An interesting blog on the subject of Laos hydropower is kept by Mr Phanomsinh who works in the field and whose banner reads.
“Laos hydro power development
Hi every body. welcome to Phanomsinh’s blog. It is about electric power situation here in Lao PDR – the country which going to be power exporter in ASEAN. Many dams are going to be constructed here by investors from every parts of the world. My company constructs electric power distribution networks throughout Lao PDR”
Somkiet:
Instead of begging the question about lese majeste laws in barbaric societies, why not cite the freer societies where such laws do not exist and where people are not thrown in jail for saying what they think?
This sentencing of poor people to prison is hellish and atavistic in the extreme.
I passionately oppose all criminal convictions for people who exercise their right to speak freely. I’m just a little surprised that the New Mandala pro-Thaksin lobby have developed a new found passionate interest in human rights. This is a to be congratulated of course. Can we now hope to see an outpouring of anger and revulsion in relation to the issues of the drug war killings, the Tak Bai and Krue Se massacres, the disappearance/murders of Somchai Neelaphaijit, shipping Moo and others, and the many thousands of cases of torture, brutality and political intimidation perpetrated by the Thai Rak Thai regime? Let’s hope so. And while we’re at it how about a campaign to free the Rohingya refugees currently suffering appalling mis-treatment in detention?
Incidentally I assume that New Mandala contributors were also vehemently opposed (as I was) to the conviction in Austria 2006 of British historian David Irving http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4733820.stm . His opinions are repugnant and deeply offensive to the overwhelming majority of Austrian population and indeed of Europe and the world. But never the less he was convicted for expressing his opinion. I am not attempting to excuse the conviction of Daranee it is unnecessary, unjust and counter-productive. But it should be remembered that the opinions she expressed are deeply offensive to the overwhelming majority of Thais, whether we foreigners “understand” the Thai’s love for their monarch or not. I suspect that the anger expressed by Taro and Kira would be felt by 90%+ of the population were they were aware Daranee’s apparent threat to send the Monarch to the guillotine.
Taro,
What people think about you and your opinion is that it comes from the dark ages. We live in an enlightened world for the main part. In the west most people can express an opinion, without being locked up for 18 years. That’s TYRANY. And the SAD part is that, it’s not His Royal Highness doing it. It is his Privy Council abusing their power and weakening the Monarchy by doing it. Thailand becomes by these actions just another Asian ‘Banana’ style Repor in the news media. The Lese Majestee Law is being abused by these people to threaten and intimidate people. History shows that these actions only go to strengthen peoples resolve.
History at street level
A photojournalist’s record of Thai protest politics
Writer: CHRIS BAKER
Published: 31/08/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: OutlookOn July 31 last year, a post with just six photos and three paragraphs of comment appeared on the New Mandala blog run out of the Australian National University. The comment noted that Sondhi Limthongkul and Chamlong Simuang had recently claimed that the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) had the “right to take up arms” in self-defence. The photos simply showed PAD guards armed with sticks, pipes and slingshots. Some were scarcely adult. One was sharpening a pole on a kerbstone. The intimation of looming violence was very powerful.
RED VS YELLOW Volume 1: Thailand’s Crisis of Identity Nick Nostitz White Lotus 158 pp, 995 baht ISBN 978-9744801500
The post recorded a critical moment in Thailand’s history of protest – an end of innocence. On the blog site, it provoked a storm of controversy, with pro-yellows sacrificing all logic and sense to argue that the PAD was truly non-violent despite the visual evidence.
Over the following months, several follow-up posts appeared, with growing numbers of pictures, and more voluble comments from the author-cameraman. The most dramatic covered the long, bloody clash outside parliament on October 7. For anyone (such as myself) following these events through the heavily self-censored channels of conventional media, these posts were like a third eye.
Here, Nick Nostitz has turned his recording of the recent history of street protest into a stunning book. It begins with a little background on Thai politics, but really gets moving once Nick is down on the street with the first demonstrations by the revived PAD in March 2008. From there on the narrative shifts between the headline political story of military intrigue and demolished governments on the one hand, and Nick’s diary of the street on the other. The book ends with the yellow shirts’ occupation of the airport and the red shirts’ protest against the new Abhisit government on December 28. In the postscript, Nostitz promises a second volume to cover the events that climaxed during Songkran and their aftermath.
