Ashley, I do think that it would be appropriate to add the many Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) reports (available here) to your list. As based directly on the first-hand accounts of Karen villagers themselves (who are of course living in the war zones of Burma), and with extensive use of direct quotes from local villagers, these reports are probably the most extensive “first hand” accounts of the situation; and thus avoid the credibility problems of most external reports.
I don’t know who Nay Yu or it’s genda but I hope it is a male’s name.I was so busy therefore I couldn’t respond to his comment which I regard as unreasonable. He suggests I should read books to see that sanctions work. I have read thick text books all my professional life ,therefore I know what they are like. The fact is that by the time a book is published facts are already 10-20years out of date. If you really want to know more accurate facts stick to current journals. But personal experience with real people will give you real insight into the problem. I don’t what Nay Yu does but since 1995 I have been going back to Myanmar regularly once or twice a year and travelled extensively in the country mixing with people of different walks of life in rural and urban areas as well. Therefore I know what I am talking about. As a doctor I am a practical man and try to solve problems in practical way.When you are dealing with a bleeding patient you just arrest the bleeding to save life .You don’t escape into library to look for theory. I have seen with my own eyes the suffering of the ordinary people ,children with malnutrition and stunted growth; broken marriages;prostitution;children who can’t go to school or abandoned by their parents who can’t afford to feed them. I can still give a longer list of their suffering and these are ordinary people and not army officers whom sanctions are targeted. Not only me but our staff at Friends of Rainforests in Myanmar’s office in Yangon also have witnessed themselves as well. These woes of the poor are due to the combination of factors such as Ma Su’s recommendation of the boycott of tourism,stopping investment and isolation of Myanmar. Her recommendation was taken seriously by her western friends without realisation of the impact on the poor but not hurting the generals at all.Even if the west knew they won’t give damn to what happen to Myanmar’s poor. They are doing something as Ma Su suggests and be seen as politically correct,that’s all what they care. Some one like Nay Yu is very much like many of my psychotic patients who lack insight as they are overwhelmed with delusions.If we look at history sanctions have been applied to countries at different times and almost all failed to work. Myanmar is the biggest country in south east Asian peninsular region with vast natural resources most of them remained untapped . In south east Asia Myanmar has the largest potential to produce hydroelectric power of 38,000 mega watts. Bay of martaban is dubbed as second Libya in oil and gas deposit and only few plots have been exploited .That does stop Myanmar to become the number 10 biggest gas producer in the world. Out of approximately $300 annual income by tourism only20-30 percent goes to the government and the rest is spread around among the private business and ordinary people. As government is receiving in excess of $ 6-7+ billions from the sale of gas alone giving them surplus budget Ma Su’s idea of strangulating government by tourism boycott etc shows her poor knowledge of our country as well as lack of political wisdom. But the blind followers like Nay Yu are either unable to see the reality or too stubborn to admit defeat. Now we are going to have the opportunity to vote for the constitution.I have read and not entirely comfortable with some points but on the whole ,in my opinion, it is acceptable under the present circumstances and I will give yes vote.As many pragmatic and intelligent people are now saying “it is better to have an imperfect constitution than no constitution”. I entirely agree with them. Boycotting tourists and discouraging investment is crime against ordinary citizens and it hits the poor hardest. In Buddhism this kind of action is known as “Akusala or bad action” and who ever commits Akusala has to pay the price now or in next life. I live on the same road as Ma Su in Yangon. Whenever I passed her house I feel sad for her and wondered what kind of Akusala she has committed in her past life.
Antonio Graffeco didn’t make any claims that he interviewed Bleming in his article, the only implication was that he was familiar with him. Regardless, misrepresentation in the media seems to be par for the course for public figures of any size – if it weren’t there certainly wouldn’t be such huge PR industry and professionals devoted to doctoring public images.
Chasing these stories around and making inflammatory comments about journos, as Grasshopper points out, probably does far more to attract negative attention than the stories ever did in the first place.
