[…] to reign in his own Deputy from spouting statements and acting contradictory to 1Malaysia (read here), to the simple fact that he allowed his special aide (Nasir Safar) to resign instead of sacking […]
[…] on his statements about Thaksin Shinawatra and the international community. As has been mentioned elsewhere, he also said some things about the monarchy. Singapore’s channelnewsasia.com has an article […]
Thanks for publishing this notice about Ji’s article which I have read earlier.
I certainly had a hearty laugh when I read the very apt message from the censor:
“The Office of the National Police has blocked access to this website due to its inappropriate images or articles; for instance pornography, gambling”
Amazing stuff in amazing Thailand. This report truely pushes the envelope and includes that video of the CP with near naked third wife. Dear Lord Buddha indeed. Would not be surprised to see the ABC office shut down and a diplomatic spat between Bangkok and Canberra over this. It is truely ground breaking stuff and congrats to Eric for daring to report this. Those who know of the sensitivites involved here understand just what this all means.
Losses inflicted on the military during “Black Saturday” as an indication of a possible Red strategy:
Most of the media attention on the violence of last Saturday night so far has focused on the casualties suffered by civilians and whether, as seems likely, it was the military which was responsible for the deaths and injuries. As tragic as that is, I think it’s very important to consider the significance of the large number of soldiers who were also killed or injured in the violence.
According to a Matichon report yesterday [http://www.matichon.co.th/news_detail.php?newsid=1270909637&grpid=00&catid=no] the military spokesman for the р╕ир╕нр╕Й. confirmed that 232 SOLDIERS HAD BEEN INJURED IN THE VIOLENCE, 92 OF THEM SERIOUSLY. That means that over a quarter of the current figure of around 860 killed or injured in the violence were military. Among the dead and wounded were a number of officers. According to one unconfirmed post on Prachathai up to 40, or ONE HALF of all the military vehicles used in the operation to break up the demonstration were seized and destroyed by the Red Shirts [http://www.prachataiwebboard.com/webboard/id/38648]. (A Nation report yesterday stated that an ISOC spokesman claimed that the officer killed, Colonel Romklao Thuwatham, had been targeted (with a laser) because of his prominent role in the suppression of the Red Shirts in April 2009 [cited in http://thaipoliticalprisoners.wordpress.com/2010/04/12/queen-and-prince-attend-soldiers-funeral/%5D.)
If these figures are accurate then in my view this represents a very significant defeat for the military; surely the worst suffered in one day in peace-time, and more serious even than the losses the military has sustained in one day in its operations against the insurgents in southern Thailand.
It seems to me that the casualties inflicted on the security forces sent in by Abhisit to break up the Red Shirts demonstrators on Saturday night is intended to send a message to the royalist leadership in the military that the Red Shirts will not just sit back and be slaughtered as in April 2009 but will fight back, that they have expert military advice and are capable of inflicting significant losses on the military.
(If this is true I certainly don’t blame the Red Shirts for employing lethal force to defend themselves. When the government has close to total control over the mass media and closes down all the Red media there is no point getting slaughtered “for free” while the royalists conduct a media white-wash. How many times have royalist forces killed people in the streets with impunity over the last 40 years.)
For public relations purposes the Red Shirt demonstrators have to play the role of the non-violent protesters, but at the same time I think it is very likely that they have a more lethal back-up team. (It may be that the media story a while ago about splits between Pallop and Sae Daeng and the Red Shirts’ leadership might have just been an act to distance the “non-violent” Red Shirts from the dangerously violent Pallop and Sae Daeng.
So after Black Saturday, if there is another order from Aphisit or Prem to confront the Reds the military will know now that they are themselves targets (See Sae Daeng’s comments along these lines in Matichon today: [http://www.matichon.co.th/news_detail.php?newsid=1271145436&grpid=00&catid=].
This would surely give some members of the military pause for thought. Why die for Abhisit, or Prem? Especially if the Red Shirts and pro-Thaksin forces appear to be on the rise, while Prem and Bhumibol are not long for the world.
Another problem is that if there were another confrontation with the Reds, and pro-royalist security forces were sent in to the battle looking for revenge, knowing that they were being targetted by armed Red units, at the same time they could not afford to kill large numbers of “peaceful” Red Shirts protesters because that would surely make the government’s position – and perhaps even that of Prem, or even the monarchy itself – untenable. This would place the security forces in a very difficult situation.