Nostitz came to Thailand in 1993 as a backpacker and has scraped together a living as a writer and photographer. He speaks Thai well and has friends both in the protest groups and security forces who helped to keep him safe when the bullets were flying. He is open in his political views. He doesn’t like the yellows. He thinks they used dishonest propaganda to whip up support. He believes they started the violence though, as his words and pictures show, they had no monopoly on it. Most of all, he can’t take the yellow leaders’ sanctimonious self-righteousness. In his view, the movement “resembled more a militant cult than a protest group”.
His sympathies are with the reds as the representatives of the underdogs in Thai society. He knows the story is not that simple, but he still prefers to wear his heart on his sleeve. His final take is: “If the government and the old elites cannot compromise with the aspirations of the common people, then the likelihood of further and maybe worse violence that might shatter the fabric of Thai society at some point in the not too distant future is extremely high.”
The text is good, but the pictures hold the real meaning of the book. They are not striving to be beautiful. They do not go out of their way to shock, though a few are horrendous to look at. They capture the rough and tumble of the protests, but also some of their humour and humanity. A policeman who has just been given Jakraphop’s jacket grins from ear to ear. A girl beside her father’s corpse is just on the point of breaking into tears. Policemen nap on the hard marble floor of government house. A vendor with a trolley of her petty wares waits in exasperation to get through a PAD barricade to go home.
The pictures also capture the ritualism of the protests with coloured shirts, bandanas, neck scarves and clappers. In perhaps the book’s most atmospheric shot, a King Taksin warrior stands guard in Sanam Luang, decked out in embossed belt buckle, massive amulet, mediaeval helmet and red plastic whistle.
The dominating motif of the whole photo-essay is weaponry. A captured submachine gun lies on a police station’s table. A red shirt rides pillion with a shotgun over his shoulder and a spare cartridge in his mouth. A taxi driver carries a lethally spiked pole. A policeman adds another captured golf club to an immense pile. Lads draw back slingshots from the cover of a motorway pillar. A PAD lieutenant drilling a new detachment of recruits holds behind his back a fearsome hooked stick bound in yellow cloth.
Very few foreign journalists have had the inclination to write books on Thailand. Most of them learn a lot and then leave, without much trace. Over the last 40 years they have bequeathed only a couple of personal memoirs, a couple of current affairs surveys, and one outstanding work of history. This book is a welcome break from trend. It works both as a superb record of an extraordinary chunk of history, and as a passionate contribution to the debate.
The book has been quickly and elegantly produced by White Lotus. The paper is good enough not to discolour, and the cover hard enough not to curl. It’s a pity that the text and the pictures are as far from one another as reds and yellows. In the second volume, some reconciliation of the two would be good. And on the street.
Those who pretend to be either God or portray someone else as near-divine need to have a session with the couch doctor. Da did not get what she deserved – some would say a standing ovation… Taro’s little xenophobic commentaries will do little to absolve the insane actions of state tht put people in prison for mere speech. As repulsive as it is, no human being on the face of the earth has a right to imprison another for speaking. The idea that this is not a Thai value as well would mean that Thais are not Buddhist – and believe it or not, according to Hoyle most are not.
Thailand is a land of ‘make believe’ ‘immature’ democracy. Thais seem to only learn to believe and unquestioningly love the sacred truth of the Thai Nation, Monarchy and Religion, products of an ultranationalist despotic vision of society.If everything really is for the ‘karmic’ best in the kingdom, the best of possible sacred and all powerful institutions, then how , as scholar of Thai history Dave Streckfuss poses in his forthcoming work “Truth on Trial in Thailand” (Routledge, 2009), “can the institution of the monarchy be so utterly loved if it requires the most repressive lese majeste law the modern world has ever known?”. Ah yes…wake up Thais
With the discussion having taken the nasty turn it has, with some wanting Da Torpedo to be stoned in public, perhaps harassed, and even a public execution, to those who are using this opportunity to poke and make fun of The Royal Family.
