For all my distrust of Mr.Newin, I did find his dramatic confessions/revelations intriguing and artfully composed. Maybe it is almost the closest thing to ‘honesty’ he may ever get (or am I fooled here)! For one, he did not accuse PMThaksin of any corruption and abuse of power. Obviously it would be against his own interests to do so – although he has correctly pointed out that, unlike PMThaksin, he and many former TRT executives has not fled the country and is facing trial in Thailand. On the other hand, his speech has weight in the current context, as at the time of the coup (the period before, during and after), it was Newin (and Yongyuth) who were planning and organizing various tactics and means to counter PAD; it was they who fled to the Supreme Command after the coup to coordinate possible resistance to GenSonthi and co. – and were actually jailed for 10 or so days by the military; it was he who founded and organized the Reds (and, ironically, even behind the first violent Red stint in front of PMPrem’s house after the coup)… until the falling out with PMThaksin when he then engineered the parliamentary transition from PT led to Democrat led governments. It was certainly not coincidence that his ‘friend’ was acting prime minister after PMSomchai was disqualified and that his own father was House Speaker – two key posts that made it possible! (not surprisingly Newin’s group were rewarded with the two most coveted posts in the cabinet Interior and Transport ministries – clearly to the displeasure of the PAD?!).
There’s a lot of ‘behind the scenes’ history that we may never know for certain, but what transpired between PMThaksin and his once top field marshal must be one of the most critical and intriguing in this multiple power tussle in recent Thai politics.
Maybe this is even the performance of a future Thai prime minister? It may be quite challenging as he has enemies in both the Yellow and Red camps – but it is not beyond possibility… I only hope the ground rules then are robust enough to prevent his demonstrated excesses…
Thai history is well documented for repeated ruthless massacres of protesters to maintain the status quo.
On 9th morning a single “yellow shirt” ” female” in a Toyota Camry tried to rundown redshirts – one casualty
on redshirt side , but police swiftly “protected” the assailant by whisking her away in nearest police
station-its just unbelievable in this day/age.
Seems elite will try hard to start trouble & kill a few people as in the past. The world is watching
Sadly, nothing progressive would be happening soon in that remote area as long as there is a convenient or rather comfortable stalemate between Burmese Army and Kachin Independence Army, KIA.
With ever-restless hill tribe separatists on their hands, the Indian Army also wouldn’t initiate anything progressive about the Ledo Road, I guess.
At least one good thing out of the whole quagmire is that the pristine rain forest will still be standing there majestically until the bulldozers arrive in the very near future. Chinese had done that wholesale clearing on their end and converted old Burma Road into an Eight-Lane Motorway.
Thanks nganadeeleg apparently Stephen has no idea what he writes. His post at #53 is incredulous .
Stephen :
Claiming a person whom objects to Thailands law of lèse majesté therefore he must hate Thailand and its people is as nonsensical an argument, but is typical, of what you have posted here so far. Do see if you can be objective , and stick to the point rather than posting abuse and threats..
The Thai people are a wonderful people, how do i know , that Sir is my business . The Thai leadership is a totally different story to the Thai people.
Yep as the lady says…same weather conditions in the Indian side in June and no 8 lane expressway either anywhere between Ledo and Nampong(last Indian village). Its a pity all parties concerned: India, Burma and China are just wasting such a HUGE opportunity and still clinging on to stone age status quo all in the name of “Security” but actually helplessness(sic) bred from fear, distrust and failed countries …all we have is the ghost of road testimony to some most daring feats performed in the most unlikely corner of the planet!
Stephan: Have you read Handley’s book, The King Never Smiles?
If not, I would highly recommend you do so, as if you have an open mind, it might help to gain some insight about how the current situation has come about.
as for the possible threats – your comment#36 included the following:
YOU will be held to account by the thai people
as soon as you set foot here
& will cry your self pity tears as others did before you.
but do not say you were not warned:
“do not provoke the anger of the thai majority!”
it seems so easy to insult others from some safe havens.
we call that ‘cheap talking’
& oppression of the believes of the thai majority.
do YOU want to become the dictator of thailand?
if not, “leave them kids alone!”
