Karim Raslan is the real Abhisit’s fan isn’t he. Judging from his writing I conclude that Mr. Karim has zero grapes on Thailand politic and economic situation. There are at least 18 protest around the kingdom right now, half of that attributed to the low rice price and another half due to the shortage of palm oil. The palm oil is specially puzzling since the price of palm seed is only 7 baht a kilo, far from any indication of shortage of palm. If Mr. Karim really believes that Abhisit will, somehow, lead Thailand to the greatness he claimed, then how come our dashing Etonion can’t even solve this very fundamental problem??
So what is the Amsterdam-Thaksin international legal team waiting for? Prosecute with haste . . British citizen Mr. Abhisit at the British court for succeeding to restore calm and order in Bangkok during the Red Shirts violent rampage.
And good luck . . . if the Amsterdam-Thaksin international legal team is not bluffing (surely money is not issue for this legal team). And good timing too . . . because the Thai elections is promised sometime in June 2011 . . . if Abhisit, now a Thai citizen, is not himself bluffing.
My prediction on what will undo Abhisit: Not Abhisit’s dual citizenship, not even his handling of the Red Shirts riots in BlackMay 2010 (his handling was splendid btw) will even ruffle Abhisit’s impeccable hairdo. The sordid cooking oil scandal and the soaring inflation being grumbled about by every Thai citizen will UNDO the Abhisit-Suthep duo.
The thing is, it was East Malaysia’s vote that kept BN in Putrajaya. The news on the ground says that the reason why Najib has yet to call for general elections is because he is uncertain of 2/3 majority. He needs Taib Mahmud as much as he needs to win the next GE to avoid being another lame duck as the previous premier.
The membership should have collectivelyy boycotted not only the 10thICTS in 2008 because of the restrictions on academic freedom at that time but also its predecessor in Kunming when events on Tianmian Square a decade earlier had demonstrated the PRC’s unworthiness to host the event.
We must boycott the 11thInternational Conference on Thai Studies in July 2011 if there is evidence that the Thai government would make Andrew Walker unwelcome . How could anyone in his situation attend ? A shift to another venue would be pathetic
I can’t find where it was stated now but I remember that the government used the “lively debate on the monarchy” (or words to that effect) at the last Thammasat Thai Studies Conference as evidence that there is no repression of free thought in Thailand. Through clenched teeth, I think.
And I have heard Abhisit and others saying many times that “academic” expression is sacrosanct (so much for Giles Ungpakorn) or at least privileged.
It isn’t of course as I found out recently. When a I submitted a very, very cautiously worded paper (castrated maybe) three months prior to a university seminar here and it took umpteen emails to find out that the paper was rejected for inappropriate comments and for not being “impartial”. The official rejection arrived – at last and only through me being very annoying – three weeks after the seminar had been held.
But like CJ Hinke, I enjoyed the last conference and I hope that there is more lively debate this time. I think that whatever the margin for free speech is, it needs to be used or else the margin keeps shrinking.
Having said that, Andrew, I certainly understand what you’re thinking and it’s an eminently reasonable view of things.
Another piece on Abhisit by Karim Raslan in today’s Jakarta Globe. The headline is “Abhisit’s Kingdom”! [UPDATE: thanks to a reader I am advised the this is the same article, but with a different headline. Apologies. AW]
Abhisit is indeed at history’s juncture when he had to admit in parliament this afternoon that he had not renounced his British citizenship. Source: http://www.thaienews.blogspot.com/
This is indeed a public confession that the ICC can legally prosecute him for sending snipers to shoot at and kill unarmed red shirts in May 2010.
Hope that Karim Raslan, Malaysia’s The Star columnist, who wrote the above article, will hear this interesting revelation soon.
Taib Mahmud’s worst nightmare is begining to unfold as planned protests in London and Ottawa against injustices to indigenous communities get under way. (Read here)
Weeks ahead of the elections in the Malaysian state of Sarawak in Borneo, the Malaysian police are fearing public protests against incumbent Abdul Taib Mahmud, one of the longest-serving and most corrupt politicians in South East Asia. (Read here)
I think it vitally important that we as academics, as activists, as humans stop making others the enemy. The nonviolent path is to allow others their own opinions and choose to listen or not.
