Like Mephisto tells Faust: “Blood is a very special juice”, opium certainly is a very special latex. What makes it special is that it is a point of articulation of nuermous heterogeneous networks. We tried to tangle some of these in the paper “Opium at the interface” (https://www.uni-hohenheim.de/i490d/publications/SOAS%20Opium.pdf)
Unfortunately, these are usually not reflected in development projects. An excellent example are the current attempts to reduce opium production in Afghanistan.
high-quality comments that make original contributions to discussion
-how are these to be decided? You sound like you have just finished marking a thesis. Is it not the case that some of the most original contributions to academic knowledge have been dismissed at first as being too eccentric? It is only later that people realise their value.
Short and sweet will usually trump long and involved.
– and why is this? Are you trying for the ADD market?
Repetitive ranting, unimaginative point-scoring and idle abuse will not be entertained.
-of course there need to be rules for any game to work, but the whole point of this game is that it works in an anonymous forum. This forum allows people who would otherwise not say what they have to say to come along and say it with the only consequence being a reply. Sure, there is no such thing as a utopian free space for uninhibited discussion, but this space at least gives some ‘flexibility’ for people to try things out that they otherwise would not.
Turn it into a seminar room and you will get the same old dinosaurs that dominate debates in real seminar rooms dominating this one. Perhaps this is your aim? To feed into an online publication of some sort? The New Mandala journal? Sounds good.
Smacks of elitism doesn’t it. Had you ever really noted that the academic/intellectual community of your home country contributed much to improved social justice? The politically-correct folks who run this site still think you can engage in polite & constructive dialogue with bigots such as Sonthi Lim, Thaksin, Samak & Newin Chidchob. Politicians are generally rather more constructive when they are forced to live in constant fear of a fickle public. Something missing in the local political scene, and soon to to be missing here by the looks of things.
I think that if we believe in freedom of speech and diversity of ideas, cultures and beliefs, the least that you could do is to have one special page of the website where all the “trash” is dumped. This allows your users to read the “trash” if they are interested but at the same time you can keep the rest of the website “clean” in accordance to your standards (whatever they are).
This would be transparent way to go about it, and would also maintain the credibility of this website.
A true fortune-teller has no need for a gun; he would just suddenly change plans the fateful day when the thugs were to visit him. Carrying a gun is proclaiming that he is afraid of the future because he doesn’t know when or what might happen to him.
Further to what readers have said above (and Jon, even before reading your post ‘The Quiet American’ very much sprung to mind), one of the major sticking points of any foreign attempt to overthrow a regime is that however well meaning that attempt may be, and however much the proponents might eschew violence, it is automatically met with intense suspicion.
Of course no dictator is going to like an attempt to depose their regime, from whatever quarter that attempt stems from, but the charge of being in league with foreigners, is, unfortunately, a handy stick with which to further beat any dissent. Moreover, even in the eyes of a populace thoroughly jaded by a dictatorship, an organization with obvious foreign backing can lose credibility.
As a result, any direct action to intervene can often be highly counterproductive. I am not for a minute suggesting that outsiders should sit back and do nothing. But I am not sure that joining a guerilla army or training and funding rebel fighters is really the best way out of this moral minefield.
These discussions, warnings and points of advice are just what we need. Thanks again.
As for the mud, we’ll be travelling in a convoy of three Land Rovers (plus escort if desirable) with numerous recovery winches and other equipment. Getting stuck may be frequent, but not prohibiting. Raging torrents remain a worry, however.
I haven’t actually read any of Sharp’s work, but I did just finish a CANVAS training of sorts – to say that this is ‘one size fits all’ merely shows that you have also never read any of the work on nonviolent strategy, John. It all boils down to methods, strategy, and analysis – things which are always applicable to any situation.
There is a presumption that ‘nonviolent’ activists and academics are ideologically nonviolent, or pacifists. This could not be further from the truth. I’m not really sure what you’re getting at with your comment as you’re disparaging both armed methods and nonviolent methods. America is desperately in need of some social revolution, and the implication that because Sharp is an American that he is exporting a dominant American paradigm with some kind of intent to impose American democracy on the world is silly.
