My personal favourite is “Outrageous Thai” published by Tuttle. I saw a letter in the Bangkok Post complaining that this book should be banned as the phrases in it are likely to get tourists killed. Propelled by this unequivocal recommendation I went out and bought it the same day. Although some of the English renderings of the phrases are a bit wonky and there are a lot of important vulgar Thai phrases missing, it is the only phrase book that covers foul or naughty Thai language in depth. You don’t have to use these phrases but, like it or not, you will hear them, if you spend enough time in Thailand, and may as well understand them. Admittedly, it is really only of use to those with an advanced knowledge of Thai. Therefore it wouldn’t have met Cat’s criteria for inclusion in her excellent review.
You may be right. Nonetheless I only see Thais of a certain relatively vulnerable type doing any time for lese majeste. Those apparently best positioned to defend their charges, cause a fuss behind the scenes, or tie into foreign networks (people like Sulak, Sondhi, Thanapol, Surachai, etc) seem to have done OK (so far) at staying out of prison. Perhaps that will change and we will see some of these people locked up for lese majeste (I certainly hope not!).
But in the recent spate of charges I can’t think of anyone who isn’t utterly ordinary who has done time in prison.
The message gets sent but the stink of incarcerating, say, Ajarn Sulak or Khun Thanapol is avoided. Who knows how long this current thrust in the lese majeste campaign will last? In the meantime I reckon the prevailing efforts to take out easy targets are worth further reflection.
When few people know Suwicha’s name it is far easier for him to be forgotten.
I hope you are right and certainly intelligent Thai government officials would take some or all of of your points into consideration, if they were given the opportunity. But we will only know for sure, if some one puts it to the test by registering a complaint. The authorities seem to have discretion only in the decisions to grant bail and to go slow on the prosecution, as in the cases of Jakrophob and Sondhi. A police captain in a small police station who receives a complaint is not going to be thinking about the ramifications for Thai studies in Australia or whether other Western nations might be sympathetic towards Australia or not. He is going to be worrying about who is actually behind the complaint and whether he might be accused of LM, if he refuses to accept it. Remember the British FCCT member, named Khan, who initiated the LM case against Jakrophod. He just walked into Bang Mod police station on the outskirts of Bangkok, saying he was motivated purely out of love for the king. The law and its application are flaky which makes it unpredictable, as well as failing to protect the monarchy as it is supposed to do.
Unfortunately Thais are expected to know better and can’t expect such a quick pardon as foreigners convicted of LM. But you are right in saying that maintaining foreign interest in the case will improve his chances of a pardon.
Great link (love the luuk thung singer and the dancers on the front page!).
As an aside, before too long an Andrew Walker edited book titled Tai Lands and Thailand: Community and State in Southeast Asia will be jointly published by National University of Singapore Press and NIA Press. As the table of contents probably suggests, readers may want to bear it in mind for a different take on “chumchon”, and related issues, in Southeast Asia.
It belongs to the “Sufficiency Economy Office for Community Development.” It is under the Office of the Prime Minister and headed, if I remember correctly, by Supatra Masdit.
Its Thai name is р╕кр╕│р╕Щр╕▒р╕Бр╕Зр╕▓р╕Щр╕Кр╕╕р╕бр╕Кр╕Щр╕Юр╕нр╣Ар╕Юр╕╡р╕вр╕З. The opening page shows an advertisement that I found in Post Today, April 17, 2009, p. 3.
Come on Sidh, if you have watched the clip, it takes a lot of invention to believe your interpretation. BTW, the halts are for the delay in the crowd responses in the version I saw. That’s also clear in the clip where the audience in Bkk is also shown. This is just a beat up for the true PADists.
One Dhammayut monk from the Isaan who has a military background was quite unhappy after the 2006 coup because, he said, many useful social welfare programs were being cut by the new government. Even though he is very loyal to the Royal family (and this strong connection is more noticeable in the Dhammayut monasteries, who also get better support as a result of that) he was actually supportive of Thaksin and his policies. Another thing that was worrying him was the internal army reshuffles: he said that most of his old colleagues (belonging to a certain class) were being swiftly replaced by other ranks. So the army seems to be internally divided as well.