I found the last Thai Studies to be immensely satisfying, both personally and professionally. It was the first venue where monarchy issues were openly discussed. It allowed for networking impossible otherwise.
Of course, that was at TU. Will it be different at Mahidol?
I, for one, refuse to live in fear.
However, prudence is certainly a virtue. The arrest of a visiting scholar would make int’l news just as did the arrest of Chiranuch. But she’s still facing 70 years.
Andrew, you’ve done nothing illegal on NM. NM is a forum both for news and for academic discussion. I, like LesAbbey, urge you to apply for a visa. That you get one is no guarantee, of course, but a better safeguard than none.
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by David Williams, Nicholas Day and Panuwat, Kris. Kris said: Thai government tells international scholar he is "not welcome" to attend International Thai Studies Conference in BKK http://goo.gl/wGBAp […]
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Adrian Ng and Kyrel James Rosly, Norman Noordin. Norman Noordin said: The Sarawak Revolution! http://bit.ly/egxEFU […]
A propos of academic freedoms in general, I recommend an article* that appears in today’s New York Times, reporting the deferred award acceptance speech made by Chinese writer Hao Qun. It includes the following (which seems to be increasingly applicable to the Thai situation):
“I believe I am not alone; this is the situation faced by all of China’s writers. The fear I feel is not just the fear felt by one writer, but by all of our writers.
Unfortunately, I have dedicated great effort to the task of compiling this Sensitive Words Glossary, and I have mastered my filtering skills. When I wrote my latest book, I knew which words had to be cut, and I accepted the cutting as if that was the way it should be. In fact, I will often take it on myself to save time and cut a few words.
This is castrated writing. I am a proactive eunuch, I castrate myself even before the surgeon raises his scalpel.“
LesAbbey’s suggestion might at least begin to have some merit if LM-based actions were the sole prerogative of Thai authorities. If that were so, one could take the suggestion a stage further further and invite the Thai government to provide explicit and dependable guarantees that there could and would be no such action taken against those who were granted visas. But, of course, it’s not so. LM accusations can be and are initiated by any Tom, Dick or Somchai making a complaint to the police; a complaint that the police are then obliged to act upon – and with results that are anything but predictable. Speaking of guarantees, what came of Abhisit’s Oxford assertion that Chiranuch’s arrest was just a “police mistake” or of his panel set up to prevent further such “mistakes”?
If government-accredited foreign journalists from respected news organisations working in Thailand can be subjected to LM-based action, what protection or even reassurance is there for mere foreign academics jetting in for a conference? No offence meant, Andrew et al.
A well deserved mention. And very telling that around the same time, you become persona non grata in Thailand (re your post on the Thai Studies conference).
Yes, I am looking forward to the detailed explanations of this situation from the fervent defenders of this regime who have profited from the good graces of new mandala to propagate their views.
This really is how Thailand works.
All Thais (and their neighbors) understand this system.
We all have something to lose, a limb, a life, a family member, hell, even private property. Freedom of speech? Yeah, just not dumb enough to actually try it.
At the moment only the red shirts are not reading from the script.
It will be interesting to see Mahidol’s reaction (or lack of ) to having respected academics warned off.
Here are a couple of irreverent recent talks at FCCT.
Chris Baker http://fb.me/EvsnDbxt
Thongchai, W http://fb.me/LlC82QQc ( Re: Thai_Talk @ twitter )
Note how common it is now becoming to refer to this kind of system as the mafia, the accuracy is striking.
The medium is the message eh? Websites which disseminate free discussion really are the problem. Now you are grouped in with prachatai, samesky and onepeople, not bad company, you must be doing something right.
Let us keep in mind that the seven “core” leaders were released after being vouched for by the government-appointed head of the “Truth and Reconciliation Committee” and legal go-to guy for the royalist establishment Kanit na Nakorn.
When the arrest of Surachai Sae Dan is placed in this context, one could be forgiven for harboring suspicions that a deal of some kind has been struck- probably with regards to the future of the Institution.
