More power to you, dear Giles. But it is really a tough path ahead, knowing how my fellow Thai compatriots are. A lot of Thais still love the military’s pomp and ceremony and even more Thais are proud of being royal subjects and content to talk only to “the dust under their feet.”
As a long time resident of Scandinavia proper, I feel that Finland is not culturally or linguistically part of the Scandinavia but when considered from the historical point of view, it could come under the Scandinavia. However, I still prefer to use the term Nordic when including Finland.
In some rarer cases, I have even encountered Estonians who consider themselves Scandinavians. This is perhaps due to the fact that Estonia used to be part of the Swedish empire. In Swedish, Skandinavien denotes Sweden, Denmark and Norway and Norden is widely accepted as the three plus Finland and Iceland.
That’s a very interesting comment Khun Anusorn, not much in the press about what was said. Can you give any more indication on the direction of this movement away from “the usual suspects”?
My husband’s company driver went down yesterday with a mate of his who got shot in the arm during the May crisis. They didn’t expect payment for being counted this time round; rather, his injured friend has already ‘paid’ with his own blood for what he believes — which is that the 2006 coup was wrong and that the military should get the h*#@ out of Thai politics, once and for all.
Yesterday’s event is significant not only because several ten thousand people from all walks of life, though mainly from BKK, participated in the event despite the emergency decree and with no leaders. But more importantly it is because, judging from what was written on the streets and especially on the vinyl boards, now the focus has been shifted from Abhisit, Prem, and the CRES to those who are thought to be held responsible for the brutal crackdowns on the Red Shirts. It is an “eye-opened day” of many Thais and a new chapter of Thai politics has begun.
Comments like this show only what an amazing unpolitical you have been in your life (i tried hard to avoid unpopular words). Otherwise you would know how much of a no cost such an operation is.
I organizend more then a dozend of demonstrations in my 20 years of political life and i can tell you this would just cost a few hundert baht for phone calls to the local medias and even this can be done by emails and callbacks from the journalists.
Even the stadium in CNX was free to use and the megaphones and audio equipment borrowed from the local parties or university. Costs not more then a friendly hello and thanks.
Please keep posting in the right wing nut job forum at Thai Visa and leave us free us from your unwise comments.
Whether their report is accurate or not I have no idea but it is an interesting variant of the tactic of reporting things through the “Somebody whose name starts with X, Y, Z” strategy.
Of course I have no idea what their report actually means.
To begin with, don’t ever read The Nation if you want to find out anything about the reds movement as it has been proved again and again this pro-elite newspaper is always biased in its reporting.
I was there since 3 pm when the crowd was still standing in the pavement but with more and more people coming, they had no choice but to move to the street and “recaptured” the very spot where a stage was built in April, namely in the middle of the Rajprasong intersection and under the skywalk. By 5 pm, they started releasing the red balloons to the sky and built “spider webs” of red ribbons connected together. A small boy was standing and dancing on top of a pick-up truck where the old stage was there to the tune of reds’ favourite music and was cheered by the crowd.
Khun Sombat appeared and made a short speech to the crowd from a police truck and called it a day of success but urged the crowd to disperse before 8 pm for fear of provocation by a third party (blue-shirted guys controlled by the Hanging Lip as I overheard from a woman next to me?)
I am confident a fuller and detailed report (with photos and video) will follow as I also saw Nick among the crowd.
Well done Brendan! I am the proud owner of the also White Lotus-published “The Railways of Thailand” by R. Ramaer.
I am looking forward to buying this one. But be careful! The poor man had some rather shoddy allegations made against him by a certain rather rumbunctious cryptofascist Thai railnut over at the 2bangkok.com forum a few years back. Twas said that some Thai railwaymen felt that he had exploited their trust in publishing certain images. I suspect you know the individual who made these nationalist sentiments known, as he now claims he assisted you in some way. He is certainly informative, but I wouldn’t trust him any further than I could throw an 80 lb. rail. The annoying thing was that said local critic started backpedalling furiously when he figured out that Ramaer had actually read his comments.
“#2 A Railway Atlas which includes Laos ???!!!
Obviously going to be a short chapter, that one !”
But perhaps an interesting one. For a start there’s the Khone Falls porterage line that was used to move French river steamers past the falls. (A recent Korean plan to rebuild it for tourists seems to have died a death.) Then there is the line that the French started to build from the Mekong to Vietnam via the Mu Gia pass. A short section of this line is shown on some American military maps. (Not to mention the very long Mu Gia Pass freight ropeway – well over 4o kms long.) You could also write a complete chapter about the bureaucracy (on both sides) behind building the current few measley kms between Thailand & Laos.
It’s good to read a truthful assessment of the unmitigated disaster the military, the amat, and the middle class have brought down upon Thailand.
The military is daily more and more out of control. The appointment of the Police General indicted for the murder of the Saudi as Assistant Chief to the new, palace-picked Police chief is a measure of just how out of control things are in Thailand and of how much worse they seem likely to get, and how quickly they are getting that way.
I wonder if the middle class will wake up to just what they have done… or if they will ride this whole debacle all the way down, as the current putsch seems hellbent on flying Thailand straight into the ground.
