I don’t think that’s a Burmese beedie you’re toking on.
Amazing that people outside of the U.S. see Obama as some sort of miracle worker who will bring peace and prosperity to the masses, albeit in socialist form.
The U.S. engagement with Burma isn’t being done to stop the genocide of the ethnic groups. It’s being pushed by American business interests, eager to get a piece of the action. Look at the business people who supported Jim Webb in his senatorial run and you’ll see why he was so eager to suck up to the generals.
The old adage, “Follow the money” was never truer.
Susie Wong
As much as I share your enthusiasm and ideal SPDC need to be approach with a “trust but verify” principles.
SPDC knowing this might be their real last chance before the absolute “Hammering” by the west that will follow should know their N. Korea like fate. Not glamorous nor advantageous in any way.
The west has show very little care for the citizenry with the past 20+ years unapologetic acts.
Next round if DASSK is absent they will be as glad to see Myanmar absolutely isolated with China as it do or die master.
A grim prospect.
The west has not seem Burma beyond a Banana Republic of Drug aka Heroine.
Ralph:
Good question! Speaking of Democrats here in Thailand, Abhisit was really promising good things for democracy but has not only been shown as a lame duck, he has gone out of his way to prove that his foreign education did not inculcate a sense of justice and democracy that he supposedly went abroad to acquire, at least in part. But I have seen this behavior in the past in other places – in the US as well. People go abroad to learn something, and come back to prove they are still loyal to the status quo.
aiontay
Will do well to sequentially list the result of west useless active or passive interference in Myanmar and the present result will be more understandable yet absolutely intolerable.
BWTS under BSPP is a result of west passive promotion or protection of Ne Win when anti RED was en vogue and Burma was defined by “the best Heroine” in the world. Ne Win make sure that the price of heroine never reach bottom because the result will be Junkies in the street of all major capitals in the tune of Billions of Medical,rehab and law enforcement expense. His anti communist stance also afforded him as regular in the Court Of St James. Famous and admired for his womanizing and betting in Royal Derbies.
Fast forward to SPDC, the most vilified, threaten and sanctioned de facto government for the past 2 decades. Whose threaten survival from day #1 with Volunteer Mercenary, R2P, ICC and all slews of boycotts from CEO of every imaginable companies who will not know where Burma is or will not be able to Pick out Daw Aung San Suu Kyi form a line up even if she is the only female!
SPDC ruthlessly developed the present GAS cash cow albeit at the expense of the citizenry, holding on to power.
West passive promotion of Ne WIn therefore the BWTS.
West active failed persecution of SPDC therefore RMTD and now BWTD.
Thank you HRK for your insightful comments. They are very profound.
I’d like to note that the ‘dissolution of public life’ is a real issue – how the judiciary makes monumental decisions against norms, the way the police treats citizens, and how politicians from the ruling party are immune to real demand for change.
Hence the question, how long do we tolerate this?
True, getting involved in public life is a definite response. How far or how involved should we be – a nationwide strike, a million person demonstration?
This is the question I ask – how far will Malaysians go to demand change?
Frank: intersting that you rais these questions on the very day that the chair of Union of Civil Liberty is seen at Prachatai on this issue. There is some debate there and Political Prisoners in Thailand had some comments. I agree with you that things have deteriorated very rapidly. When are the Democrat Party going to eliminate their own name as an offence against the monarchy?
Ach! The very construct (much less legal prohibition) of lese majeste is an insult to the Empire. Since all true Germans are absolute in their devotion to the monarchy– and of course, there are no ‘false Germans’ due to the irestiable charisma of the emperor (who would suggest otherwise?)– the very imposition of a law punishing miscreants suggests that such miscreants exist–in other words, mien gott in himmel!!, making it illegal to insult the emperor is itself the grandest of insults to the emperor, for it relies upon the unforgivable notion that there may be true Germans who are NOT utterly devoted to the emperor! This would mean that our emperor (how ridiculous!) is without the innate characteristics to inspire awe and devotion in each and every German’s busom. What a pickle!!
Reminds me of the quandary facing the occupants of a Nazi occupied village in the war. Does our hero use the opportunity to bump off the evil commandant knowing full well that reprisals will annihilate his fellow villagers?