As they say, however, the proof is in the pudding. We shall see in the coming weeks if the core-leaders speak out on behalf of Surachai, if they force a more accommodating tone toward the Institution in the red rallies (which has become notably more outspoken on this issue in their absence), and ultimately what their stance will be when the Big Day (either a coup or Succession- more likely both in unison) comes.
It seems apparent that something big is approaching, what with the fake protest on the street, the fake war on the border, the hasty re-reinstatement of the ISA, and the military budget getting fatter by the hour. Just yesterday afternoon, Abhisit summoned his entire Cabinet to an unscheduled emergency meeting- reasons for which remain unannounced.
On the other hand, perhaps the anxiety and intrigue over the Succession, the releases, and the arrests are just more red herrings, just like the war with Cambodia and the PAD protests, serving to distracting us from the real game in town- which is the ongoing amassing of more wealth and more power, both for their own sakes.
Andrew raises an important consideration and one that I have also been seriously considering since late last year: I even had a draft letter ready to send out encouraging a boycott. To attend or not to attend? If I decide to attend (academic blacklist or not), should I present a paper that reflects the state of injustice in the country at the present time? Also, knowing that I also share a common platform with many academics who openly sided with the reactionary Yellow Shirts and military. I find repugnant the attitude of many scholars of Thailand, foreign and national, who blindly and without ethics or considered moral judgement on majority interests supported the neo-fascist/amaat regime on 19 September 2006 [and since] making all sorts of excuses for their selfish action. This has led to devasting consequences on the country, its people and the economy over the past five years. well, to attend or not to attend in the end I suppose it is an individual decision to make unless one is likely to be turned away from attending. It is sad that scholars of Thailand such as Andrew Walker have to be facing this dilemma.
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Abhisit at history’s juncture
Karim Raslan is the real Abhisit’s fan isn’t he. Judging from his writing I conclude that Mr. Karim has zero grapes on Thailand politic and economic situation. There are at least 18 protest around the kingdom right now, half of that attributed to the low rice price and another half due to the shortage of palm oil. The palm oil is specially puzzling since the price of palm seed is only 7 baht a kilo, far from any indication of shortage of palm. If Mr. Karim really believes that Abhisit will, somehow, lead Thailand to the greatness he claimed, then how come our dashing Etonion can’t even solve this very fundamental problem??
Abhisit at history’s juncture
So what is the Amsterdam-Thaksin international legal team waiting for? Prosecute with haste . . British citizen Mr. Abhisit at the British court for succeeding to restore calm and order in Bangkok during the Red Shirts violent rampage.
And good luck . . . if the Amsterdam-Thaksin international legal team is not bluffing (surely money is not issue for this legal team). And good timing too . . . because the Thai elections is promised sometime in June 2011 . . . if Abhisit, now a Thai citizen, is not himself bluffing.
My prediction on what will undo Abhisit: Not Abhisit’s dual citizenship, not even his handling of the Red Shirts riots in BlackMay 2010 (his handling was splendid btw) will even ruffle Abhisit’s impeccable hairdo. The sordid cooking oil scandal and the soaring inflation being grumbled about by every Thai citizen will UNDO the Abhisit-Suthep duo.
The Sarawak Revolution!
The thing is, it was East Malaysia’s vote that kept BN in Putrajaya. The news on the ground says that the reason why Najib has yet to call for general elections is because he is uncertain of 2/3 majority. He needs Taib Mahmud as much as he needs to win the next GE to avoid being another lame duck as the previous premier.
Should the International Conference on Thai Studies be held in Thailand?
The membership should have collectivelyy boycotted not only the 10thICTS in 2008 because of the restrictions on academic freedom at that time but also its predecessor in Kunming when events on Tianmian Square a decade earlier had demonstrated the PRC’s unworthiness to host the event.
We must boycott the 11thInternational Conference on Thai Studies in July 2011 if there is evidence that the Thai government would make Andrew Walker unwelcome . How could anyone in his situation attend ? A shift to another venue would be pathetic
Should the International Conference on Thai Studies be held in Thailand?
I can’t find where it was stated now but I remember that the government used the “lively debate on the monarchy” (or words to that effect) at the last Thammasat Thai Studies Conference as evidence that there is no repression of free thought in Thailand. Through clenched teeth, I think.