I speak first to the likes of “Taro” who is very angry at Daranee and the people who hold those views, I ask:
What about General Sondhi? What about the coup of 2006? What about the Privy Council? What about PAD? Why are you not angry at them? Was it not them who initially involved the monarchy in politics? What need was it for them to parade the monarchy from the night of the coup on September 19th 2006 with imagery of the King, hints of “doing it for the father” and using the image of HMK and the Royal family to no end. Call me a layman or whatever, but it seemed to me (at the time) and even now that their idea was to show the Thai public at large that the coup was ‘blessed from above.’
The truth is, we won’t know if hte coup was blessed from above. But that they made it appear so, shouldn’t they be labelled with LM for making it seem that the Royal family had taken sides in politics? Should you not then be putting your anger that way?
What Daranee said is a ‘reactionary’ statement from having believed the imagery she was seeing and venting out her anger at the perceived ‘death’ of democracy that she was witnessing, right or wrong being another thing for now.
Knowing that her reactionary comments were fueled by imagery portrayed to the general public at large by the perpetrators of the 2006 coup, don’t you think that they too should take some responsibility for the mess that is currently destroying the image of the Royal institution?
I think some of the claim as why the religious and racial tension arise is true. Najib might be seen as the ‘next best thing’ after pak lah but what we now witness seems like the ‘same worst thing’. Perhaps he is over ambious and attempt to show to the ‘Rakyat’ he is better than his predecessor. For instance, he exercises power unconstitutionally to help the ‘hooper’ to champion UMNO cause. Another new policy 1Malaysia as a new approach for national unity. Apparently we see some racial inequality between the Malay, Chinese and Indian well fine. But Among the bumiputra themselve there is double-standard treatment by the Malay. Yes, Najib knows how to play the card, by appointing some of the minister from Sabah to hold a high portfolio to keep our mouth shuts. When ask about the influx of illegal immigrant his cabinet says we should give them PR, well again this is also part of 1Malaysia fairness to illegal immigrant who become the phantom voter. The illegal immigrants have occupied approxiamately 1.3million of the population in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. If Najib does not act then Sabahan will become another Palestine.
Dear Taro and Kira – Nobody is beyond criticism. It is improper to curb open debate, especially in matters which are of public interest. (And, of course, the Monarchy is always of public interest.)
Lese Majeste law has no place in the modern world. It should not be amended. It should be canceled. (Even the King himself said so.)
A healthy society relies on the participation of the people. Freedom of speech/expression is the key instrument in how people contribute to their society.
I have reasons to be angry, Ralph. If you actually read every single word of each comment, you will know why. especially stating that “people like me” damaging the monarchy.
What did “people like me” do to you and “people like you”? We’re just quiet observers watching are you going to say next about my country. Most of the times, I read, I accept or I just let it go because everyone is free to their opinions. But it crossed the line too much, of course, I and many people here are going to defend the right, the truth with our opinions occasionally.
But hey, “People like you” seems to keep coming to lots of topic to spark the controversy. Is it about attention seeker? I do not know.
One thing that I know about you Ralph. You seem not like to accept someone else’s opinions. In many topics here, you have to come back with something to everyone else’s opinion against you. you have to be the last person who givin out the last comment. Having a bit of OCD? I think so. Let’s check every topic here in New Mandala, I have my proof.
And seriously, I do not care if you ban me from New Mandala. But I stand by my opinion. Da Torpedo deserved 18 years in jail. Telling lies is one thing, definition of character is another. So yes, she deserved it.
Kira #24: “I would not mind seeing her being stoned by the crowd..I want to see her out of jail as soon as possible to face her punishment in a variety of other ways. That would be even better.”
In some countries we call people who think like that ‘the lunatic fringe.’ Do you think there will ever be peace in Thailand while red-necks like you are dominant? Yes, Torpedo’s speech was a bit stupid (although it didn’t, apparently,have the effect of inciting violence – as the judges stated), but what you are suggesting is more so, because what you are recommending is public vigilante-style violence.