I just got back from a stroll through a crowded and very red Ratchprasong. I was stunned by the numbers. Standing in the intersection, it was red in all directions.
Numbers obviously less than April, but it looks like tens of thousands to me (although I have zero skill in crowd counting).
They also looked very peaceful and seemed to contain more Bangkok people than the last time around.
I’ll be eager to see how the media reports turn out. The Nation said 3,500 at 2pm. I would have guessed ten times that at 4, but could be very wrong.
In any case an impressive turnout that will get the soldiers thinking. After this, I am sure an election is off forever.
I have perused the above comments and I have to say that as a woman I felt treated very fairly during my stay at the temple.
My stay at the temple was for three weeks and I took 8 precepts during that time.
I have to agree that you get out of it what you put in. It is also important that you take with you an open mind and leave all expectations behind. I took to the temple an open mind and an open heart and I came away from the experience with a totally new perspective of life. This is something that cannot be gained from reading as reading leaves room for interpretation. Experience is learning and I am so grateful that I have been given this opportunity as I have become enriched in many ways.
My experiences at the temple have shown me that what you get out of the stay at the temple is not gender based but very personal.
Many thanks once again to everyone at the temple!!
Congratulations! You now hold the record of linking a completely unrelated topic (unsubstantiated rumor) to Thaksin in the shortest number of posts, 2. You should be very proud of yourself.
1. The topic relationship in this instance was “Scandinavia”
2. Substantiation is not a prequalification for posting, I considered the link ironically amusing.
3. I was hoping to make first but was pipped at the post by Chris Beales more sensible post! 🙂
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Ji Ungpakorn on Thai political change
More power to you, dear Giles. But it is really a tough path ahead, knowing how my fellow Thai compatriots are. A lot of Thais still love the military’s pomp and ceremony and even more Thais are proud of being royal subjects and content to talk only to “the dust under their feet.”
Clouds on the Same Sky horizon
What is the honorable Minister of Culture afraid of? His own shadow?
Red Shirt activities to mark the coup
Suffice it to mark the coup as an act of ignominy.
Saying the unsayable about Thailand’s monarchy
As a long time resident of Scandinavia proper, I feel that Finland is not culturally or linguistically part of the Scandinavia but when considered from the historical point of view, it could come under the Scandinavia. However, I still prefer to use the term Nordic when including Finland.
In some rarer cases, I have even encountered Estonians who consider themselves Scandinavians. This is perhaps due to the fact that Estonia used to be part of the Swedish empire. In Swedish, Skandinavien denotes Sweden, Denmark and Norway and Norden is widely accepted as the three plus Finland and Iceland.
Two statements on the fourth anniversary of Thailand’s coup
Anusorn Unno 5
That’s a very interesting comment Khun Anusorn, not much in the press about what was said. Can you give any more indication on the direction of this movement away from “the usual suspects”?
September 19 – redshirt gatherings
My husband’s company driver went down yesterday with a mate of his who got shot in the arm during the May crisis. They didn’t expect payment for being counted this time round; rather, his injured friend has already ‘paid’ with his own blood for what he believes — which is that the 2006 coup was wrong and that the military should get the h*#@ out of Thai politics, once and for all.
September 19 – redshirt gatherings
Yesterday’s event is significant not only because several ten thousand people from all walks of life, though mainly from BKK, participated in the event despite the emergency decree and with no leaders. But more importantly it is because, judging from what was written on the streets and especially on the vinyl boards, now the focus has been shifted from Abhisit, Prem, and the CRES to those who are thought to be held responsible for the brutal crackdowns on the Red Shirts. It is an “eye-opened day” of many Thais and a new chapter of Thai politics has begun.
September 19 – redshirt gatherings
Hello FredKorat,
Comments like this show only what an amazing unpolitical you have been in your life (i tried hard to avoid unpopular words). Otherwise you would know how much of a no cost such an operation is.
I organizend more then a dozend of demonstrations in my 20 years of political life and i can tell you this would just cost a few hundert baht for phone calls to the local medias and even this can be done by emails and callbacks from the journalists.
Even the stadium in CNX was free to use and the megaphones and audio equipment borrowed from the local parties or university. Costs not more then a friendly hello and thanks.
Please keep posting in the right wing nut job forum at Thai Visa and leave us free us from your unwise comments.
Saying the unsayable about Thailand’s monarchy
It seems to me that unsayable things are starting to be said in the most unexpected places, however coded they might be.
This was in a report from The Nation tonight (20/9/2010) on the redshirt gatherings. They cited protesters as saying “Abhisit, get out!” and “B****** ordered the killing”. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/2010/09/20/politics/Red-tide-returns-30138287.html
Whether their report is accurate or not I have no idea but it is an interesting variant of the tactic of reporting things through the “Somebody whose name starts with X, Y, Z” strategy.
Of course I have no idea what their report actually means.
September 19 – redshirt gatherings
To begin with, don’t ever read The Nation if you want to find out anything about the reds movement as it has been proved again and again this pro-elite newspaper is always biased in its reporting.