But is it selfishness here? Sometimes the devil appears to have all the best tunes and there doesn’t seem to be a credible alternative to vote for. In the end there is no substitute for party building and where there is no tradition of this maybe it’s incumbent on mature democracies to respond more vigorously to pleas from the indigenous labour movement for help.
Some people have more faith in the Market than I do. I think Moe Aung has correctly pointed out the regime has used international trade for its own advantage. The root reason Burma is not part of the international economic system is not due to sanctions, but this little thing called the Burmese Way to Socialism.
So all these Democracy Soldiers and Officers were ensuring the survival of their race and religion when they were shooting monks a couple of years ago?
Because recently there were quite a few references to Germany, here some more: The former President Heinemann once said: тАЮI don’t love Germany, I love my wife“. I guess, the world would be a better place if instead of тАЮloving“ countries etc. one would rather prefer to love the partner. Or Brecht who wrote: тАЮI pity the country that needs heroes“. One could become intercultural and surreal. Breton, Bunuel etc. showed that pornography are not sexual acts for the public, but public demonstrations of imagined unity, which has no other function then supression like national flags, parades etc. (Does not a flagpole have a phallic connotation? Isn’t there a competition who has the longest pole? Perhaps the surrealist were quite realistic).
Southeast Asian states, like several others, seem to be obsessed with the idea of unity, usually of a unity between the elites and the sub-ordinated, in which the later are supposed not only to follow orders, but even love these elites. The perceived danger appears to be that if these emotional bonds are weakened by critique, unity would collapse. In fact, what might be challenged is not unity, but rather elite dominance.
Fortunately, however, social change works through the non-intended effects of intended actions. Thus, structures evolve through the intentions of the elites to maintain their power and control, which threaten it. Unity based on suppression might thereby either evolve into unity based on participation, or, as the example of Myanmar shows, rapid underdevelopment.
Malaysia is certainly an interesting case in this context. First of all, we should be aware that, even if the democratic procedures in Malaysia leaves a lot to be desried, the opposion is able to challenge political powerholders by applying the formalized, official democratic means!
The only guaranty that a тАЮcommon good“ is taken into consideration within politics is a wide and open public sphere. This can include NGO, free media etc. but as well, like in the case of Malaysia rapidly spreading rumours that do have an effect on political decision making. The cases cited, where a political leadership evolved that drove or drives the country down the drain, are all characterized by the dissolution of public life. In Germany violence and the alliance of conservatives allowed the rise of Hitler. In Burma we have a similar situation. Fortunately, in Malaysia there is still a lot of resilience, not the least because one тАЮcommon good“ fully accepted by all is: violence has to be avoided by all means. This is already quite a lot.
Alarming progression of state-sponsored prosecution against a wide number and type of media, and those who use that media, has been taking place. Beginning with a growth of lèse majesté cases during the Thaksin Shinawatra administration, and further increasing since then, new legislation has been enacted by the Thai state to stifle expression, instill fear and reluctance to express opinion, and to implement measures against those who not only produce material the Thai state finds offensive, but also those who are in receipt of such material and who pass it on to others.
Undoubtedly part of the reason for this shocking progression of oppression on the part of the state – ostensibly for interests of national security – is that the Thai judicial system has not been used to establish meaningful protections for individuals and groups who seek to express themselves. Such absence in the United States many decades ago created the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) which took advantage of the powers of the courts then and to date to establish effective arguments, decided by courts and then made into meaningful protections, that helped guarantee civil rights and among other liberties, that of freedom of speech.
Thailand is, in this writer’s opinion, in dire need of the equivalent of its own civil liberties union, organized by NGOs and legal experts, to work toward sustainable protections and liberties that reflect those maintained in true democracies. Such a Thai Civil Liberties Union would add veracity to a noble cause to help pave the way toward a society where rights are not at the mercy of an oppressive state.
I would appreciate any input from especially Thais in this regard. A few foreigners have mentioned this idea of a Thai Civil Liberties Union, modeled along the existing USA model, but so far there seems to be a deafening silence. Is it because Thais are afraid, or they know that it would not be effective, or they have better things to do, etc.?