As the one who suggested that Jeru be designated Colonel because he was putting the military’s line, I miss his military-royalist position. I wonder if he lost his job when PPP took government? Was he really paid by the military to counter-blog? (I’m hoping that by being provocative, we might stir the good Colonel)
Grasshopper: you are absolutely right that the pro-elite perspective has been kind of lost. At the same time, the royalist-military elite seems to be working away. The act of voting in December has not seen an end to the struggle between the competing elites.
No, I’m not Thomas Bleming. I’m Charles Foster, a long time friend of Blemings.
In regards to my mention of slit trenches, I’m a firm believer in direct action. Some people have the notion that they can attack people with impunity, that they can say whatever they please, no matter how untrue or hurtful, and get away with it just because they’re journalists.
I would bring your attention to CBS News and what they did to General William Westmoreland.
I defend Bleming because it’s the right thing to do. And because he’s my friend.
My late father once told me that if you live to be one hundred, you can count your real friends on the fingers of one hand – and still have fingers left over. I find that to be true. Bleming is my friend.
I firmly believe that there are forces working behind the scenes to marginalize Bleming because he stepped on some important toes while in Mae Sot. He went directly to the KNLA and sidestepped the KNU, apparently some sort of protocol violation in their eyes.
And he gave interviews. I wouldn’t have done that, and I told him not to. But Tom is his own man and does as he pleases.
There are things going on that I’m not at liberty to discuss. There are people I’m corresponding with that don’t want their hands shown. There is information that I can’t share.
You have to take it on faith ( yeah, I know), the same faith that’s being shown to these ridiculous news reports.
I can tell you this much; after the flurry of reports, Bleming was informally interviewed by a Thai police colonel. At the end of the interview, Bleming was offered an extended visa.
I know, and so do a lot of other people, that certain members of the KNU are having business dealings with the SPDC. This is no secret.
These guys are lining their pockets with money obtained through the smuggling of timber, gems and narcotics.
Coupled with this, you have “tame” journalists who write touchy-feely articles about the plight of the Karen refugees, citing their need for aid and assistance.
Then a guy like Bleming comes along and advocates military action on a scale not seen in that area in many years. That made people sit up and take notice.
I wouldn’t have done it that way, but he’s there and I’m not.
I may at times go a bit overboard in my defense of Tom Bleming. If so, it’s because journalists are writing about some stranger, and putting Tom Blemings name on it. They’re cherry picking what they want their audience to read.
Case in point is the stinger missiles. When I read that I had to laugh, because I knew immediately that it was made up. Bleming has as much access to stinger missiles as he does to nuclear weapons. And the reporter – if he did his homework – has to know it as well. It was so ridiculous that I thought it must be some sort of inside joke.
Today I put a reporter into contact with Bleming. It may take a while for something to happen, due to where Bleming presently is. But if things click, perhaps a more balanced article will emerge. I trust the reporter to get it right, as he’s ex-military and knows his way around that culture. And he has no personal axe to grind, having no ties to the KNU. That’s the best I can do.
“has accidentally transformed into reality” > Actually, no, because PPP is not TRT.
Re the dissolution, Thonbai Thongbai commented (in BP, March 30, 2008): “And this is the price we paidfor disbanding a party — ministers whose names we have never heard of, or with credentials and qualifications that are so out of sync with their portfolios that one can’t help but wonder whether they can really do their jobs. So the question is: Do we really want to continue down this path? Amend if we must, but if you aks me, only selectively, and the parties should be spared.”
On the other hand, a law professor at Thammasat University thought (in Matichon, April 7, 2008): “Article 237 can be compared to a strong medicine to cure a chronic fever. This medicine will have to be used for a period of time first, before it can be replaced by a weaker medicine. If we discontinue this medicine by amending Article 237, this chronic illness will spread widely, because it will be immune against medicine. There will be no medicine left which is strong enough to solve [the problem].”
Thus, this group of people see the Constitution Drafting Committee as a group of doctors who commanded superior professional knowledge about Thai politics, the patient. This hierarchically superior position gave, and give, this group the right to decide instead of the patient.
Of course Jon, but economic stability is largely in the hands of the elite. The elite are Thailand. Not the silly villagers who voted PPP in exchange for sacks with $HK written on them. Ah… Jeru was so good at simplifying things. I see I have lit the same spark in you Jon that Jeru fired in us all.
