PlanB, are telling me having your farmland confiscated when you’re a farmer doesn’t pretty much destroy your ability to survive? Have you ever been up in the ethnic minority areas where most of the population lives by farming? If you don’t think those are the most vulnerable segments of society, you’re sadly mistaken. It is the policies of military, and the ethnic insurgent and ceasefire groups as well, which arbitrarily confiscates both land and crops that impinges on their ability to survive, not Western sanctions.
The Economist: But Sulak Sivarkasa, a lawyer who has twice been prosecuted for lèse-majesté, has an illuminating story. His most recent case, in 2009, involved a critical essay on the monarchy in an obscure journal. He was arrested, but found out while dining with a public prosecutor that his case had been dropped. Mr Sulak asked why. “He told me frankly that the king wanted it to be done, to stop.”
I think this description contains inaccuracy / confusion. Sulak was charged twice in these past few years; the first in 2006 for an article (an interview actually) in Fa Diew Kan (presumably, the “obscure journal” above?), the second for a seminar he gave in Khon Kaen, perhaps in 2009. I understand that the second case may have been dropped (it’s the weaker of the two, to begin with), but the case involving his interview with Fa Diew Kan, as far as I am aware, is still pending, being “under consideration” by the General Prosecutor’s Office. At least this is what I was told, not long ago, when I spoke to Fa Diew Kan’s editor, Sulak’s co-defendant.
The same day of Chiranuch’s trial the trial against Thantawut Thaweevarodomkul of the NorPorChorUSA website began as well, two floors up. The charges are similar to the charges of Chiranuch – lese majeste and violations against the computer crime act. The trial did not receive as much attention as Chiranuch’s trial, but Prachatai reporters were present to observe it.
If you read through this detailed description/report of the first day of Chiranuch’s trial, the shockingly “faux” nature of the Thailand legal system is exposed for all to see……..
Basically it’s sort of a “pretend” legal system that somehow was invented to ward off Western colonization by demonstrating how “civilized” Thailand was….
A “legal system” where everybody “dresses up” and “goes thru the motions” but which has no actual content, coherence or substance…
Just a murky opaque phone call from “someone high up” with “influence” to determine the eventual outcome…..someone who is “close” to someone else, someone who never acknowledges their role and someone who cannot be criticized or called to account….
@CLee,
What would many Malaysians do for someone to have a mobile phone with audio/vidoe recording functions at that rally. Alas, those were the pre-internet days.
Not so lucky these days. The famous “You help me, I help you” electoral bribery/corruption video.
@ Ralph Kamden,
Never ceases to surprise me how low some people can go.
I continue to say that because i do suspect that there may have been a few dead, but i lack proof.
You could be right Nick, but there has to be more than it was dark and people couldn’t use their telephone cameras. There has to be statements like “my friend Somchai was standing next to me and then he was shot and then I haven’t seen him since.” In 1992 there were statements like this. The suspicion was that bodies were dropped from helicopters in the jungle on the Burmese border. 2009 we didn’t have this.
Greg, you may remember his now infamous phrase during the 1987 Kampung Baru riot when he said – “Basahkan keris dengan darah Cina” (“Bathe the keris with Chinese blood”).
I think it is still too early to declare if his 1Malaysia policies are for real, or mere hot air. We are too used to slogans here in Malaysia.
“He was arrested, but found out while dining with a public prosecutor that his case had been dropped. Mr Sulak asked why. “He told me frankly that the king wanted it to be done, to stop.”
If it’s that easy to halt a case, then it begs the question why so many other cases continue?
Can we presume that if a case proceeds, it means that ‘father’ has approved?
The left’s fantasy of taking over the red shirt movement and turning it into a genuine popular pro-democracy movement was always just that, a fantasy
Would you rather like the right wing to lead the red instead? Nonetheless, the red has (for a while already) evolve pass Thaksin. Did you notice this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X81PcCErv5I
It is the Burmese Army that caused the bitter experience of the past and is currently threatening the Kachins with renewed war. As Kevin Wood’s article shows it continues to take their land. Look at those photos of the rubber plantations-looks like a desert to me. I doubt the Kachin farmers having their land confiscated are experiencing much peace.
“Yet after having praised you Nick, why do you still trundle out the same old line from 2009. ”
Thanks. I do try to report factually. 🙂
I continue to say that because i do suspect that there may have been a few dead, but i lack proof. Not hundreds, or dozens, but a few.
In 2009 the Red Shirts have not been as organized as after the Songkran clashes, and therefore it is easy that names slipped.
