Jonathan Head should go to prison for his low class behaviour, he has used the BBC for his own political propaganda in a foreign country – clearly evil. Most of us believe that he will be sentenced hard and might even end up sharing a VIP cell with Jakkapop.
The question is what on earth of Jonathan smoking when he wrote his piece insulting the Crown Prince and joking about pink suits?
Jonathan also hosted an event that apparently rammed into Elizabeth quite hard.
If Jonathan escapes the bookmakers stand to lose alot of money – I doubt it will be the full 15 years, perhaps just 6 months as a lesson to this ignorant paparazzi journo on an ego trip.
The most important question is who is the mysterious hand behind Jakkrapop and Jonathan?
These dancers are simply subhuman when they assume the role of coyote (or cayote), which is a kind of wolf. Many literal-minded Thais pronounce the word р╣Вр╕Др╣Вр╕вр╕Хр╕╡, another problem of English-Thai correspondence.
If a criminal lawyer should by conscience only defend those accused he presumes to be innocent . . . that lawyer would surely have lost his “professionalism”.
Even a self-confessed serial rapist or murderer deserve his day in court . . if only to establish his “sanity” when he committed the crimes and appropriate punishment meted out.
But in this forum , and following 9/11, there appears to be a growing clamor for “special anti-terrorism laws” that would treat suspected terrorists “differently”. I believe that will be a gross error . . .
Governments and states will use any excuse, and “terrorism” or “Southern insurgency running amuck” to shackle its citizen’s rights for expediency that would only encourage state incompetence, and worse, unchecked police abuse of basic human rights that only provoke more extremism because there is no longer any constitutional safeguard under a working rule of law.
Without any rule of law . . . extremism will follow and grow.
I can’t remark about the treatment of royal at the Harry Connick concert other than to note that the amount of pomp involved in unofficial public appearances depends on the identity of the royal in question.
Regarding the absence of yellow shirts, a significant factor is that state officials (who had previously been essentially required to wear the yellow) are still under orders to wear black and white to mourn the passing of HRH Princess Galyani. That mourning period should be ending soon, so we will see if the yellow shirts return. (I have recently noted a few government/politics people starting to wear thier pink shirts again).
In any case, it is probably hasty to consider either the relative informality at the concert or the absence of yellow on the street as a sign of the times.
It is interesting that Head was charged for something that allegedly occurred in December of 2007 the day after a embarrassing piece he wrote about the Thailand’s elite appeared in print.
Serhat, I think that foreigners are given more free reign than Thais to comment on issues such as the monarchy. If the New Mandala was a Thai-based website, it might have had it doors bashing in during the night and hosts carted off to jail. We just wouldn’t hear about it.
The claim that Handley was only opposed because he is a farang seems absurd. Any Thai who published that would be jailed if the royalist goons didn’t kill him or her first.
I do think this will backfire and the case will be dropped. However, if he is jailed, I will be the first to wear a “Free Head” tee-shirt.
It simply proves that most Thais are fake Buddhists. It makes them feel good to wear the tag of Buddhism while they actually practice animism and hedonism. What is worrisome also is the queen’s intervention in anything at her whim. This manner of intervention runs counter to the constitutional monarchy she is under. If she has any complaint, she should address it to the Prime Minister.
Khun Ladda is indeed fighting a losing battle. Thailand today has passed the point of certain “national” dresses. Khun Ladda herself is not wearing any selblance of Thai dress either in her photo. So this subject amounts to what Shakespeare aptly says: “It’s a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” Incidentally, what would Khun Ladda say about Madame Srirasmi’s nude photos?
It’s interesting that the moderators at Thai Visa have deleted the entire discussion of lese majeste charges made against Jonathan Head.If foreigners, admittedly in this case with a kowtowing track record, can be cowed in this way how much more can Thai journalists?
Lese majeste is certainly passe, and should be done away with. No public man publicly funded as well as publicly charged should be exempted from public scrutiny, unless we want Thailand to stay backward.
