StanG@27 – this tends to be how Thais group-think, more than in
the West, anyhow – so I don’t see you’ve got much of a valid point.
The conflict is still fundamentally along class, regional lines of group-think, with now other groups openly supporting the Red Shirts – eg. some middle-class Bangkokians, and students.
I’m surprised there has n’t been more on NM about what is happening in the Universities – they’ve had to close many ATM’s and banks on the campuses, which clearly indicates a student uprising.
I took photos (also on the fly, with my phone) just like this on Sukhumvit, in the Phrom Phong area, yesterday. Like this post’s guest contributor, I noted the remarkable turn-out of people along the side of the street, doing exactly what this contributor observed in Ari.
But here is why it’s still notable even though most of the non-red-wearing supporters on the footpaths are not actually full-on, middle-class, (relatively) well-educated Thais. It’s that those people are there at all! It’s so silly and stupid how the mainstream media depict the situation as Bangkok=Yellow, provinces (except for South)=Red. It’s like, duh! Bangkok runs on the lifeblood of the people who flock to the capital to make money to send home to the provinces. These people who make Bangkok “Bangkok”, city of industry and cheap labour for cleaners, security guards, shop assistants, child-minders, drivers, factory-workers, waiters, construction workers, spa staff, nightlife folks, etc, are PART of Bangkok and therefore should be counted as part of the political demographic — once people face that reality, they can acknowledge that Bangkok is a MIX of Yellow and Red. In the lead-up to last weekend, the media made it sound like “the Red hordes” were descending upon a universally Yellow citadel, and I had to laugh at that, knowing that most of the service people in my condo and in the businesses along my soi do hail originally from the provinces, and return up-country frequently, but they’ve become Bangkokians by virtue of living and working here. I knew those people would come out and do what they’ve been doing. Rather than Red hordes penetrating a Yellow monolith, it was more like loads of Reds pouring in to embolden some of their local Red brethren to reveal themselves amongst the Yellows.
Thank you for running this photo and the accompanying commentary. Yellow Bangkokians need to wake up to the fact that for a long time, they’ve been interacting with many “stealth” Red Bangkokians without even realizing it or wanting to acknowledge it!
On the question of authenticity: As I’m sure most NM regulars would be aware, every village has a man who assumes the role of a Brahmin, dressed in white, to preside at the bai see soo kwan ceremony (string tying), which is said by Thais to be a Brahmin (Prahm) ritual. As I understand it, it’s a sort of re-constitution of a family or close ‘interest’group (e.g. mahouts), whereby new members or old members who have returned are welcomed. Mahouts, e.g., also have ceremonies involving Pee Kanet, which are presided over by a ‘Brahmin’, & there must be lots of others. Although the Brahmins who are officially priests & designated the role at royal ceremonies are now a very small group – last time I was given a figure there were 9 Bangkok families of Indian origin & Brahmin caste in this exclusive group – there are obviously many more who assume the role of priests at local ceremonies. Given that the latter are permitted & expected by their village to take on that role, although not of Indian ethnicity, I think we must consider them ‘authentic’.
Presumably the man who conducted the cursing rite was not from the Royal Brahmins, but he would have been asked as one who knows, to take on the role, & apparently was able to chant in Pali. Moreover, antipadsist’s “more official (and more fat) ‘brahmin’ “, was probably a royal one, or at least an Indian one, & as a ‘purist’ could be expected to deny the authenticity of a ceremony conducted by a local Thai, having no ‘orthodox’ roots, possibly cobbled together, and incorporating local knowledge, rather than traditional Hindu teachings. He’s right, according to the context of his opinion. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the ceremony wasn’t authentic in the context of ‘local’ Thailand. (Actually an Indian resident Hindu priest would possibly look at the fat man’s ceremonies for local royal occasions & say they had no authenticity.)
As to whether the precise ceremony was a traditional one, or put together for the occasion: provided the form of the individual components had a basis in traditional meanings, & it was conducted by a person of authority, & approved of by the participants (all of whom have ‘local knowledge’), I don’t think we can say it wasn’t authentic. (tell me if I’m wrong).
I think that going to Indian sources for verification is not terribly useful; these are local, syncretic, Thai ceremonies, incorporating local beliefs, & analyses of local ‘village’ Prahm (and not local royal Brahmin) concepts are surely the best source.