Quote: “Then we went with empty hands, we only had machetes, wooden and iron bars, and they had guns. …”
Empty hands? What did they think they were going to use the machetes for, clearing the jungle?
Nick, as Jim Taylor might be losing steam, here are some questions I tried posting in the coup thread which you might care to address:
Even IF Jim’s version is near the truth, he should be bitter not only at the forces opposed to his party, but also towards his party for its failures, in particular he needs to realistically assess:
1. Would a coup have been possible if Thaksin had not done the Shin corp tax free deal?
2. Would PAD still have any chance of being allowed to remain occupying government house if the PPP coalition government had opened up the constitution amendment to a consultative process with the aim of a new peoples constitution (instead of another one imposed to suit the needs of the current power)?
3. Should a political party put the interests of its benefactor(s) above the interests of the country?
Neither side can legitimately claim the high moral ground – Just because one side is unreasonable (or hopeless?), doesn’t mean the other side has to stoop to the same depths!
Nick, it’s a pity those moderate elements are not more vocal, especially when Thaksin was ruling – if only they or the TRT could have moderated his worst excesses, the ground conditions for a coup would never have arisen, and Thaksin/TRT would most likely still be in power, and the country would not be so divided now.
Ditto for the PAD, most of which clearly want a better outcome for all Thai’s – despite the picture you paint of them.
IMO, an uncompromising PPP with an overriding agenda to restore Thaksin to power is not what the country needs – are the ‘reds’ you know capable of seeing that?
The Lao newspapers report that Loung Nouhak was 98 and another source says he was 99. I am more likely to trust Martin’s information on this but was wondering why there was this ambiguity? I know many people in Laos do not actually know their true age due to lack of institutionalisation at birth and mostly in rural remote areas these days. I wonder if the same is true of Nouhak? No one remembers exactly what year he was born? Most likely just another example of a rather loose understanding of the importance of factual information on the part of government journalists.
He was a real old soldier. He seemed to get more lively towards the end, always appearing with a strong-worded quote in the news media. Yong was quoted in one article as saying they had only persuaded him to stop visiting the provinces in his reserve helicopter last year.
Certainly, as Martin suggests, these men did not end up producing the ‘Laos’ that they dreamed of back in the revolutionary days, but they are themselves an extraordinary product and a part of the imagined idea of modern Laos. One cannot help but feel a sad nostalgic sense of great passing (all human rights atrocities and anti-democratic practices noted) with the loss of Nouhak. And the inevitable question arises: who exactly are these old nagas being replaced by and what ideas and ideals will shape them as a part of the new Laos?
Sangos, I didn’t mean Myitkyina was unsafe now. I wrote, “Years back KIA militia used to ambush the army convoys with deadly result and many collateral civilian dead. Even near Myitkyina is not safe at all.”
The remote part of Ledo Road between Namti ( that is up north from Mogaung) and Myitkyina used to be a hot spot for ambushes years back before the ceasefire between the Burmese Army and various Kachin armed groups.
That whole area was, or still is, controlled by the KIA( Kachin Independence Army) since the beginning of the Kachin rebellion. To counter that the army built many strategic villages, called Pa-la-na villages in Burmese, along the Ledo Road and mainly populated them with the retired Kachin soldiers from the army and the land-starved Burmese farmers moving up from the low lands like Indaw and Mogaung.
Like what China is doing in Tibet and Uighur, Burma is following with its own Burmanization of Kachin Land. But obviously it also created a huge racial tension in the area and the result was the violent clashes all over that section of Ledo Road for a very long time.
But the situations now has changed to the better as the result of current ceasefire. From China border to Myikyina, the Burma Road is now sealed and all weather usable. They even built a bridge, called Balaminhtin Bridge, over wide Irrawaddy from Khatcho on the west bank near Myikyina to Waimaw on the east bank.
“It all sounds promising, but unless they drop the blinkered loyalty to Thaksin they are no better than the PAD.”