Incidentally, the reappointment of Surayudh and the appointment of two conservative former judges as privy councillors came as no surprise. And this vis-a-vis the “mysterious hand”!
MURDER WITH IMPUNITY
By Jon Ungphakorn, Bangkok Post, 9 April 2008
I could imagine what lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit felt as he gradually realised what was happening to him. I could easily imagine a similar event happening to anyone else in Thailand who dared to challenge the illegal actions of the police
It is an ordinary Friday morning.
You leave your office on Ratchadapisek Road at 9am to meet a client at Robinson Department Store, Bangrak. Accompanied by your assistant, you drive along the Expressway and park your car at the South Bangkok Civil Court, where you instruct your assistant to deliver some documents to another client. On arriving at the nearby Robinson Bangrak store, you telephone your client and find out that due to a misunderstanding he is waiting for you at the Robinson Silom store.
You take a taxi to the store and talk with your client for two hours, then take another taxi to the Central Bankruptcy Court where you meet up with your assistant again. Unknown to you, five mobile phone users are recorded as being close to you throughout the day.
It’s 2:30pm. You drive back to your office on Ratchadapisek Soi 32, accompanied by your assistant. You stop at a gas station on Chan Road before getting on the Expressway. After spending two hours at the office, you drive to the Chaleena Hotel on Ramkamhaeng Soi 65 to meet a friend. Your assistant goes with you.
On the way you stop to pray at a mosque near the hotel and have a meal at a nearby restaurant. You arrive at the Chaleena Hotel around 7pm and wait for your friend for well over an hour before deciding to leave. You phone your daughter to tell her you are tired and will be staying the night at your brother’s home nearby.
At 8:30pm you say goodbye to your assistant at Chaleena Hotel and drive across the Saen Saab Canal to Ramkamhaeng road, where you turn left and drive towards the Lam Salee intersection.
Suddenly your car is bumped from behind. You get out and see some men seated in a black Toyota sedan which has bumped into the rear of your car. You recognise one of them as a police officer accused of torturing one of your clients. He asks you to accompany the group for some discussions.
You refuse. He gets out and pushes you towards the rear door of the black Toyota. You shout for help and struggle with the policeman. Some bystanders look on as you are helplessly pushed into the car, which drives away.
This is what happened to lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit on March 12, 2004, just over four years ago. He was never seen again.
On Sunday, March 30 of this year, I travelled with a small group led by his wife (and presumed widow), Mrs Angkhana Neelaphaijit and their son and daughters, to retrace the steps of lawyer Somchai on that fateful day. Despite being fully familiar with the events relating to lawyer Somchai’s abduction and disappearance, this was the first time I really felt the horror of the abduction, which took place in a crowded street of Bangkok in front of bystanders.
I could imagine what lawyer Somchai felt as he gradually realised what was happening to him. I could easily imagine a similar event happening to anyone else in Thailand who dared to challenge the illegal actions of the police, as lawyer Somchai did by publicising the police torture of Muslim suspects who were his clients.
Five policemen were arrested and tried in connection with the abduction of lawyer Somchai, but eventually only one of them, Police Major Ngern Tongsuk, was convicted of physical coercion and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment. He is at present appealing the conviction. The other defendants, including his immediate superior, were found not guilty due to insufficient evidence.
Unfortunately, the defendants could not be charged with kidnapping under Thai law as they had not demanded any ransom. They could not be charged with murder because no body (or remains) was ever recovered. Both the investigation and the prosecution were carried out so poorly that links to higher-ranking officers were never fully explored.
It is widely believed, however, that a number of top ranking police officers and very possibly some individuals closely linked to the Thaksin Shinawatra administration were aware of, or involved in, the abduction and presumed murder of lawyer Somchai.
What happened to lawyer Somchai is particularly shocking because he was a prominent middle-class human rights lawyer abducted in the streets of Bangkok. However, the abduction, torture and killing of Muslim separatist suspects are common in the southern border provinces, and are rarely reported in the media.
