debate, particularly criticism of his own work. Mathieson’s piece is hardly a threat to academic freedom, and while Naw Htoo Paw’s probably over-indulges in the ad hominem, it shouldn’t be a surprise – this community is a small one. So much feels, and often is, personal. The figure of the detached, comparatively if not completely dispassionate, consultant/expert – and it does seem valid to point out that this position is almost always incredibly well-funded, which raises a host of questions regarding influence, power, even inequality – should be very much open to critique, especially in a situation such as this. I find myself often sympathetic to criticisms of South and what he represents. Vigorous debate indeed – not to mention that the notion of threats to academic freedom is an entirely right-wing rhetoric in the US. Perhaps worth noting.
I passed with mediocre result with a degree in engineering. Studied at a university in the USA. Came back to Malaysia exactly 2 years ago and I am still in a huge debt with my study loan, no car, and today I am unemployed after working with 3 different companies.
You may wonder why I quit the jobs. The first job was with a call centre serving Singaporean customers where I was being screamed at and shouted all the F* and racist words you can imagine. They paid me 2600rm basic which was good but I dont think being verbally abused at least twice a day like that is a decent job. No! I felt like I lost my soul little by little everyday that coming to work is like a scary nightmare and the happiest time was only when the working hours finished. Am I a choosy person? Im not sure…I felt totally depressed with everything about the call centre environment. Answering calls for non stop for 4 hours and then 1 hour break and then continue again answering non stop for 4 hours and if there is a need which was always the case I had to extend for another 2 hours because of not enough staffs. They even timed your toilet break! So I was the 6th person in my batch to leave the call centre after 4 months. Btw, it was a total shocked for me as well. Imagine that I just came back from the USA where the environment was full of polite and nice people with the please and thanks in every sentences. For 4 years I was used to that environment and suddenly came back to Malaysia and people were like dogs eating dogs just to take care their own interest. The customers that I served even though not all but most were the worst kind Ive had in my life! They would threaten me making sure I would lose my job and even threaten committing suicide!
So moved on to my second job. It was just my temporary job before I could find a better one. I lasted only 3 months! It was a sales job for a spa in PJ. Reasons that I quit? The sales tactic was just too aggressive up to the point that the manager asked me and the rest to humiliate the customers. For the manager, if the customer had a credit card, there would be no reason for me not to sell the spa packages. So after have been cheating countless students and executives and the innocent ones I resigned at the end of the 3rd month after made a sale of more than 30 000rm. Earning some commission give me some pocket money to stratagize for my third job. The fact that the manager made me worked more than 11 hours per day for 6 days per week also made me exhausted.
Here is the thing, once you have stucked with some kind of customer service job in your resume, thats the only thing that your prospective employers or HR person would look at. Merely a degree is not enough in Malaysia. All the coursework with various companies that Ive done in the USA are all little side things where as when I showed up for an interview in the USA, they grilled me on the courseworks. When I showed up for an interview in the USA, the HR person would show me their companies first and try to attract me to work with them. The opposite things happened here in KL. The interviewers raised their voice, cut me off in the middle of my sentences and treated me as if Im so desperate to join their company thus offering me the lowest salary. So when I attended an interview the other day, I asked for 2500 and stated thats the minimum and not negotiable. Yet, they still offer me the job and tried to negotiate with me. Since the way they treated me I already had an impression that this is not the kind of company that I want to work with. If I were to join them and knowing how I would be treated in future, I would make sure that Im compensate fairly. And yes its another call centre job. Here experience matters most not your degree or anything you have done in the university.
My third job also didnt go well. Worked with this newly incorporate airlines for 8 months. Salary, 1500rm. Yeah, I was so distressed with my first 2 jobs and after being promised over time, allowances, and every month incentives, I imagined I would be able to make more than 2k. I was wrong, the HR person who interviewed me apparently didnt know a whole lot about the real nature of my job. There was no overtime, no incentive, no allowances. After talking with my new found colleagues, I felt like cheated and doomed. I brought home 10K RM, the amount of money I saved while working part time in the US (yes damn it, they pay good hourly wage over there, with minimum wage enshrined in their labor law) and that 10K i bought plane ticket from Sarawak and have my house rent deposit paid, interview expanses (in the USA they paid me my car’s gas and meal vouches!) and now that 10K after 2 years has vanished and I have no saving!