It would have helped them if the Democrat Party, or any other party, would have developed and communicated policies to them. I can’t blame them for choosing the only party that actually has developed those policies, communicated them, and also went through with those promises.
There is a lot less blind loyalty to Thaksin than you imagine, people there are aware that Thaksin has more than a few faults.
But what can they do when faced with the only other choice a party that now openly supports the PAD, instead of thinking of some sort of policies of their own?
PAD is still sitting in Government House, the leaders can continue to evade their arrest warrants, Sondhi L. can come and go as he pleases, has meetings and safe houses all over Bangkok, because he gets such a high level protection that police can’t do a thing about it.
And you wonder why the more violent parts of the reds start dominating the show? The legal system now is so blatantly partial, the police is not allowed to do their work – so what do you expect?
New Government line-up. BTW, Jonferquest and Matty may be happy …. and especially as they learn this is my last contribution! The ignorance around me is too much. These guys seem to be on the back feet in a losing position of moral justification! And the reality is that vote buying will go on for a long time until consumers realise it is useless. That is a gradual process of democratisation. There are after all lots of things happening in Thailand that are “illegal” right now?? (just look around). So, now for readers here is the line up of the new Government that will be announced mid-week (no need for elections folk; pro-PAD intellectuals including academics who still support them know-best):
1. Abhisit (PM/Fuehrer – though his popularity even among the urban faithful is declining as he slips and slides around)
2. Sondhi, Minister of Mass Propaganda (formerly Mass Communications)
3. Suriyasai, Minister of Education to eduacte the rural voters in “democracy” new Thai-style
4. Phra Photirak, Minister of Religious Affairs (and newly proposed Sangkharat)
5. Chamlong, Minister of Defence (back with the boys where he always wanted to be)
6. Prem (Chief Government Advisor and supreme Puppet Master of the “Amaat” conservatives)
7. Panlop, Head of Gestapo (to keep the masses in line from ever thinking their voice actually counts anymore)
8. Jaran, Head of Justice & the new portfolio: “Keep Trying to Find Hard Evidence Against Thaksin” (it must be there somewhere right?)
Duncan, who I do admire, got it nearly right: However “Network Monarchy” in fact does not start and end with the king but in fact the real power broker: Prem. We need to talk with those who really know. That’s been a problem with a number of Thai political economists in that much comes from a selective intelligentsia. Incidentally guys, what did the Democrat Party actually do that had any real outcomes even in their heartland -the south? They were even prepared last month to informally give a wink to the destruction of national economy and local businesses in their electorate with the illegal airport blockades: Motives? We know they have never done anything useful for people in the south as all useful projects were initiated or completed during the governments run by other parties such as Chat Thai, Chatichai and Banhan, and more recently TRT, Thaksin. But you all may be intereested to know that there is still some hope as the new ABAC Bangkok Poll found that 58% (even in the metropolis) want PPP with Sompong to be next PM; less than 20% want PAD. In summary I’d say that there is no need for a coup (as one or two bloggers note) because the military already established a route to power & control since 2006 thanks to the flower-givers by emplacing mates in the judiciary with a set agenda using Sondhi’s imaginative fiction; the appointment of 73 hand-picked unelected Senators, also with the same criteria, and a compliant Democrat Party and Brown Shirts (wearing yellow) in the streets. Then the military don’t listen to the parliament (the state of emergency was ineffective anyway) and they just get the Democrats to create dissension among PPP and its minor party constituents; even pay them if necessary. Neat: No need for a coup eh??
Thanks for the photo’s Nick – an interesting contrast to other ‘reds’ photo’s which are available.
It all sounds promising, but unless they drop the blinkered loyalty to Thaksin they are no better than the PAD.
Also, both sides are happy enought to incite violence, but the ‘reds’ seem to have a greater demonstrated propensity to instigate it.
Lets support the good Thaksin/TRT policies, but how does turning a blind eye to his wrongdoings help things get better?
Blind loyalty is a problem no matter which side it is on.