This might upset a lot of the western population, but the current Thai system is acceptable for some Thais and myself. If you have that urge to insult the King while you’re in Thailand then I advise you to avoid Thailand because they will be jailed and that is acceptable to ME. Burma and Cambodia are better destinations. Please say “hi” To General Hu Sen and General Than Shwe for me.
USA turning into USSA (United Socialist of American) is also acceptable for me, I hope it does not happen but I think it will when 20 millions some American are turning 65 years in the next 2 or 3 years, that’s when social security and Medicaid/Medicare kicks in. The government will have to raise taxes on all of us. What is not acceptable to me is spending 800 billion for democratic system in Iraq. Plus more on the injured soldiers, estimate to be over a trillion because the survive rate is much higher due to the advance medical care in the battlefield unlike in the past wars where most died.
I’m looking forward to the “New World Order”, I wonder what that system will be like. Will it be democratic or something else?
@jason #41 quote:
“…The fact he has threatened me…”
fact? we have never ever threatened you or anybody else !
with what you feel threatened remains your secret.
you have no time to give any evidence because you are so busy to insult thai people?
it is obviously more YOUR style to threaten people
who have never done YOU any harm.
deliver the evidence/quote or apologize
if you’re a man who is not gutless, jason!
It should to be so, the majority part had oppressed by the minority part for a long time. the Privy Councillors hidden after the palace to destroy the Northern and North-Eastern members of Parliament through and through. One who teach the soldier not to obey the Prime Minister is meddle and destroy the Administrative section even he is under the same King, I don’t think that he is well intention to the country anymore !
You better give up.. like everyone else did.. it’s no point to argue with these people in new mandala.. Most of them here have already set target in their minds. They only want us to listen to what they say, telling us how they want Thailand to be. And Believe it or not, they will never ever agree to your argument in any kind. Your comment will always be wrong according to them, even though they’re trying to claim that this website is open for discussion.
Believe me if u want to live in peace. let them go. I did…
According to my view of democracy, what the PAD’s asked for is not the real democracy. It is called, put it in your words, “Thai-style democracy.” And, I see it just as that. That’s why I’s saying that “During this period, I don’t see anyone asking for the real DEMOCRACY.” By “anyone” here I mean “the anti-PAD.” And, I still remember what they’re trying to do during that time.
Your words: But these (anti-PAD) people also were seeking more real democracy…in trying to amend the 2007 constitution…
Just early this evening, the leader (?) of the anti-PAD has just announced their demands: (The Nation) “…Prem, Surayud Chulanont and Chanchai Likhitjittha must resign as privy councillors. In the second point of demands,…Abhisit must resign as the prime minister. In the third demand, the red-shirted people also called for democratic reform…”
Funny enough, the demand for the democratic reform, which I take it to mean the ask for the real democracy, is at the last place. If I were him I would put this demand in the first place.
Anyway, I agree with you on the point that the 2007 (2550) constitution (in my views, may appear to be inferior to the 1997 (2540) constitution –still not sure, need more time to consider it in depth– and) should need amendments on some points. However, as for the issue of senate, let me ask you if you’re Thai before we could talk about this issue further. Please don’t consider my question as an insult.
Lastly, what do you think should come before the call for the real democracy? Just want to know other opinion.
Wiphu: your response is very similar to one from another correspondent on another thread on NM that responded to criticism by claiming that these responses showed hurt feelings and took that as somehow evidence for the point that correspondent made.
But my point to you was to encourage you to become informed so that your opinions mattered. At present they are rants not based on any knowledge (at least not displayed in what you write) and so cannot be considered informed opinion.
You want to keep posting uniformed tripe, keep at it.
Political karma has caught up with Prem and the PAD. I mentioned on this website months ago that how stupid the PAD was for using methods that were bound to be copied by the UDD once anti-Thaksin forces took power. Consider the symbolism here. The PAD’s “D-day” involved the international airport, the aorta valve of the globally-linked Thai economy that traditionalists find so responsible for the country’s ills–“better to promote ‘sufficiency economy'” they say, “better to get chaonaa back to their rightful place planting rice and away from markets.” In the end the airport siege worked with a compliant judiciary waiting in the wings.