In early May this year I quit the job with the airline. I went to their interview for something else but, they gave me something else with PROMISE that they would give me what I want eventually (they say after 3 months). Being Malaysian myself, trust me, there is no such thing as “adab susila orang timur-sopan santun”. Got customer shouting and banging the counter with his fist over the counter, screaming, called me liar, I accepted that my job required me to open umbrellas for the passengers (even though it was not mentioned in the job description) and soaked under the rain, pushing the trolleys where some rude passangers would just throw the umbrellas at me. And all of this for what?? for that 1300rm after minusing epf and socso. I felt terribly cheated. Luckily I didnt sign any bond with them. People come and go in this company. My juniors all had them signing their bonds. Leaving means 5k penalty for them.
Early May, I decided to accept a friend invitation to spend 3 months in the europe. People say “the grass is greener in the other side of the fence” or “Hujan emas di negeri orang, hujan batu di negeri sendiri”. They are all damn true!. Right now my only aim is to have myself survive in KL. Ive never asked money from my parents since 8 years ago. Im proud of that. But right now Im thinking of moving back to Sarawak to my parents house. I might be unemployed for few months I dont know. Got that job offer, the call centre i told you? Still thinking about it.
Here in Malaysia, the rule is CGPA below 3.00 dont dare to dream a decent job. My university advisor and my teachers used to tell me, with engineering degree (and all other sciences degree) I basically can venture to any job. It was 4 f**king intense engineering study! and for what is it now? no one is looking at my degree. 70% of jobs in malaysia is customer service based. accept it. One day I’m going to migrate out of this country.
The case should not even be a case, civil or criminal. First, it is not about making unauthorized profit, its about conflict of interest. If we look at the nature of the case, this case is actually didn’t involve Thaksin, but his wife Pojaman since Pojaman was the buyer and the FIDF (under the BOT) was the seller. Now, any conscious mind should be aware of the fact that none of the seller or the buyer actually go to jail. So, under “normal” legal interpretation, there’s no wrong doing. So how did Thaksin, a third party in this case, got a 2 years jail term for something totally legit?.
Now, the core of the case is, whether Thaksin actually can use his position as the PM to influence the auction. Again, any conscious mind would wonder, how can someone influence the result of the open envelop auction? since the price was announce to all party until no one want to outbid the highest bidder. Somehow the prosecutors and the court thought theres something to it.
The main question that need to be answer is, does FIDF, a branch of BOT considered itself as “state agency”. Since Thaksin was the PM so he does have power to influence the state organization. By law, the BOT is not a part of state organization. This is apply to anywhere in the world, like the Federal Reserve is not part of the US government so on.
In history, if I’m not mistaken, there were about 3 outer cases that involve the supreme court to give the definition to the FIDF, which all the 3 cases found that the FIDF was in fact “not” part of state. Somehow, the Thaksin ratchada land plot over rule all the previous decisions.
CT – “as I told you, the Q [planning to be the Regent for Dipangkorn], the CP, and Princess Sirindhorn…all of them are fighting for the throne”
This is pure fiction ! I didn’t know a scholar believes in the FB posts and leaked letter !
I never said the future succession will be smooth. Unless it is being intervened by outside forces, Thai people will find ways to deal with it. This is the point of 700 year history that I mentioned. LM never stop the country from being what it is today. Good or bad, civilized or not depending on how you want to look at it !
The reason the Thai royalists and rightwing elites have not used the so-called “War on Drugs” murders (whether or not the number is actually 2500 is in question as apparently that number was created by an AFP wire service article that was never substantiated) to prosecute Thaksin is that:
1. The War on Drugs was actually instigated and promoted by the King with Thaksin following along in an attempt to ingratiate himself.