Perhaps it would be better for Thailand’s quest for democracy under the King as Head of State, if people like you were removed from society, in order to be ‘re-educated’ to see that the rule of law, if it is adhered to and administered fairly, honestly & justly, is vastly superior to mob violence.
It would be better if you put your energy into urging a clean-up of the agencies by which the law is administered, so that people no longer have the view that if they want justice, they have to take the law into their own hands.
“They do not understand that free speech does not mean that you are free to lie and insult other people.”
How do you know what did Dar said “is lie”? when you or anyone on earth still truly do not know, is it true or not especially the person who sent her to jail.
I do believed if one of your family is sentenced for 18 years because of this. You would say differently.
You might say in return ” Do you know?”. My answer is I really don’t know.
Taro seems very angry but never clearly explains why. But let’s do this. Let’s ban him from New Mandala on the basis that PEOPLE LIKE HIM/HER just want to be able to say what they want about whatever bugs them. Yep, get rid of Taro and his/her voice.
One other interesting finding from my research related to burn damage to resin trees. While very few trees were in danger of dying due to fire damage, I did find that some trees had been overburnt, resulting in less resin production and shorter useful periods of use for particular tap holes. Considering that all the tappers were well aware that overburning is not useful for them, I was initially surprised at this result. Why would they jeopardise important resin production by overburning? When I went to the forest with tappers, they always emphasised the need to not overburn tap holes. Eventually I learnt that most of the overburning damage had been caused by the children of those who owned the resin trees. Essentially, the Brao often sent their young children out to do the tapping. Some of these children were quite young (less than 10 years old), and overburning sometimes occurred under their watch because they were either too young to fully appreciate the implications of overburning (maybe they were playing around or just neglective), or they were simply physically too small to be able to effectively put out the fires in a timely manner. I heard of cases when the fires simply got out of control, with small children trying ineffectively to put them out.
The lesson, I think, is that we need to be careful not to just consider the practices of the principle users of natural resources, the adults, but also others, such as children, who frequently end up doing much of the work in reality, but may not initially be presented by the principle users as being involved.
Where was the truth in what she said except for her flawed assumptions and her malicious statements against ‘the figurehead’? Anybody who understands Thai language can tell you that what she said was totally wrong and untrue. No one would have given a monkeys about her accusations of any wrongdoings by Prem. Neither do I care if she and her group and the opposition, like the PAD, beat the cr@p out of one another. She inflicted her misfortune on herself by going beyond Prem with her ferocious, unjustifiable accusation and her verbally aggressive statement. Nonetheless, I want to see her out of prison as soon as possible so that she can experience justice in the wider community. That will be an even greater punishment.
I am reading you to say that as a rural Laos person, and coming from a poorly educated area, you believe that the natural environment is the key for villagers to make a living. I also read that you believe that the promise of economic benefits will not help local rural villagers.
I agree with you. Unless all the money from ‘economic progress’ goes to the villagers (neither the Nam Tha head man, or the government) the villagers will lose access to their lifestyle.
I used to ask PEOPLE LIKE YOU to clarify how to amend the LM law to make thing better. No one can answer it properly apart from “It’s about me me me me I want to be able to talk and bark whenever I feel like. Me me me me idea is better for human life, me idea is better than yours all”
Until anyone can give me a good reason including academic research to back up your reason, well, until then PEOPLE LIKE ME think that PEOPLE LIKE YOU and PEOPLE LIKE Da torpedo deserved 18 years rotten in jail. Enjoy barking… pfft..
Oh how lucky these privy greedy councilors! They can do no wrong. I’m sure Surayud will get away with this – knowing the Thai’s double-standard (in)justice system.
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The Nam Tha dam
An interesting blog on the subject of Laos hydropower is kept by Mr Phanomsinh who works in the field and whose banner reads.
“Laos hydro power development
Hi every body. welcome to Phanomsinh’s blog. It is about electric power situation here in Lao PDR – the country which going to be power exporter in ASEAN. Many dams are going to be constructed here by investors from every parts of the world. My company constructs electric power distribution networks throughout Lao PDR”
The only thing he has on the Nam Tha is from January 2008 – linked http://pnomsin.blogspot.com/search/label/Nam%20Tha%201 .