“I have to wonder if he has ever spent even one day working on a rice farm or spent a night talking to a group of rice farmers”
I can’t speak for Land but I am quite happy to confess to never having visited a rice farm, in fact I’ve never been to Isan, and my only experiences of Northern Thailand are as a back-packer a decade ago. I have also never visited Yala where my wife and her siblings grew up in poverty. I would very much like to, my wife and in-laws would like to go back to pay respects to their deceased father, but frankly, it’s a dangerous place and has been so since tensions escalated at the time of the incidents at Tak Bai and Krue Se in 2004.
I have also, thank god, never had a family member disappear without trace where the authorities subsequently make no effort to investigate. I have never been tortured. I have smoked marijuana on occasion (I’m not proud of it) but thankfully masked men haven’t visited my home to blast my brains over all over the room in front of my wife and young child. But these things did happen to real people far, far too often during the Thai Rak Thai years. I know this isn’t news too you, and you have expressed your misgivings, but when you stand shoulder to shoulder with the rice farmers who hold icons of Thaksin Shinawatra (noticeably absent from Mr Nostitz’s images) are you truly confident that you are fighting for the democratic rights of the poor, rather than acting as an apologist for a monster?
Too often demands for the king’s intervention in Thailand’s political turmoil have been quoted as an authentic voice of ordinary Thais. I am uncertain what lies behind such attempts. But please be assured that ordinary Thais’ voices are not that monolithic. Some even go farther than one ever imagines, depending on one’s ability to get them articulating their forbidden political desire.
I endorse Careful Observer’s views on the ML. He is simply using media to gain a cult profile (some obviously have fallen for his tricks) and votes for his future political campaign. Funny he should talk about grudges and consoling hearts of reds when the ML is notorious for building grudges. There’s no education here people by the ML.
The ruling Govt is unlikely to change regardless of the dangers that it may face in the next general election. If one looks beyond the hollow words and slogans, and just observe the actions, the conclusion is obvious – business as usual.
If the opposition should actually win at the federal level election – the current govt might just do a “Thailand”
Sorry I digress, but here’s two examples to show what I mean by “business as usual”
1. During Mahathir time Rafidah Aziz lost the “Wanita” presidential position in the UMNO election. Being one of Mahathir’s people, he ignored the election result and made her the Trade Minister and gave her a position in the “supreme council” of UMNO. The president of the Wanita wing got nothing – sorry wrong camp
Present day – Khairy jamalludin won the UMNO Youth wing Presidency, and Mahathir’s son Mukriz came in last in votes. Najib ignored that and made Mukriz a deputy minister. Khairy got nothing – sorry wrong camp
2. Ali Rustum the chief minister of malacca was found guilty of “money” politics and was barred as a canditate in the UMNO general election (found guilty by UMNO’s own disciplinary board, no less)
najib ignored that – he is still the chief minister and made a member of the UMNO supreme council.
“The selective citing of Malaysia and Japan in Thaksin’s claim that military intervention retards economic development is also highly suspect.” Good point Jonfernquest #7. If we analyze economic growth rate with the level of democracy in Asia, Thailand may be accused of having too much ‘democracy’ (like the Indian vs. Chinese models)!
And the desire for strong, stable governments (sacrificing democratic and political freedom) for the sake of economic growth is always there. Here’s a link to Sorayuth’s interesting interview of Vikrom Kromadit, the industrial-estate tycoon, who seem to support this model:
This is true “Thaksinomics” (remember the vision of creating “10 Singapores” in Thailand?) – a vision that could have been, had another group of Thai elite and the urban middle-class been willing to accept PMThaksin’s overlordship and overlook his/colleagues rampant corruption and self-interests. It also could have been had PMThaksin spread his centralization of power and economic interests over a 10 year period instead of 5…
This vision of ‘democracy’ is probably what PMThaksin still meant when he stated to the global media that he is fighting for “true democracy”.
This looks like a very interesting book and I look forward to reading it. I also hope a book on the role of astrology and animism (arguably even more influential than Buddhism) in Thai politics, rural-urban spaces is being researched or in-press somewhere. Charles Keyes provides a great h’oderve in a Bangkokpost article:
“THAILAND IN CRISIS: Magic, mobs and millennialism” in:
Peter Marshall #23: “The Thai newspapers (including the English language press) and television were obviously under the absolute control of the government when it came to reporting the actual events that night.”
Is that even possible!!!???
David Brown #26, Peter Marshall did not “confirm” anything.