What’s needed for things to get better is for the people in both the ‘red’ and ‘yellow’ camps to each turn a bit ‘orange’ and be prepared to give consideration and understanding to the concerns of the other side.
Those ‘orange’ folks need to abandon their respective ‘red’ and ‘yellow’ camp leaders, leaving only the unreasonable hardcore believers (nutters or paid lackeys) remaining as a fringe groups which can easily be sidelined due to their unreasonableness->lack of support.
The resolution to this mess has always been relatively simple.
Just to clarify, Myitkyina is not unsafe. In fact, you would have to be relatively unlucky (as someone carrying a foreign-passport) to run into too much trouble in the Kachin State, unless you really went looking for it. These days the KIA (or whoever) is the least of your worries. Things change but, right now, vast areas of the Kachin State are easy to get around and most of the Stilwell Road is a simple trip. No fancy four-wheel drives required. Even in the wet season.
Does that change things?
Discussing the plans of various adventurers and thrill-seekers with someone wise who knows this area well, we both agreed that keeping cars on the road (i.e. out of ditches, out of the trees), not knocking over any pedestrians, and then managing all of the interest in yourselves and your agenda will be the major challenges.
Trips like this have been done before; and they will be done again.
But, to my eye, they need purpose. Mandy Sadan’s comments further up this thread may help to illuminate why that matters.
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The social impacts of opium eradication
Like Mephisto tells Faust: “Blood is a very special juice”, opium certainly is a very special latex. What makes it special is that it is a point of articulation of nuermous heterogeneous networks. We tried to tangle some of these in the paper “Opium at the interface” (https://www.uni-hohenheim.de/i490d/publications/SOAS%20Opium.pdf)
Unfortunately, these are usually not reflected in development projects. An excellent example are the current attempts to reduce opium production in Afghanistan.
New Mandala comments policy
Questions about the assessment process:
high-quality comments that make original contributions to discussion
-how are these to be decided? You sound like you have just finished marking a thesis. Is it not the case that some of the most original contributions to academic knowledge have been dismissed at first as being too eccentric? It is only later that people realise their value.
Short and sweet will usually trump long and involved.
– and why is this? Are you trying for the ADD market?
Repetitive ranting, unimaginative point-scoring and idle abuse will not be entertained.
-of course there need to be rules for any game to work, but the whole point of this game is that it works in an anonymous forum. This forum allows people who would otherwise not say what they have to say to come along and say it with the only consequence being a reply. Sure, there is no such thing as a utopian free space for uninhibited discussion, but this space at least gives some ‘flexibility’ for people to try things out that they otherwise would not.
Turn it into a seminar room and you will get the same old dinosaurs that dominate debates in real seminar rooms dominating this one. Perhaps this is your aim? To feed into an online publication of some sort? The New Mandala journal? Sounds good.
New Mandala comments policy
Smacks of elitism doesn’t it. Had you ever really noted that the academic/intellectual community of your home country contributed much to improved social justice? The politically-correct folks who run this site still think you can engage in polite & constructive dialogue with bigots such as Sonthi Lim, Thaksin, Samak & Newin Chidchob. Politicians are generally rather more constructive when they are forced to live in constant fear of a fickle public. Something missing in the local political scene, and soon to to be missing here by the looks of things.
New Mandala comments policy
I think that if we believe in freedom of speech and diversity of ideas, cultures and beliefs, the least that you could do is to have one special page of the website where all the “trash” is dumped. This allows your users to read the “trash” if they are interested but at the same time you can keep the rest of the website “clean” in accordance to your standards (whatever they are).
This would be transparent way to go about it, and would also maintain the credibility of this website.
Just an idea for consideration.
Astrological fortunes
A true fortune-teller has no need for a gun; he would just suddenly change plans the fateful day when the thugs were to visit him. Carrying a gun is proclaiming that he is afraid of the future because he doesn’t know when or what might happen to him.