2. The War on Drugs involved many police and army officers and units participating in extra-judicial killings for all sorts of reasons, not only for “drug dealing”. After all, any close follower of the Thailand situation knows that it is the Army and Police Generals themselves who are the largest drug dealers in Thailand.
3. Thaksin had no direct control over the details of who was being targeted and for what reason in the “War on Drugs”. While some would say that he was “responsible”, in actual fact, he was really just tagging along with the drug-related mayhem which is part of the ongoing struggle between different power groups in the Army and Police over who gets what revenues from what territory and who controls which suppliers in Burma and Laos.
Nationalism has its own problems, but hardly surprising to see Muslims identify with their faith before their country. And some Australians actually believe Muslims will assimilate, never happen, hostile ethnic enclaves is all that ill-thought immigration will achieve.
Aside from inserting the Koran into the constitution and the problems that would entail for the large minority, most answers were quite positive.
@Pete S #26: It was the pink shirt which was related to HMK’s hospitalisation. The story is that a fortune-teller advised Phra Thep that wearing pink would assist in his healing, in view of some astrological phenomenon to do with Mars. So, when HMK was photographed at the end of his first hospital stay, he was wearing a pink blazer, and others in the vicinity were also wearing pink. The custom has caught on, & now many royal supporters still wear pink, not as far as I can see, on any particular day.
re. #24/25/26 The custom of wearing yellow shirts on Mondays (the day of the King’s birth) began in the lead-up to HMK’s 6oth celebrations, 2006. The Public Service. as well as many schools & companies, adopted it as a policy, & continued it until his 80th birthday. The PAD hijacked it, & at the same time many non-PAD people continued the custom, due to their reverence for the King. During PAD’s occupation of Govt House & the airports, most non-PAD people ceased wearing them. Since the brutal crack-downs in 2010, as well as the additional swing against PAD due to the war-mongering efforts of Chamlong, Sonthi & the similarly crazy Santi Asoke cult, most people wouldn’t be seen dead in yellow, and PAD has support only from a ‘lunatic fringe’.
The unspoken sub-text of Yellow Shirt Mondays among all the Thais I know was “May the King outlive the Crown Prince, so let us wish a long life for our King”
That class “code of honor” might be more akin to a twisted omerta, the Mafia code of silence that with the Mafia prohibits reliance on state authorities. In the Thai case it is sort of a prohibition on using human rights protections or accountable methods in policing the state.
Today’s Thai Post, by the way, had a headline indicating that the police state was expected to resurface. An observer recently asked when did it disappear…
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Amsterdam on Thailand’s dual state
c46 Gunter
As I live in Thailand, I feel I have to leave comment on Para 1) to others who are less vulnerable to sanction than I am.
Para 2) largely fits in with my understanding – though the main role is likely to have been played by the police. The army’s role was probably greater in the border areas.
Para 3) – particularly “he [Thaksin] was really just tagging along…” does seem to paint a picture of an unwitting (almost unwilling?) PM simply caught up in events. Looking at both public statements of intent and internal orders issued from the PM’s Office, it’s very difficult to accept that interpretation. Highly ambitious targets and very tight deadlines were set for local forces to meet – with clear, dire warnings of repercussions for those who failed to meet them. A ‘data collection’ phase to produce categorised lists of drugs-involved individuals was closely followed by phases which demanded comprehensive action against those identified – in most categories the target being to reduce the list to nil. As a former Police Lt-Colonel, it’s difficult to accept that Thaksin could have been unaware of where all those “most urgent” directives were at least very likely to lead.
Thailand’s succession planning
Ever wondered why Thais in uniform wear so many medal ribbons? One reason is a series of so-called Royal Cypher medals, with the medal bearing the stylized initials of each ranking member of the royal family and suspended from a distinctive ribbon. That’s a minimum of six medals.
In the Australian Army a soldier is required to wear on his uniform the ribbons of every medal to which he is entitled. In the Thai Army, it’s a matter of personal preference.