If this theory is correct then “Black Saturday” may represent an ominous development for royalist control over the military.
Thank you for that clarification on my part Richard. There seems to be a common assumption that I was forced to leave Thailand for fear of arrest.
I was being investigated on three complaints of lese majeste, and the law being what it is, this was an opaque and sometimes distressing experience. There were various threats made against me, mostly on pro-PAD websites. I was never charged.
But I left Thailand solely because the 3 year term the BBC allows its correspondents in one post was up. We actually had some constructive discussions with the Thai authorities about my case. Needless to say I was in a much more fortunate position than Thai nationals investigated and charged under the law.
Najib can’t even grasp the meaning of 1Malaysia, how can he ever put people first?
When his deputy proudly declares he’s Malay first and only Malaysian at heart, Najib defended that statement. Didn’t Najib read his 1Malaysia manifesto from page 1 to the last page?? Didn’t it say we are all Malaysians first, equal in all ways irregardless of the skin colour?? Ah, but Najib didn’t actually conceptionalised all this values, it was paid for by the rakyat and dreamed up nicely by a PR firm called APCO. All Najib ever do is read the speeches, without ever needing to understand the meaning. Isn’t it funny that he actually announced the eagerly awaited important policy called NEM, that affects our lives, in a distant land called HK? Ah, but it’s only for show, nice, big words to impress the overseas Press, not anything substantial nor does he intend to make it into something beneficial for all of us. The bottom line is whatever he announces does not translate into anything that tranforms the way the goverment or UMNO do their business. Contracts are still awarded to their agents, many fronted by the sons of politicians, some as young as mid-twenties. No offence, but how much experience & wisdom do these guys have to win multi-million dollar contracts?? Ah, never mind, daddy wil teach them how to manage the creative accounting!!
Yes, the goverment of today certainly has less money than Mahathir did 15 years ago. But if they plug all the wastage (ie pilfering), from the top to the bottom, we can certainly manage the country and have a few sens to spare! The GST will not help, as money is still wasted every year (just look up the AG’s report every year, it’s almost the same, computers costing a few thousand bought for 40-50 thousand instead, year-in, year-out!). In short, Najib will never be able to deliver, coz he doesn’t have the intention or will to. He’s only interested to play up his image (yes, nearly 30 million spent just on PR alone!!).
Meanwhile, his deputy has already made 3 moves against him. The latest in insulting the interfaith committee. The small people will now just get together to have tea (or maybe coffee!), nothing they say will be of any influence to the UMNO goverment. That’s all according to the Deputy PM selected by UMNO, who’ll probabaly be the PM sooner rather than later!
Note this Michael. There are significant Tahan Prahan elements in the redshirts. That said, I’m sure they also enlist for the other side too. Or perhaps some other hidden hand, for that matter. Any of these ways, they are employed as terrorists by mainstream political factions. Does that really indicate that there is a faction here worth supporting? Are any of the colored shirt factions capable of delivering justice? Our support should definitely be directed at organisations that have clearly demonstrated their complete independence from the succession profiteers.
About all I can figure from this high-powered rifle stuff is that some Thais shot some Thais. We know the military and police are riven top to bottom. And it’s definitely a money issue. So right now who can really say who exactly did it. Especially since there is always some group trying to fit up another group here. Better still to hold them collectively guilty of attempting to intimidate and coerce the silent majority. If posters really believe in justice, they should withold their support from both the terrorist factions in this conflict.
Thank you for the AlJazeera interview link at the bottom of the main article and the themalaysianinsider link in your response. Both very interesting.
Out of curiosity, is Najib’s “stage presence” any better when speaking in Malay?
Amazing that the initial protagonist of 1Malaysia now seems to be looking for someone else to lead it (or bury it). Everything about this interview – his body language, his words, his tone – speaks to the politics of consensus and evasion. How did he and his advisers let themselves get into this mess?