Now the UDD’s “D-day” has arrived, upping the stakes by going after the aorta of the traditionalist’s camp, Prem. But Thaksin and the UDD have no courts, guns, or cultural institutions to back them, as does Prem and the PAD. If the UDD protests grow in number by tens of thousands…look out. I would guess a murky incident triggered by supposed “Red shirts” could suddenly justify a crackdown or even a coup. For Prem and his allies, Aphisit is expendable. The threat and power of weapons may determine the political outcome once again. But weapons alone are unlikely to fully thwart unfulfilled ambitions of Thaksin supporters.
I’m not suggesting a Nepalese scenario is likely because both sides are not fully armed in the Thai case. However, this current episode will likely be part of a larger narrative that has many chapters to go. It’s difficult to imagine Thaksin in exile his entire life. Remember, the royalists in Nepal dismantled a crummy, corrupt democracy and look what it got them in the end.
Bookmark the RSS feed and you can do away with the winking, blinking, honking disasters that The Nation and The Bangkok Post both abuse as front pages.
There appears to be the expectation, flicking through the Thai and English language media, that Wednesday 8 April 2009, just before the Songkran holiday, is going to be a day when all bets are off. Thaksin, and his allies, have seemingly decided that a big push, perhaps even an effort to bring violence to the capital, is required.
This is all disinformation from the Thai MSM. The red-shirts have been peaceful. The violence comes from whence it always comes. I was afraid this disinformation campaign was the precurser to an attack on the red-shirts by the putsch. There hasn’t been any violence today in Bangkok that I have heard.
@jason #43 quote:
“Rofl too funny Ben , me forcing my opinion , ha haha ha ha stop it your killling me .
i bet the thai people dont even see this page.”
what a ‘high-quality original contribution to the discussion’.
so short & sweet!
you can bet that many thai people, high & low, do see it indeed.
we seriously suggest new mandela to publish part of the ip-address,
like bangkok post does it, so that we know at least what country posters come from.
@ben #42
thank you for your contribution
just one tiny little change we would like to suggest:
you said:
“if somebody puts their hand on a hot stove, they should expect to get burned?”
we suggest instead (hope not to alter your intention):
“if somebody does want to get burned, they should put their hand on a hot stove.”
do you see the tiny little difference? it is important!
your sentence implies an accident, only idiots do it purposely,
my sentence implies an intention/consequence to get burnt
some children seem to look & look & look around
until they see a fire or a stove somewhere.
then they have nothing better to do than to get their fingers burnt.
but a hot stove is not for children who don’t understand heat.
loving parents do not allow their children to touch.
khao djai mai? (thai for: do you understand)?
@jason geddes #48
why do you hate thailand so much?
what you post are mostly defamations or outright lies
in fact we can and do receive billions of internet informations
including your own derogatory remarks about thailand,
the herald sun & perc corruption info.
corruption in thailand is without doubt a serious problem,
but by far not as grave as your dubious source says.
a morereliable source seems to be: http://www.icgg.org/corruption.cpi_2008_data.html
which lists thailand with a grade of 3.5, well above its neighbors.
maybe your own perception censors the better data?
if there is censorship here it is mostly against child porn & paedophiles
which come in hordes from your countries!
but don’t tell us that you despise thailand therefore……
@michael #39, 45 and many others (too many to mention them all)
quote: “…repressive society full of cretinous, obsessive bigots like Stephan…”
just another example of those who pretend to defend “freedom of speech” and “human rights”.
obviously my comments and attempts to defend the rights of the thai people found many critics.
some of them frothing from their mouths.
let’s stay cool, this is an exchange of opinions, not a war, isn’t it?
it is widely accepted that some people fear this “repressive society”
so much they use an alias name,
but still identifiable as individuals and recognizable with their comments.
anonymous = without character (oxford dict)
we live in thailand, talk with many thais everyday and visit their homes as guests.
if anyone of you would simply do the same you will find:
1. the houses of most thais display prominently one or more pictures of the royalties,
although there is no law to demand this and nobody ever was charged for not doing so.
they all do this out of love & respect alone.
2. whenever someone talks about the monarchy in private,
you will find them caring,
expressing individual thoughts and
even preferences towards one or the other member of the royal family.
this is common and totally legal.
especially the question of succession to the throne is often discussed controversially.
so again, no censorship whatsoever of private individual opinions.