The main page is http://pnomsin.blogspot.com/
Thailand’s royal disgrace
Somkiet:
Instead of begging the question about lese majeste laws in barbaric societies, why not cite the freer societies where such laws do not exist and where people are not thrown in jail for saying what they think?
This sentencing of poor people to prison is hellish and atavistic in the extreme.
Thailand’s royal disgrace
I passionately oppose all criminal convictions for people who exercise their right to speak freely. I’m just a little surprised that the New Mandala pro-Thaksin lobby have developed a new found passionate interest in human rights. This is a to be congratulated of course. Can we now hope to see an outpouring of anger and revulsion in relation to the issues of the drug war killings, the Tak Bai and Krue Se massacres, the disappearance/murders of Somchai Neelaphaijit, shipping Moo and others, and the many thousands of cases of torture, brutality and political intimidation perpetrated by the Thai Rak Thai regime? Let’s hope so. And while we’re at it how about a campaign to free the Rohingya refugees currently suffering appalling mis-treatment in detention?
Incidentally I assume that New Mandala contributors were also vehemently opposed (as I was) to the conviction in Austria 2006 of British historian David Irving http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4733820.stm . His opinions are repugnant and deeply offensive to the overwhelming majority of Austrian population and indeed of Europe and the world. But never the less he was convicted for expressing his opinion. I am not attempting to excuse the conviction of Daranee it is unnecessary, unjust and counter-productive. But it should be remembered that the opinions she expressed are deeply offensive to the overwhelming majority of Thais, whether we foreigners “understand” the Thai’s love for their monarch or not. I suspect that the anger expressed by Taro and Kira would be felt by 90%+ of the population were they were aware Daranee’s apparent threat to send the Monarch to the guillotine.
Thailand’s royal disgrace
Taro,
What people think about you and your opinion is that it comes from the dark ages. We live in an enlightened world for the main part. In the west most people can express an opinion, without being locked up for 18 years. That’s TYRANY. And the SAD part is that, it’s not His Royal Highness doing it. It is his Privy Council abusing their power and weakening the Monarchy by doing it. Thailand becomes by these actions just another Asian ‘Banana’ style Repor in the news media. The Lese Majestee Law is being abused by these people to threaten and intimidate people. History shows that these actions only go to strengthen peoples resolve.
Red versus yellow
Review
History at street level
A photojournalist’s record of Thai protest politics
Writer: CHRIS BAKER
Published: 31/08/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: OutlookOn July 31 last year, a post with just six photos and three paragraphs of comment appeared on the New Mandala blog run out of the Australian National University. The comment noted that Sondhi Limthongkul and Chamlong Simuang had recently claimed that the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) had the “right to take up arms” in self-defence. The photos simply showed PAD guards armed with sticks, pipes and slingshots. Some were scarcely adult. One was sharpening a pole on a kerbstone. The intimation of looming violence was very powerful.
RED VS YELLOW Volume 1: Thailand’s Crisis of Identity Nick Nostitz White Lotus 158 pp, 995 baht ISBN 978-9744801500
The post recorded a critical moment in Thailand’s history of protest – an end of innocence. On the blog site, it provoked a storm of controversy, with pro-yellows sacrificing all logic and sense to argue that the PAD was truly non-violent despite the visual evidence.
Over the following months, several follow-up posts appeared, with growing numbers of pictures, and more voluble comments from the author-cameraman. The most dramatic covered the long, bloody clash outside parliament on October 7. For anyone (such as myself) following these events through the heavily self-censored channels of conventional media, these posts were like a third eye.
Here, Nick Nostitz has turned his recording of the recent history of street protest into a stunning book. It begins with a little background on Thai politics, but really gets moving once Nick is down on the street with the first demonstrations by the revived PAD in March 2008. From there on the narrative shifts between the headline political story of military intrigue and demolished governments on the one hand, and Nick’s diary of the street on the other. The book ends with the yellow shirts’ occupation of the airport and the red shirts’ protest against the new Abhisit government on December 28. In the postscript, Nostitz promises a second volume to cover the events that climaxed during Songkran and their aftermath.