Recent research ‘on the street’ in Bangkok tends to confirm my own view that the ‘big three’ in terms of intellect (i.e. Abhisit, Korn, Jurin) have done about as much as could be reasonably expected so far this year in relation to what little ‘political capital’ they possess as senior partners in a weak coalition government.
PM Abhisit deserves credit for having the courage to insist on his Democrat Party providing the Education Minister (Jurin) and for installing fellow Oxford alumni Korn as Finance Minister at considerable cost i.e. having to cede “Grade A” (read most lucrative) ministries such as the Interior and Industry to the ‘Buriram Mafia’.
Providing Korn can keep corruption at a manageable level and Jurin has time to deliver on his wholesale reforms to the business of producing knowledge workers instead of industrial ‘cannon fodder’ then Abhisit One would be deserving of at least a passing grade in my opinion.
Bottom line:
There is no magic wand – “politics is the art of compromise”.
I meant to post this observation some time ago. In a September 2009 report for Human Rights Watch, authored by Bertil Lintner, one of the “Key Recommendations to the Government of Burma” reads:
Grant voting rights to members of religious orders before the 2010 elections. [p.24]
However, an August 2009 report by the International Crisis Group (of which I paraphrased an earlier version in my comment above), states:
The prohibition on members of religious orders voting or standing for election has been seen by some commentators as an attempt to disenfranchise an influential group (Buddhist monks), many of whom are strongly opposed to the military regime. However, this provision was included in the 1947 constitution at the request of the leaders of the Buddhist clergy – to keep religion untainted by politics, rather than the reverse – and was repeated in the 1974 constitution as well as the 1989 election law. Independence leader Aung San also expressed the view that monks should have no political role, saying “if we mix religion and politics, then we offend the spirit of religion itself”.[p.8-9]
It seems a relevant question to ask what percentage of monks (or, indeed, the wider Buddhist community) in Burma would support the HRW recommendation quoted here.
As usual, notoriously-biased Bertil Lintner is wrong again about the Burmese Army. Not really surprising from a man who has married into a Shan rebel family and who has also made a very comfortable living out of writing anti-Burmese propaganda thinly disguised as front-line reporting.
There are so many self-proclaimed Democracy Soldiers and Officers currently serving in the Burmese Armed Forces. They have grown up during Ne Win’s rule and bitterly experienced first-hand the outdated socialism and the brutal dictatorship.
They have decisively rejected left-wing ideology and strongly believed in open-market economy. They have also harbored latent but very strong opinion against the current dictatorship.
If there will be a democratic solution that will calm their genuine fears about the messy breakup of Union and the survival of their race and religion they will accept it and then march back into the barracks.
Dr Isra used the concept of “silence” to make the point that corruption is more things than money : eg that self-censorship has prevailed in the press regarding discrimination against Muslims in education.
And surely, such silence will ensure public ignorance about the south if journalists accredited to the Thai media are never able to speak or read Malay . But are there any contemporary Thai-reporters who have facility in that language when ing listen to and reading about the Muslims they write about for ouredification ?
There is an extraordinary legitimation among English-speaking Thai civilian and military officers as well as Thai academics and journalists of an old adage that even standard Malay is an impossible second-language for any of them to learn and none do. The adherents turn a deaf ear to hundred of millions of primary schoolchildren in Indonesia who are also from non-Indonesian speaking families but who certainly give the lie to such an intellectually self-indulgent excuse by well-paid professionals who thus guarantee to blend inadequacy in quality with distortion of the information on which the Thai public and the world depends to understand the south while voicing never ending complaints about the complexity of the region’s issues.
And has any Bangkok newspaper , business or government department ever encouraged any of its staff to learn to speak and read Malay as so many have encouraged male personnel to become novices and monks?
It may true that only two outsiders (including the ANU ‘s Andrew Cornish) have ever mastered Patani Malay . But as both these linguistically gifted anthropologists say, the fact is also that its adult male speakers are also typically and proficiently bilingual in standard Malay/Indonesian and reinforces religion in binding those populations in the southern provinces to one another and to the rest of Southeast Asia’s Muslim majority. Yet are any of the etyhnic Central Thais who matter bothering to listen to what they really say or write for one another ?