When I attended the Thai Army Staff College, some of my Thai classmates made a habit of wearing the yellow and white ribbon of the crown prince’s medal; some the yellow and purple ribbon of Princess Sirindhorn’s medal; some both and some neither.
Then one day the crown prince, who had attended the college in 1977-78, visited the college to address the class. EVERYONE chose to wear his yellow and white ribbon on that day. Apparently he tends to notice such subtle indications of where loyalties lie.
Amsterdam on Thailand’s dual state
Chris L #44
General McCrystal being the case in point.
I have no way of knowing whether the army acted independently or under the orders of the PM at Tak Bai or during the Red Shirt. However, given the generally accepted view that Abhisit only became PM because of the army, it’s unlikely that he had the authority to order them to do anything much. They certainly didn’t obey his order to cooperate with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission investigation into the dispersal of the Red Shirt rally.
FACT’s plea for Joe Gordon
Ralph Kramden #103.
Not attacking you, comrade. Simply pointing out that the use of a pseudonym doesn’t necessarily mean that our posts, yours and mine, are lacking in value or credibility. Lacking in a carefully nuanced choice of words, perhaps, but still worth reading.
Seh Fah is my real nickname. The Thai Army Staff College is called the Rong Rian Senathikan Thahan Bok, with rong rian meaning school, senathikan meaning staff duties and procedures, and thahan bok meaning military.
Any graduate of the school is entitled to put the informal title “seh”, the first syllable of senathikan, in front of his nickname. Strictly speaking it could perhaps be translated as “staff”, but that is the English nickname for a lowly staff sergeant, whereas the typical staff college graduate holds the much more exalted rank of lieutenant colonel, hence the preference for transliteration.
No doubt you have heard of the late Seh Daeng, hero of the Red Shirt revolution and a fellow graduate of the Thai Army Staff College. Daeng means red and is a common Thai nickname for someone of ruddy complexion. When I told him that in Australia someone with red hair used to be nicknamed Bluey, he took to calling me Seh Fah (fah meaning blue) and the nickname stuck.
Had Seh Daeng survived to rise to the rank of general and to occupy a powerful command position, he would have become Big Daeng, big being short for big boss. Transliteration works both ways. I would love to see my Thai Army colleague Seh Mac become a general.
So why Ralph Kramden? A physical resemblance to Jackie Gleason? A natural comedian?
Thailand’s succession planning
Tarrin #31 I think you are right that wristbands have replaced shirts. But do they signify a “hardcore royalist”?
If/when a time comes when the CP is established as Rama X it is hard to imagine that we shall see the same number of wristbands (or other fashion accessory) worn to support him. Support for the highest institution will likely evaporate. So I think you should describe most wristband wearers as “Hardcore supporters of Rama IX”.
Of course in a democracy with constitutional monarchy you might expect Gallup or similar could give us some empirical data on this topic. But 112 leaves us all in the dark.
Michael #29. Thankyou for your better recollection. You are right.
Amsterdam on Thailand’s dual state
@Everyone, thank you for answering my question in detail. Oh and also thank you for giving me the URL address to see the analysis of the case. Now I understand this case much more than I used to.
@Khun Tarrin, thank you for your explanation. And yes, you are quite right that I should have used the word “conflict of interest”. But even then, the worst which would happen (assuming that it can be proven that there really was a conflict of interest) is the transaction would be void. But he would not have to go to jail. Jail term is something which should never be ordered unless the crime is a serious one.
@Gunter #46, are you sure that the war on drugs is instigated by the K? I do not mean to undermine your assertion, but I would like to know what makes you believe that the K is behind it? (ie. any ‘circumstantial’ evidence?) I have not been interested in politics during that period, so I actually don’t know much about what happened back then. Please explain (actually anyone please explain, if you know)…thanks.
So why the PULO website still states that they demand Thaksin to be brought to trial for crimes against humanity? Why the southern three provinces are still loyal Democrat followers (as evidenced by latest election result)? If the K is really behind it, they would have stopped supporting the Democrats I would think.