One exception is the widely reported case of Imam Yapa Kaseng, who died in Narathiwat province between March 19-21 of this year while in military custody.
Taking these events together with the more than 2,000 extrajudicial killings that took place during the 2003 official war on drugs, the mass killings in mysterious circumstances of the entire Sabayoi Youth football team on April 28, 2004, and the deaths of 78 demonstrators taken into military custody at Tak Bai on Oct 25 2004, it is obvious that we live in a country where the military and the police are ready to abduct, torture and kill people they perceive as enemies, with complete disregard to lawful procedures.
While Thai society allows the military, police and their political masters to remain immune from accountability with regard to state violence and murder, we are all responsible for these crimes.
Jon Ungphakorn is a former elected senator for Bangkok and a Thai NGO activist.
Bangkok Pundit points out that Lt. Col. Wattanasak Mungkandee is the same person who filed the lese majeste complaint in March against former Thaksin spokesman Jakrapob Penkair for something he said at the FCCT in August.
Jonathan Head is targeted to send a message to all reporters (the vast majority of whom never say anything remotely critical of the monarchy anyway). At the same time, there is a similar message sent to academics by the fact that a number participated in the event.
Why Head? Is it because of what he said or is it because of him being BBC? The Thai public would not remember the name, perhaps don’t even care what was said or not said, but the news and words will go like “BBC journalist was charged for the LM”
Why BBC? To send a “warning” signal to foreign journalists, is BBC the smart target to strike? The authorities could have sent an equally strong signal with less repurcussion and less international exposure of their own stupidity by choosing a smaller target.
On the other hand, please don’t rule out the possibility of a politically naive colonel who acted on his own believe. If so, the case will be resolved quickly and/or quietly.
In any case, the warning signal was already spread. At the least, the FCCT people must be chilled!! The FCCT forum might not be the same. I hope they are in good spirit and don’t budge.
Is this all the authorities want ? … and the case could be resolved quickly and/or quietly.
Re: Andrew’s remark —
No real battle is over in one strike. A few events (the monarchy panels or the FCCT ones) would not open up a free talk. I do think a public talk about the monarchy is a necessary thing to do in Thai society. We need to push the boundary. But it won’t be easy and won’t be welcomed. There were strikes back — yes, past tense. Do expect more.
Academics may be less vulnerable than journalists in certain ways. But there are certains ways that academics got struck back too. Anybody thinks doing this is for fame or personal gains never tries doing it himself.
I agree that all panelist, including Kevin Hewison, were careful of what they said and successful in the balancing act of talking about monarchy without going too far. That’s why I was surprised reading the recent news. However, it seems that if “protectors of the monarchy” want to find fault with such events, or send out a warning, they will always find someone to blame (in this case one of the least likely actors considering what he actually said) however incoherent their accusations may be.
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Lèse majesté and the BBC
Jonathan Head should go to prison for his low class behaviour, he has used the BBC for his own political propaganda in a foreign country – clearly evil. Most of us believe that he will be sentenced hard and might even end up sharing a VIP cell with Jakkapop.
The question is what on earth of Jonathan smoking when he wrote his piece insulting the Crown Prince and joking about pink suits?
Jonathan also hosted an event that apparently rammed into Elizabeth quite hard.
If Jonathan escapes the bookmakers stand to lose alot of money – I doubt it will be the full 15 years, perhaps just 6 months as a lesson to this ignorant paparazzi journo on an ego trip.
The most important question is who is the mysterious hand behind Jakkrapop and Jonathan?
Who i s financing this propaganda?
What is Jonathan’s motive?
has he forgotten about newspaper ethics?
Lewd dancing and Buddhist festivals
These dancers are simply subhuman when they assume the role of coyote (or cayote), which is a kind of wolf. Many literal-minded Thais pronounce the word р╣Вр╕Др╣Вр╕вр╕Хр╕╡, another problem of English-Thai correspondence.