“I suppose witnesses are so scared of the army, or know they will be ridiculed as “redshirts”, sadly, it will be years before we will hear anyone admit that these statements are true …”
I don’t think so, Pheu Thai MPs had heaps of witnesses and footages, some played in parliament last week. If they had anything better (bloodier), PMThaksin will be peddling it on CNN and BBC…
That said, I agree that transparent assessments/investigations must be held – like the ones after G20 riots in London – on the crowd control measures taken by the security forces. What works must be standardized for future practices and what has been excessive and must be prosecuted. I hope the Oct7th 2008 police crackdown on PAD be the last amateurish one in the country.
While everyone gets worked up about the evil [INSERT COLOUR AS APPROPRIATE] shirts and the threat they present to [DELETE/INCLUDE AS APPROPRIATE] a certain institution / democracy / ‘the elite’ / rights for the poor etc, no-one seems to notice that actually nothing is changing in Thai politics. Red / Yellow / Blue / Blah Blah.
The sort of things that really matter are episodes like the House of Representatives – in which, if I’m not mistaken, the Democrats have the most seats – recently submitting a Bill to the Senate that would, if passed, allow PAO (р╕нр╕Ър╕Х.) Chairmen to hold office for … ever! Yes, instead of holding office for up to two four-year terms and then having to take a break, MPs think it would be a good idea for PAO Chairmen to keep their jobs for life. In case anyone is unclear what the PAO Chairman actually does, here’s The Nation from 2004:
“Under the amended PAO Act, which came into effect last November [2003], PAO chairmen have increased authority over administrative and budgeting affairs in their provinces. PAO chairmen are authorised to name a number of appointees and to take part in budgeting for local development projects. Local administrations are empowered to collect certain taxes and levies from local businesses, residents and tourists. In addition, PAO chairmen have the responsibility to manage between Bt100 million and Bt400 million a year in funding from the central government, while larger PAOs would handle a yearly budget of Bt1 billion to Bt5 billion. However, despite the wide scope of power wielded by PAO chairmen, safeguards against abuse of power are weak. For example a minimum three-quarters of eligible voters is required to lodge a protest before impeachment proceedings of a PAO chairman can commence.”
With credit to the Senate, the Bill has been knocked back. But it isn’t dead. And there are elections on the horizon … elections in which the local influence of PAO Chairmen is of enormous importance.
AjarnSomsak#95, having had another look, I can agree with your literal interpretation – but mainly because I understand the speech was scripted and fed to PMThaksin via earphones.
However, that is strictly based on the content of the ‘text’.
The ‘Freudian-slip theory’ may still stand if PMThaksin’s delivery (body language, pauses and gaps in speech, tone of voice) is also studied in detail – and we’ll probably need a Thai (spoken) language specialist and a psychologist to help assess the video. I sense that there are clear gaps between the words being read to him and PMThaksin’s own interpretations and actual deliveries.
So the script is – as you said:
“I will work for you for free: I don’t need to be paid even the 500 Bht”
But the actual delivery, on the whole, becomes as hundred of thousands of fellow Thais on You-tube understood:
“(You) don’t have to queue up for 500 baht”
An admission of vote-buying and/or paid crowds. And this should not be suprising. I do not doubt that many of the poor Red crowds are sincere supporters of PMThaksin. But, as the Thai saying goes, their lives are characterized by the daily-cycle of “find in the morning, eat in the evening”. They cannot attend the rallies without transportation, food, drinks etc. subsidies…
thanks for your confirmation of the military shooting and disposal of bodies
I suppose witnesses are so scared of the army, or know they will be ridiculed as “redshirts”, sadly, it will be years before we will hear anyone admit that these statements are true ….
another win to Prem and the military masters of Thailand…
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Review of Thai language phrasebooks
My personal favourite is “Outrageous Thai” published by Tuttle. I saw a letter in the Bangkok Post complaining that this book should be banned as the phrases in it are likely to get tourists killed. Propelled by this unequivocal recommendation I went out and bought it the same day. Although some of the English renderings of the phrases are a bit wonky and there are a lot of important vulgar Thai phrases missing, it is the only phrase book that covers foul or naughty Thai language in depth. You don’t have to use these phrases but, like it or not, you will hear them, if you spend enough time in Thailand, and may as well understand them. Admittedly, it is really only of use to those with an advanced knowledge of Thai. Therefore it wouldn’t have met Cat’s criteria for inclusion in her excellent review.