New Manadala would do well to use its good name and influence at the ANU to arrange candidature for volunteering Bangkok journalists in the relevant faculty’s Elementary Indonesian / Malay examination at this university. The attraction I proposeb would be an undertaking by one of the blog’s sponsors to meet the expenses of the most successful candidate in completeing a degree with a major in the subject.
Any offers? …by Australian business ?…. b y Thai business ? by Malaysian business? Wait for the rush!
I think the Obama administration’s new policy of engagement with Myanmar will help achieve democratic reform in the long run.
1. International trade will reduce the dominant of the State. It will instead create the Market force inside Myanmar. When the standard of living across the country gets better due to the free flow of goods, the State then doesn’t have to be repressive.
2. Regime change in Myanmar does not serve any strategic interests for the U.S. We must consider what action and inaction for this particular situations. Majority of countries in Southeast rule by the military or one political party. There is no reason for the U.S. to single out Myanmar. On the contrary, engagement with Myanmar serve the U.S. strategic interests in South and Southeast Asia region. More importantly, the presence of American companies will create jobs for Myanmar and American people.
I didn’t say it’s not serious. I said, “not as serious as the rumours indicated.” I don’t know what you heard, and I can’t repeat what I heard, but it was MUCH more serious than spending 5 wks in hospital.
I also see parallels to Thailand, where lese majeste laws are invoked as protecting the very bedrock of Thai culture, which (according to those who prosecute) is the deep love and reverence of all Thai people towards their monarchy. As mentioned, David Streckfuss’ work shines a light on this subject quite nicely.
Facebook 
Twitter 
Soundcloud 
Youtube 
Rss
Lintner on Burma’s army officers
Susie Wong,
I don’t think that’s a Burmese beedie you’re toking on.
Amazing that people outside of the U.S. see Obama as some sort of miracle worker who will bring peace and prosperity to the masses, albeit in socialist form.
The U.S. engagement with Burma isn’t being done to stop the genocide of the ethnic groups. It’s being pushed by American business interests, eager to get a piece of the action. Look at the business people who supported Jim Webb in his senatorial run and you’ll see why he was so eager to suck up to the generals.
The old adage, “Follow the money” was never truer.
Lintner on Burma’s army officers
Susie Wong
As much as I share your enthusiasm and ideal SPDC need to be approach with a “trust but verify” principles.
SPDC knowing this might be their real last chance before the absolute “Hammering” by the west that will follow should know their N. Korea like fate. Not glamorous nor advantageous in any way.
The west has show very little care for the citizenry with the past 20+ years unapologetic acts.
Next round if DASSK is absent they will be as glad to see Myanmar absolutely isolated with China as it do or die master.
A grim prospect.
The west has not seem Burma beyond a Banana Republic of Drug aka Heroine.
Amnesty’s silence on lese majeste
Ralph:
Good question! Speaking of Democrats here in Thailand, Abhisit was really promising good things for democracy but has not only been shown as a lame duck, he has gone out of his way to prove that his foreign education did not inculcate a sense of justice and democracy that he supposedly went abroad to acquire, at least in part. But I have seen this behavior in the past in other places – in the US as well. People go abroad to learn something, and come back to prove they are still loyal to the status quo.
Lintner on Burma’s army officers
aiontay
Will do well to sequentially list the result of west useless active or passive interference in Myanmar and the present result will be more understandable yet absolutely intolerable.
BWTS under BSPP is a result of west passive promotion or protection of Ne Win when anti RED was en vogue and Burma was defined by “the best Heroine” in the world. Ne Win make sure that the price of heroine never reach bottom because the result will be Junkies in the street of all major capitals in the tune of Billions of Medical,rehab and law enforcement expense. His anti communist stance also afforded him as regular in the Court Of St James. Famous and admired for his womanizing and betting in Royal Derbies.