Surely there are some working anthropologists who can give an authoritative opinion on these issues. Some of the stuff I’ve read & been told seems way off the mark – notions of sacrifice, cultural meanings of blood, etc., heavily influenced by British, US or Roman Catholic thought.
Superanonymous #28 – thanks, it’s interesting to have the Press Release from Peu Thai Party. Having had a very long experience of media releases, & even taught how to write them, I’d caution you to be skeptical. The aim of a release is ALWAYS to sell a message, NEVER to tell the truth. I’d trust the anthropologists over the politicians & their PR people. (Be skeptical of them too – some of them get sucked in by charmers, read things at face value, do their research too quickly, etc. Very difficult work.) This release is ‘damage control’: “Pursuant to some doubts and negative opinions expressed by foreign media and foreign visitors in Bangkok…”
Excellent post Portman@7 – but personally I’ve had more than enough of the Thai markets : simply too much uncertainty, too much discrimination against farang. Too little level playing field.
Crispin’s article seems to sum things up pretty well. The red shirts at this point cannot offer any potential leader better than Thaksin or Chalerm both of whom have adequately demonstrated they hold the ideals of democracy and social equality as close to their hearts as Hitler or Mussolini did. The reds also seem rather coy about mentioning the real reason for the protest, although it is abundantly clear from the timing that it is about the Supreme Court’s ruling to seize his assets. Now the red leaders are splitting up into factions, it would make sense for the leaders of the most coherent faction to try to break away from Thaksin now and come with some meaningful economic and social policies, creditable leaders and new sources of funding. Let Thailand move on and leave Thaksin to wallow in his desparate paranoic fantasies and eventually come home as a bag of bones from some obscure African or East European country.
Silenced – I agreed with all the points you raised.
I am also what you can call upper middle class, white collar with a six figure monthly income with a degree from one of the (supposedly) best colleges in Bangkok; and a red-sympathizer. I work with mostly foreigners so I don’t have to pretend to hate the reds as it is now fashionable. However, judging from what I saw yesterday from Asoke intersection where I work, people who came out on street to cheer the reds are mostly from lower socio-economic class, ranging from street vendors to ladies who work in Thai massage ‘spas’.
I wonder how many people out there are like us… it is very frustrating indeed to be ‘awakened р╕Хр╕▓р╕кр╕зр╣Ир╕▓р╕З’ and yet feel so alienated from your friends and family (I can’t talk politics with my mother). Anyway, I’m quite pessimistic of what the future holds; any drastic changes probably will not come during our lifetime…….
Indeed I don’t trust Thai media. It’s funny though the conflicts show sometimes. The other day I was listening to a radio station which said none of the red leaders gave blood, but the other channel said the leaders were the first to give blood. Both need to play by the government’s rules on freedom of expression but I am wondering if the government provides a guideline for media to what level they should bar the truth. It’s ironic the I should wonder this at all. Anyway, it’s obvious Thai media is not trustworthy.
I really hope the reds come out because they want the truth and fair treatment, not for Thaksin.
Silenced – excellent comments and insights.
I completely agree with what you say about this particular generation, born after ’76 but brainwashed before May’92.
To dislodge him you need to either break off one of the coalition partners with a better offer, or unilaterally change the rules.
Actually we had this law in 1992 constitution about MP can vote freely, which resulted in MP start selling their vote for the highest bidding (which I would say lead to the ineffectiveness of executive branch of 1993-1997) then the new 1997 constitution prohibited MP from voting other than the party’s policy (which kept Thaksin’s coalition from spliting) and then in 2007 we brought back that same 1992 law back from the grave.
To point out the injustice and hypocrisy of this action is not to support Thaksin, but to stand on principle.
Somtam Plara @#6 :
“A few days later, he hung himself in protest against the 19 September 2006 coup. The military fears this kind of person most.”
1) that seems a very, very strange way to “hung himself” (????) if he wanted to make a protest.
Why not do it in a far more public place ?
2) Thailand’s military is now far from united.
I can recognize that this is Ari on Paholyothin road. Definitely, this is (upper) middle-class neighbourhood, but one needs to take into account that during daytime, the folks walking on the streets tell nothing about how well they are, these are mostly blue collar workers, small-time merchants, street vendors anyway. Yes, there must be some middle-class but from my experience, they still are of the minority of these cheering people. I mean, I hope there are more but I think we have to admit this fact.