Whatever happened to Colonel Jeru?
And nganadeeleg is Hobby? It’s all getting very confusing. I wonder if I am someone else too.
The disappearance of Somchai Neelaphaijit
If a criminal lawyer should by conscience only defend those accused he presumes to be innocent . . . that lawyer would surely have lost his “professionalism”.
Even a self-confessed serial rapist or murderer deserve his day in court . . if only to establish his “sanity” when he committed the crimes and appropriate punishment meted out.
But in this forum , and following 9/11, there appears to be a growing clamor for “special anti-terrorism laws” that would treat suspected terrorists “differently”. I believe that will be a gross error . . .
Governments and states will use any excuse, and “terrorism” or “Southern insurgency running amuck” to shackle its citizen’s rights for expediency that would only encourage state incompetence, and worse, unchecked police abuse of basic human rights that only provoke more extremism because there is no longer any constitutional safeguard under a working rule of law.
Without any rule of law . . . extremism will follow and grow.
The disappearance of Somchai Neelaphaijit
I played with the idea of posting this piece by Jon here on NM, but was too afraid of being bashed badly by LSS. 🙂
Lèse majesté and the BBC
Song Kinh,
I can’t remark about the treatment of royal at the Harry Connick concert other than to note that the amount of pomp involved in unofficial public appearances depends on the identity of the royal in question.
Regarding the absence of yellow shirts, a significant factor is that state officials (who had previously been essentially required to wear the yellow) are still under orders to wear black and white to mourn the passing of HRH Princess Galyani. That mourning period should be ending soon, so we will see if the yellow shirts return. (I have recently noted a few government/politics people starting to wear thier pink shirts again).
In any case, it is probably hasty to consider either the relative informality at the concert or the absence of yellow on the street as a sign of the times.
Lèse majesté and the BBC
It is interesting that Head was charged for something that allegedly occurred in December of 2007 the day after a embarrassing piece he wrote about the Thailand’s elite appeared in print.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7328054.stm
Lèse majesté and the BBC
Serhat, I think that foreigners are given more free reign than Thais to comment on issues such as the monarchy. If the New Mandala was a Thai-based website, it might have had it doors bashing in during the night and hosts carted off to jail. We just wouldn’t hear about it.
The claim that Handley was only opposed because he is a farang seems absurd. Any Thai who published that would be jailed if the royalist goons didn’t kill him or her first.
I do think this will backfire and the case will be dropped. However, if he is jailed, I will be the first to wear a “Free Head” tee-shirt.
Lewd dancing and Buddhist festivals
It simply proves that most Thais are fake Buddhists. It makes them feel good to wear the tag of Buddhism while they actually practice animism and hedonism. What is worrisome also is the queen’s intervention in anything at her whim. This manner of intervention runs counter to the constitutional monarchy she is under. If she has any complaint, she should address it to the Prime Minister.
Spot the Thai national dress
Khun Ladda is indeed fighting a losing battle. Thailand today has passed the point of certain “national” dresses. Khun Ladda herself is not wearing any selblance of Thai dress either in her photo. So this subject amounts to what Shakespeare aptly says: “It’s a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” Incidentally, what would Khun Ladda say about Madame Srirasmi’s nude photos?
Thailand’s crown prince
These pictures of the naked consort of the Clown (not crown, mind you) Prince should leave the Ministry of Culture speechless!
Lèse majesté and the BBC
It’s interesting that the moderators at Thai Visa have deleted the entire discussion of lese majeste charges made against Jonathan Head.If foreigners, admittedly in this case with a kowtowing track record, can be cowed in this way how much more can Thai journalists?
Lèse majesté and the BBC
Lese majeste is certainly passe, and should be done away with. No public man publicly funded as well as publicly charged should be exempted from public scrutiny, unless we want Thailand to stay backward.
Incidentally, the reappointment of Surayudh and the appointment of two conservative former judges as privy councillors came as no surprise. And this vis-a-vis the “mysterious hand”!