The universality of Andrew Walker (and farang academics in general) being wrong, indifference to a silly constitution because the King is great, enforcing rural stupidity, knowing democratic poison, seeing the scourge of Thaksin and populism – sadly, these ideals and perceptions are all waining from me.
Grasshopper: “There is noticeably an unfortunate absence of pro-elite commentary on New Mandala.”
That’s one way of reducing the incredibly complex multi-dimensional reality in Thailand to one overly simplistic dimension. People do worry about things other than politics. The economy, for instance. People are worried about political stability and the economy, elite or non-elite, realise yet another election will have the same result. If opinion polls and demographics were advanced enough, you could even plot the dynamics of these changes in different sectors of society. Instead we create simplistic categories, elite/non-elite.
Also New Mandala hasn’t made any postings on the recent kick fights over constitutional amendments (now I’m afraid of being kicked for saying that), exactly how much is to be amended, and is it really as easy as that? two weeks…boom,…new constitution!, or on the approaching court decisions on certain party leaders that would initiate automatic party dissolution. A broad sector of society is worried about that.
Also as political commentator Nattakorn pointed out another factor that may have something to do with it:
“In effect, the dream of seeing Thai Rak Thai party (TRT) not entirely manipulated by one man with all the say has accidentally transformed into reality.”
If the fruit maidens and their wizard creators at Wat Suvannaram, Thonburi are any indication, Mae Thorani is just like any other normal well-adjusted goddess, nothing to worry about:
Many thanks for the information, Nick and Stephen. That the Chinese were planning years ahead was also my impression when cruising the road from Muang Hai to Daluo in 2004. It was a nice trip to the border then, but apparently not good enough for someone┬┤s standards, and re-construction of the road began soon after -work is still in progress, and now it takes about 5 hours to get to Daluo from Jinghong. Never-ending improvements have also made the 50 km trip from Jinghong to Muang Long (in southern Sipsong Panna) into a 3-hour ordeal; one official complained to me that the government started repairing this road without having secured funding to finish the job, and this may be the problem for other projects in the area. In any case, it seems that the completion of the link Jinghong-Mae Sai is nowhere near.
Thomas Bleming’s ‘War in Karen Country’ contains many significant errors, both of fact and interpretation. Like ‘The Long Patrol’, it reproduces a set of assumptions and clichés about Karen nationalism and armed conflict in eastern Burma. These books fail to question who is fighting for what, and why. They also expose third parties to danger [e.g. ‘No 4 Guest House’ in Mae Sot, and the villages visited and named by the authors].
Unfortunately, there are few credible, historically-informed, first-hand accounts of life in the war-zones of Burma. What is required is a good ethnography of the armed Karen nationalist movement. The closet thing so far is ‘True Love and Bartholomew’ [an excellent read]. The Free Burma Rangers’ regular field reports also provide much accurate and useful information. Additional useful sources include:
тАв Desmond Ball, Burma’s Military Secrets: Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) from the Second World War to Civil War and Cyber Warfare (White Lotus 1998)
тАв Burma Ethnic Research Group, Forgotten Victims of a Hidden War: internally displaced Karen in Burma (Chiang Mai April 1998)
тАв Burma Issues, After the 1997 Offensives: the Burma Army’s relocation program Kamoethway area, Tenasserim Division (Bangkok 2003)
тАв Mary Callahan, Political Authority in Burma’s Ethnic Minority States: devolution, occupation and coexistence (East-West Center Washington, ‘Policy Studies’ No.21 2007)
тАв Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, Displacement and Dispossession: forced migration and land rights in Burma (Geneva 2007)
тАв Jonathan Falla, True Love and Bartholomew: rebels on the Burmese border (Cambridge UP 1991)
тАв Mikael Gravers (ed.), Exploring Ethnic Diversity in Burma (NIAS Press 2007)
тАв Alan Smith, Burma/Myanmar: struggle for democracy and ethnic rights, in Kymlicka & He (eds), Multiculturalism in Asia (Oxford UP 2005)
тАв Martin Smith, Burma: insurgency and the politics of ethnicity (Zed Books; second edition 1999)
тАв Martin Smith, Burma: the Karen conflict, in Joseph Rudolph Jr. (ed.), Encyclopaedia of Modern Ethnic Conflicts (Greenwood Press, London and Connecticut 2003)
тАв Martin Smith, State of Strife: the dynamics of ethnic conflict in Burma (East-West Center Washington, ‘Policy Studies’ No.36 2007)
тАв Ashley South, Burma: the changing nature of displacement crises (Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford University, Working Paper No.39 February 2007)
тАв Ashley South, Karen Nationalist Communities: the ‘problem’ of diversity, in ‘Contemporary Southeast Asia’ (Vol.29, No.1 April 2007)
тАв Ashley South, Ethnic Politics in Burma: States of Conflict (Routledge 2008 – in press)
тАв David Taw, Choosing to Engage: strategic considerations for the Karen National Union, in ‘Choosing to Engage: armed groups and peace processes’ (Conciliation Resources/ Accord Vol.16 2005)
тАв Thailand-Burma Border Consortium, Internal Displacement in Eastern Burma: 2007 survey (Bangkok October 2007)
I don’t have anything against Bleming. I’ve never met him and I have not read his book. However, I am interested in it.