The scene of the morning assault was very chaotic, it was pitch black – too dark for mobile phone pictures, and on the Red Shirt side was hardly any media at all. I remember three or four Thai photographers, and that was it. We made an attempt to get closer, but i had to turn around and run due to gunfire. While i was running, a Thai collegue was hiding, and next to him a Red Shirt was shot in the shoulder.
There were some journalists behind the military, but as far as i know not directly at the front lines. It was very scary there, and very different from the midday attack which we have seen much footage from.
Sometimes it just is not possible to get enough proof, unfortunately.
I stand by my statement that Malaysia will head the way of Thailand.. A PKR MP has just been charged with sedition for insulting the Sultan! – For other readers of NM, especially Thai news followers, that is “Lese Majeste” Malaysian style… As in Thailand, this law only applies to the opponents of the BN (democrat equivalent) govt
Definitely there are many foreigners like Rambo and Aiontay who does not like the clear fact that Kachins and Burmese have stopped killing each other last 20 years, and also the celebrated fact that Chinese have built 18 hydroelectric projects in Kachin State alone.
If you love war and suffering so much who don’t you grab a rifle and go fight in Burma and you will know that there is a hell on earth!
A nice article on Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib’s wife – Malaysia’s unofficial First Lady – by Hazlan Zakaria of Malaysiakini.
Did Rosmah Mansor, wife to our Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak sing “Don’t Cry For Me, Malaysia!’ when, overnight, the special department said to have been set up to serve her disappeared from the online listings of the Prime Minister’s Office.
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Tasty morsels from Burma
PlanB, are telling me having your farmland confiscated when you’re a farmer doesn’t pretty much destroy your ability to survive? Have you ever been up in the ethnic minority areas where most of the population lives by farming? If you don’t think those are the most vulnerable segments of society, you’re sadly mistaken. It is the policies of military, and the ethnic insurgent and ceasefire groups as well, which arbitrarily confiscates both land and crops that impinges on their ability to survive, not Western sanctions.
The Economist on lèse-majesté
The Economist:
But Sulak Sivarkasa, a lawyer who has twice been prosecuted for lèse-majesté, has an illuminating story. His most recent case, in 2009, involved a critical essay on the monarchy in an obscure journal. He was arrested, but found out while dining with a public prosecutor that his case had been dropped. Mr Sulak asked why. “He told me frankly that the king wanted it to be done, to stop.”
I think this description contains inaccuracy / confusion. Sulak was charged twice in these past few years; the first in 2006 for an article (an interview actually) in Fa Diew Kan (presumably, the “obscure journal” above?), the second for a seminar he gave in Khon Kaen, perhaps in 2009. I understand that the second case may have been dropped (it’s the weaker of the two, to begin with), but the case involving his interview with Fa Diew Kan, as far as I am aware, is still pending, being “under consideration” by the General Prosecutor’s Office. At least this is what I was told, not long ago, when I spoke to Fa Diew Kan’s editor, Sulak’s co-defendant.
The Economist on lèse-majesté
Perhaps why Mr Sulak got off is his elite connections and after all, he is a Buddhist conservative royalist-for all his excellent social criticism.
The Economist on lèse-majesté
The same day of Chiranuch’s trial the trial against Thantawut Thaweevarodomkul of the NorPorChorUSA website began as well, two floors up. The charges are similar to the charges of Chiranuch – lese majeste and violations against the computer crime act. The trial did not receive as much attention as Chiranuch’s trial, but Prachatai reporters were present to observe it.
The Economist on lèse-majesté
If you read through this detailed description/report of the first day of Chiranuch’s trial, the shockingly “faux” nature of the Thailand legal system is exposed for all to see……..
Basically it’s sort of a “pretend” legal system that somehow was invented to ward off Western colonization by demonstrating how “civilized” Thailand was….
A “legal system” where everybody “dresses up” and “goes thru the motions” but which has no actual content, coherence or substance…
Just a murky opaque phone call from “someone high up” with “influence” to determine the eventual outcome…..someone who is “close” to someone else, someone who never acknowledges their role and someone who cannot be criticized or called to account….
Tasty morsels from Burma
Discontent due to confiscation is moot when the attention is on day to day survival among the most vulnerable citizenry.
An isolated country’s government will depend only on its military might to achieve its dominance. Undeniable historic and ongoing examples abound.
Ne Win isolated Burma through BSPP’s Burmese Way to Socialism.
The West isolated Myanmar through purported support of Myanmar Citizenry’s Democracy.
Myanmar is at least 6 decades behind in thoughts and examples on good governance.
Add a few more years it will be like DPRK.
The Economist on lèse-majesté
link to a very detailed report/description of the first day of Chiranuch’s trial……..
https://facthai.wordpress.com/2011/02/04/day-one-free-speech-on-trial-in-thailand/
Najib hailed as a great reformer by Greg Sheridan
@CLee,
What would many Malaysians do for someone to have a mobile phone with audio/vidoe recording functions at that rally. Alas, those were the pre-internet days.