The disappearance of Somchai Neelaphaijit
MURDER WITH IMPUNITY
By Jon Ungphakorn, Bangkok Post, 9 April 2008
I could imagine what lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit felt as he gradually realised what was happening to him. I could easily imagine a similar event happening to anyone else in Thailand who dared to challenge the illegal actions of the police
It is an ordinary Friday morning.
You leave your office on Ratchadapisek Road at 9am to meet a client at Robinson Department Store, Bangrak. Accompanied by your assistant, you drive along the Expressway and park your car at the South Bangkok Civil Court, where you instruct your assistant to deliver some documents to another client. On arriving at the nearby Robinson Bangrak store, you telephone your client and find out that due to a misunderstanding he is waiting for you at the Robinson Silom store.
You take a taxi to the store and talk with your client for two hours, then take another taxi to the Central Bankruptcy Court where you meet up with your assistant again. Unknown to you, five mobile phone users are recorded as being close to you throughout the day.
It’s 2:30pm. You drive back to your office on Ratchadapisek Soi 32, accompanied by your assistant. You stop at a gas station on Chan Road before getting on the Expressway. After spending two hours at the office, you drive to the Chaleena Hotel on Ramkamhaeng Soi 65 to meet a friend. Your assistant goes with you.
On the way you stop to pray at a mosque near the hotel and have a meal at a nearby restaurant. You arrive at the Chaleena Hotel around 7pm and wait for your friend for well over an hour before deciding to leave. You phone your daughter to tell her you are tired and will be staying the night at your brother’s home nearby.
At 8:30pm you say goodbye to your assistant at Chaleena Hotel and drive across the Saen Saab Canal to Ramkamhaeng road, where you turn left and drive towards the Lam Salee intersection.
Suddenly your car is bumped from behind. You get out and see some men seated in a black Toyota sedan which has bumped into the rear of your car. You recognise one of them as a police officer accused of torturing one of your clients. He asks you to accompany the group for some discussions.
You refuse. He gets out and pushes you towards the rear door of the black Toyota. You shout for help and struggle with the policeman. Some bystanders look on as you are helplessly pushed into the car, which drives away.
This is what happened to lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit on March 12, 2004, just over four years ago. He was never seen again.
On Sunday, March 30 of this year, I travelled with a small group led by his wife (and presumed widow), Mrs Angkhana Neelaphaijit and their son and daughters, to retrace the steps of lawyer Somchai on that fateful day. Despite being fully familiar with the events relating to lawyer Somchai’s abduction and disappearance, this was the first time I really felt the horror of the abduction, which took place in a crowded street of Bangkok in front of bystanders.
I could imagine what lawyer Somchai felt as he gradually realised what was happening to him. I could easily imagine a similar event happening to anyone else in Thailand who dared to challenge the illegal actions of the police, as lawyer Somchai did by publicising the police torture of Muslim suspects who were his clients.
Five policemen were arrested and tried in connection with the abduction of lawyer Somchai, but eventually only one of them, Police Major Ngern Tongsuk, was convicted of physical coercion and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment. He is at present appealing the conviction. The other defendants, including his immediate superior, were found not guilty due to insufficient evidence.
Unfortunately, the defendants could not be charged with kidnapping under Thai law as they had not demanded any ransom. They could not be charged with murder because no body (or remains) was ever recovered. Both the investigation and the prosecution were carried out so poorly that links to higher-ranking officers were never fully explored.
It is widely believed, however, that a number of top ranking police officers and very possibly some individuals closely linked to the Thaksin Shinawatra administration were aware of, or involved in, the abduction and presumed murder of lawyer Somchai.
What happened to lawyer Somchai is particularly shocking because he was a prominent middle-class human rights lawyer abducted in the streets of Bangkok. However, the abduction, torture and killing of Muslim separatist suspects are common in the southern border provinces, and are rarely reported in the media.