What you write at the end here “If anything is to be learned from all this it’s never to talk to the press. Or if you do, talk to them in the jungle, then let them file their story from the bottom of a slit trench.” just confirms the line that others seemingly take against Bleming for being a superficial glory hunter. This is because you are demanding a belief in the legitimacy of Bleming and then articulating it in a way that is a little bit too Tom Clancy. People who have been in trenches or situations where their will is involved with a struggle on an inseparable level, could never write of these situations in such a corny manner.
Could it be that your words here (and perhaps the emails to journalists) and ridiculous posts by members of the Black Flag Cafe (which thankfully has nothing to do with the band) are responsible for giving Thomas Bleming more bad press than he is himself?
Actually, no. He’ll stop and talk to you. He’s a friendly guy. Sometims too friendly for his own good.
He gave one short interview, but now three journalists are saying that they interviewed him. Antonio Graceffo is NOT one of those who says he interviewed him.
In fact, I’ve been corresponding with Graceffo, and was a little surprised when that article came out. Unlike the other journalists, Graceffo has been around the block more than a few times.
I didn’t agree with everything Graceffo wrote, but taken as a whole, I thought it was reasonably fair.
As far as the Casper Star Tribune article – and the responses it garnered – the guy who wrote it made a serious factual error. Tom never took any arms or munitions into Burma. He took food, medicine and web gear. That’s all.
I wonder if all the journalist realize – or even care – that when they write these articles they’re putting Bleming in danger. Or perhaps that’s the point.
It’s getting more than a little tiresome to read about American Viet Nam war vets as mentally ill. Sylvester Stallone is probably most responsible for that view, what with all his Rambo movies.
I really believe that if Rambo 4 had not been made, Bleming wouldn’t be receiving all of this undue attention.
Tom has a thick skin and can handle the slings and arrows from the McCartans of the world.
But another way to look at it is that as long as they’re focused on Bleming, they’re leaving some other poor bastard alone.
If anything is to be learned from all this it’s never to talk to the press. Or if you do, talk to them in the jungle, then let them file their story from the bottom of a slit trench.
I think that the Toyota Corolla monopoly that you saw in action is the result of the restrictions placed on the importation of vehicles. I always had the impression that these “legal” taxis are the remnants of ambitious deals with the Japanese (and maybe the Singaporeans too). All cars in Burma cost a fortune, and even a patched up, 25 year-old Corolla can apparently go for 20 grand US these days. An old article in The Telegraphhas some other interesting points on the car trade.
In other parts of Burma a similar range of old Japanese cars ply the major inter-town routes. So these fleets are not unique to the eastern Shan State. I have heard reports that the substantial four-wheel drives favoured by Burma’s rich and famous were fetching prices of over 100 grand in the past year…if they have to be bought on the black-market. And then there is the risk of confiscation…
He definitely cannot have been censored, so it must be an intellectual crisis. Like when an artist tears up their work in a fit of despair after having an epiphany that they had not taken into account before.