And I have heard Abhisit and others saying many times that “academic” expression is sacrosanct (so much for Giles Ungpakorn) or at least privileged.
It isn’t of course as I found out recently. When a I submitted a very, very cautiously worded paper (castrated maybe) three months prior to a university seminar here and it took umpteen emails to find out that the paper was rejected for inappropriate comments and for not being “impartial”. The official rejection arrived – at last and only through me being very annoying – three weeks after the seminar had been held.
But like CJ Hinke, I enjoyed the last conference and I hope that there is more lively debate this time. I think that whatever the margin for free speech is, it needs to be used or else the margin keeps shrinking.
Having said that, Andrew, I certainly understand what you’re thinking and it’s an eminently reasonable view of things.
Abhisit at history’s juncture
Another piece on Abhisit by Karim Raslan in today’s Jakarta Globe. The headline is “Abhisit’s Kingdom”! [UPDATE: thanks to a reader I am advised the this is the same article, but with a different headline. Apologies. AW]
Abhisit at history’s juncture
Abhisit is indeed at history’s juncture when he had to admit in parliament this afternoon that he had not renounced his British citizenship. Source: http://www.thaienews.blogspot.com/
This is indeed a public confession that the ICC can legally prosecute him for sending snipers to shoot at and kill unarmed red shirts in May 2010.
Hope that Karim Raslan, Malaysia’s The Star columnist, who wrote the above article, will hear this interesting revelation soon.
The Sarawak Revolution!
A dictator in distress?
Weeks ahead of the elections in the Malaysian state of Sarawak in Borneo, the Malaysian police are fearing public protests against incumbent Abdul Taib Mahmud, one of the longest-serving and most corrupt politicians in South East Asia. (Read here)
What next for Thailand?
[…] Lengthily open thread on New Mandela about the future of […]
Should the International Conference on Thai Studies be held in Thailand?
I think it vitally important that we as academics, as activists, as humans stop making others the enemy. The nonviolent path is to allow others their own opinions and choose to listen or not.
I found the last Thai Studies to be immensely satisfying, both personally and professionally. It was the first venue where monarchy issues were openly discussed. It allowed for networking impossible otherwise.
Of course, that was at TU. Will it be different at Mahidol?
I, for one, refuse to live in fear.
However, prudence is certainly a virtue. The arrest of a visiting scholar would make int’l news just as did the arrest of Chiranuch. But she’s still facing 70 years.
Andrew, you’ve done nothing illegal on NM. NM is a forum both for news and for academic discussion. I, like LesAbbey, urge you to apply for a visa. That you get one is no guarantee, of course, but a better safeguard than none.
Should the International Conference on Thai Studies be held in Thailand?
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by David Williams, Nicholas Day and Panuwat, Kris. Kris said: Thai government tells international scholar he is "not welcome" to attend International Thai Studies Conference in BKK http://goo.gl/wGBAp […]
Long arm of Thailand’s Computer Crimes Act
“the wrongdoer will be persecuted by law”
Freudian slip or poor translation?
The Sarawak Revolution!
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Adrian Ng and Kyrel James Rosly, Norman Noordin. Norman Noordin said: The Sarawak Revolution! http://bit.ly/egxEFU […]
Should the International Conference on Thai Studies be held in Thailand?
A propos of academic freedoms in general, I recommend an article* that appears in today’s New York Times, reporting the deferred award acceptance speech made by Chinese writer Hao Qun. It includes the following (which seems to be increasingly applicable to the Thai situation):
“I believe I am not alone; this is the situation faced by all of China’s writers. The fear I feel is not just the fear felt by one writer, but by all of our writers.
Unfortunately, I have dedicated great effort to the task of compiling this Sensitive Words Glossary, and I have mastered my filtering skills. When I wrote my latest book, I knew which words had to be cut, and I accepted the cutting as if that was the way it should be. In fact, I will often take it on myself to save time and cut a few words.
This is castrated writing. I am a proactive eunuch, I castrate myself even before the surgeon raises his scalpel.“
* http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/24/opinion/24iht-edmurong24.html?_r=2&ref=china
Should the International Conference on Thai Studies be held in Thailand?