3. however if somebody would insult any royal member,
he will most likely be thrown out of the house faster than he can regret.
this is again the natural & perfect right of each host against trespassers in his house.
4. thais are not different from anyone else in this world in this respect.
every trespasser of hospitality has to be removed immediatelly.
what do you do – dear reader, if your so-called guest starts to insult
your mother, sister or anything else sacred to you?
5. it now happened that the vast & overwhelming majority of thai voters
have repeatedly & constantly voted for a constitutional monarchy,
with the king as head of state, army & church.
they did that of their own free will & gladly,
not different from most other people like the english.
in fact they repeated their votes unanimously 18 times in 75 years.
no law demanded it, nobody forced them.
that is democracy, that the people decide their conditions of state.
righteously no aliens are allowed to interfere.
6. if now foreigners, strangers, aliens or ‘colonial’ powers come from abroad
to tell the adult independent & mature thai voter that he votes wrong
that he loves the wrong people, that he believes the wrong believes,
then thais usually do not like those trespassers very much.
7. if you would come here and ask them they will confirm this.
they will receive you with their famous smiles & friendliness
as long as you respect them & their clearly expressed volition.
8. but please do not try to critisize them, their convictions, believes
and institutions,
considered by THEM to be sacred, in PUBLIC.
the thai mentality is very strict about people who try to make them lose their face.
9. people who like to critisize in public are generally not welcome in asian societies,
particularly when they are not from the family and insult any family member.
those who want to censor them, deny them their right of self-government,
insult their most sacred believes and want to force a foreign culture on them
can continue to rant anonymously or under aliases.
but they should not call themselves ‘uebermensch’ (nietzsche) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%9Cbermensch
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The Reds in Bangkok today
For all my distrust of Mr.Newin, I did find his dramatic confessions/revelations intriguing and artfully composed. Maybe it is almost the closest thing to ‘honesty’ he may ever get (or am I fooled here)! For one, he did not accuse PMThaksin of any corruption and abuse of power. Obviously it would be against his own interests to do so – although he has correctly pointed out that, unlike PMThaksin, he and many former TRT executives has not fled the country and is facing trial in Thailand. On the other hand, his speech has weight in the current context, as at the time of the coup (the period before, during and after), it was Newin (and Yongyuth) who were planning and organizing various tactics and means to counter PAD; it was they who fled to the Supreme Command after the coup to coordinate possible resistance to GenSonthi and co. – and were actually jailed for 10 or so days by the military; it was he who founded and organized the Reds (and, ironically, even behind the first violent Red stint in front of PMPrem’s house after the coup)… until the falling out with PMThaksin when he then engineered the parliamentary transition from PT led to Democrat led governments. It was certainly not coincidence that his ‘friend’ was acting prime minister after PMSomchai was disqualified and that his own father was House Speaker – two key posts that made it possible! (not surprisingly Newin’s group were rewarded with the two most coveted posts in the cabinet Interior and Transport ministries – clearly to the displeasure of the PAD?!).
There’s a lot of ‘behind the scenes’ history that we may never know for certain, but what transpired between PMThaksin and his once top field marshal must be one of the most critical and intriguing in this multiple power tussle in recent Thai politics.
Maybe this is even the performance of a future Thai prime minister? It may be quite challenging as he has enemies in both the Yellow and Red camps – but it is not beyond possibility… I only hope the ground rules then are robust enough to prevent his demonstrated excesses…
The Reds in Bangkok today
Thai history is well documented for repeated ruthless massacres of protesters to maintain the status quo.
On 9th morning a single “yellow shirt” ” female” in a Toyota Camry tried to rundown redshirts – one casualty
on redshirt side , but police swiftly “protected” the assailant by whisking her away in nearest police
station-its just unbelievable in this day/age.
Seems elite will try hard to start trouble & kill a few people as in the past. The world is watching
Sadd
The Stilwell Road
Dear Sangos,
Sadly, nothing progressive would be happening soon in that remote area as long as there is a convenient or rather comfortable stalemate between Burmese Army and Kachin Independence Army, KIA.
With ever-restless hill tribe separatists on their hands, the Indian Army also wouldn’t initiate anything progressive about the Ledo Road, I guess.
