No, the embassy did not protest publicly when Mr Nicolaides was jailed, but there was a lot of discrete lobbying behind the scene that secured his release after six months. Public criticism would have been counter-productive. Offend the Thai legal system and they would have taken it out on the victim within their grasp.
Aah Thai food. Slipping into my daydream to consider the food, I can smell the aroma… the spices, the freshness. It is colourful and foreign. Oh, and in my daydream it is served by a nubile, smiling lady, who is probably Thai, perhaps in national dress. A culinary journey from the Land of Smiles and I don’t even have to hop on a long-haul flight!
1. No one had accused you being a card carrying member of Pakatan (though you might well be since I have no means to prove that). However since you are an economist, why would you focus on issues that are not economics in nature. The last I checked you have no qualifications in political science so I wonder how “academic” your views could be.
Education (my Phd, my double masters, my degree) is an investment in human capital, while learning is the process of acquiring knowledge or skills through study, experience or teaching. Knowledge is the awareness and understanding of interconnected facts, truths or information gained in the form of experience, learning or introspection.
As noted, I’ve been deeply involved in researching on Malaysia for the past 12 years.
2. Sarawak Report: Trusted by the international news agencies? How do you conclude that? Care to present facts to support it? Also FBC was suspended in the light of allegations by SR and not dumped solely based on SR’s allegations. Your comments here are highly misleading and unacademic.
Don’t take my word. Recommend that you ask various reputable media outlets (such as ABC, BBC, CNN, CNBC, The Guardian, The Independent, etc) who have interacted with SR and ask them if Sarawak Report is credible.
Also wonder why they are not being sued (everyone knows Claire Rewcastle Brown is the founder) by aggrieved parties if their reports are defamatory.
3. I don’t think I can dispute your views when you comment on economic issues. But in most cases your analysis tend to be highly biased on picking up points on how to attack the BN govt rather looking at economic issues in general and provide commentary. That’s why I question your impartiality and credentials as academic. 10 out of 10 times your articles focus on attacking BN and using emotive languages. In many cases even when commenting on economic issues, your comments tend to be emotional and subjective and deviate from economic analysis to political commentary. Even here for example, why would you chose to select this particular issue when there are many other more important issues in Malaysia. For example I have not seen you writing the most important issues in Malaysia economy, the ETP and the liberalization. All I see is picking up minor points and attacking it with the sole point of making the BN look bad.
I think your not used to democratic norms. Debating government policy and actions is a norm especially for someone analysing government policies.
Refer to article Malaysia – a simple institutional analysis . My focus is on national leadership. Should Mr. Hadi Awang, Mr. Lim Guan Eng or Mr. Anwar Ibrahim take over national leadership, I would apply the same scrutiny.
Just wondering – they (UMNO/BN) cheat at elections, put individuals advocating for social change in jail, allow their supporters to wreak havoc, 1500 people have died in government custody, 400 people have been shot dead by the police, and billions of dollars have been squandered by the government, your ancestors are called prostitutes, pariahs, beggars, your temples and sacred objects are desecrated and destroyed, your religion and culture are constantly humiliated and denigrated, your constantly reminded that you exist at the mercy of UMNO Malays – How would you react?
4. Of course, you don’t glorify Pakatan as undermining BN will do the same trick. I am sure a lot of Malaysians think the same way as you do about PR but that’s an issue for the elections and not for academic discussions.
Refer to response to point 3.
5. I am more than happy to argue objectively but unfortunately as I had mentioned before you are not playing the academic but the politician. But giving sources such as SR and MI, you have done a cardinal sin as an academic. You should know that SR and MI do not provide sources to back up their claims but just quote “sources”. This I would hardly consider as academic, don’t you think so ? Both SR and MI are well known as the staunch supporters of Pakatan, even you must know that. I think you would hardly accept if I quote some BN bloggers to support my accusations against PR.
The media both online and print are subject to Malaysian laws. For example Rocky Bru has lost a case to Rais Yatim for alleging that Rais Yatim had raped his maid. Taib Mahmud, Chief Minister of Sarawak has sued Malaysiakini for its expose on corruption.
Aggrieved parties have a right to sue MI and SR but they haven’t.