Suwicha Thakor still locked up
Portman,
You may be right. Nonetheless I only see Thais of a certain relatively vulnerable type doing any time for lese majeste. Those apparently best positioned to defend their charges, cause a fuss behind the scenes, or tie into foreign networks (people like Sulak, Sondhi, Thanapol, Surachai, etc) seem to have done OK (so far) at staying out of prison. Perhaps that will change and we will see some of these people locked up for lese majeste (I certainly hope not!).
But in the recent spate of charges I can’t think of anyone who isn’t utterly ordinary who has done time in prison.
The message gets sent but the stink of incarcerating, say, Ajarn Sulak or Khun Thanapol is avoided. Who knows how long this current thrust in the lese majeste campaign will last? In the meantime I reckon the prevailing efforts to take out easy targets are worth further reflection.
When few people know Suwicha’s name it is far easier for him to be forgotten.
Best wishes to all,
Nich
Lese majeste under a new Thaksin government
Colum
I hope you are right and certainly intelligent Thai government officials would take some or all of of your points into consideration, if they were given the opportunity. But we will only know for sure, if some one puts it to the test by registering a complaint. The authorities seem to have discretion only in the decisions to grant bail and to go slow on the prosecution, as in the cases of Jakrophob and Sondhi. A police captain in a small police station who receives a complaint is not going to be thinking about the ramifications for Thai studies in Australia or whether other Western nations might be sympathetic towards Australia or not. He is going to be worrying about who is actually behind the complaint and whether he might be accused of LM, if he refuses to accept it. Remember the British FCCT member, named Khan, who initiated the LM case against Jakrophod. He just walked into Bang Mod police station on the outskirts of Bangkok, saying he was motivated purely out of love for the king. The law and its application are flaky which makes it unpredictable, as well as failing to protect the monarchy as it is supposed to do.
Suwicha Thakor still locked up
Unfortunately Thais are expected to know better and can’t expect such a quick pardon as foreigners convicted of LM. But you are right in saying that maintaining foreign interest in the case will improve his chances of a pardon.
Sufficiency economy gurus
Thanks Srithanonchai,
Great link (love the luuk thung singer and the dancers on the front page!).
As an aside, before too long an Andrew Walker edited book titled Tai Lands and Thailand: Community and State in Southeast Asia will be jointly published by National University of Singapore Press and NIA Press. As the table of contents probably suggests, readers may want to bear it in mind for a different take on “chumchon”, and related issues, in Southeast Asia.
Best wishes to all,
Nich
Sufficiency economy gurus
The following government web site might be interesting for readers following the suffciency economy discussion.
http://www.chumchon.go.th/
It belongs to the “Sufficiency Economy Office for Community Development.” It is under the Office of the Prime Minister and headed, if I remember correctly, by Supatra Masdit.
Its Thai name is р╕кр╕│р╕Щр╕▒р╕Бр╕Зр╕▓р╕Щр╕Кр╕╕р╕бр╕Кр╕Щр╕Юр╕нр╣Ар╕Юр╕╡р╕вр╕З. The opening page shows an advertisement that I found in Post Today, April 17, 2009, p. 3.
The crushing of the Red Shirts
Come on Sidh, if you have watched the clip, it takes a lot of invention to believe your interpretation. BTW, the halts are for the delay in the crowd responses in the version I saw. That’s also clear in the clip where the audience in Bkk is also shown. This is just a beat up for the true PADists.
Buddhism and postmodern imaginings
One Dhammayut monk from the Isaan who has a military background was quite unhappy after the 2006 coup because, he said, many useful social welfare programs were being cut by the new government. Even though he is very loyal to the Royal family (and this strong connection is more noticeable in the Dhammayut monasteries, who also get better support as a result of that) he was actually supportive of Thaksin and his policies. Another thing that was worrying him was the internal army reshuffles: he said that most of his old colleagues (belonging to a certain class) were being swiftly replaced by other ranks. So the army seems to be internally divided as well.
The crushing of the Red Shirts
#Marty 86
“I have to wonder if he has ever spent even one day working on a rice farm or spent a night talking to a group of rice farmers”
I can’t speak for Land but I am quite happy to confess to never having visited a rice farm, in fact I’ve never been to Isan, and my only experiences of Northern Thailand are as a back-packer a decade ago. I have also never visited Yala where my wife and her siblings grew up in poverty. I would very much like to, my wife and in-laws would like to go back to pay respects to their deceased father, but frankly, it’s a dangerous place and has been so since tensions escalated at the time of the incidents at Tak Bai and Krue Se in 2004.