I’m writing this not because I want to discredit the redshirts, I’m an upper middle-class Thai myself, working in an air-conditioned office, 30-ish and I support the red-shirts. But people in the office, and most of my friends from schools (I went to what considered to be a top-tier state universities) tend to have only bad things to say about the red-shirts, they will use every occasions possible to discredit them (we have guys like Jatuporn, Arisman, Seh Daeng, etc. not to mention the unmentionable issues)
I tend to believe my generation of upper middle class Thai are the most difficult generation to adapt to change, born too late to understand what happened in the 70s but born early enough to get all the propaganda feeding into their heads from the very tender age (you know from all the TVs, state textbook – Manee Mana Piti Choojai, etc, etc.)
It’s really frustating to belong to this specific socio-economic group at this time of the history…
Portman – on a contrary, let me explain a bit since I think you might be misunderstanding me. I want “everyone” to have to same right, not just those that “without a job or wealth” because right now, Thailand’s law is discriminating against people with “job and wealth” since you simply cant own anything to become a PM for that matter. I have no personal bias against career politician like Clinton, I think he’s great, but I think we should have people like Berlusconi or even Bush or Kennedy once in a while. All I am trying to say is that current Thailand’s law is unrealistic and impractical, in terms of asset declaration and conflict of interest, and I think we should change it to reflex those of the civilize western country.
Btw, Sakozy gave himself a raise from 101,000 euro to 240,000 euro to match his peer when he first came to the office, is that a corruption, conflict of interest or bad ethic? you decided.
“but isn’t it a bit silly to be looking for an exact, literal reason for the blood-spilling?”
The symbolic power of any group action comes from the meaning invested on it by the group. If there is no other meaning needing to be expressed than that because everybody else is doing it reduces therefore the significance (moral or otherwise) of the act to the one being challenged.
“Consider the French, Thai and (gulp!) Khmer Rouge national anthems, probably among many others.”
Obviously in the Thai national anthem when I sing the stirring phrases sala-luad-tuk-yard-pen-chard plee – if I mean it with all my heart, I don’t think that meant literally that I would have fulfilled my duty by drawing blood and throwing it to possible invaders a la Songkran.
“Consider this Palestinian call to irrigate their land with blood:” – yeah, all right. But again, not through drawing blood and splattering it on the IDF soldiers but actually standing up and be counted by throwing rocks at the them. Never mind if after that, they bulldozed your home or orchards, or publicly humiliate your father by slapping him.
My point is simple, if I invest the pin prick blood drawing with meaning as the willingness to die for country as true patriots, it is therefore not “mere” street theater but a solemn act of defiance as free men! not by impersonal faceless bodies contributing blood (as in a blood drive), but people with full awareness and responsibility for their actions. Otherwise, in the worst instance, the whole thing can be trivialized as another Thai “superstition” or nonsense.
chris beale @ #5 “Unlike Chamlong – who claimed he would hunger-strike to death but did n’t – Vorachat did very nearly die.” Following the drift of my earlier set of questions, why did Vorachat not die? I think the answer is because the authorities didn’t want to create a “hero” celebrated by his/her defiance to the established order. Not Pridi, Not Jit Pumisak.
Many thanks to New Mandala for releasing the truth about the situation in Thailand. All Thais do not trust Thai press any longer. They should be washed into the drain.
Excellent reporting – by the way, what type of phone do you have that can get such great quality photos ?
I’d like to buy one.
If you don’t want to post this information right now, I fully understand – given current politics there.
But would be interested to know at a later date, when things are more secure.
Khon Ngai Ngai, you asked: “Why is it that Thai social protest practices has never reached (yet) the level of sacrificing one’s life like the Vietnamese monk Th├нch Quс║гng ─Рс╗йc self-immolation in protest of the Vietnamese regime in 1963?”
Yes, there is already a Thai who did it and not a long time ago. And also against the backer of Abhisit, namely the coup-maker. He is taxi driver Nuamthong Phaiwan who at first drove his car into a tank parked at the Royal Plaza, injuring himself. A few days later, he hung himself in protest against the 19 September 2006 coup. The military fears this kind of person most.