“From Dictatorship to Democracy”, Burma and all the rest
Further to what readers have said above (and Jon, even before reading your post ‘The Quiet American’ very much sprung to mind), one of the major sticking points of any foreign attempt to overthrow a regime is that however well meaning that attempt may be, and however much the proponents might eschew violence, it is automatically met with intense suspicion.
Of course no dictator is going to like an attempt to depose their regime, from whatever quarter that attempt stems from, but the charge of being in league with foreigners, is, unfortunately, a handy stick with which to further beat any dissent. Moreover, even in the eyes of a populace thoroughly jaded by a dictatorship, an organization with obvious foreign backing can lose credibility.
As a result, any direct action to intervene can often be highly counterproductive. I am not for a minute suggesting that outsiders should sit back and do nothing. But I am not sure that joining a guerilla army or training and funding rebel fighters is really the best way out of this moral minefield.
The Stilwell Road
These discussions, warnings and points of advice are just what we need. Thanks again.
As for the mud, we’ll be travelling in a convoy of three Land Rovers (plus escort if desirable) with numerous recovery winches and other equipment. Getting stuck may be frequent, but not prohibiting. Raging torrents remain a worry, however.
New Mandala comments policy
Sounds kind of like the PAD approach.
A system based on selection, decided by the top few.
For heaven’s sake, how can you ignore the broad masses!
Maybe you could add a comment rating plugin – that could make the less desired commentators go away by themselves.
Am I serious?
I’m afraid my comment is the first one not to make the cut.
From the archive: Ponchaud on the Khmer revolution
Jaune means yellow in French.
“From Dictatorship to Democracy”, Burma and all the rest
I haven’t actually read any of Sharp’s work, but I did just finish a CANVAS training of sorts – to say that this is ‘one size fits all’ merely shows that you have also never read any of the work on nonviolent strategy, John. It all boils down to methods, strategy, and analysis – things which are always applicable to any situation.
There is a presumption that ‘nonviolent’ activists and academics are ideologically nonviolent, or pacifists. This could not be further from the truth. I’m not really sure what you’re getting at with your comment as you’re disparaging both armed methods and nonviolent methods. America is desperately in need of some social revolution, and the implication that because Sharp is an American that he is exporting a dominant American paradigm with some kind of intent to impose American democracy on the world is silly.
Beyond the stereotypes of Thailand’s “Reds”
Quote: “Then we went with empty hands, we only had machetes, wooden and iron bars, and they had guns. …”
Empty hands? What did they think they were going to use the machetes for, clearing the jungle?
Beyond the stereotypes of Thailand’s “Reds”
Nick, as Jim Taylor might be losing steam, here are some questions I tried posting in the coup thread which you might care to address:
Even IF Jim’s version is near the truth, he should be bitter not only at the forces opposed to his party, but also towards his party for its failures, in particular he needs to realistically assess:
1. Would a coup have been possible if Thaksin had not done the Shin corp tax free deal?
2. Would PAD still have any chance of being allowed to remain occupying government house if the PPP coalition government had opened up the constitution amendment to a consultative process with the aim of a new peoples constitution (instead of another one imposed to suit the needs of the current power)?
3. Should a political party put the interests of its benefactor(s) above the interests of the country?
Neither side can legitimately claim the high moral ground – Just because one side is unreasonable (or hopeless?), doesn’t mean the other side has to stoop to the same depths!
Beyond the stereotypes of Thailand’s “Reds”
Nick, it’s a pity those moderate elements are not more vocal, especially when Thaksin was ruling – if only they or the TRT could have moderated his worst excesses, the ground conditions for a coup would never have arisen, and Thaksin/TRT would most likely still be in power, and the country would not be so divided now.
Ditto for the PAD, most of which clearly want a better outcome for all Thai’s – despite the picture you paint of them.
IMO, an uncompromising PPP with an overriding agenda to restore Thaksin to power is not what the country needs – are the ‘reds’ you know capable of seeing that?
From the archive: Ponchaud on the Khmer revolution
Jaune? ^ I think he’s saying they are thieves. They’re all either thieves or the suckered accomplices of thieves IMO.