I have also, thank god, never had a family member disappear without trace where the authorities subsequently make no effort to investigate. I have never been tortured. I have smoked marijuana on occasion (I’m not proud of it) but thankfully masked men haven’t visited my home to blast my brains over all over the room in front of my wife and young child. But these things did happen to real people far, far too often during the Thai Rak Thai years. I know this isn’t news too you, and you have expressed your misgivings, but when you stand shoulder to shoulder with the rice farmers who hold icons of Thaksin Shinawatra (noticeably absent from Mr Nostitz’s images) are you truly confident that you are fighting for the democratic rights of the poor, rather than acting as an apologist for a monster?
Reflections on Thai politics from Ayutthaya
Too often demands for the king’s intervention in Thailand’s political turmoil have been quoted as an authentic voice of ordinary Thais. I am uncertain what lies behind such attempts. But please be assured that ordinary Thais’ voices are not that monolithic. Some even go farther than one ever imagines, depending on one’s ability to get them articulating their forbidden political desire.
Battle at Dindaeng, Bangkok, 13 April 2009
Peter and David,
Obviously neither of you have seen anything. You simply go on ‘hearsay’ and state “I believe what I heard”.
That is not “confirmation” of anything.
Reconciliation in Thailand?
I endorse Careful Observer’s views on the ML. He is simply using media to gain a cult profile (some obviously have fallen for his tricks) and votes for his future political campaign. Funny he should talk about grudges and consoling hearts of reds when the ML is notorious for building grudges. There’s no education here people by the ML.
The survival of Najib and UMNO
The ruling Govt is unlikely to change regardless of the dangers that it may face in the next general election. If one looks beyond the hollow words and slogans, and just observe the actions, the conclusion is obvious – business as usual.
If the opposition should actually win at the federal level election – the current govt might just do a “Thailand”
Sorry I digress, but here’s two examples to show what I mean by “business as usual”
1. During Mahathir time Rafidah Aziz lost the “Wanita” presidential position in the UMNO election. Being one of Mahathir’s people, he ignored the election result and made her the Trade Minister and gave her a position in the “supreme council” of UMNO. The president of the Wanita wing got nothing – sorry wrong camp
Present day – Khairy jamalludin won the UMNO Youth wing Presidency, and Mahathir’s son Mukriz came in last in votes. Najib ignored that and made Mukriz a deputy minister. Khairy got nothing – sorry wrong camp
2. Ali Rustum the chief minister of malacca was found guilty of “money” politics and was barred as a canditate in the UMNO general election (found guilty by UMNO’s own disciplinary board, no less)
najib ignored that – he is still the chief minister and made a member of the UMNO supreme council.
Business as usual
Did Thaksin call for revolution?
“The selective citing of Malaysia and Japan in Thaksin’s claim that military intervention retards economic development is also highly suspect.” Good point Jonfernquest #7. If we analyze economic growth rate with the level of democracy in Asia, Thailand may be accused of having too much ‘democracy’ (like the Indian vs. Chinese models)!
And the desire for strong, stable governments (sacrificing democratic and political freedom) for the sake of economic growth is always there. Here’s a link to Sorayuth’s interesting interview of Vikrom Kromadit, the industrial-estate tycoon, who seem to support this model:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=837124
This is true “Thaksinomics” (remember the vision of creating “10 Singapores” in Thailand?) – a vision that could have been, had another group of Thai elite and the urban middle-class been willing to accept PMThaksin’s overlordship and overlook his/colleagues rampant corruption and self-interests. It also could have been had PMThaksin spread his centralization of power and economic interests over a 10 year period instead of 5…
This vision of ‘democracy’ is probably what PMThaksin still meant when he stated to the global media that he is fighting for “true democracy”.
Buddhism and postmodern imaginings
This looks like a very interesting book and I look forward to reading it. I also hope a book on the role of astrology and animism (arguably even more influential than Buddhism) in Thai politics, rural-urban spaces is being researched or in-press somewhere. Charles Keyes provides a great h’oderve in a Bangkokpost article:
“THAILAND IN CRISIS: Magic, mobs and millennialism” in:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/15632/magic-mobs-and-millennialism
I wonder if Jim also investigated PMThaksin’s links to Dhammakaya and the acting-Supreme Patriarch appointment controversy in the book.
Battle at Dindaeng, Bangkok, 13 April 2009
Peter Marshall #23: “The Thai newspapers (including the English language press) and television were obviously under the absolute control of the government when it came to reporting the actual events that night.”