Tarrin, so your view is that only wealthy businessmen who own at least 5% of a company should be eligible for political office and your ideal national leader to is a billionaire tycoon juggling copious conflicts of interest like Thaksin or Berlusconi. Meanwhile, all the “useless bums” who are so stupid that they are unable to acquire more than 5% of a company like, Bill Clinton, Lula, Barrack Obama, Sarkozy, Angela Merkel etc etc should never aspire to public office. Why not go the whole hog and suggest introducing a 19th century type of franchise in which useless bums with no assets are not qualified to vote?
AIS for me. Loaded up on the shares last week when the ridiculous stories were going around that they would be fined billions of baht and prevented from paying the huge dividend that goes XD on 12 April. It is much more likely that any further damages suits will be leveled at Thaksin personally not the company and the total dividend pay-out for last year will be 14% which beats leaving the money on baht deposit at 0.25% like WLH.
Investment is all about risk and reward. Of course, WLH is welcome to his 0.25%, if his risk tolerance is that low and he doesn’t care if his assets are eventually eroded by inflation, but avoiding all asset classes in Thailand on such superficial analysis as “The SET is a basket case with no control over insider trading” and “Thai gold isn’t a free market” is like avoiding going outdoors because you might get run over. There is of course some truth to those statements in the same way as it is true that people get run over and killed every day in Bangkok.
BTW Nic. The title of the article was not intended to be that shocking. It was simply a humorous allusion to Sir John Templeton’s famous investment adage, “Buy when there is blood on the streets.”
Sawarin/Submarine,
You mentioned something about your blog on Prachatai a couple of months ago.Wonder if it is also something to do with culture and education?
I too think it would have been great to see Abhisit the rightful, legitimate, elected PM – it’s most disappointing that he lacked the patience (despite Submarine’s great advice to him:)
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Red soi, Red city: A brief commentary from the streets
StanG@27 – this tends to be how Thais group-think, more than in
the West, anyhow – so I don’t see you’ve got much of a valid point.
The conflict is still fundamentally along class, regional lines of group-think, with now other groups openly supporting the Red Shirts – eg. some middle-class Bangkokians, and students.
I’m surprised there has n’t been more on NM about what is happening in the Universities – they’ve had to close many ATM’s and banks on the campuses, which clearly indicates a student uprising.
Support for Reds from Bangkok at large
I took photos (also on the fly, with my phone) just like this on Sukhumvit, in the Phrom Phong area, yesterday. Like this post’s guest contributor, I noted the remarkable turn-out of people along the side of the street, doing exactly what this contributor observed in Ari.
But here is why it’s still notable even though most of the non-red-wearing supporters on the footpaths are not actually full-on, middle-class, (relatively) well-educated Thais. It’s that those people are there at all! It’s so silly and stupid how the mainstream media depict the situation as Bangkok=Yellow, provinces (except for South)=Red. It’s like, duh! Bangkok runs on the lifeblood of the people who flock to the capital to make money to send home to the provinces. These people who make Bangkok “Bangkok”, city of industry and cheap labour for cleaners, security guards, shop assistants, child-minders, drivers, factory-workers, waiters, construction workers, spa staff, nightlife folks, etc, are PART of Bangkok and therefore should be counted as part of the political demographic — once people face that reality, they can acknowledge that Bangkok is a MIX of Yellow and Red. In the lead-up to last weekend, the media made it sound like “the Red hordes” were descending upon a universally Yellow citadel, and I had to laugh at that, knowing that most of the service people in my condo and in the businesses along my soi do hail originally from the provinces, and return up-country frequently, but they’ve become Bangkokians by virtue of living and working here. I knew those people would come out and do what they’ve been doing. Rather than Red hordes penetrating a Yellow monolith, it was more like loads of Reds pouring in to embolden some of their local Red brethren to reveal themselves amongst the Yellows.
Thank you for running this photo and the accompanying commentary. Yellow Bangkokians need to wake up to the fact that for a long time, they’ve been interacting with many “stealth” Red Bangkokians without even realizing it or wanting to acknowledge it!
Crispin on Thailand’s bloody feud
Thanks Andrew J, antipadsist.