At least one good thing out of the whole quagmire is that the pristine rain forest will still be standing there majestically until the bulldozers arrive in the very near future. Chinese had done that wholesale clearing on their end and converted old Burma Road into an Eight-Lane Motorway.
Hla Oo
The Reds in Bangkok today
right, the red shirts are peaceful, except when they are smashing the windows of the PM’s car or intimidating the gays in Chiang Mai.
On lèse majesté
Thanks nganadeeleg apparently Stephen has no idea what he writes. His post at #53 is incredulous .
Stephen :
Claiming a person whom objects to Thailands law of lèse majesté therefore he must hate Thailand and its people is as nonsensical an argument, but is typical, of what you have posted here so far. Do see if you can be objective , and stick to the point rather than posting abuse and threats..
The Thai people are a wonderful people, how do i know , that Sir is my business . The Thai leadership is a totally different story to the Thai people.
The Stilwell Road
Yep as the lady says…same weather conditions in the Indian side in June and no 8 lane expressway either anywhere between Ledo and Nampong(last Indian village). Its a pity all parties concerned: India, Burma and China are just wasting such a HUGE opportunity and still clinging on to stone age status quo all in the name of “Security” but actually helplessness(sic) bred from fear, distrust and failed countries …all we have is the ghost of road testimony to some most daring feats performed in the most unlikely corner of the planet!
On lèse majesté
Stephan: Have you read Handley’s book, The King Never Smiles?
If not, I would highly recommend you do so, as if you have an open mind, it might help to gain some insight about how the current situation has come about.
as for the possible threats – your comment#36 included the following:
YOU will be held to account by the thai people
as soon as you set foot here
& will cry your self pity tears as others did before you.
but do not say you were not warned:
“do not provoke the anger of the thai majority!”
it seems so easy to insult others from some safe havens.
we call that ‘cheap talking’
& oppression of the believes of the thai majority.
do YOU want to become the dictator of thailand?
if not, “leave them kids alone!”
The King Never Smiles?
This might upset a lot of the western population, but the current Thai system is acceptable for some Thais and myself. If you have that urge to insult the King while you’re in Thailand then I advise you to avoid Thailand because they will be jailed and that is acceptable to ME. Burma and Cambodia are better destinations. Please say “hi” To General Hu Sen and General Than Shwe for me.
USA turning into USSA (United Socialist of American) is also acceptable for me, I hope it does not happen but I think it will when 20 millions some American are turning 65 years in the next 2 or 3 years, that’s when social security and Medicaid/Medicare kicks in. The government will have to raise taxes on all of us. What is not acceptable to me is spending 800 billion for democratic system in Iraq. Plus more on the injured soldiers, estimate to be over a trillion because the survive rate is much higher due to the advance medical care in the battlefield unlike in the past wars where most died.
I’m looking forward to the “New World Order”, I wonder what that system will be like. Will it be democratic or something else?
On lèse majesté
@jason #41 quote:
“…The fact he has threatened me…”
fact? we have never ever threatened you or anybody else !
with what you feel threatened remains your secret.
you have no time to give any evidence because you are so busy to insult thai people?
it is obviously more YOUR style to threaten people
who have never done YOU any harm.
deliver the evidence/quote or apologize
if you’re a man who is not gutless, jason!
The Reds in Bangkok today
It should to be so, the majority part had oppressed by the minority part for a long time. the Privy Councillors hidden after the palace to destroy the Northern and North-Eastern members of Parliament through and through. One who teach the soldier not to obey the Prime Minister is meddle and destroy the Administrative section even he is under the same King, I don’t think that he is well intention to the country anymore !
The King Never Smiles?
Dear Wiphu,
You better give up.. like everyone else did.. it’s no point to argue with these people in new mandala.. Most of them here have already set target in their minds. They only want us to listen to what they say, telling us how they want Thailand to be. And Believe it or not, they will never ever agree to your argument in any kind. Your comment will always be wrong according to them, even though they’re trying to claim that this website is open for discussion.