There is noticeably an unfortunate absence of pro-elite commentary on New Mandala.
I’m not sure if things have changed since I took this road in 2006, but that initial 6-lane checkpoint outside of Tachilek definitely seemed like overkill at the time. The whole way to Keng Tung only a trickle of cars, trucks and motorbikes were on the road and most of the gates on this checkpoint were blocked off as their seemed no use keeping them open given the lack of traffic. I wonder if they were planning 20 years ahead. Furthermore, people in Keng Tung complained that trade in the area was poor because, amongst other things, there were so many toll gates on the surrounding roads that it wasn’t economically feasible to conduct small-scale trade. I also couldn’t figure out at the time why the only ‘cars’, per se, on the road (aside from pick-ups, motorbikes and army trucks) were white Toyota Corolla station wagons.
Hey, man, you don’t talk to Bleming. You listen to him. The man’s enlarged my mind. He’s a poet-warrior in the classic sense. I mean sometimes he’ll… uh… well, you’ll say “hello” to him, right? And he’ll just walk right by you. He won’t even notice you. And suddenly he’ll grab you, and he’ll throw you in a corner, and he’ll say, “do you know that ‘if’ is the middle word in life? If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, if you can trust yourself when all men doubt you”… I mean I’m no, I can’t… I’m a little man, I’m a little man, he’s… he’s a great man. I should have been a pair of ragged claws scuttling across floors of silent seas…
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Thomas Bleming in the news
Ashley, I do think that it would be appropriate to add the many Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) reports (available here) to your list. As based directly on the first-hand accounts of Karen villagers themselves (who are of course living in the war zones of Burma), and with extensive use of direct quotes from local villagers, these reports are probably the most extensive “first hand” accounts of the situation; and thus avoid the credibility problems of most external reports.
Interview with Burma’s Ma Thanegi
I don’t know who Nay Yu or it’s genda but I hope it is a male’s name.I was so busy therefore I couldn’t respond to his comment which I regard as unreasonable. He suggests I should read books to see that sanctions work. I have read thick text books all my professional life ,therefore I know what they are like. The fact is that by the time a book is published facts are already 10-20years out of date. If you really want to know more accurate facts stick to current journals. But personal experience with real people will give you real insight into the problem. I don’t what Nay Yu does but since 1995 I have been going back to Myanmar regularly once or twice a year and travelled extensively in the country mixing with people of different walks of life in rural and urban areas as well. Therefore I know what I am talking about. As a doctor I am a practical man and try to solve problems in practical way.When you are dealing with a bleeding patient you just arrest the bleeding to save life .You don’t escape into library to look for theory. I have seen with my own eyes the suffering of the ordinary people ,children with malnutrition and stunted growth; broken marriages;prostitution;children who can’t go to school or abandoned by their parents who can’t afford to feed them. I can still give a longer list of their suffering and these are ordinary people and not army officers whom sanctions are targeted. Not only me but our staff at Friends of Rainforests in Myanmar’s office in Yangon also have witnessed themselves as well. These woes of the poor are due to the combination of factors such as Ma Su’s recommendation of the boycott of tourism,stopping investment and isolation of Myanmar. Her recommendation was taken seriously by her western friends without realisation of the impact on the poor but not hurting the generals at all.Even if the west knew they won’t give damn to what happen to Myanmar’s poor. They are doing something as Ma Su suggests and be seen as politically correct,that’s all what they care. Some one like Nay Yu is very much like many of my psychotic patients who lack insight as they are overwhelmed with delusions.If we look at history sanctions have been applied to countries at different times and almost all failed to work. Myanmar is the biggest country in south east Asian peninsular region with vast natural resources most of them remained untapped . In south east Asia Myanmar has the largest potential to produce hydroelectric power of 38,000 mega watts. Bay of martaban is dubbed as second Libya in oil and gas deposit and only few plots have been exploited .That does stop Myanmar to become the number 10 biggest gas producer in the world. Out of approximately $300 annual income by tourism only20-30 percent goes to the government and the rest is spread around among the private business and ordinary people. As government is receiving in excess of $ 6-7+ billions from the sale of gas alone giving them surplus budget Ma Su’s idea of strangulating government by tourism boycott etc shows her poor knowledge of our country as well as lack of political wisdom. But the blind followers like Nay Yu are either unable to see the reality or too stubborn to admit defeat. Now we are going to have the opportunity to vote for the constitution.I have read and not entirely comfortable with some points but on the whole ,in my opinion, it is acceptable under the present circumstances and I will give yes vote.As many pragmatic and intelligent people are now saying “it is better to have an imperfect constitution than no constitution”. I entirely agree with them. Boycotting tourists and discouraging investment is crime against ordinary citizens and it hits the poor hardest. In Buddhism this kind of action is known as “Akusala or bad action” and who ever commits Akusala has to pay the price now or in next life. I live on the same road as Ma Su in Yangon. Whenever I passed her house I feel sad for her and wondered what kind of Akusala she has committed in her past life.