On the question of authenticity: As I’m sure most NM regulars would be aware, every village has a man who assumes the role of a Brahmin, dressed in white, to preside at the bai see soo kwan ceremony (string tying), which is said by Thais to be a Brahmin (Prahm) ritual. As I understand it, it’s a sort of re-constitution of a family or close ‘interest’group (e.g. mahouts), whereby new members or old members who have returned are welcomed. Mahouts, e.g., also have ceremonies involving Pee Kanet, which are presided over by a ‘Brahmin’, & there must be lots of others. Although the Brahmins who are officially priests & designated the role at royal ceremonies are now a very small group – last time I was given a figure there were 9 Bangkok families of Indian origin & Brahmin caste in this exclusive group – there are obviously many more who assume the role of priests at local ceremonies. Given that the latter are permitted & expected by their village to take on that role, although not of Indian ethnicity, I think we must consider them ‘authentic’.
Presumably the man who conducted the cursing rite was not from the Royal Brahmins, but he would have been asked as one who knows, to take on the role, & apparently was able to chant in Pali. Moreover, antipadsist’s “more official (and more fat) ‘brahmin’ “, was probably a royal one, or at least an Indian one, & as a ‘purist’ could be expected to deny the authenticity of a ceremony conducted by a local Thai, having no ‘orthodox’ roots, possibly cobbled together, and incorporating local knowledge, rather than traditional Hindu teachings. He’s right, according to the context of his opinion. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the ceremony wasn’t authentic in the context of ‘local’ Thailand. (Actually an Indian resident Hindu priest would possibly look at the fat man’s ceremonies for local royal occasions & say they had no authenticity.)
As to whether the precise ceremony was a traditional one, or put together for the occasion: provided the form of the individual components had a basis in traditional meanings, & it was conducted by a person of authority, & approved of by the participants (all of whom have ‘local knowledge’), I don’t think we can say it wasn’t authentic. (tell me if I’m wrong).
I think that going to Indian sources for verification is not terribly useful; these are local, syncretic, Thai ceremonies, incorporating local beliefs, & analyses of local ‘village’ Prahm (and not local royal Brahmin) concepts are surely the best source.
Surely there are some working anthropologists who can give an authoritative opinion on these issues. Some of the stuff I’ve read & been told seems way off the mark – notions of sacrifice, cultural meanings of blood, etc., heavily influenced by British, US or Roman Catholic thought.
Superanonymous #28 – thanks, it’s interesting to have the Press Release from Peu Thai Party. Having had a very long experience of media releases, & even taught how to write them, I’d caution you to be skeptical. The aim of a release is ALWAYS to sell a message, NEVER to tell the truth. I’d trust the anthropologists over the politicians & their PR people. (Be skeptical of them too – some of them get sucked in by charmers, read things at face value, do their research too quickly, etc. Very difficult work.) This release is ‘damage control’: “Pursuant to some doubts and negative opinions expressed by foreign media and foreign visitors in Bangkok…”
Profits to be made?
Excellent post Portman@7 – but personally I’ve had more than enough of the Thai markets : simply too much uncertainty, too much discrimination against farang. Too little level playing field.
Crispin on Thailand’s bloody feud
Crispin’s article seems to sum things up pretty well. The red shirts at this point cannot offer any potential leader better than Thaksin or Chalerm both of whom have adequately demonstrated they hold the ideals of democracy and social equality as close to their hearts as Hitler or Mussolini did. The reds also seem rather coy about mentioning the real reason for the protest, although it is abundantly clear from the timing that it is about the Supreme Court’s ruling to seize his assets. Now the red leaders are splitting up into factions, it would make sense for the leaders of the most coherent faction to try to break away from Thaksin now and come with some meaningful economic and social policies, creditable leaders and new sources of funding. Let Thailand move on and leave Thaksin to wallow in his desparate paranoic fantasies and eventually come home as a bag of bones from some obscure African or East European country.
Support for Reds from Bangkok at large
Silenced – I agreed with all the points you raised.
I am also what you can call upper middle class, white collar with a six figure monthly income with a degree from one of the (supposedly) best colleges in Bangkok; and a red-sympathizer. I work with mostly foreigners so I don’t have to pretend to hate the reds as it is now fashionable. However, judging from what I saw yesterday from Asoke intersection where I work, people who came out on street to cheer the reds are mostly from lower socio-economic class, ranging from street vendors to ladies who work in Thai massage ‘spas’.