Fast forward to SPDC, the most vilified, threaten and sanctioned de facto government for the past 2 decades. Whose threaten survival from day #1 with Volunteer Mercenary, R2P, ICC and all slews of boycotts from CEO of every imaginable companies who will not know where Burma is or will not be able to Pick out Daw Aung San Suu Kyi form a line up even if she is the only female!
SPDC ruthlessly developed the present GAS cash cow albeit at the expense of the citizenry, holding on to power.
West passive promotion of Ne WIn therefore the BWTS.
West active failed persecution of SPDC therefore RMTD and now BWTD.
Malaysia, to whom do we owe our allegiance?
Thank you HRK for your insightful comments. They are very profound.
I’d like to note that the ‘dissolution of public life’ is a real issue – how the judiciary makes monumental decisions against norms, the way the police treats citizens, and how politicians from the ruling party are immune to real demand for change.
Hence the question, how long do we tolerate this?
True, getting involved in public life is a definite response. How far or how involved should we be – a nationwide strike, a million person demonstration?
This is the question I ask – how far will Malaysians go to demand change?
Amnesty’s silence on lese majeste
Frank: intersting that you rais these questions on the very day that the chair of Union of Civil Liberty is seen at Prachatai on this issue. There is some debate there and Political Prisoners in Thailand had some comments. I agree with you that things have deteriorated very rapidly. When are the Democrat Party going to eliminate their own name as an offence against the monarchy?
Crimes against the state: a long lost manuscript
Ach! The very construct (much less legal prohibition) of lese majeste is an insult to the Empire. Since all true Germans are absolute in their devotion to the monarchy– and of course, there are no ‘false Germans’ due to the irestiable charisma of the emperor (who would suggest otherwise?)– the very imposition of a law punishing miscreants suggests that such miscreants exist–in other words, mien gott in himmel!!, making it illegal to insult the emperor is itself the grandest of insults to the emperor, for it relies upon the unforgivable notion that there may be true Germans who are NOT utterly devoted to the emperor! This would mean that our emperor (how ridiculous!) is without the innate characteristics to inspire awe and devotion in each and every German’s busom. What a pickle!!
Malaysia, to whom do we owe our allegiance?
Reminds me of the quandary facing the occupants of a Nazi occupied village in the war. Does our hero use the opportunity to bump off the evil commandant knowing full well that reprisals will annihilate his fellow villagers?
But is it selfishness here? Sometimes the devil appears to have all the best tunes and there doesn’t seem to be a credible alternative to vote for. In the end there is no substitute for party building and where there is no tradition of this maybe it’s incumbent on mature democracies to respond more vigorously to pleas from the indigenous labour movement for help.
Lintner on Burma’s army officers
Some people have more faith in the Market than I do. I think Moe Aung has correctly pointed out the regime has used international trade for its own advantage. The root reason Burma is not part of the international economic system is not due to sanctions, but this little thing called the Burmese Way to Socialism.
So all these Democracy Soldiers and Officers were ensuring the survival of their race and religion when they were shooting monks a couple of years ago?
More on King Bhumibol’s health
Well, given that some of the rumours said he was dead, that must be true.
Malaysia, to whom do we owe our allegiance?
Because recently there were quite a few references to Germany, here some more: The former President Heinemann once said: тАЮI don’t love Germany, I love my wife“. I guess, the world would be a better place if instead of тАЮloving“ countries etc. one would rather prefer to love the partner. Or Brecht who wrote: тАЮI pity the country that needs heroes“. One could become intercultural and surreal. Breton, Bunuel etc. showed that pornography are not sexual acts for the public, but public demonstrations of imagined unity, which has no other function then supression like national flags, parades etc. (Does not a flagpole have a phallic connotation? Isn’t there a competition who has the longest pole? Perhaps the surrealist were quite realistic).
Southeast Asian states, like several others, seem to be obsessed with the idea of unity, usually of a unity between the elites and the sub-ordinated, in which the later are supposed not only to follow orders, but even love these elites. The perceived danger appears to be that if these emotional bonds are weakened by critique, unity would collapse. In fact, what might be challenged is not unity, but rather elite dominance.