Also, the problem as you know is that the mainstream media is totally unreliable to provide an objective view. Have you read Utusan Malaysia?
6. I think you sort of scored an own goal here by admitting your intentions. As for my intentions, I am no academic nor intersted in writing ops-ed to support BN policies. I just detest those fake academics who pretend to be impartial but in fact have hidden political agenda. And finally I must say that even when you write about purely economics matter, I am unimpressed by the intellectual depth of the analysis. Only Pakatan cybertroopers such as “neptunian” might consider them as masterpieces.
Own goal. Not really. I’m being honest. Whenever I’m interviewed by the Australian media, I tell them upfront that I have been a consistent critic of the government when they deserve to be criticised based on the values that I hold. I have values. I put a premium on human rights, rule of law and democratic norms. These values inform my analysis.
Your last paragraph appears to contradict your point number three.
By the way, I notice that you have not actually challenged me on the merits of any my actual arguments. That’s why I asked you what you thought about the sacking of the Lord President, Operasi Lalang, etc.
If you value human rights, the rule of law and democratic norms, then we can have a meaningful engagement. We can also have meaningful discussion if you focus on the points I raise rather than attacking me.
This piece of article shows that BN have lying to the world that Malaysia is a democratic country. This is not surprising given that they are a bunch of thieves.
Seh Fah said: “It seems to me that the boys benefitted from being abandoned in England by their father. Their educational and professional achievements are their own, and they are clearly capable of making their own way in the world, on their own merits. Good on them. And any one of them would make a far better crown prince that their father.”
———-
*cries* No!!! I support CP as the next King. Look forward to have Princess Srirasmi as the next Queen. She is so beautiful I cannot wait for Thailand to have her as its Queen ^^
It’s really egotistical on the part of many Thais to think that their food is the best in the world. Naturally, any people would think that the food of their own country is surely the best.
Dear friends: You should know by now that in Thailand we just “pretend”. So don’t be surprised at an academic conference that is not academic at all except its pretension of being academic.
It looks like the word “foreign” in the name of the Saranrom Institute of Foreign Affairs means “weird” rather than “belonging to an0ther country”. I am also nostalgic about the distinguished diplomat and gentleman, Direk Jayanama, who was of an entirely different image from this director of the Saransom Institute.
I had wondered why the Malaysian government was so eager for this refugee swap and I think I’ve found the answer in this article in The Australian.
“…In a country where the terms indigenous and Muslim are seen almost as interchangeable, some see the present amnesty on illegal immigrants as a way of fast-tracking more Muslims on to government benefits and the electoral rolls, with the asylum-seekers from Australia expected to join that preferential queue…”
This also fits into another programme that the Malaysian government is currently undertaking, the illegal worker amnesty programme as reported by The Malaysian Mirror.
The Home Ministry has asked Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Wanita chief Zuraida Kamaruddin to prove her allegation that the Barisan Nasional was using the 6P amnesty programme to secure more votes in the general election.
It seems to me that the boys benefitted from being abandoned in England by their father. Their educational and professional achievements are their own, and they are clearly capable of making their own way in the world, on their own merits. Good on them. And any one of them would make a far better crown prince that their father.
“I guess 95% of Thai students studying abroad have a “farang” supervisor for their thesis’. Many work on “Thai-topics”. Does it mean that the supervisors have no idea about what they are supervising?”
May be 5% of those are doing thesis on Thailand abroad. They would study in Thailand don’t you think ?
There are many Thais who teach English and have better grammars than farangs. They know what they are doing, and better at that, but it doesn’t mean they “know it all”. Some people on this board assume they even know personal details of the royal family, based on their academic views of “Perez Hilton” style leaked / open letter.
Andrew Spooner spot on again about the arrest of Joe being to frighten oveseas Thais, just as Surapong Jayanama went down underтАП to intimidate Thai students at the ANU.
As for cowardly US foreigners here, aren’t these the people who “respect the King”, hate Taksin and support murderous Mark and the coup d’etat? And aren;t ther a lot of them?
Whilst I find myself broadly in agreement with the author, intervention as in Afghanistan or Iraq is highly unlikely to resolve the long running and intractable problems of the now Republic of the Union of Myanmar (RUM!). And what a rum deal the ‘democratic transformation’ is for the peoples of Burma!