Obituary: Nouhak Phoumsavanh
The Lao newspapers report that Loung Nouhak was 98 and another source says he was 99. I am more likely to trust Martin’s information on this but was wondering why there was this ambiguity? I know many people in Laos do not actually know their true age due to lack of institutionalisation at birth and mostly in rural remote areas these days. I wonder if the same is true of Nouhak? No one remembers exactly what year he was born? Most likely just another example of a rather loose understanding of the importance of factual information on the part of government journalists.
He was a real old soldier. He seemed to get more lively towards the end, always appearing with a strong-worded quote in the news media. Yong was quoted in one article as saying they had only persuaded him to stop visiting the provinces in his reserve helicopter last year.
Certainly, as Martin suggests, these men did not end up producing the ‘Laos’ that they dreamed of back in the revolutionary days, but they are themselves an extraordinary product and a part of the imagined idea of modern Laos. One cannot help but feel a sad nostalgic sense of great passing (all human rights atrocities and anti-democratic practices noted) with the loss of Nouhak. And the inevitable question arises: who exactly are these old nagas being replaced by and what ideas and ideals will shape them as a part of the new Laos?
The Stilwell Road
Sangos, I didn’t mean Myitkyina was unsafe now. I wrote, “Years back KIA militia used to ambush the army convoys with deadly result and many collateral civilian dead. Even near Myitkyina is not safe at all.”
The remote part of Ledo Road between Namti ( that is up north from Mogaung) and Myitkyina used to be a hot spot for ambushes years back before the ceasefire between the Burmese Army and various Kachin armed groups.
That whole area was, or still is, controlled by the KIA( Kachin Independence Army) since the beginning of the Kachin rebellion. To counter that the army built many strategic villages, called Pa-la-na villages in Burmese, along the Ledo Road and mainly populated them with the retired Kachin soldiers from the army and the land-starved Burmese farmers moving up from the low lands like Indaw and Mogaung.
Like what China is doing in Tibet and Uighur, Burma is following with its own Burmanization of Kachin Land. But obviously it also created a huge racial tension in the area and the result was the violent clashes all over that section of Ledo Road for a very long time.
But the situations now has changed to the better as the result of current ceasefire. From China border to Myikyina, the Burma Road is now sealed and all weather usable. They even built a bridge, called Balaminhtin Bridge, over wide Irrawaddy from Khatcho on the west bank near Myikyina to Waimaw on the east bank.
Beyond the stereotypes of Thailand’s “Reds”
“nganadeeleg”:
you said:
“It all sounds promising, but unless they drop the blinkered loyalty to Thaksin they are no better than the PAD.”
It would have helped them if the Democrat Party, or any other party, would have developed and communicated policies to them. I can’t blame them for choosing the only party that actually has developed those policies, communicated them, and also went through with those promises.
There is a lot less blind loyalty to Thaksin than you imagine, people there are aware that Thaksin has more than a few faults.
But what can they do when faced with the only other choice a party that now openly supports the PAD, instead of thinking of some sort of policies of their own?
PAD is still sitting in Government House, the leaders can continue to evade their arrest warrants, Sondhi L. can come and go as he pleases, has meetings and safe houses all over Bangkok, because he gets such a high level protection that police can’t do a thing about it.
And you wonder why the more violent parts of the reds start dominating the show? The legal system now is so blatantly partial, the police is not allowed to do their work – so what do you expect?