Fortunately, however, social change works through the non-intended effects of intended actions. Thus, structures evolve through the intentions of the elites to maintain their power and control, which threaten it. Unity based on suppression might thereby either evolve into unity based on participation, or, as the example of Myanmar shows, rapid underdevelopment.
Malaysia is certainly an interesting case in this context. First of all, we should be aware that, even if the democratic procedures in Malaysia leaves a lot to be desried, the opposion is able to challenge political powerholders by applying the formalized, official democratic means!
The only guaranty that a тАЮcommon good“ is taken into consideration within politics is a wide and open public sphere. This can include NGO, free media etc. but as well, like in the case of Malaysia rapidly spreading rumours that do have an effect on political decision making. The cases cited, where a political leadership evolved that drove or drives the country down the drain, are all characterized by the dissolution of public life. In Germany violence and the alliance of conservatives allowed the rise of Hitler. In Burma we have a similar situation. Fortunately, in Malaysia there is still a lot of resilience, not the least because one тАЮcommon good“ fully accepted by all is: violence has to be avoided by all means. This is already quite a lot.
Amnesty’s silence on lese majeste
Alarming progression of state-sponsored prosecution against a wide number and type of media, and those who use that media, has been taking place. Beginning with a growth of lèse majesté cases during the Thaksin Shinawatra administration, and further increasing since then, new legislation has been enacted by the Thai state to stifle expression, instill fear and reluctance to express opinion, and to implement measures against those who not only produce material the Thai state finds offensive, but also those who are in receipt of such material and who pass it on to others.
Undoubtedly part of the reason for this shocking progression of oppression on the part of the state – ostensibly for interests of national security – is that the Thai judicial system has not been used to establish meaningful protections for individuals and groups who seek to express themselves. Such absence in the United States many decades ago created the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) which took advantage of the powers of the courts then and to date to establish effective arguments, decided by courts and then made into meaningful protections, that helped guarantee civil rights and among other liberties, that of freedom of speech.
Thailand is, in this writer’s opinion, in dire need of the equivalent of its own civil liberties union, organized by NGOs and legal experts, to work toward sustainable protections and liberties that reflect those maintained in true democracies. Such a Thai Civil Liberties Union would add veracity to a noble cause to help pave the way toward a society where rights are not at the mercy of an oppressive state.
I would appreciate any input from especially Thais in this regard. A few foreigners have mentioned this idea of a Thai Civil Liberties Union, modeled along the existing USA model, but so far there seems to be a deafening silence. Is it because Thais are afraid, or they know that it would not be effective, or they have better things to do, etc.?
Any comments would be appreciated.
Frank G Anderson
The Devil’s Discus – in Thai
Of course, the $780 book is a first edition!
The link I posted worked for me yesterday using any search parameters.
What I meant by expensive was, I think, around $40.
I have queried the publisher and will post a new link as soon as I have one.
Live coverage of Thai Update today
Recent research ‘on the street’ in Bangkok tends to confirm my own view that the ‘big three’ in terms of intellect (i.e. Abhisit, Korn, Jurin) have done about as much as could be reasonably expected so far this year in relation to what little ‘political capital’ they possess as senior partners in a weak coalition government.
PM Abhisit deserves credit for having the courage to insist on his Democrat Party providing the Education Minister (Jurin) and for installing fellow Oxford alumni Korn as Finance Minister at considerable cost i.e. having to cede “Grade A” (read most lucrative) ministries such as the Interior and Industry to the ‘Buriram Mafia’.
Providing Korn can keep corruption at a manageable level and Jurin has time to deliver on his wholesale reforms to the business of producing knowledge workers instead of industrial ‘cannon fodder’ then Abhisit One would be deserving of at least a passing grade in my opinion.
Bottom line:
There is no magic wand – “politics is the art of compromise”.
Monk
I meant to post this observation some time ago. In a September 2009 report for Human Rights Watch, authored by Bertil Lintner, one of the “Key Recommendations to the Government of Burma” reads:
However, an August 2009 report by the International Crisis Group (of which I paraphrased an earlier version in my comment above), states:
It seems a relevant question to ask what percentage of monks (or, indeed, the wider Buddhist community) in Burma would support the HRW recommendation quoted here.