Some of these refugees had never even been to their own state capital inside Burma let alone the other side of the world. Nonetheless the modern phenomenon of the Burmese diaspora is across the board and includes minorities within the minorities. They have flown the nest and broadened their horizons, so there is no way putting the genie back in the bottle.
The Kachin also live in India, known as the Singpho, something shared with the Chin (Zo/Mizo/Kiku), and you can’t possibly leave out the Kokang and Wa (Va), the former in fact Han Chinese and the latter also live across the border in China. The high profile the Karen have enjoyed reflects not only the intensity and durability of the conflict plus its accessibility on the Thai border but co-religionist support where Western missionaries have historically played an important part from the time of its genesis. This also applies to the conflict with the Kachin, now renewed, to some extent. The Buddhist Rakhine, Mon and Shan (who actually are the largest minority group, not the Karen) get little or no exposure in the Western media.
They all look to ASSK naturally and sensibly for the end of the protracted civil war as the Burman majority opposition leader of international standing. Unfortunately she seems unable to think outside the liberal democratic box. Even Western liberal hawks would have misgivings over her absolute commitment to non-violence. She’s the one who could even two decades later carry the entire nation with her in a real fight to win all their freedoms, who could also win concrete international support for a parallel government in an all out civil war scenario.
Some fundamentals of the Burmese conundrum remain unchanged, not least the intransigence on the part of the ruling generals, as total in their commitment to their grip on power as the Lady’s to ahimsa. Thus we appear to be heading towards a more violent and bitter end with the continuing build up of frustration and resentment. It’s driving the new generations of minorities to the old secessionist ambitions, Balkanisation a likely scenario to contend with and the consequent majority Burman determination (of all political persuasions, left or right, civilian or military) never to let that happen. It’s all very well for ASSK to play the game within the rules framed by the generals in a battle of wits but she may yet again face the stark reality of Burmese politics in a way more than she can possibly stomach.
Just three anecdotes on Thai food:
1. In the eigthies, after a workshop in which beside me and Jacques Amyot only Thai collegues participated, we went to a restaurant. When I took some curry and yam, a collegue (a professor at one university!) said: “Oh, you can eat Thai food, but be careful, it is very hot”.
2. During some research in Mae Hong Song, when we stayed at a guest house of a friend, a group of british tourists were there. They complained about the food prepared for them, which was quite excellent (to my taste) that it was not genuine Thai but tourist-food. They said: “We know how real Thai food tastes, because we regularly go to a Thai restaurant in Manchester”
3. In a big city in Europe I went firstly to a “Thai select” restaurant. There were several pictures of the royal family. The food was o.k. at best. Then I went to another restaurant without pictures of the royal family. The food was really quite good.
My response was to comment 41, not 42 which wasnt posted when I wrote mine.
Even so, the mention of dual nationality is complete sophistry so that expats can rationalise their way out of supporting Joe.
I am sorry but it is pathetic.
Joe was arrested for one reason only – to create fear among Thais living abroad. To tell them they are being monitored and will be prosecuted for the tiniest infraction of the lese majeste law.
What is utterly sickening is the queue of people who then spend their entire time finding ways to rationalise what has happened to Joe.
The US steps far far far beyond international law and mores when it suits its interests.
Unfortunately Joe’s well being and basic human rights are of little interest.
Joe is a US citizen and resident. Regardless of his birth place he has the absolute right to expect full support from his government.
If some of his fellow US citizens are too cowardly to do this then they shouldn’t get in the way of those who are willing ot raise their voices.
Hi Stephen.
(1) The title, actually, was made up by the editors of New Mandala. I gave it the catchy but confusing headline of Civil War for Four: Burma in and from Regina –and I did tell them to change the title if they thought this wouldn’t “sell” (not that we’re selling anything).
(2) I’m amazed that anyone could read this thing and interpret it as pro intervention.
(3) The article was written for a Canadian audience, and cross-posted to New Mandala for kicks (and it seems like you got a kick out of it!), thus some pretty basic information on Burma is provided (en passant) while I do not provide the reader with basic information about (the non-existence of) the anti-war movement in Canada (as they’re more likely to be familiar with the latter… and totally unaware of the former).