Believe me if u want to live in peace. let them go. I did…
р╕Бр╕бр╕║р╕бр╕╕р╕Щр╕▓ р╕зр╕Хр╕║р╕Хр╕Хр╕╡ р╣Вр╕ер╣Вр╕Б
Full text of Abhisit speech in Oxford
amberwaves:
According to my view of democracy, what the PAD’s asked for is not the real democracy. It is called, put it in your words, “Thai-style democracy.” And, I see it just as that. That’s why I’s saying that “During this period, I don’t see anyone asking for the real DEMOCRACY.” By “anyone” here I mean “the anti-PAD.” And, I still remember what they’re trying to do during that time.
Your words: But these (anti-PAD) people also were seeking more real democracy…in trying to amend the 2007 constitution…
Just early this evening, the leader (?) of the anti-PAD has just announced their demands: (The Nation) “…Prem, Surayud Chulanont and Chanchai Likhitjittha must resign as privy councillors. In the second point of demands,…Abhisit must resign as the prime minister. In the third demand, the red-shirted people also called for democratic reform…”
Funny enough, the demand for the democratic reform, which I take it to mean the ask for the real democracy, is at the last place. If I were him I would put this demand in the first place.
Anyway, I agree with you on the point that the 2007 (2550) constitution (in my views, may appear to be inferior to the 1997 (2540) constitution –still not sure, need more time to consider it in depth– and) should need amendments on some points. However, as for the issue of senate, let me ask you if you’re Thai before we could talk about this issue further. Please don’t consider my question as an insult.
Lastly, what do you think should come before the call for the real democracy? Just want to know other opinion.
The King Never Smiles?
Wiphu: your response is very similar to one from another correspondent on another thread on NM that responded to criticism by claiming that these responses showed hurt feelings and took that as somehow evidence for the point that correspondent made.
But my point to you was to encourage you to become informed so that your opinions mattered. At present they are rants not based on any knowledge (at least not displayed in what you write) and so cannot be considered informed opinion.
You want to keep posting uniformed tripe, keep at it.
The Reds in Bangkok today
Political karma has caught up with Prem and the PAD. I mentioned on this website months ago that how stupid the PAD was for using methods that were bound to be copied by the UDD once anti-Thaksin forces took power. Consider the symbolism here. The PAD’s “D-day” involved the international airport, the aorta valve of the globally-linked Thai economy that traditionalists find so responsible for the country’s ills–“better to promote ‘sufficiency economy'” they say, “better to get chaonaa back to their rightful place planting rice and away from markets.” In the end the airport siege worked with a compliant judiciary waiting in the wings.
Now the UDD’s “D-day” has arrived, upping the stakes by going after the aorta of the traditionalist’s camp, Prem. But Thaksin and the UDD have no courts, guns, or cultural institutions to back them, as does Prem and the PAD. If the UDD protests grow in number by tens of thousands…look out. I would guess a murky incident triggered by supposed “Red shirts” could suddenly justify a crackdown or even a coup. For Prem and his allies, Aphisit is expendable. The threat and power of weapons may determine the political outcome once again. But weapons alone are unlikely to fully thwart unfulfilled ambitions of Thaksin supporters.
I’m not suggesting a Nepalese scenario is likely because both sides are not fully armed in the Thai case. However, this current episode will likely be part of a larger narrative that has many chapters to go. It’s difficult to imagine Thaksin in exile his entire life. Remember, the royalists in Nepal dismantled a crummy, corrupt democracy and look what it got them in the end.
The Nation’s “lite version”
Bookmark the RSS feed and you can do away with the winking, blinking, honking disasters that The Nation and The Bangkok Post both abuse as front pages.
The Reds in Bangkok today
There appears to be the expectation, flicking through the Thai and English language media, that Wednesday 8 April 2009, just before the Songkran holiday, is going to be a day when all bets are off. Thaksin, and his allies, have seemingly decided that a big push, perhaps even an effort to bring violence to the capital, is required.
This is all disinformation from the Thai MSM. The red-shirts have been peaceful. The violence comes from whence it always comes. I was afraid this disinformation campaign was the precurser to an attack on the red-shirts by the putsch. There hasn’t been any violence today in Bangkok that I have heard.
On lèse majesté
@jason #43 quote:
“Rofl too funny Ben , me forcing my opinion , ha haha ha ha stop it your killling me .
i bet the thai people dont even see this page.”
what a ‘high-quality original contribution to the discussion’.
so short & sweet!
you can bet that many thai people, high & low, do see it indeed.
we seriously suggest new mandela to publish part of the ip-address,
like bangkok post does it, so that we know at least what country posters come from.