Amsterdam on Thailand’s dual state
Excellent summary Gunter,just a shame Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International don’t read this blog,because up until now it seems that according to them responsibility rests with just the one man and thats Thaksin himself who by all appearances and wording in the Thai constitution appears just like many other Thai prime ministers and took orders directly from the palace.But hey, the label “Thaksin’s WOD”.is now stuck with araldite.So even when the Thai constitution gives the King most power and says “..the idea of war came from this man…” it means nothing to Brad Adams and Benjamin Zawacki who trot out”accountability from all parties” or ask you to “guess who”.
FACT’s plea for Joe Gordon
Hold on…. A person using a pseudonym is attacking me for using one? Or am I wrong again and Seh Fah is a real name?
Thailand’s succession planning
In my workplace, back in 2006, people were given yellow shirts and yellow jackets by management. The shirts were free and an overwhelming majority of people wore them every Monday.
Threats to academic freedom
New Mandala encourages vigorous debate? South’s post looks like a rather pathetic attempt to silence debate, particularly criticism of his own work. Mathieson’s piece is hardly a threat to academic freedom, and while Naw Htoo Paw’s probably over-indulges in the ad hominem, it shouldn’t be a surprise – this community is a small one. So much feels, and often is, personal. The figure of the detached, comparatively if not completely dispassionate, consultant/expert – and it does seem valid to point out that this position is almost always incredibly well-funded, which raises a host of questions regarding influence, power, even inequality – should be very much open to critique, especially in a situation such as this. I find myself often sympathetic to criticisms of South and what he represents. Vigorous debate indeed – not to mention that the notion of threats to academic freedom is an entirely right-wing rhetoric in the US. Perhaps worth noting.
Thailand’s succession planning
Personally I think the pink/yellow/blue wristband has replace the shirt, so you can still tell who is the hardcore royalist from the wristband.
Bumiputera graduate unemployment and Malaysia’s world class education system – a recipe for disaster
I passed with mediocre result with a degree in engineering. Studied at a university in the USA. Came back to Malaysia exactly 2 years ago and I am still in a huge debt with my study loan, no car, and today I am unemployed after working with 3 different companies.
You may wonder why I quit the jobs. The first job was with a call centre serving Singaporean customers where I was being screamed at and shouted all the F* and racist words you can imagine. They paid me 2600rm basic which was good but I dont think being verbally abused at least twice a day like that is a decent job. No! I felt like I lost my soul little by little everyday that coming to work is like a scary nightmare and the happiest time was only when the working hours finished. Am I a choosy person? Im not sure…I felt totally depressed with everything about the call centre environment. Answering calls for non stop for 4 hours and then 1 hour break and then continue again answering non stop for 4 hours and if there is a need which was always the case I had to extend for another 2 hours because of not enough staffs. They even timed your toilet break! So I was the 6th person in my batch to leave the call centre after 4 months. Btw, it was a total shocked for me as well. Imagine that I just came back from the USA where the environment was full of polite and nice people with the please and thanks in every sentences. For 4 years I was used to that environment and suddenly came back to Malaysia and people were like dogs eating dogs just to take care their own interest. The customers that I served even though not all but most were the worst kind Ive had in my life! They would threaten me making sure I would lose my job and even threaten committing suicide!
So moved on to my second job. It was just my temporary job before I could find a better one. I lasted only 3 months! It was a sales job for a spa in PJ. Reasons that I quit? The sales tactic was just too aggressive up to the point that the manager asked me and the rest to humiliate the customers. For the manager, if the customer had a credit card, there would be no reason for me not to sell the spa packages. So after have been cheating countless students and executives and the innocent ones I resigned at the end of the 3rd month after made a sale of more than 30 000rm. Earning some commission give me some pocket money to stratagize for my third job. The fact that the manager made me worked more than 11 hours per day for 6 days per week also made me exhausted.
