Comments

Ralph – you may find this post about drinking and Thai politics amusing :
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2010/01/06/opinion/opinion_30119725.php

“Allah” is the common word used in describe the Christian God in Arabic-speaking countries like Egypt, Syria and Indonesia, according to the New York Times today (Churches Attacked in Malaysian “Allah” Dispute). So why the Malaysian government ban on the use of “Allah” by Roman Catholics as a translation for God.

I could not believe that Najib is unable to understand how serious the conflict could become when he mixes politics, ethnics and religion together. Najib lacks the vision of diversity and inclusion.

Najib cannot have the cake and eat it too. He cannot take a stand on banning the use of “Allah” by Roman Catholics and at the same time condemning the Muslims in attacking the Christian Churches. By discriminating against Roman Catholics, Najib certainly is aware of the fact that he is creating a conflictual situation.

“Hla Oo”:

Thank you very much as well. 🙂

I don’t know though what kind of caliber i am, really, i may be sort of famous, but i am right now about a week away of sending a humiliating begging email to friends, colleagues and relatives because i am more or less destitute.

Anyhow, my advise would be not to write another well researched book on Burma. There are so many of them already. As much as i can learn from your huge knowledge on Burma’s history, etc. what has most impressed me from your writings are the snippets of your personal history you have given us. You childhood, your youth as a Tatmadaw soldier – the incredibly emotional posts relating to your own personal past. Bring in some of your objective knowledge where it suits, but keep it to a minimum, and stay with your personal story. A dry, researched historical analysis can always come in a later book.

Your comment: “I have so many sad stories to tell of that conflict, I am busting from inside.” says it all. This is the sentence with which your book should begin, and the sentence that should guide you throughout the writing process – please bust, don’t “analyze” and “research”. Those are exactly the stories that i want to know about. You have lived a history, been part of a history that people of the outside world don’t know anything about, but should/must know about. Most of your peers who have survived are not in a position to communicate their experiences. You may be the only one who can. History is not just analysis, statistics or dry facts – it is suffering, joy, fear, sadness, anger, regret – all emotions possible. This makes history alive and understandable for us who have not been part of it. Make readers scared, horrify them, and let them take part of the joys you must have experienced as well. Just don’t tell them what they should think – if you write honestly about your emotions, they will be able to think for themselves, come to a greater understanding by being able to relate to you.
Make this book as personal as you can, explore the depths of your emotions, as far as you possibly can, and let us take part, as you have done in your posts. I believe that doing so must be unbelievably difficult, you will have to relive things that you want to forget.

Especially in this Burma debate, for most outsiders the Tatmadaw soldiers are a strange entity, some dehumanized robots working for the evil ones, and we forget that they are humans as anybody else. It’s just the dice who have thrown them on this or the other side of the conflict. Being a German i can relate in many ways. Dry historical analysis is important, it is the frame work. But what made my own history alive was the tales and personal experiences from my parents, my aunts and uncles, their haunting stories as soldiers and refugees.
In case of Burma, we know almost nothing at all, even though so much is written, debated, said. Everybody has opinions, but very little wisdom. A book from your angle could not just contribute enormously to the knowledge base and debate, but to a possible future reconciliation.

Practically, i am sure that White Lotus would love to publish such a book, or any other Thai based publishing house. But i think that this is material for a big international publishing house. Try it there first, if they don’t want it, you can always approach White Lotus and similar specialized publishing houses. The best way to do that is to approach a reputable literary agent. Their business is to find the most suitable publishing house, and then to deal out the best possible contract.

But first comes the process of writing. Unless you have at least a concept, know that you actually can write such a book (there is always the possibility that you just can’t do it right now, need more time before touching such a disturbing subject matter, etc), you should just concentrate on the writing, and not on a publisher. You may also decide that it is just too painful, and a easier vehicle to say what you have to say may be a novel (but a novel must have a very clear and strong literary style to convince, and not just the raw emotions flowing). If it is good and strong enough you will anyhow find a publisher.
Just see how it goes. You may find once you made the first step and begin, that it just flows. Or it may be a tedious work that haunts you day and night, that you have to leave aside for weeks at a time, before you can continue. Just take your time, don’t put yourself under any pressure. It will take as much time as necessary, not more, not less.

I just believe, judging from the bits i have read here on new mandala, that you have something to tell that nobody has told before.

“And you just don’t stage a coup if you truly respect democracy.”

In real politics there are degrees of tolerance for democracy, especially of Thaksin’s kind.

On Surayud – is Wikipedia not enough?

“His maternal grandfather was Phraya Sri Sitthi Songkhram (Din Tharab), a royalist leader during the failed Boworadej Rebellion.”

This Din Tharab has his own entry that says: “His daughter, Amphot Tharab, was mother of Surayud Chulanont..”

They don’t cite the sources but the original writer was Patiwat and you can post a question on his “talk” page if you suspect it’s factually wrong.

While watching CNN, I was shocked when seeing Muslim Malaysian shouting with anger over the “Allah” issue. I felt even more frightened when reading the news that “the Malaysian government at least tacitly sanctioned the violence” against Christian churches.

Susie: Give me the Thai reference please.
Chris Beale: You should only post before drinking! Your admonition is, if you read the post, is exactly what I said.
On the guns, I was, I think, asking for a reference that was from before the coup. If you have one, it’d be appreciated.

Not all blogs are created equal.
Some blogs are more equal than others.
This blog is one of them.

As Ms Susie Wong has posted before,
Thanks to Nich and Andrew for taking initiative and leading the way.
I hope you two scholars and gentlemen are rewarded handsomely!

siammiddlepath @2:

When I try to access the sameskyboard site (Jan. 8, in Thailand) I get a message that the” account has been suspended.”

However, Google has a cached copy of the site as recent as January 6.

The ‘account suspended’ message shows a web address on the same server as sameskyboard’s server (theplanet.com in Houston, Texas), so it seems legitimate, and not one of the phony ‘not found’ messages generated by some ISPs in Thailand.

Suzie (60). Perhaps it might be helpful for Ralph if you could quote the Thai source for the Boworadet information.
It is extremely generous of China to give unimpeded entry to overseas Chinese (particularly from Taiwan). What is intriguing is how do they define overseas Chinese? Who, for example, in both the ruling and opposition camps of the current Thai government is not a Sino-Thai? Does it mean that Thaksin can enter China freely and not have any fear of extradition?
If Surayudh qualifies to enter China at any time, then why did he need assistance from Chatchai to do this? It may have been the policy of the Chinese government at the time to give unimpeded entry to CPT members?

I understand your logic that it’s contradictory for the same person to be a royalist and also a CPT member, but if you studies history in depth, you will realize that it’s possible in the Thai context. Ralph, the information about Surayudh’s father participate in Boworadet rebellion is only available in Thai language. Ask any Thai you know to help you on this. His father was later on a local CPT leader, during the time Chartchai was Foreign Minister, he had made it possible for Surayudh to visit his father in China. Both Surayudh and Chartchai are Chinese Thai, China has a law that Overseas Chinese can enter China any time.