Thomas Bleming in the news
Antonio Graffeco didn’t make any claims that he interviewed Bleming in his article, the only implication was that he was familiar with him. Regardless, misrepresentation in the media seems to be par for the course for public figures of any size – if it weren’t there certainly wouldn’t be such huge PR industry and professionals devoted to doctoring public images.
Chasing these stories around and making inflammatory comments about journos, as Grasshopper points out, probably does far more to attract negative attention than the stories ever did in the first place.
Whatever happened to Colonel Jeru?
As the one who suggested that Jeru be designated Colonel because he was putting the military’s line, I miss his military-royalist position. I wonder if he lost his job when PPP took government? Was he really paid by the military to counter-blog? (I’m hoping that by being provocative, we might stir the good Colonel)
Grasshopper: you are absolutely right that the pro-elite perspective has been kind of lost. At the same time, the royalist-military elite seems to be working away. The act of voting in December has not seen an end to the struggle between the competing elites.
Thomas Bleming in the news
This is in reply to grasshopper
No, I’m not Thomas Bleming. I’m Charles Foster, a long time friend of Blemings.
In regards to my mention of slit trenches, I’m a firm believer in direct action. Some people have the notion that they can attack people with impunity, that they can say whatever they please, no matter how untrue or hurtful, and get away with it just because they’re journalists.
I would bring your attention to CBS News and what they did to General William Westmoreland.
I defend Bleming because it’s the right thing to do. And because he’s my friend.
My late father once told me that if you live to be one hundred, you can count your real friends on the fingers of one hand – and still have fingers left over. I find that to be true. Bleming is my friend.
I firmly believe that there are forces working behind the scenes to marginalize Bleming because he stepped on some important toes while in Mae Sot. He went directly to the KNLA and sidestepped the KNU, apparently some sort of protocol violation in their eyes.
And he gave interviews. I wouldn’t have done that, and I told him not to. But Tom is his own man and does as he pleases.
There are things going on that I’m not at liberty to discuss. There are people I’m corresponding with that don’t want their hands shown. There is information that I can’t share.
You have to take it on faith ( yeah, I know), the same faith that’s being shown to these ridiculous news reports.
I can tell you this much; after the flurry of reports, Bleming was informally interviewed by a Thai police colonel. At the end of the interview, Bleming was offered an extended visa.
I know, and so do a lot of other people, that certain members of the KNU are having business dealings with the SPDC. This is no secret.
These guys are lining their pockets with money obtained through the smuggling of timber, gems and narcotics.
Coupled with this, you have “tame” journalists who write touchy-feely articles about the plight of the Karen refugees, citing their need for aid and assistance.
Then a guy like Bleming comes along and advocates military action on a scale not seen in that area in many years. That made people sit up and take notice.
I wouldn’t have done it that way, but he’s there and I’m not.
I may at times go a bit overboard in my defense of Tom Bleming. If so, it’s because journalists are writing about some stranger, and putting Tom Blemings name on it. They’re cherry picking what they want their audience to read.
Case in point is the stinger missiles. When I read that I had to laugh, because I knew immediately that it was made up. Bleming has as much access to stinger missiles as he does to nuclear weapons. And the reporter – if he did his homework – has to know it as well. It was so ridiculous that I thought it must be some sort of inside joke.