Here is the thing, once you have stucked with some kind of customer service job in your resume, thats the only thing that your prospective employers or HR person would look at. Merely a degree is not enough in Malaysia. All the coursework with various companies that Ive done in the USA are all little side things where as when I showed up for an interview in the USA, they grilled me on the courseworks. When I showed up for an interview in the USA, the HR person would show me their companies first and try to attract me to work with them. The opposite things happened here in KL. The interviewers raised their voice, cut me off in the middle of my sentences and treated me as if Im so desperate to join their company thus offering me the lowest salary. So when I attended an interview the other day, I asked for 2500 and stated thats the minimum and not negotiable. Yet, they still offer me the job and tried to negotiate with me. Since the way they treated me I already had an impression that this is not the kind of company that I want to work with. If I were to join them and knowing how I would be treated in future, I would make sure that Im compensate fairly. And yes its another call centre job. Here experience matters most not your degree or anything you have done in the university.
My third job also didnt go well. Worked with this newly incorporate airlines for 8 months. Salary, 1500rm. Yeah, I was so distressed with my first 2 jobs and after being promised over time, allowances, and every month incentives, I imagined I would be able to make more than 2k. I was wrong, the HR person who interviewed me apparently didnt know a whole lot about the real nature of my job. There was no overtime, no incentive, no allowances. After talking with my new found colleagues, I felt like cheated and doomed. I brought home 10K RM, the amount of money I saved while working part time in the US (yes damn it, they pay good hourly wage over there, with minimum wage enshrined in their labor law) and that 10K i bought plane ticket from Sarawak and have my house rent deposit paid, interview expanses (in the USA they paid me my car’s gas and meal vouches!) and now that 10K after 2 years has vanished and I have no saving!
In early May this year I quit the job with the airline. I went to their interview for something else but, they gave me something else with PROMISE that they would give me what I want eventually (they say after 3 months). Being Malaysian myself, trust me, there is no such thing as “adab susila orang timur-sopan santun”. Got customer shouting and banging the counter with his fist over the counter, screaming, called me liar, I accepted that my job required me to open umbrellas for the passengers (even though it was not mentioned in the job description) and soaked under the rain, pushing the trolleys where some rude passangers would just throw the umbrellas at me. And all of this for what?? for that 1300rm after minusing epf and socso. I felt terribly cheated. Luckily I didnt sign any bond with them. People come and go in this company. My juniors all had them signing their bonds. Leaving means 5k penalty for them.
Early May, I decided to accept a friend invitation to spend 3 months in the europe. People say “the grass is greener in the other side of the fence” or “Hujan emas di negeri orang, hujan batu di negeri sendiri”. They are all damn true!. Right now my only aim is to have myself survive in KL. Ive never asked money from my parents since 8 years ago. Im proud of that. But right now Im thinking of moving back to Sarawak to my parents house. I might be unemployed for few months I dont know. Got that job offer, the call centre i told you? Still thinking about it.
Here in Malaysia, the rule is CGPA below 3.00 dont dare to dream a decent job. My university advisor and my teachers used to tell me, with engineering degree (and all other sciences degree) I basically can venture to any job. It was 4 f**king intense engineering study! and for what is it now? no one is looking at my degree. 70% of jobs in malaysia is customer service based. accept it. One day I’m going to migrate out of this country.
Amsterdam on Thailand’s dual state
CT – 35
The case should not even be a case, civil or criminal. First, it is not about making unauthorized profit, its about conflict of interest. If we look at the nature of the case, this case is actually didn’t involve Thaksin, but his wife Pojaman since Pojaman was the buyer and the FIDF (under the BOT) was the seller. Now, any conscious mind should be aware of the fact that none of the seller or the buyer actually go to jail. So, under “normal” legal interpretation, there’s no wrong doing. So how did Thaksin, a third party in this case, got a 2 years jail term for something totally legit?.
Now, the core of the case is, whether Thaksin actually can use his position as the PM to influence the auction. Again, any conscious mind would wonder, how can someone influence the result of the open envelop auction? since the price was announce to all party until no one want to outbid the highest bidder. Somehow the prosecutors and the court thought theres something to it.