Nostitz came to Thailand in 1993 as a backpacker and has scraped together a living as a writer and photographer. He speaks Thai well and has friends both in the protest groups and security forces who helped to keep him safe when the bullets were flying. He is open in his political views. He doesn’t like the yellows. He thinks they used dishonest propaganda to whip up support. He believes they started the violence though, as his words and pictures show, they had no monopoly on it. Most of all, he can’t take the yellow leaders’ sanctimonious self-righteousness. In his view, the movement “resembled more a militant cult than a protest group”.
His sympathies are with the reds as the representatives of the underdogs in Thai society. He knows the story is not that simple, but he still prefers to wear his heart on his sleeve. His final take is: “If the government and the old elites cannot compromise with the aspirations of the common people, then the likelihood of further and maybe worse violence that might shatter the fabric of Thai society at some point in the not too distant future is extremely high.”
The text is good, but the pictures hold the real meaning of the book. They are not striving to be beautiful. They do not go out of their way to shock, though a few are horrendous to look at. They capture the rough and tumble of the protests, but also some of their humour and humanity. A policeman who has just been given Jakraphop’s jacket grins from ear to ear. A girl beside her father’s corpse is just on the point of breaking into tears. Policemen nap on the hard marble floor of government house. A vendor with a trolley of her petty wares waits in exasperation to get through a PAD barricade to go home.
The pictures also capture the ritualism of the protests with coloured shirts, bandanas, neck scarves and clappers. In perhaps the book’s most atmospheric shot, a King Taksin warrior stands guard in Sanam Luang, decked out in embossed belt buckle, massive amulet, mediaeval helmet and red plastic whistle.
The dominating motif of the whole photo-essay is weaponry. A captured submachine gun lies on a police station’s table. A red shirt rides pillion with a shotgun over his shoulder and a spare cartridge in his mouth. A taxi driver carries a lethally spiked pole. A policeman adds another captured golf club to an immense pile. Lads draw back slingshots from the cover of a motorway pillar. A PAD lieutenant drilling a new detachment of recruits holds behind his back a fearsome hooked stick bound in yellow cloth.
Very few foreign journalists have had the inclination to write books on Thailand. Most of them learn a lot and then leave, without much trace. Over the last 40 years they have bequeathed only a couple of personal memoirs, a couple of current affairs surveys, and one outstanding work of history. This book is a welcome break from trend. It works both as a superb record of an extraordinary chunk of history, and as a passionate contribution to the debate.
The book has been quickly and elegantly produced by White Lotus. The paper is good enough not to discolour, and the cover hard enough not to curl. It’s a pity that the text and the pictures are as far from one another as reds and yellows. In the second volume, some reconciliation of the two would be good. And on the street.
Thailand’s royal disgrace
31 August 2009
Those who pretend to be either God or portray someone else as near-divine need to have a session with the couch doctor. Da did not get what she deserved – some would say a standing ovation… Taro’s little xenophobic commentaries will do little to absolve the insane actions of state tht put people in prison for mere speech. As repulsive as it is, no human being on the face of the earth has a right to imprison another for speaking. The idea that this is not a Thai value as well would mean that Thais are not Buddhist – and believe it or not, according to Hoyle most are not.
Thailand and lese majeste
Thailand is a land of ‘make believe’ ‘immature’ democracy. Thais seem to only learn to believe and unquestioningly love the sacred truth of the Thai Nation, Monarchy and Religion, products of an ultranationalist despotic vision of society.If everything really is for the ‘karmic’ best in the kingdom, the best of possible sacred and all powerful institutions, then how , as scholar of Thai history Dave Streckfuss poses in his forthcoming work “Truth on Trial in Thailand” (Routledge, 2009), “can the institution of the monarchy be so utterly loved if it requires the most repressive lese majeste law the modern world has ever known?”. Ah yes…wake up Thais
Thailand’s royal disgrace
With the discussion having taken the nasty turn it has, with some wanting Da Torpedo to be stoned in public, perhaps harassed, and even a public execution, to those who are using this opportunity to poke and make fun of The Royal Family.