As to being unique…
“We won’t be deceived by titles such as Indispensable, Unique and Great. Someone else indispensable and unique and great can be found at a moment’s notice.
Constantine Peter Cavafy, 1863-1933.
Who really knows whom? And how?
While Thais are generally inculcated to believe and expound the idea that their uniqueness answers all the wrongs they are accused to committing, those who criticize them see those wrongs for what they are: hardly unique, hardly Thai only. They are just wrongs. Throwing people in prison for speech is a great one, some day to be banned, but for the while we remain in a land of knee-jerking ignorance and pitiful social values that bring great dishonor to the land and its legacy. We thus, in this respect, may consider Thailand relatively unique.
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FACT’s plea for Joe Gordon
CT #28
No, the embassy did not protest publicly when Mr Nicolaides was jailed, but there was a lot of discrete lobbying behind the scene that secured his release after six months. Public criticism would have been counter-productive. Offend the Thai legal system and they would have taken it out on the victim within their grasp.
Thai food: Universally delicious?
Aah Thai food. Slipping into my daydream to consider the food, I can smell the aroma… the spices, the freshness. It is colourful and foreign. Oh, and in my daydream it is served by a nubile, smiling lady, who is probably Thai, perhaps in national dress. A culinary journey from the Land of Smiles and I don’t even have to hop on a long-haul flight!
Najib still an asset?
Killer # 13,
In response to the points you raised.
Education (my Phd, my double masters, my degree) is an investment in human capital, while learning is the process of acquiring knowledge or skills through study, experience or teaching. Knowledge is the awareness and understanding of interconnected facts, truths or information gained in the form of experience, learning or introspection.
As noted, I’ve been deeply involved in researching on Malaysia for the past 12 years.
Refer to the article Malaysia – a simple institutional analysis. Its norms that drive politics and politics that determine the economics.
Don’t take my word. Recommend that you ask various reputable media outlets (such as ABC, BBC, CNN, CNBC, The Guardian, The Independent, etc) who have interacted with SR and ask them if Sarawak Report is credible.
Also wonder why they are not being sued (everyone knows Claire Rewcastle Brown is the founder) by aggrieved parties if their reports are defamatory.
I think your not used to democratic norms. Debating government policy and actions is a norm especially for someone analysing government policies.
Refer to article Malaysia – a simple institutional analysis . My focus is on national leadership. Should Mr. Hadi Awang, Mr. Lim Guan Eng or Mr. Anwar Ibrahim take over national leadership, I would apply the same scrutiny.
Just wondering – they (UMNO/BN) cheat at elections, put individuals advocating for social change in jail, allow their supporters to wreak havoc, 1500 people have died in government custody, 400 people have been shot dead by the police, and billions of dollars have been squandered by the government, your ancestors are called prostitutes, pariahs, beggars, your temples and sacred objects are desecrated and destroyed, your religion and culture are constantly humiliated and denigrated, your constantly reminded that you exist at the mercy of UMNO Malays – How would you react?
ETP and liberalisation – read here.
Refer to response to point 3.
The media both online and print are subject to Malaysian laws. For example Rocky Bru has lost a case to Rais Yatim for alleging that Rais Yatim had raped his maid. Taib Mahmud, Chief Minister of Sarawak has sued Malaysiakini for its expose on corruption.
Aggrieved parties have a right to sue MI and SR but they haven’t.
Also, the problem as you know is that the mainstream media is totally unreliable to provide an objective view. Have you read Utusan Malaysia?
Own goal. Not really. I’m being honest. Whenever I’m interviewed by the Australian media, I tell them upfront that I have been a consistent critic of the government when they deserve to be criticised based on the values that I hold. I have values. I put a premium on human rights, rule of law and democratic norms. These values inform my analysis.
Your last paragraph appears to contradict your point number three.
By the way, I notice that you have not actually challenged me on the merits of any my actual arguments. That’s why I asked you what you thought about the sacking of the Lord President, Operasi Lalang, etc.
If you value human rights, the rule of law and democratic norms, then we can have a meaningful engagement. We can also have meaningful discussion if you focus on the points I raise rather than attacking me.