LesAbbey’s suggestion might at least begin to have some merit if LM-based actions were the sole prerogative of Thai authorities. If that were so, one could take the suggestion a stage further further and invite the Thai government to provide explicit and dependable guarantees that there could and would be no such action taken against those who were granted visas. But, of course, it’s not so. LM accusations can be and are initiated by any Tom, Dick or Somchai making a complaint to the police; a complaint that the police are then obliged to act upon – and with results that are anything but predictable. Speaking of guarantees, what came of Abhisit’s Oxford assertion that Chiranuch’s arrest was just a “police mistake” or of his panel set up to prevent further such “mistakes”?
If government-accredited foreign journalists from respected news organisations working in Thailand can be subjected to LM-based action, what protection or even reassurance is there for mere foreign academics jetting in for a conference? No offence meant, Andrew et al.
High praise for New Mandala
A well deserved mention. And very telling that around the same time, you become persona non grata in Thailand (re your post on the Thai Studies conference).
Should the International Conference on Thai Studies be held in Thailand?
Yes, I am looking forward to the detailed explanations of this situation from the fervent defenders of this regime who have profited from the good graces of new mandala to propagate their views.
This really is how Thailand works.
All Thais (and their neighbors) understand this system.
We all have something to lose, a limb, a life, a family member, hell, even private property. Freedom of speech? Yeah, just not dumb enough to actually try it.
At the moment only the red shirts are not reading from the script.
It will be interesting to see Mahidol’s reaction (or lack of ) to having respected academics warned off.
Here are a couple of irreverent recent talks at FCCT.
Chris Baker http://fb.me/EvsnDbxt
Thongchai, W http://fb.me/LlC82QQc ( Re: Thai_Talk @ twitter )
Note how common it is now becoming to refer to this kind of system as the mafia, the accuracy is striking.
The medium is the message eh? Websites which disseminate free discussion really are the problem. Now you are grouped in with prachatai, samesky and onepeople, not bad company, you must be doing something right.
High praise for New Mandala
For the record yes I am with True.
Abhisit’s ongoing campaign against free speech
Let us keep in mind that the seven “core” leaders were released after being vouched for by the government-appointed head of the “Truth and Reconciliation Committee” and legal go-to guy for the royalist establishment Kanit na Nakorn.
When the arrest of Surachai Sae Dan is placed in this context, one could be forgiven for harboring suspicions that a deal of some kind has been struck- probably with regards to the future of the Institution.
As they say, however, the proof is in the pudding. We shall see in the coming weeks if the core-leaders speak out on behalf of Surachai, if they force a more accommodating tone toward the Institution in the red rallies (which has become notably more outspoken on this issue in their absence), and ultimately what their stance will be when the Big Day (either a coup or Succession- more likely both in unison) comes.
It seems apparent that something big is approaching, what with the fake protest on the street, the fake war on the border, the hasty re-reinstatement of the ISA, and the military budget getting fatter by the hour. Just yesterday afternoon, Abhisit summoned his entire Cabinet to an unscheduled emergency meeting- reasons for which remain unannounced.
On the other hand, perhaps the anxiety and intrigue over the Succession, the releases, and the arrests are just more red herrings, just like the war with Cambodia and the PAD protests, serving to distracting us from the real game in town- which is the ongoing amassing of more wealth and more power, both for their own sakes.
Should the International Conference on Thai Studies be held in Thailand?
Andrew raises an important consideration and one that I have also been seriously considering since late last year: I even had a draft letter ready to send out encouraging a boycott. To attend or not to attend? If I decide to attend (academic blacklist or not), should I present a paper that reflects the state of injustice in the country at the present time? Also, knowing that I also share a common platform with many academics who openly sided with the reactionary Yellow Shirts and military. I find repugnant the attitude of many scholars of Thailand, foreign and national, who blindly and without ethics or considered moral judgement on majority interests supported the neo-fascist/amaat regime on 19 September 2006 [and since] making all sorts of excuses for their selfish action. This has led to devasting consequences on the country, its people and the economy over the past five years. well, to attend or not to attend in the end I suppose it is an individual decision to make unless one is likely to be turned away from attending. It is sad that scholars of Thailand such as Andrew Walker have to be facing this dilemma.