Not so lucky these days. The famous “You help me, I help you” electoral bribery/corruption video.
@ Ralph Kamden,
Never ceases to surprise me how low some people can go.
Expert testimony alleges criminal acts by Thai army in April-May 2010
Nick Nostitz – 60
I continue to say that because i do suspect that there may have been a few dead, but i lack proof.
You could be right Nick, but there has to be more than it was dark and people couldn’t use their telephone cameras. There has to be statements like “my friend Somchai was standing next to me and then he was shot and then I haven’t seen him since.” In 1992 there were statements like this. The suspicion was that bodies were dropped from helicopters in the jungle on the Burmese border. 2009 we didn’t have this.
Najib hailed as a great reformer by Greg Sheridan
Greg, you may remember his now infamous phrase during the 1987 Kampung Baru riot when he said – “Basahkan keris dengan darah Cina” (“Bathe the keris with Chinese blood”).
I think it is still too early to declare if his 1Malaysia policies are for real, or mere hot air. We are too used to slogans here in Malaysia.
The Economist on lèse-majesté
“He was arrested, but found out while dining with a public prosecutor that his case had been dropped. Mr Sulak asked why. “He told me frankly that the king wanted it to be done, to stop.”
If it’s that easy to halt a case, then it begs the question why so many other cases continue?
Can we presume that if a case proceeds, it means that ‘father’ has approved?
Expert testimony alleges criminal acts by Thai army in April-May 2010
LesAbbey – 59
The left’s fantasy of taking over the red shirt movement and turning it into a genuine popular pro-democracy movement was always just that, a fantasy
Would you rather like the right wing to lead the red instead? Nonetheless, the red has (for a while already) evolve pass Thaksin. Did you notice this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X81PcCErv5I
I hope you know what that means.
Tasty morsels from Burma
It is the Burmese Army that caused the bitter experience of the past and is currently threatening the Kachins with renewed war. As Kevin Wood’s article shows it continues to take their land. Look at those photos of the rubber plantations-looks like a desert to me. I doubt the Kachin farmers having their land confiscated are experiencing much peace.
Expert testimony alleges criminal acts by Thai army in April-May 2010
“LesAbbey”:
“Yet after having praised you Nick, why do you still trundle out the same old line from 2009. ”
Thanks. I do try to report factually. 🙂
I continue to say that because i do suspect that there may have been a few dead, but i lack proof. Not hundreds, or dozens, but a few.
In 2009 the Red Shirts have not been as organized as after the Songkran clashes, and therefore it is easy that names slipped.
The scene of the morning assault was very chaotic, it was pitch black – too dark for mobile phone pictures, and on the Red Shirt side was hardly any media at all. I remember three or four Thai photographers, and that was it. We made an attempt to get closer, but i had to turn around and run due to gunfire. While i was running, a Thai collegue was hiding, and next to him a Red Shirt was shot in the shoulder.
There were some journalists behind the military, but as far as i know not directly at the front lines. It was very scary there, and very different from the midday attack which we have seen much footage from.
Sometimes it just is not possible to get enough proof, unfortunately.
Najib hailed as a great reformer by Greg Sheridan
Greg Sheridan has long been a supporter of conservative authoritarian leaders in Asia, so why should he surprise anyone now?
Malaysia a failed state – The writings are on the wall?
Hai Greg,
I stand by my statement that Malaysia will head the way of Thailand.. A PKR MP has just been charged with sedition for insulting the Sultan! – For other readers of NM, especially Thai news followers, that is “Lese Majeste” Malaysian style… As in Thailand, this law only applies to the opponents of the BN (democrat equivalent) govt
A Red Shirt perspective on Thai politics
Clearly the middle class is a huge part of the uprising in Egypt, but the leaders have ulterior motives.
Just because 2 sides disagree doesn’t mean that 1 of them has to be right.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/8289686/Egypt-protests-Americas-secret-backing-for-rebel-leaders-behind-uprising.html
Burma in Limbo – Part 5
Brilliant detailed article. I look forward to the next installment.
Tasty morsels from Burma
Definitely there are many foreigners like Rambo and Aiontay who does not like the clear fact that Kachins and Burmese have stopped killing each other last 20 years, and also the celebrated fact that Chinese have built 18 hydroelectric projects in Kachin State alone.
If you love war and suffering so much who don’t you grab a rifle and go fight in Burma and you will know that there is a hell on earth!
Malaysia’s First Lady
A nice article on Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib’s wife – Malaysia’s unofficial First Lady – by Hazlan Zakaria of Malaysiakini.