The main question that need to be answer is, does FIDF, a branch of BOT considered itself as “state agency”. Since Thaksin was the PM so he does have power to influence the state organization. By law, the BOT is not a part of state organization. This is apply to anywhere in the world, like the Federal Reserve is not part of the US government so on.
In history, if I’m not mistaken, there were about 3 outer cases that involve the supreme court to give the definition to the FIDF, which all the 3 cases found that the FIDF was in fact “not” part of state. Somehow, the Thaksin ratchada land plot over rule all the previous decisions.
Thailand’s succession planning
CT – “as I told you, the Q [planning to be the Regent for Dipangkorn], the CP, and Princess Sirindhorn…all of them are fighting for the throne”
This is pure fiction ! I didn’t know a scholar believes in the FB posts and leaked letter !
I never said the future succession will be smooth. Unless it is being intervened by outside forces, Thai people will find ways to deal with it. This is the point of 700 year history that I mentioned. LM never stop the country from being what it is today. Good or bad, civilized or not depending on how you want to look at it !
Amsterdam on Thailand’s dual state
Re: CT #35
The reason the Thai royalists and rightwing elites have not used the so-called “War on Drugs” murders (whether or not the number is actually 2500 is in question as apparently that number was created by an AFP wire service article that was never substantiated) to prosecute Thaksin is that:
1. The War on Drugs was actually instigated and promoted by the King with Thaksin following along in an attempt to ingratiate himself.
2. The War on Drugs involved many police and army officers and units participating in extra-judicial killings for all sorts of reasons, not only for “drug dealing”. After all, any close follower of the Thailand situation knows that it is the Army and Police Generals themselves who are the largest drug dealers in Thailand.
3. Thaksin had no direct control over the details of who was being targeted and for what reason in the “War on Drugs”. While some would say that he was “responsible”, in actual fact, he was really just tagging along with the drug-related mayhem which is part of the ongoing struggle between different power groups in the Army and Police over who gets what revenues from what territory and who controls which suppliers in Burma and Laos.
Malaysia’s Islamic future
Nationalism has its own problems, but hardly surprising to see Muslims identify with their faith before their country. And some Australians actually believe Muslims will assimilate, never happen, hostile ethnic enclaves is all that ill-thought immigration will achieve.
Aside from inserting the Koran into the constitution and the problems that would entail for the large minority, most answers were quite positive.
Thailand’s succession planning
@Pete S #26: It was the pink shirt which was related to HMK’s hospitalisation. The story is that a fortune-teller advised Phra Thep that wearing pink would assist in his healing, in view of some astrological phenomenon to do with Mars. So, when HMK was photographed at the end of his first hospital stay, he was wearing a pink blazer, and others in the vicinity were also wearing pink. The custom has caught on, & now many royal supporters still wear pink, not as far as I can see, on any particular day.
Thailand’s succession planning
re. #24/25/26 The custom of wearing yellow shirts on Mondays (the day of the King’s birth) began in the lead-up to HMK’s 6oth celebrations, 2006. The Public Service. as well as many schools & companies, adopted it as a policy, & continued it until his 80th birthday. The PAD hijacked it, & at the same time many non-PAD people continued the custom, due to their reverence for the King. During PAD’s occupation of Govt House & the airports, most non-PAD people ceased wearing them. Since the brutal crack-downs in 2010, as well as the additional swing against PAD due to the war-mongering efforts of Chamlong, Sonthi & the similarly crazy Santi Asoke cult, most people wouldn’t be seen dead in yellow, and PAD has support only from a ‘lunatic fringe’.
Thailand’s succession planning
The unspoken sub-text of Yellow Shirt Mondays among all the Thais I know was “May the King outlive the Crown Prince, so let us wish a long life for our King”
Amsterdam on Thailand’s dual state
That class “code of honor” might be more akin to a twisted omerta, the Mafia code of silence that with the Mafia prohibits reliance on state authorities. In the Thai case it is sort of a prohibition on using human rights protections or accountable methods in policing the state.
Today’s Thai Post, by the way, had a headline indicating that the police state was expected to resurface. An observer recently asked when did it disappear…