I wonder how many people out there are like us… it is very frustrating indeed to be ‘awakened р╕Хр╕▓р╕кр╕зр╣Ир╕▓р╕З’ and yet feel so alienated from your friends and family (I can’t talk politics with my mother). Anyway, I’m quite pessimistic of what the future holds; any drastic changes probably will not come during our lifetime…….
Support for Reds from Bangkok at large
Indeed I don’t trust Thai media. It’s funny though the conflicts show sometimes. The other day I was listening to a radio station which said none of the red leaders gave blood, but the other channel said the leaders were the first to give blood. Both need to play by the government’s rules on freedom of expression but I am wondering if the government provides a guideline for media to what level they should bar the truth. It’s ironic the I should wonder this at all. Anyway, it’s obvious Thai media is not trustworthy.
I really hope the reds come out because they want the truth and fair treatment, not for Thaksin.
Support for Reds from Bangkok at large
Silenced – excellent comments and insights.
I completely agree with what you say about this particular generation, born after ’76 but brainwashed before May’92.
Open thread on red protests
WHL –
To dislodge him you need to either break off one of the coalition partners with a better offer, or unilaterally change the rules.
Actually we had this law in 1992 constitution about MP can vote freely, which resulted in MP start selling their vote for the highest bidding (which I would say lead to the ineffectiveness of executive branch of 1993-1997) then the new 1997 constitution prohibited MP from voting other than the party’s policy (which kept Thaksin’s coalition from spliting) and then in 2007 we brought back that same 1992 law back from the grave.
To point out the injustice and hypocrisy of this action is not to support Thaksin, but to stand on principle.
I’m with you on this one. I hate hypocrisy
Keyes on Thailand’s blood protests
Somtam Plara @#6 :
“A few days later, he hung himself in protest against the 19 September 2006 coup. The military fears this kind of person most.”
1) that seems a very, very strange way to “hung himself” (????) if he wanted to make a protest.
Why not do it in a far more public place ?
2) Thailand’s military is now far from united.
Support for Reds from Bangkok at large
I can recognize that this is Ari on Paholyothin road. Definitely, this is (upper) middle-class neighbourhood, but one needs to take into account that during daytime, the folks walking on the streets tell nothing about how well they are, these are mostly blue collar workers, small-time merchants, street vendors anyway. Yes, there must be some middle-class but from my experience, they still are of the minority of these cheering people. I mean, I hope there are more but I think we have to admit this fact.
I’m writing this not because I want to discredit the redshirts, I’m an upper middle-class Thai myself, working in an air-conditioned office, 30-ish and I support the red-shirts. But people in the office, and most of my friends from schools (I went to what considered to be a top-tier state universities) tend to have only bad things to say about the red-shirts, they will use every occasions possible to discredit them (we have guys like Jatuporn, Arisman, Seh Daeng, etc. not to mention the unmentionable issues)
I tend to believe my generation of upper middle class Thai are the most difficult generation to adapt to change, born too late to understand what happened in the 70s but born early enough to get all the propaganda feeding into their heads from the very tender age (you know from all the TVs, state textbook – Manee Mana Piti Choojai, etc, etc.)
It’s really frustating to belong to this specific socio-economic group at this time of the history…
Making sense of the verdict
Portman – on a contrary, let me explain a bit since I think you might be misunderstanding me. I want “everyone” to have to same right, not just those that “without a job or wealth” because right now, Thailand’s law is discriminating against people with “job and wealth” since you simply cant own anything to become a PM for that matter. I have no personal bias against career politician like Clinton, I think he’s great, but I think we should have people like Berlusconi or even Bush or Kennedy once in a while. All I am trying to say is that current Thailand’s law is unrealistic and impractical, in terms of asset declaration and conflict of interest, and I think we should change it to reflex those of the civilize western country.
Btw, Sakozy gave himself a raise from 101,000 euro to 240,000 euro to match his peer when he first came to the office, is that a corruption, conflict of interest or bad ethic? you decided.
Keyes on Thailand’s blood protests
superanonymous @#4
“but isn’t it a bit silly to be looking for an exact, literal reason for the blood-spilling?”
The symbolic power of any group action comes from the meaning invested on it by the group. If there is no other meaning needing to be expressed than that because everybody else is doing it reduces therefore the significance (moral or otherwise) of the act to the one being challenged.
“Consider the French, Thai and (gulp!) Khmer Rouge national anthems, probably among many others.”