Is that even possible!!!???
David Brown #26, Peter Marshall did not “confirm” anything.
“I suppose witnesses are so scared of the army, or know they will be ridiculed as “redshirts”, sadly, it will be years before we will hear anyone admit that these statements are true …”
I don’t think so, Pheu Thai MPs had heaps of witnesses and footages, some played in parliament last week. If they had anything better (bloodier), PMThaksin will be peddling it on CNN and BBC…
That said, I agree that transparent assessments/investigations must be held – like the ones after G20 riots in London – on the crowd control measures taken by the security forces. What works must be standardized for future practices and what has been excessive and must be prosecuted. I hope the Oct7th 2008 police crackdown on PAD be the last amateurish one in the country.
Reflections on Thai politics from Ayutthaya
While everyone gets worked up about the evil [INSERT COLOUR AS APPROPRIATE] shirts and the threat they present to [DELETE/INCLUDE AS APPROPRIATE] a certain institution / democracy / ‘the elite’ / rights for the poor etc, no-one seems to notice that actually nothing is changing in Thai politics. Red / Yellow / Blue / Blah Blah.
The sort of things that really matter are episodes like the House of Representatives – in which, if I’m not mistaken, the Democrats have the most seats – recently submitting a Bill to the Senate that would, if passed, allow PAO (р╕нр╕Ър╕Х.) Chairmen to hold office for … ever! Yes, instead of holding office for up to two four-year terms and then having to take a break, MPs think it would be a good idea for PAO Chairmen to keep their jobs for life. In case anyone is unclear what the PAO Chairman actually does, here’s The Nation from 2004:
“Under the amended PAO Act, which came into effect last November [2003], PAO chairmen have increased authority over administrative and budgeting affairs in their provinces. PAO chairmen are authorised to name a number of appointees and to take part in budgeting for local development projects. Local administrations are empowered to collect certain taxes and levies from local businesses, residents and tourists. In addition, PAO chairmen have the responsibility to manage between Bt100 million and Bt400 million a year in funding from the central government, while larger PAOs would handle a yearly budget of Bt1 billion to Bt5 billion. However, despite the wide scope of power wielded by PAO chairmen, safeguards against abuse of power are weak. For example a minimum three-quarters of eligible voters is required to lodge a protest before impeachment proceedings of a PAO chairman can commence.”
With credit to the Senate, the Bill has been knocked back. But it isn’t dead. And there are elections on the horizon … elections in which the local influence of PAO Chairmen is of enormous importance.
Looks like it’s back to the good old days …
The crushing of the Red Shirts
AjarnSomsak#95, having had another look, I can agree with your literal interpretation – but mainly because I understand the speech was scripted and fed to PMThaksin via earphones.
However, that is strictly based on the content of the ‘text’.
The ‘Freudian-slip theory’ may still stand if PMThaksin’s delivery (body language, pauses and gaps in speech, tone of voice) is also studied in detail – and we’ll probably need a Thai (spoken) language specialist and a psychologist to help assess the video. I sense that there are clear gaps between the words being read to him and PMThaksin’s own interpretations and actual deliveries.
So the script is – as you said:
“I will work for you for free: I don’t need to be paid even the 500 Bht”
But the actual delivery, on the whole, becomes as hundred of thousands of fellow Thais on You-tube understood:
“(You) don’t have to queue up for 500 baht”
An admission of vote-buying and/or paid crowds. And this should not be suprising. I do not doubt that many of the poor Red crowds are sincere supporters of PMThaksin. But, as the Thai saying goes, their lives are characterized by the daily-cycle of “find in the morning, eat in the evening”. They cannot attend the rallies without transportation, food, drinks etc. subsidies…
Reconciliation in Thailand?
Sidh S
have you heard of any investigation of the perpetrators of Nang Lerng and the gas tanker events?
do you think the police should collect evidence? and question witnesses?)?
or do you really think we should only discuss whether Abhisit or Thaksin are responsible for these events? (without evidence?)
Battle at Dindaeng, Bangkok, 13 April 2009
Peter Marshall…
thanks for your confirmation of the military shooting and disposal of bodies
I suppose witnesses are so scared of the army, or know they will be ridiculed as “redshirts”, sadly, it will be years before we will hear anyone admit that these statements are true ….
another win to Prem and the military masters of Thailand…