.
Malaysia – a simple institutional analysis
This piece of article shows that BN have lying to the world that Malaysia is a democratic country. This is not surprising given that they are a bunch of thieves.
Crown Prince’s family update?
Seh Fah said: “It seems to me that the boys benefitted from being abandoned in England by their father. Their educational and professional achievements are their own, and they are clearly capable of making their own way in the world, on their own merits. Good on them. And any one of them would make a far better crown prince that their father.”
———-
*cries* No!!! I support CP as the next King. Look forward to have Princess Srirasmi as the next Queen. She is so beautiful I cannot wait for Thailand to have her as its Queen ^^
Thai food: Universally delicious?
It’s really egotistical on the part of many Thais to think that their food is the best in the world. Naturally, any people would think that the food of their own country is surely the best.
No passion at ICTS11
Dear friends: You should know by now that in Thailand we just “pretend”. So don’t be surprised at an academic conference that is not academic at all except its pretension of being academic.
Thailand’s economic success
Who’s the wealthiest man in Thailand?
Surapong Jayanama down under
It looks like the word “foreign” in the name of the Saranrom Institute of Foreign Affairs means “weird” rather than “belonging to an0ther country”. I am also nostalgic about the distinguished diplomat and gentleman, Direk Jayanama, who was of an entirely different image from this director of the Saransom Institute.
Refugee deal – a Malaysian view
I had wondered why the Malaysian government was so eager for this refugee swap and I think I’ve found the answer in this article in The Australian.
This also fits into another programme that the Malaysian government is currently undertaking, the illegal worker amnesty programme as reported by The Malaysian Mirror.
Crown Prince’s family update?
It seems to me that the boys benefitted from being abandoned in England by their father. Their educational and professional achievements are their own, and they are clearly capable of making their own way in the world, on their own merits. Good on them. And any one of them would make a far better crown prince that their father.
Unity is dead; long live coexistence
Unity is dead; long live coexistence
As long as that coexistence isnt predicated on the people being able to decide what basic constitution they will be governed under
Thailand’s economic success
The income parity charts should also included so show the gap between high and low income earners.
Surapong Jayanama down under
HRK 38
“I guess 95% of Thai students studying abroad have a “farang” supervisor for their thesis’. Many work on “Thai-topics”. Does it mean that the supervisors have no idea about what they are supervising?”
May be 5% of those are doing thesis on Thailand abroad. They would study in Thailand don’t you think ?
There are many Thais who teach English and have better grammars than farangs. They know what they are doing, and better at that, but it doesn’t mean they “know it all”. Some people on this board assume they even know personal details of the royal family, based on their academic views of “Perez Hilton” style leaked / open letter.
FACT’s plea for Joe Gordon
Andrew Spooner spot on again about the arrest of Joe being to frighten oveseas Thais, just as Surapong Jayanama went down underтАП to intimidate Thai students at the ANU.
As for cowardly US foreigners here, aren’t these the people who “respect the King”, hate Taksin and support murderous Mark and the coup d’etat? And aren;t ther a lot of them?
Regina, Canada, Burma
Whilst I find myself broadly in agreement with the author, intervention as in Afghanistan or Iraq is highly unlikely to resolve the long running and intractable problems of the now Republic of the Union of Myanmar (RUM!). And what a rum deal the ‘democratic transformation’ is for the peoples of Burma!
Some of these refugees had never even been to their own state capital inside Burma let alone the other side of the world. Nonetheless the modern phenomenon of the Burmese diaspora is across the board and includes minorities within the minorities. They have flown the nest and broadened their horizons, so there is no way putting the genie back in the bottle.
The Kachin also live in India, known as the Singpho, something shared with the Chin (Zo/Mizo/Kiku), and you can’t possibly leave out the Kokang and Wa (Va), the former in fact Han Chinese and the latter also live across the border in China. The high profile the Karen have enjoyed reflects not only the intensity and durability of the conflict plus its accessibility on the Thai border but co-religionist support where Western missionaries have historically played an important part from the time of its genesis. This also applies to the conflict with the Kachin, now renewed, to some extent. The Buddhist Rakhine, Mon and Shan (who actually are the largest minority group, not the Karen) get little or no exposure in the Western media.