I speak first to the likes of “Taro” who is very angry at Daranee and the people who hold those views, I ask:
What about General Sondhi? What about the coup of 2006? What about the Privy Council? What about PAD? Why are you not angry at them? Was it not them who initially involved the monarchy in politics? What need was it for them to parade the monarchy from the night of the coup on September 19th 2006 with imagery of the King, hints of “doing it for the father” and using the image of HMK and the Royal family to no end. Call me a layman or whatever, but it seemed to me (at the time) and even now that their idea was to show the Thai public at large that the coup was ‘blessed from above.’
The truth is, we won’t know if hte coup was blessed from above. But that they made it appear so, shouldn’t they be labelled with LM for making it seem that the Royal family had taken sides in politics? Should you not then be putting your anger that way?
What Daranee said is a ‘reactionary’ statement from having believed the imagery she was seeing and venting out her anger at the perceived ‘death’ of democracy that she was witnessing, right or wrong being another thing for now.
Knowing that her reactionary comments were fueled by imagery portrayed to the general public at large by the perpetrators of the 2006 coup, don’t you think that they too should take some responsibility for the mess that is currently destroying the image of the Royal institution?
Barisan Nasional losing the plot after 52 years
New Mandala,
I think some of the claim as why the religious and racial tension arise is true. Najib might be seen as the ‘next best thing’ after pak lah but what we now witness seems like the ‘same worst thing’. Perhaps he is over ambious and attempt to show to the ‘Rakyat’ he is better than his predecessor. For instance, he exercises power unconstitutionally to help the ‘hooper’ to champion UMNO cause. Another new policy 1Malaysia as a new approach for national unity. Apparently we see some racial inequality between the Malay, Chinese and Indian well fine. But Among the bumiputra themselve there is double-standard treatment by the Malay. Yes, Najib knows how to play the card, by appointing some of the minister from Sabah to hold a high portfolio to keep our mouth shuts. When ask about the influx of illegal immigrant his cabinet says we should give them PR, well again this is also part of 1Malaysia fairness to illegal immigrant who become the phantom voter. The illegal immigrants have occupied approxiamately 1.3million of the population in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. If Najib does not act then Sabahan will become another Palestine.
Thailand’s royal disgrace
Dear Taro and Kira – Nobody is beyond criticism. It is improper to curb open debate, especially in matters which are of public interest. (And, of course, the Monarchy is always of public interest.)
Lese Majeste law has no place in the modern world. It should not be amended. It should be canceled. (Even the King himself said so.)
A healthy society relies on the participation of the people. Freedom of speech/expression is the key instrument in how people contribute to their society.
Thailand’s royal disgrace
I have reasons to be angry, Ralph. If you actually read every single word of each comment, you will know why. especially stating that “people like me” damaging the monarchy.
What did “people like me” do to you and “people like you”? We’re just quiet observers watching are you going to say next about my country. Most of the times, I read, I accept or I just let it go because everyone is free to their opinions. But it crossed the line too much, of course, I and many people here are going to defend the right, the truth with our opinions occasionally.
But hey, “People like you” seems to keep coming to lots of topic to spark the controversy. Is it about attention seeker? I do not know.
One thing that I know about you Ralph. You seem not like to accept someone else’s opinions. In many topics here, you have to come back with something to everyone else’s opinion against you. you have to be the last person who givin out the last comment. Having a bit of OCD? I think so. Let’s check every topic here in New Mandala, I have my proof.
And seriously, I do not care if you ban me from New Mandala. But I stand by my opinion. Da Torpedo deserved 18 years in jail. Telling lies is one thing, definition of character is another. So yes, she deserved it.
Thailand’s royal disgrace
Kira #24: “I would not mind seeing her being stoned by the crowd..I want to see her out of jail as soon as possible to face her punishment in a variety of other ways. That would be even better.”
In some countries we call people who think like that ‘the lunatic fringe.’ Do you think there will ever be peace in Thailand while red-necks like you are dominant? Yes, Torpedo’s speech was a bit stupid (although it didn’t, apparently,have the effect of inciting violence – as the judges stated), but what you are suggesting is more so, because what you are recommending is public vigilante-style violence.