One exception is the widely reported case of Imam Yapa Kaseng, who died in Narathiwat province between March 19-21 of this year while in military custody.
Taking these events together with the more than 2,000 extrajudicial killings that took place during the 2003 official war on drugs, the mass killings in mysterious circumstances of the entire Sabayoi Youth football team on April 28, 2004, and the deaths of 78 demonstrators taken into military custody at Tak Bai on Oct 25 2004, it is obvious that we live in a country where the military and the police are ready to abduct, torture and kill people they perceive as enemies, with complete disregard to lawful procedures.
While Thai society allows the military, police and their political masters to remain immune from accountability with regard to state violence and murder, we are all responsible for these crimes.
Jon Ungphakorn is a former elected senator for Bangkok and a Thai NGO activist.
Whatever happened to Colonel Jeru?
Vichai N and Colonel Jeru are one and the same person . . suffering multiple personality disorders.
I personally preferred the Vichai N persona. His commentry on Thaksin’s culpability in the war on drugs was classic – I saved it for posterity here: http://nganadeeleg.blogspot.com/2007/08/thaksins-culpability-in-war-on-drugs.html
Taxi Driver: I’ve always suspected the taxi driver and Nirut were one and the same – is another confession due?
Hobby
Lèse majesté and the BBC
Bangkok Pundit points out that Lt. Col. Wattanasak Mungkandee is the same person who filed the lese majeste complaint in March against former Thaksin spokesman Jakrapob Penkair for something he said at the FCCT in August.
http://bangkokpundit.blogspot.com/2008/03/lese-majeste-and-jakrapob.html
http://bangkokpundit.blogspot.com/2008/04/first-they-came-for-jakrapob.html
I’d think there’s little liklihood that he is a “politically naive colonel” if he’s done this twice.
Lèse majesté and the BBC
Jonathan Head is targeted to send a message to all reporters (the vast majority of whom never say anything remotely critical of the monarchy anyway). At the same time, there is a similar message sent to academics by the fact that a number participated in the event.
Lèse majesté and the BBC
A recollection of reactions in internet forums on the incident of BBC reporter Jonathan head of the BBC being accused of ‘lese majeste’ can be found here: http://tropicalramblings.blogspot.com/2008/04/thai-police-file-lese-majeste-against.html
Lèse majesté and the BBC
Why Head? Is it because of what he said or is it because of him being BBC? The Thai public would not remember the name, perhaps don’t even care what was said or not said, but the news and words will go like “BBC journalist was charged for the LM”
Why BBC? To send a “warning” signal to foreign journalists, is BBC the smart target to strike? The authorities could have sent an equally strong signal with less repurcussion and less international exposure of their own stupidity by choosing a smaller target.
On the other hand, please don’t rule out the possibility of a politically naive colonel who acted on his own believe. If so, the case will be resolved quickly and/or quietly.
In any case, the warning signal was already spread. At the least, the FCCT people must be chilled!! The FCCT forum might not be the same. I hope they are in good spirit and don’t budge.
Is this all the authorities want ? … and the case could be resolved quickly and/or quietly.
Re: Andrew’s remark —
No real battle is over in one strike. A few events (the monarchy panels or the FCCT ones) would not open up a free talk. I do think a public talk about the monarchy is a necessary thing to do in Thai society. We need to push the boundary. But it won’t be easy and won’t be welcomed. There were strikes back — yes, past tense. Do expect more.
Academics may be less vulnerable than journalists in certain ways. But there are certains ways that academics got struck back too. Anybody thinks doing this is for fame or personal gains never tries doing it himself.
Lèse majesté and the BBC
I agree that all panelist, including Kevin Hewison, were careful of what they said and successful in the balancing act of talking about monarchy without going too far. That’s why I was surprised reading the recent news. However, it seems that if “protectors of the monarchy” want to find fault with such events, or send out a warning, they will always find someone to blame (in this case one of the least likely actors considering what he actually said) however incoherent their accusations may be.