Obviously in the Thai national anthem when I sing the stirring phrases sala-luad-tuk-yard-pen-chard plee – if I mean it with all my heart, I don’t think that meant literally that I would have fulfilled my duty by drawing blood and throwing it to possible invaders a la Songkran.
“Consider this Palestinian call to irrigate their land with blood:” – yeah, all right. But again, not through drawing blood and splattering it on the IDF soldiers but actually standing up and be counted by throwing rocks at the them. Never mind if after that, they bulldozed your home or orchards, or publicly humiliate your father by slapping him.
My point is simple, if I invest the pin prick blood drawing with meaning as the willingness to die for country as true patriots, it is therefore not “mere” street theater but a solemn act of defiance as free men! not by impersonal faceless bodies contributing blood (as in a blood drive), but people with full awareness and responsibility for their actions. Otherwise, in the worst instance, the whole thing can be trivialized as another Thai “superstition” or nonsense.
chris beale @ #5 “Unlike Chamlong – who claimed he would hunger-strike to death but did n’t – Vorachat did very nearly die.” Following the drift of my earlier set of questions, why did Vorachat not die? I think the answer is because the authorities didn’t want to create a “hero” celebrated by his/her defiance to the established order. Not Pridi, Not Jit Pumisak.
Support for Reds from Bangkok at large
Many thanks to New Mandala for releasing the truth about the situation in Thailand. All Thais do not trust Thai press any longer. They should be washed into the drain.
Support for Reds from Bangkok at large
Excellent reporting – by the way, what type of phone do you have that can get such great quality photos ?
I’d like to buy one.
If you don’t want to post this information right now, I fully understand – given current politics there.
But would be interested to know at a later date, when things are more secure.
Keyes on Thailand’s blood protests
Khon Ngai Ngai, you asked: “Why is it that Thai social protest practices has never reached (yet) the level of sacrificing one’s life like the Vietnamese monk Th├нch Quс║гng ─Рс╗йc self-immolation in protest of the Vietnamese regime in 1963?”
Yes, there is already a Thai who did it and not a long time ago. And also against the backer of Abhisit, namely the coup-maker. He is taxi driver Nuamthong Phaiwan who at first drove his car into a tank parked at the Royal Plaza, injuring himself. A few days later, he hung himself in protest against the 19 September 2006 coup. The military fears this kind of person most.
See this link below:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuamthong_Phaiwan
Making sense of the verdict
Tarrin, so your view is that only wealthy businessmen who own at least 5% of a company should be eligible for political office and your ideal national leader to is a billionaire tycoon juggling copious conflicts of interest like Thaksin or Berlusconi. Meanwhile, all the “useless bums” who are so stupid that they are unable to acquire more than 5% of a company like, Bill Clinton, Lula, Barrack Obama, Sarkozy, Angela Merkel etc etc should never aspire to public office. Why not go the whole hog and suggest introducing a 19th century type of franchise in which useless bums with no assets are not qualified to vote?
Profits to be made?
AIS for me. Loaded up on the shares last week when the ridiculous stories were going around that they would be fined billions of baht and prevented from paying the huge dividend that goes XD on 12 April. It is much more likely that any further damages suits will be leveled at Thaksin personally not the company and the total dividend pay-out for last year will be 14% which beats leaving the money on baht deposit at 0.25% like WLH.
Investment is all about risk and reward. Of course, WLH is welcome to his 0.25%, if his risk tolerance is that low and he doesn’t care if his assets are eventually eroded by inflation, but avoiding all asset classes in Thailand on such superficial analysis as “The SET is a basket case with no control over insider trading” and “Thai gold isn’t a free market” is like avoiding going outdoors because you might get run over. There is of course some truth to those statements in the same way as it is true that people get run over and killed every day in Bangkok.
BTW Nic. The title of the article was not intended to be that shocking. It was simply a humorous allusion to Sir John Templeton’s famous investment adage, “Buy when there is blood on the streets.”
Education of the clone
Sawarin/Submarine,
You mentioned something about your blog on Prachatai a couple of months ago.Wonder if it is also something to do with culture and education?
Open thread on red protests
Thanks WLH – that hits the nail on the head.
I too think it would have been great to see Abhisit the rightful, legitimate, elected PM – it’s most disappointing that he lacked the patience (despite Submarine’s great advice to him:)