They all look to ASSK naturally and sensibly for the end of the protracted civil war as the Burman majority opposition leader of international standing. Unfortunately she seems unable to think outside the liberal democratic box. Even Western liberal hawks would have misgivings over her absolute commitment to non-violence. She’s the one who could even two decades later carry the entire nation with her in a real fight to win all their freedoms, who could also win concrete international support for a parallel government in an all out civil war scenario.
Some fundamentals of the Burmese conundrum remain unchanged, not least the intransigence on the part of the ruling generals, as total in their commitment to their grip on power as the Lady’s to ahimsa. Thus we appear to be heading towards a more violent and bitter end with the continuing build up of frustration and resentment. It’s driving the new generations of minorities to the old secessionist ambitions, Balkanisation a likely scenario to contend with and the consequent majority Burman determination (of all political persuasions, left or right, civilian or military) never to let that happen. It’s all very well for ASSK to play the game within the rules framed by the generals in a battle of wits but she may yet again face the stark reality of Burmese politics in a way more than she can possibly stomach.
Thai food: Universally delicious?
Just three anecdotes on Thai food:
1. In the eigthies, after a workshop in which beside me and Jacques Amyot only Thai collegues participated, we went to a restaurant. When I took some curry and yam, a collegue (a professor at one university!) said: “Oh, you can eat Thai food, but be careful, it is very hot”.
2. During some research in Mae Hong Song, when we stayed at a guest house of a friend, a group of british tourists were there. They complained about the food prepared for them, which was quite excellent (to my taste) that it was not genuine Thai but tourist-food. They said: “We know how real Thai food tastes, because we regularly go to a Thai restaurant in Manchester”
3. In a big city in Europe I went firstly to a “Thai select” restaurant. There were several pictures of the royal family. The food was o.k. at best. Then I went to another restaurant without pictures of the royal family. The food was really quite good.
FACT’s plea for Joe Gordon
Chris B
My response was to comment 41, not 42 which wasnt posted when I wrote mine.
Even so, the mention of dual nationality is complete sophistry so that expats can rationalise their way out of supporting Joe.
I am sorry but it is pathetic.
Joe was arrested for one reason only – to create fear among Thais living abroad. To tell them they are being monitored and will be prosecuted for the tiniest infraction of the lese majeste law.
What is utterly sickening is the queue of people who then spend their entire time finding ways to rationalise what has happened to Joe.
The US steps far far far beyond international law and mores when it suits its interests.
Unfortunately Joe’s well being and basic human rights are of little interest.
Joe is a US citizen and resident. Regardless of his birth place he has the absolute right to expect full support from his government.
If some of his fellow US citizens are too cowardly to do this then they shouldn’t get in the way of those who are willing ot raise their voices.
Regina, Canada, Burma
Hi Stephen.
(1) The title, actually, was made up by the editors of New Mandala. I gave it the catchy but confusing headline of Civil War for Four: Burma in and from Regina –and I did tell them to change the title if they thought this wouldn’t “sell” (not that we’re selling anything).
(2) I’m amazed that anyone could read this thing and interpret it as pro intervention.
(3) The article was written for a Canadian audience, and cross-posted to New Mandala for kicks (and it seems like you got a kick out of it!), thus some pretty basic information on Burma is provided (en passant) while I do not provide the reader with basic information about (the non-existence of) the anti-war movement in Canada (as they’re more likely to be familiar with the latter… and totally unaware of the former).
Surapong Jayanama down under
As to being unique…
“We won’t be deceived by titles such as Indispensable, Unique and Great. Someone else indispensable and unique and great can be found at a moment’s notice.
Constantine Peter Cavafy, 1863-1933.
Who really knows whom? And how?
While Thais are generally inculcated to believe and expound the idea that their uniqueness answers all the wrongs they are accused to committing, those who criticize them see those wrongs for what they are: hardly unique, hardly Thai only. They are just wrongs. Throwing people in prison for speech is a great one, some day to be banned, but for the while we remain in a land of knee-jerking ignorance and pitiful social values that bring great dishonor to the land and its legacy. We thus, in this respect, may consider Thailand relatively unique.