Coup talk
New Government line-up. BTW, Jonferquest and Matty may be happy …. and especially as they learn this is my last contribution! The ignorance around me is too much. These guys seem to be on the back feet in a losing position of moral justification! And the reality is that vote buying will go on for a long time until consumers realise it is useless. That is a gradual process of democratisation. There are after all lots of things happening in Thailand that are “illegal” right now?? (just look around). So, now for readers here is the line up of the new Government that will be announced mid-week (no need for elections folk; pro-PAD intellectuals including academics who still support them know-best):
1. Abhisit (PM/Fuehrer – though his popularity even among the urban faithful is declining as he slips and slides around)
2. Sondhi, Minister of Mass Propaganda (formerly Mass Communications)
3. Suriyasai, Minister of Education to eduacte the rural voters in “democracy” new Thai-style
4. Phra Photirak, Minister of Religious Affairs (and newly proposed Sangkharat)
5. Chamlong, Minister of Defence (back with the boys where he always wanted to be)
6. Prem (Chief Government Advisor and supreme Puppet Master of the “Amaat” conservatives)
7. Panlop, Head of Gestapo (to keep the masses in line from ever thinking their voice actually counts anymore)
8. Jaran, Head of Justice & the new portfolio: “Keep Trying to Find Hard Evidence Against Thaksin” (it must be there somewhere right?)
Duncan, who I do admire, got it nearly right: However “Network Monarchy” in fact does not start and end with the king but in fact the real power broker: Prem. We need to talk with those who really know. That’s been a problem with a number of Thai political economists in that much comes from a selective intelligentsia. Incidentally guys, what did the Democrat Party actually do that had any real outcomes even in their heartland -the south? They were even prepared last month to informally give a wink to the destruction of national economy and local businesses in their electorate with the illegal airport blockades: Motives? We know they have never done anything useful for people in the south as all useful projects were initiated or completed during the governments run by other parties such as Chat Thai, Chatichai and Banhan, and more recently TRT, Thaksin. But you all may be intereested to know that there is still some hope as the new ABAC Bangkok Poll found that 58% (even in the metropolis) want PPP with Sompong to be next PM; less than 20% want PAD. In summary I’d say that there is no need for a coup (as one or two bloggers note) because the military already established a route to power & control since 2006 thanks to the flower-givers by emplacing mates in the judiciary with a set agenda using Sondhi’s imaginative fiction; the appointment of 73 hand-picked unelected Senators, also with the same criteria, and a compliant Democrat Party and Brown Shirts (wearing yellow) in the streets. Then the military don’t listen to the parliament (the state of emergency was ineffective anyway) and they just get the Democrats to create dissension among PPP and its minor party constituents; even pay them if necessary. Neat: No need for a coup eh??
Beyond the stereotypes of Thailand’s “Reds”
Thanks for the photo’s Nick – an interesting contrast to other ‘reds’ photo’s which are available.
It all sounds promising, but unless they drop the blinkered loyalty to Thaksin they are no better than the PAD.
Also, both sides are happy enought to incite violence, but the ‘reds’ seem to have a greater demonstrated propensity to instigate it.
Lets support the good Thaksin/TRT policies, but how does turning a blind eye to his wrongdoings help things get better?
Blind loyalty is a problem no matter which side it is on.
What’s needed for things to get better is for the people in both the ‘red’ and ‘yellow’ camps to each turn a bit ‘orange’ and be prepared to give consideration and understanding to the concerns of the other side.
Those ‘orange’ folks need to abandon their respective ‘red’ and ‘yellow’ camp leaders, leaving only the unreasonable hardcore believers (nutters or paid lackeys) remaining as a fringe groups which can easily be sidelined due to their unreasonableness->lack of support.
The resolution to this mess has always been relatively simple.
The Stilwell Road
Hi everyone,
Just to clarify, Myitkyina is not unsafe. In fact, you would have to be relatively unlucky (as someone carrying a foreign-passport) to run into too much trouble in the Kachin State, unless you really went looking for it. These days the KIA (or whoever) is the least of your worries. Things change but, right now, vast areas of the Kachin State are easy to get around and most of the Stilwell Road is a simple trip. No fancy four-wheel drives required. Even in the wet season.
Does that change things?
Discussing the plans of various adventurers and thrill-seekers with someone wise who knows this area well, we both agreed that keeping cars on the road (i.e. out of ditches, out of the trees), not knocking over any pedestrians, and then managing all of the interest in yourselves and your agenda will be the major challenges.
Trips like this have been done before; and they will be done again.
But, to my eye, they need purpose. Mandy Sadan’s comments further up this thread may help to illuminate why that matters.
Best wishes to all,
Nich