Perhaps it would be better for Thailand’s quest for democracy under the King as Head of State, if people like you were removed from society, in order to be ‘re-educated’ to see that the rule of law, if it is adhered to and administered fairly, honestly & justly, is vastly superior to mob violence.
It would be better if you put your energy into urging a clean-up of the agencies by which the law is administered, so that people no longer have the view that if they want justice, they have to take the law into their own hands.
Thailand’s royal disgrace
Dear Taro,
“They do not understand that free speech does not mean that you are free to lie and insult other people.”
How do you know what did Dar said “is lie”? when you or anyone on earth still truly do not know, is it true or not especially the person who sent her to jail.
I do believed if one of your family is sentenced for 18 years because of this. You would say differently.
You might say in return ” Do you know?”. My answer is I really don’t know.
King Bhumibol expresses his worries
Reg: are you being deliberately thick or am I misunderstanding? I was asking you to be more nuanced and thoughtful.
Thailand’s royal disgrace
Taro seems very angry but never clearly explains why. But let’s do this. Let’s ban him from New Mandala on the basis that PEOPLE LIKE HIM/HER just want to be able to say what they want about whatever bugs them. Yep, get rid of Taro and his/her voice.
[of course, this post is a nasty trap]
Resin tapping in Cambodia
One other interesting finding from my research related to burn damage to resin trees. While very few trees were in danger of dying due to fire damage, I did find that some trees had been overburnt, resulting in less resin production and shorter useful periods of use for particular tap holes. Considering that all the tappers were well aware that overburning is not useful for them, I was initially surprised at this result. Why would they jeopardise important resin production by overburning? When I went to the forest with tappers, they always emphasised the need to not overburn tap holes. Eventually I learnt that most of the overburning damage had been caused by the children of those who owned the resin trees. Essentially, the Brao often sent their young children out to do the tapping. Some of these children were quite young (less than 10 years old), and overburning sometimes occurred under their watch because they were either too young to fully appreciate the implications of overburning (maybe they were playing around or just neglective), or they were simply physically too small to be able to effectively put out the fires in a timely manner. I heard of cases when the fires simply got out of control, with small children trying ineffectively to put them out.
The lesson, I think, is that we need to be careful not to just consider the practices of the principle users of natural resources, the adults, but also others, such as children, who frequently end up doing much of the work in reality, but may not initially be presented by the principle users as being involved.
Thailand’s royal disgrace
Where was the truth in what she said except for her flawed assumptions and her malicious statements against ‘the figurehead’? Anybody who understands Thai language can tell you that what she said was totally wrong and untrue. No one would have given a monkeys about her accusations of any wrongdoings by Prem. Neither do I care if she and her group and the opposition, like the PAD, beat the cr@p out of one another. She inflicted her misfortune on herself by going beyond Prem with her ferocious, unjustifiable accusation and her verbally aggressive statement. Nonetheless, I want to see her out of prison as soon as possible so that she can experience justice in the wider community. That will be an even greater punishment.
The Nam Tha dam
bounmy
I am reading you to say that as a rural Laos person, and coming from a poorly educated area, you believe that the natural environment is the key for villagers to make a living. I also read that you believe that the promise of economic benefits will not help local rural villagers.
I agree with you. Unless all the money from ‘economic progress’ goes to the villagers (neither the Nam Tha head man, or the government) the villagers will lose access to their lifestyle.
Thank you for speaking out.
Cheers
Thailand’s royal disgrace
I used to ask PEOPLE LIKE YOU to clarify how to amend the LM law to make thing better. No one can answer it properly apart from “It’s about me me me me I want to be able to talk and bark whenever I feel like. Me me me me idea is better for human life, me idea is better than yours all”
Until anyone can give me a good reason including academic research to back up your reason, well, until then PEOPLE LIKE ME think that PEOPLE LIKE YOU and PEOPLE LIKE Da torpedo deserved 18 years rotten in jail. Enjoy barking… pfft..
Spot the forest encroacher
Oh how lucky these privy greedy councilors! They can do no wrong. I’m sure Surayud will get away with this – knowing the Thai’s double-standard (in)justice system.