Somewhere around minute 20 of the interview he brings up a ‘house’ metaphor, suggesting Malaysia’s problems (in this context, referring to foreign investors concerned with corruption rankings) are a matter of fixing the external cladding. However an alternate possibility, keeping with the metaphor, are that investors may be wondering if the foundation of the house can be changed without tearing it down. I suppose this may depend on whether UMNO in fact regards itself as being the foundation.
Brave reporting. I think it will be very interesting when the king dies, as to how warmly the prince is received. Hmmm, could get very interesting. Either way the time of monarchies is coming to an end.
The issue now is not Thaksin but justice!! The reds are fighting for democracy and justice. For those thinking this is about Thaksin, I think you are missing the points.”
Unfortunately, it most definitely IS about Thaksin, since both he and his enemies typify (and are actually complicit in) the utter lawlessness the entire elite have delivered this country into. Democracy is impossible in a system where there is effectively no rule of law. There is effectively no rule of law because both the main power factions are constantly involved in murder, maimings, theft and intimidation.
But to be positive, if you were to rephrase it as justice first and democracy much later, I might begin to agree with you. Let’s just not have any more New Mandala nonsensense about Thaksin being history when he has so clearly been one of the main catalysts in delivering this country into almost ungovernability. It seems a significant number of the posters here are only too keen to cooperate with these criminal organisations in colored shirts.
Jonathan Head did not “flee” anywhere. He left Thailand rather reluctantly, after living with unfounded accusations of LM for years, for no reason more than that he was rotated out by the BBC.
There were two representatives from UDD on the autopsy panel. They agreed with the results.
Only one body still had a bullet lodged in it. The rest were all shot right through.
I find the whole idea that the government deployed snipers to kill ordinary red shirt members preposterous. Even if that was so, they’d have far more important targets than flag-waving nobodies.
The idea was publicly discussed, btw, as a way to tackle the gunmen in the crowd, and the army guy said that if comes to it, they’d set a filming crew behind sharpshooters to record every shot.
“Phatthalung MP Nipit Intharasombat, chief of Democrat legal panel, said the party has not yet registered a new party for Democrat MPs if the party is dissolved.”
come to think of it, they don’t really need new party, coz can always jump on NPP (PAD’s) boat. I bet that “New Politics” would perfectly suit these so called “Democrats”
The bullet wounds in a significant number of the dead have been identified as coming from AK-47s, a weapon ‘not in the armory of the Royal Thai Army’, it is claimed. PM Opposite has announced that ‘terrorists’ may be responsible, and mentioned (as have many observers on the ground) the presence of a number of weapon-bearing men dressed in black. There are photos & videos, which back this up.
In fact, the Thahan_Phran, paramilitary rangers under the Thai Army, do have the AKS-47 in their equipment list. There is an authoritative work on them. It’s called “The Boys in Black.” (Ball D. The Boys in Black: The Thahan Phran (Rangers), Thailand’s Para-Military Border Guards. Bangkok, Thailand: White Lotus Press, 2004.)
The Thahan Phran were formed in 1978 to get rid of the communists from their hiding places in the mountains.
Wikipedia has an article on them which ends, “The Thahan Prahan have had a troubled history, with units often accused of atrocities, abuse of authority, and involvement in the drug trade. It has also been reported that these units included a large majority of local thugs who often made use of their status to continue to commit crimes against their fellow citizens.”
It appears that their closest unit to BKK is the 14th Regiment in Kanchanaburi.
I’m with Chart’s interpretation of that enigmatic Kasit quote. I appreciated the background R.N. England eloquently shared and I hope they reform the Privy Council as described in the last paragraph.
On another note…
Has anyone heard any Thais’ reactions to reports that a certain person and her son attended the funeral rites yesterday of the colonel slain on Saturday? (The same lady who attended a PAD funeral in October 2008.) I’m afraid to ask people about it.
And will anyone from the same family attend funeral rites for the Reuters camera-man or any of the slain UDD protesters?
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Najib’s first year in office, Part I
[…] article first appeared in New Mandala -35.276370 […]
Is Najib On His Way Out? Part II
[…] to reign in his own Deputy from spouting statements and acting contradictory to 1Malaysia (read here), to the simple fact that he allowed his special aide (Nasir Safar) to resign instead of sacking […]
Kasit – role of the monarchy may be revamped
[…] on his statements about Thaksin Shinawatra and the international community. As has been mentioned elsewhere, he also said some things about the monarchy. Singapore’s channelnewsasia.com has an article […]
Giles Ji Ungpakorn on Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn
Thanks for publishing this notice about Ji’s article which I have read earlier.