Lintner on Burma’s army officers
As usual, notoriously-biased Bertil Lintner is wrong again about the Burmese Army. Not really surprising from a man who has married into a Shan rebel family and who has also made a very comfortable living out of writing anti-Burmese propaganda thinly disguised as front-line reporting.
There are so many self-proclaimed Democracy Soldiers and Officers currently serving in the Burmese Armed Forces. They have grown up during Ne Win’s rule and bitterly experienced first-hand the outdated socialism and the brutal dictatorship.
They have decisively rejected left-wing ideology and strongly believed in open-market economy. They have also harbored latent but very strong opinion against the current dictatorship.
If there will be a democratic solution that will calm their genuine fears about the messy breakup of Union and the survival of their race and religion they will accept it and then march back into the barracks.
New Mandala’s coverage of the 2009 Thai Update
Other Corruptions and Silences in the Deep South?
Dr Isra used the concept of “silence” to make the point that corruption is more things than money : eg that self-censorship has prevailed in the press regarding discrimination against Muslims in education.
And surely, such silence will ensure public ignorance about the south if journalists accredited to the Thai media are never able to speak or read Malay . But are there any contemporary Thai-reporters who have facility in that language when ing listen to and reading about the Muslims they write about for ouredification ?
There is an extraordinary legitimation among English-speaking Thai civilian and military officers as well as Thai academics and journalists of an old adage that even standard Malay is an impossible second-language for any of them to learn and none do. The adherents turn a deaf ear to hundred of millions of primary schoolchildren in Indonesia who are also from non-Indonesian speaking families but who certainly give the lie to such an intellectually self-indulgent excuse by well-paid professionals who thus guarantee to blend inadequacy in quality with distortion of the information on which the Thai public and the world depends to understand the south while voicing never ending complaints about the complexity of the region’s issues.
And has any Bangkok newspaper , business or government department ever encouraged any of its staff to learn to speak and read Malay as so many have encouraged male personnel to become novices and monks?
It may true that only two outsiders (including the ANU ‘s Andrew Cornish) have ever mastered Patani Malay . But as both these linguistically gifted anthropologists say, the fact is also that its adult male speakers are also typically and proficiently bilingual in standard Malay/Indonesian and reinforces religion in binding those populations in the southern provinces to one another and to the rest of Southeast Asia’s Muslim majority. Yet are any of the etyhnic Central Thais who matter bothering to listen to what they really say or write for one another ?
New Manadala would do well to use its good name and influence at the ANU to arrange candidature for volunteering Bangkok journalists in the relevant faculty’s Elementary Indonesian / Malay examination at this university. The attraction I proposeb would be an undertaking by one of the blog’s sponsors to meet the expenses of the most successful candidate in completeing a degree with a major in the subject.
Any offers? …by Australian business ?…. b y Thai business ? by Malaysian business? Wait for the rush!
Lintner on Burma’s army officers
I think the Obama administration’s new policy of engagement with Myanmar will help achieve democratic reform in the long run.
1. International trade will reduce the dominant of the State. It will instead create the Market force inside Myanmar. When the standard of living across the country gets better due to the free flow of goods, the State then doesn’t have to be repressive.
2. Regime change in Myanmar does not serve any strategic interests for the U.S. We must consider what action and inaction for this particular situations. Majority of countries in Southeast rule by the military or one political party. There is no reason for the U.S. to single out Myanmar. On the contrary, engagement with Myanmar serve the U.S. strategic interests in South and Southeast Asia region. More importantly, the presence of American companies will create jobs for Myanmar and American people.
It’s time for change! It’s time for hope!
More on King Bhumibol’s health
I didn’t say it’s not serious. I said, “not as serious as the rumours indicated.” I don’t know what you heard, and I can’t repeat what I heard, but it was MUCH more serious than spending 5 wks in hospital.
Crimes against the state: a long lost manuscript
I also see parallels to Thailand, where lese majeste laws are invoked as protecting the very bedrock of Thai culture, which (according to those who prosecute) is the deep love and reverence of all Thai people towards their monarchy. As mentioned, David Streckfuss’ work shines a light on this subject quite nicely.