I was there since 3 pm when the crowd was still standing in the pavement but with more and more people coming, they had no choice but to move to the street and “recaptured” the very spot where a stage was built in April, namely in the middle of the Rajprasong intersection and under the skywalk. By 5 pm, they started releasing the red balloons to the sky and built “spider webs” of red ribbons connected together. A small boy was standing and dancing on top of a pick-up truck where the old stage was there to the tune of reds’ favourite music and was cheered by the crowd.
Khun Sombat appeared and made a short speech to the crowd from a police truck and called it a day of success but urged the crowd to disperse before 8 pm for fear of provocation by a third party (blue-shirted guys controlled by the Hanging Lip as I overheard from a woman next to me?)
I am confident a fuller and detailed report (with photos and video) will follow as I also saw Nick among the crowd.
September 19 – redshirt gatherings
Like all large local protestfests, it must have cost a pretty penny to put together.
Teaching tips – how to keep students engaged
Other sites seem to think this was a set up. It certainly looks like it. Can’t say her dress-sense is that bad SW.
The Railway Atlas of Thailand, Laos and Cambodia
Well done Brendan! I am the proud owner of the also White Lotus-published “The Railways of Thailand” by R. Ramaer.
I am looking forward to buying this one. But be careful! The poor man had some rather shoddy allegations made against him by a certain rather rumbunctious cryptofascist Thai railnut over at the 2bangkok.com forum a few years back. Twas said that some Thai railwaymen felt that he had exploited their trust in publishing certain images. I suspect you know the individual who made these nationalist sentiments known, as he now claims he assisted you in some way. He is certainly informative, but I wouldn’t trust him any further than I could throw an 80 lb. rail. The annoying thing was that said local critic started backpedalling furiously when he figured out that Ramaer had actually read his comments.
The Railway Atlas of Thailand, Laos and Cambodia
“#2 A Railway Atlas which includes Laos ???!!!
Obviously going to be a short chapter, that one !”
But perhaps an interesting one. For a start there’s the Khone Falls porterage line that was used to move French river steamers past the falls. (A recent Korean plan to rebuild it for tourists seems to have died a death.) Then there is the line that the French started to build from the Mekong to Vietnam via the Mu Gia pass. A short section of this line is shown on some American military maps. (Not to mention the very long Mu Gia Pass freight ropeway – well over 4o kms long.) You could also write a complete chapter about the bureaucracy (on both sides) behind building the current few measley kms between Thailand & Laos.
Two statements on the fourth anniversary of Thailand’s coup
It’s good to read a truthful assessment of the unmitigated disaster the military, the amat, and the middle class have brought down upon Thailand.
The military is daily more and more out of control. The appointment of the Police General indicted for the murder of the Saudi as Assistant Chief to the new, palace-picked Police chief is a measure of just how out of control things are in Thailand and of how much worse they seem likely to get, and how quickly they are getting that way.
I wonder if the middle class will wake up to just what they have done… or if they will ride this whole debacle all the way down, as the current putsch seems hellbent on flying Thailand straight into the ground.
Mixing religion and commerce: The Monk for a Month Program in Fang, Chiang Mai
Schedneck, you understand them because you put yourself into their shoes, not like others with limited worldviews seen in this website.
September 19 – redshirt gatherings
I just got back from a stroll through a crowded and very red Ratchprasong. I was stunned by the numbers. Standing in the intersection, it was red in all directions.
Numbers obviously less than April, but it looks like tens of thousands to me (although I have zero skill in crowd counting).
They also looked very peaceful and seemed to contain more Bangkok people than the last time around.
I’ll be eager to see how the media reports turn out. The Nation said 3,500 at 2pm. I would have guessed ten times that at 4, but could be very wrong.
In any case an impressive turnout that will get the soldiers thinking. After this, I am sure an election is off forever.
Very impressive
Saying the unsayable about Thailand’s monarchy
#11: Finland can be included in Scandinavia.
See link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandinavia
Mixing religion and commerce: The Monk for a Month Program in Fang, Chiang Mai
I have perused the above comments and I have to say that as a woman I felt treated very fairly during my stay at the temple.
My stay at the temple was for three weeks and I took 8 precepts during that time.
I have to agree that you get out of it what you put in. It is also important that you take with you an open mind and leave all expectations behind. I took to the temple an open mind and an open heart and I came away from the experience with a totally new perspective of life. This is something that cannot be gained from reading as reading leaves room for interpretation. Experience is learning and I am so grateful that I have been given this opportunity as I have become enriched in many ways.
My experiences at the temple have shown me that what you get out of the stay at the temple is not gender based but very personal.
Many thanks once again to everyone at the temple!!
Saying the unsayable about Thailand’s monarchy
R. Duke // Sep 18, 2010 at 11:44 pm
Congratulations! You now hold the record of linking a completely unrelated topic (unsubstantiated rumor) to Thaksin in the shortest number of posts, 2. You should be very proud of yourself.
1. The topic relationship in this instance was “Scandinavia”
2. Substantiation is not a prequalification for posting, I considered the link ironically amusing.
3. I was hoping to make first but was pipped at the post by Chris Beales more sensible post! 🙂