I certainly had a hearty laugh when I read the very apt message from the censor:
“The Office of the National Police has blocked access to this website due to its inappropriate images or articles; for instance pornography, gambling”
Made me think of the Birthday Party video.
ABC TV on Thai politics
Amazing stuff in amazing Thailand. This report truely pushes the envelope and includes that video of the CP with near naked third wife. Dear Lord Buddha indeed. Would not be surprised to see the ABC office shut down and a diplomatic spat between Bangkok and Canberra over this. It is truely ground breaking stuff and congrats to Eric for daring to report this. Those who know of the sensitivites involved here understand just what this all means.
War at Khao San
Losses inflicted on the military during “Black Saturday” as an indication of a possible Red strategy:
Most of the media attention on the violence of last Saturday night so far has focused on the casualties suffered by civilians and whether, as seems likely, it was the military which was responsible for the deaths and injuries. As tragic as that is, I think it’s very important to consider the significance of the large number of soldiers who were also killed or injured in the violence.
According to a Matichon report yesterday [http://www.matichon.co.th/news_detail.php?newsid=1270909637&grpid=00&catid=no] the military spokesman for the р╕ир╕нр╕Й. confirmed that 232 SOLDIERS HAD BEEN INJURED IN THE VIOLENCE, 92 OF THEM SERIOUSLY. That means that over a quarter of the current figure of around 860 killed or injured in the violence were military. Among the dead and wounded were a number of officers. According to one unconfirmed post on Prachathai up to 40, or ONE HALF of all the military vehicles used in the operation to break up the demonstration were seized and destroyed by the Red Shirts [http://www.prachataiwebboard.com/webboard/id/38648]. (A Nation report yesterday stated that an ISOC spokesman claimed that the officer killed, Colonel Romklao Thuwatham, had been targeted (with a laser) because of his prominent role in the suppression of the Red Shirts in April 2009 [cited in http://thaipoliticalprisoners.wordpress.com/2010/04/12/queen-and-prince-attend-soldiers-funeral/%5D.)
If these figures are accurate then in my view this represents a very significant defeat for the military; surely the worst suffered in one day in peace-time, and more serious even than the losses the military has sustained in one day in its operations against the insurgents in southern Thailand.
It seems to me that the casualties inflicted on the security forces sent in by Abhisit to break up the Red Shirts demonstrators on Saturday night is intended to send a message to the royalist leadership in the military that the Red Shirts will not just sit back and be slaughtered as in April 2009 but will fight back, that they have expert military advice and are capable of inflicting significant losses on the military.
(If this is true I certainly don’t blame the Red Shirts for employing lethal force to defend themselves. When the government has close to total control over the mass media and closes down all the Red media there is no point getting slaughtered “for free” while the royalists conduct a media white-wash. How many times have royalist forces killed people in the streets with impunity over the last 40 years.)
For public relations purposes the Red Shirt demonstrators have to play the role of the non-violent protesters, but at the same time I think it is very likely that they have a more lethal back-up team. (It may be that the media story a while ago about splits between Pallop and Sae Daeng and the Red Shirts’ leadership might have just been an act to distance the “non-violent” Red Shirts from the dangerously violent Pallop and Sae Daeng.
So after Black Saturday, if there is another order from Aphisit or Prem to confront the Reds the military will know now that they are themselves targets (See Sae Daeng’s comments along these lines in Matichon today: [http://www.matichon.co.th/news_detail.php?newsid=1271145436&grpid=00&catid=].
This would surely give some members of the military pause for thought. Why die for Abhisit, or Prem? Especially if the Red Shirts and pro-Thaksin forces appear to be on the rise, while Prem and Bhumibol are not long for the world.
Another problem is that if there were another confrontation with the Reds, and pro-royalist security forces were sent in to the battle looking for revenge, knowing that they were being targetted by armed Red units, at the same time they could not afford to kill large numbers of “peaceful” Red Shirts protesters because that would surely make the government’s position – and perhaps even that of Prem, or even the monarchy itself – untenable. This would place the security forces in a very difficult situation.