On lèse majesté
@ben #42
thank you for your contribution
just one tiny little change we would like to suggest:
you said:
“if somebody puts their hand on a hot stove, they should expect to get burned?”
we suggest instead (hope not to alter your intention):
“if somebody does want to get burned, they should put their hand on a hot stove.”
do you see the tiny little difference? it is important!
your sentence implies an accident, only idiots do it purposely,
my sentence implies an intention/consequence to get burnt
some children seem to look & look & look around
until they see a fire or a stove somewhere.
then they have nothing better to do than to get their fingers burnt.
but a hot stove is not for children who don’t understand heat.
loving parents do not allow their children to touch.
khao djai mai? (thai for: do you understand)?
On lèse majesté
@jason geddes #48
why do you hate thailand so much?
what you post are mostly defamations or outright lies
in fact we can and do receive billions of internet informations
including your own derogatory remarks about thailand,
the herald sun & perc corruption info.
corruption in thailand is without doubt a serious problem,
but by far not as grave as your dubious source says.
a morereliable source seems to be:
http://www.icgg.org/corruption.cpi_2008_data.html
which lists thailand with a grade of 3.5, well above its neighbors.
maybe your own perception censors the better data?
if there is censorship here it is mostly against child porn & paedophiles
which come in hordes from your countries!
but don’t tell us that you despise thailand therefore……
On lèse majesté
@michael #39, 45 and many others (too many to mention them all)
quote: “…repressive society full of cretinous, obsessive bigots like Stephan…”
just another example of those who pretend to defend “freedom of speech” and “human rights”.
obviously my comments and attempts to defend the rights of the thai people found many critics.
some of them frothing from their mouths.
let’s stay cool, this is an exchange of opinions, not a war, isn’t it?
it is widely accepted that some people fear this “repressive society”
so much they use an alias name,
but still identifiable as individuals and recognizable with their comments.
anonymous = without character (oxford dict)
we live in thailand, talk with many thais everyday and visit their homes as guests.
if anyone of you would simply do the same you will find:
1. the houses of most thais display prominently one or more pictures of the royalties,
although there is no law to demand this and nobody ever was charged for not doing so.
they all do this out of love & respect alone.
2. whenever someone talks about the monarchy in private,
you will find them caring,
expressing individual thoughts and
even preferences towards one or the other member of the royal family.
this is common and totally legal.
especially the question of succession to the throne is often discussed controversially.
so again, no censorship whatsoever of private individual opinions.
3. however if somebody would insult any royal member,
he will most likely be thrown out of the house faster than he can regret.
this is again the natural & perfect right of each host against trespassers in his house.
4. thais are not different from anyone else in this world in this respect.
every trespasser of hospitality has to be removed immediatelly.
what do you do – dear reader, if your so-called guest starts to insult
your mother, sister or anything else sacred to you?
5. it now happened that the vast & overwhelming majority of thai voters
have repeatedly & constantly voted for a constitutional monarchy,
with the king as head of state, army & church.
they did that of their own free will & gladly,
not different from most other people like the english.
in fact they repeated their votes unanimously 18 times in 75 years.
no law demanded it, nobody forced them.
that is democracy, that the people decide their conditions of state.
righteously no aliens are allowed to interfere.
6. if now foreigners, strangers, aliens or ‘colonial’ powers come from abroad
to tell the adult independent & mature thai voter that he votes wrong
that he loves the wrong people, that he believes the wrong believes,
then thais usually do not like those trespassers very much.
7. if you would come here and ask them they will confirm this.
they will receive you with their famous smiles & friendliness
as long as you respect them & their clearly expressed volition.
8. but please do not try to critisize them, their convictions, believes
and institutions,
considered by THEM to be sacred, in PUBLIC.
the thai mentality is very strict about people who try to make them lose their face.
9. people who like to critisize in public are generally not welcome in asian societies,
particularly when they are not from the family and insult any family member.
those who want to censor them, deny them their right of self-government,
insult their most sacred believes and want to force a foreign culture on them
can continue to rant anonymously or under aliases.
but they should not call themselves ‘uebermensch’ (nietzsche)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%9Cbermensch