If this theory is correct then “Black Saturday” may represent an ominous development for royalist control over the military.
ABC TV on Thai politics
Thank you for that clarification on my part Richard. There seems to be a common assumption that I was forced to leave Thailand for fear of arrest.
I was being investigated on three complaints of lese majeste, and the law being what it is, this was an opaque and sometimes distressing experience. There were various threats made against me, mostly on pro-PAD websites. I was never charged.
But I left Thailand solely because the 3 year term the BBC allows its correspondents in one post was up. We actually had some constructive discussions with the Thai authorities about my case. Needless to say I was in a much more fortunate position than Thai nationals investigated and charged under the law.
Najib’s first year in office, Part II
Najib can’t even grasp the meaning of 1Malaysia, how can he ever put people first?
When his deputy proudly declares he’s Malay first and only Malaysian at heart, Najib defended that statement. Didn’t Najib read his 1Malaysia manifesto from page 1 to the last page?? Didn’t it say we are all Malaysians first, equal in all ways irregardless of the skin colour?? Ah, but Najib didn’t actually conceptionalised all this values, it was paid for by the rakyat and dreamed up nicely by a PR firm called APCO. All Najib ever do is read the speeches, without ever needing to understand the meaning. Isn’t it funny that he actually announced the eagerly awaited important policy called NEM, that affects our lives, in a distant land called HK? Ah, but it’s only for show, nice, big words to impress the overseas Press, not anything substantial nor does he intend to make it into something beneficial for all of us. The bottom line is whatever he announces does not translate into anything that tranforms the way the goverment or UMNO do their business. Contracts are still awarded to their agents, many fronted by the sons of politicians, some as young as mid-twenties. No offence, but how much experience & wisdom do these guys have to win multi-million dollar contracts?? Ah, never mind, daddy wil teach them how to manage the creative accounting!!
Yes, the goverment of today certainly has less money than Mahathir did 15 years ago. But if they plug all the wastage (ie pilfering), from the top to the bottom, we can certainly manage the country and have a few sens to spare! The GST will not help, as money is still wasted every year (just look up the AG’s report every year, it’s almost the same, computers costing a few thousand bought for 40-50 thousand instead, year-in, year-out!). In short, Najib will never be able to deliver, coz he doesn’t have the intention or will to. He’s only interested to play up his image (yes, nearly 30 million spent just on PR alone!!).
Meanwhile, his deputy has already made 3 moves against him. The latest in insulting the interfaith committee. The small people will now just get together to have tea (or maybe coffee!), nothing they say will be of any influence to the UMNO goverment. That’s all according to the Deputy PM selected by UMNO, who’ll probabaly be the PM sooner rather than later!
Scholars’ press release and letter
Note this Michael. There are significant Tahan Prahan elements in the redshirts. That said, I’m sure they also enlist for the other side too. Or perhaps some other hidden hand, for that matter. Any of these ways, they are employed as terrorists by mainstream political factions. Does that really indicate that there is a faction here worth supporting? Are any of the colored shirt factions capable of delivering justice? Our support should definitely be directed at organisations that have clearly demonstrated their complete independence from the succession profiteers.
Scholars’ press release and letter
About all I can figure from this high-powered rifle stuff is that some Thais shot some Thais. We know the military and police are riven top to bottom. And it’s definitely a money issue. So right now who can really say who exactly did it. Especially since there is always some group trying to fit up another group here. Better still to hold them collectively guilty of attempting to intimidate and coerce the silent majority. If posters really believe in justice, they should withold their support from both the terrorist factions in this conflict.
Najib’s first year in office, Part I
Dear Greg,
Thank you for the AlJazeera interview link at the bottom of the main article and the themalaysianinsider link in your response. Both very interesting.
Out of curiosity, is Najib’s “stage presence” any better when speaking in Malay?
Amazing that the initial protagonist of 1Malaysia now seems to be looking for someone else to lead it (or bury it). Everything about this interview – his body language, his words, his tone – speaks to the politics of consensus and evasion. How did he and his advisers let themselves get into this mess?
Somewhere around minute 20 of the interview he brings up a ‘house’ metaphor, suggesting Malaysia’s problems (in this context, referring to foreign investors concerned with corruption rankings) are a matter of fixing the external cladding. However an alternate possibility, keeping with the metaphor, are that investors may be wondering if the foundation of the house can be changed without tearing it down. I suppose this may depend on whether UMNO in fact regards itself as being the foundation.
ABC TV on Thai politics
15
Tested ABC link on last week and it is region locked for Australia only. Please can someone link to an upload for those of us in LoS?
ABC TV on Thai politics
Brave reporting. I think it will be very interesting when the king dies, as to how warmly the prince is received. Hmmm, could get very interesting. Either way the time of monarchies is coming to an end.
What next?
#19 “somsri
The issue now is not Thaksin but justice!! The reds are fighting for democracy and justice. For those thinking this is about Thaksin, I think you are missing the points.”
Unfortunately, it most definitely IS about Thaksin, since both he and his enemies typify (and are actually complicit in) the utter lawlessness the entire elite have delivered this country into. Democracy is impossible in a system where there is effectively no rule of law. There is effectively no rule of law because both the main power factions are constantly involved in murder, maimings, theft and intimidation.
But to be positive, if you were to rephrase it as justice first and democracy much later, I might begin to agree with you. Let’s just not have any more New Mandala nonsensense about Thaksin being history when he has so clearly been one of the main catalysts in delivering this country into almost ungovernability. It seems a significant number of the posters here are only too keen to cooperate with these criminal organisations in colored shirts.
ABC TV on Thai politics
Jonathan Head did not “flee” anywhere. He left Thailand rather reluctantly, after living with unfounded accusations of LM for years, for no reason more than that he was rotated out by the BBC.
War at Khao San
There were two representatives from UDD on the autopsy panel. They agreed with the results.
Only one body still had a bullet lodged in it. The rest were all shot right through.
I find the whole idea that the government deployed snipers to kill ordinary red shirt members preposterous. Even if that was so, they’d have far more important targets than flag-waving nobodies.
The idea was publicly discussed, btw, as a way to tackle the gunmen in the crowd, and the army guy said that if comes to it, they’d set a filming crew behind sharpshooters to record every shot.
What next?
looks like “Cockroach party” always has some some “plan B”
Scholars’ press release and letter
The bullet wounds in a significant number of the dead have been identified as coming from AK-47s, a weapon ‘not in the armory of the Royal Thai Army’, it is claimed. PM Opposite has announced that ‘terrorists’ may be responsible, and mentioned (as have many observers on the ground) the presence of a number of weapon-bearing men dressed in black. There are photos & videos, which back this up.
In fact, the Thahan_Phran, paramilitary rangers under the Thai Army, do have the AKS-47 in their equipment list. There is an authoritative work on them. It’s called “The Boys in Black.” (Ball D. The Boys in Black: The Thahan Phran (Rangers), Thailand’s Para-Military Border Guards. Bangkok, Thailand: White Lotus Press, 2004.)
The Thahan Phran were formed in 1978 to get rid of the communists from their hiding places in the mountains.
Wikipedia has an article on them which ends, “The Thahan Prahan have had a troubled history, with units often accused of atrocities, abuse of authority, and involvement in the drug trade. It has also been reported that these units included a large majority of local thugs who often made use of their status to continue to commit crimes against their fellow citizens.”
It appears that their closest unit to BKK is the 14th Regiment in Kanchanaburi.
ABC TV on Thai politics
The ABC has a very good online service known as iView.
Tonight’s episode has yet to be uploaded but following this link from tomorrow (Wed 14 April), should allow you to stream tonight’s episode.
A warning: there is a chance this service might be region-locked to Australian IP addresses.
Kasit – role of the monarchy may be revamped
I’m with Chart’s interpretation of that enigmatic Kasit quote. I appreciated the background R.N. England eloquently shared and I hope they reform the Privy Council as described in the last paragraph.
On another note…
Has anyone heard any Thais’ reactions to reports that a certain person and her son attended the funeral rites yesterday of the colonel slain on Saturday? (The same lady who attended a PAD funeral in October 2008.) I’m afraid to ask people about it.
And will anyone from the same family attend funeral rites for the Reuters camera-man or any of the slain UDD protesters?