Today I put a reporter into contact with Bleming. It may take a while for something to happen, due to where Bleming presently is. But if things click, perhaps a more balanced article will emerge. I trust the reporter to get it right, as he’s ex-military and knows his way around that culture. And he has no personal axe to grind, having no ties to the KNU. That’s the best I can do.
Charles Foster
[email protected]
Whatever happened to Colonel Jeru?
“has accidentally transformed into reality” > Actually, no, because PPP is not TRT.
Re the dissolution, Thonbai Thongbai commented (in BP, March 30, 2008): “And this is the price we paidfor disbanding a party — ministers whose names we have never heard of, or with credentials and qualifications that are so out of sync with their portfolios that one can’t help but wonder whether they can really do their jobs. So the question is: Do we really want to continue down this path? Amend if we must, but if you aks me, only selectively, and the parties should be spared.”
On the other hand, a law professor at Thammasat University thought (in Matichon, April 7, 2008): “Article 237 can be compared to a strong medicine to cure a chronic fever. This medicine will have to be used for a period of time first, before it can be replaced by a weaker medicine. If we discontinue this medicine by amending Article 237, this chronic illness will spread widely, because it will be immune against medicine. There will be no medicine left which is strong enough to solve [the problem].”
Thus, this group of people see the Constitution Drafting Committee as a group of doctors who commanded superior professional knowledge about Thai politics, the patient. This hierarchically superior position gave, and give, this group the right to decide instead of the patient.
Whatever happened to Colonel Jeru?
Of course Jon, but economic stability is largely in the hands of the elite. The elite are Thailand. Not the silly villagers who voted PPP in exchange for sacks with $HK written on them. Ah… Jeru was so good at simplifying things. I see I have lit the same spark in you Jon that Jeru fired in us all.
The universality of Andrew Walker (and farang academics in general) being wrong, indifference to a silly constitution because the King is great, enforcing rural stupidity, knowing democratic poison, seeing the scourge of Thaksin and populism – sadly, these ideals and perceptions are all waining from me.
With nothing to do, I have made a tribute poster:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3263/2392626036_f2001507cb_o.jpg
Whatever happened to Colonel Jeru?
Grasshopper: “There is noticeably an unfortunate absence of pro-elite commentary on New Mandala.”
That’s one way of reducing the incredibly complex multi-dimensional reality in Thailand to one overly simplistic dimension. People do worry about things other than politics. The economy, for instance. People are worried about political stability and the economy, elite or non-elite, realise yet another election will have the same result. If opinion polls and demographics were advanced enough, you could even plot the dynamics of these changes in different sectors of society. Instead we create simplistic categories, elite/non-elite.
Also New Mandala hasn’t made any postings on the recent kick fights over constitutional amendments (now I’m afraid of being kicked for saying that), exactly how much is to be amended, and is it really as easy as that? two weeks…boom,…new constitution!, or on the approaching court decisions on certain party leaders that would initiate automatic party dissolution. A broad sector of society is worried about that.
Also as political commentator Nattakorn pointed out another factor that may have something to do with it:
“In effect, the dream of seeing Thai Rak Thai party (TRT) not entirely manipulated by one man with all the say has accidentally transformed into reality.”
On tap or freshly squeezed?
If the fruit maidens and their wizard creators at Wat Suvannaram, Thonburi are any indication, Mae Thorani is just like any other normal well-adjusted goddess, nothing to worry about:
http://web.mac.com/dstadtner/Site_2/Fruit-maidens.html
Roads in the eastern Shan State
Many thanks for the information, Nick and Stephen. That the Chinese were planning years ahead was also my impression when cruising the road from Muang Hai to Daluo in 2004. It was a nice trip to the border then, but apparently not good enough for someone┬┤s standards, and re-construction of the road began soon after -work is still in progress, and now it takes about 5 hours to get to Daluo from Jinghong. Never-ending improvements have also made the 50 km trip from Jinghong to Muang Long (in southern Sipsong Panna) into a 3-hour ordeal; one official complained to me that the government started repairing this road without having secured funding to finish the job, and this may be the problem for other projects in the area. In any case, it seems that the completion of the link Jinghong-Mae Sai is nowhere near.
Whatever happened to Colonel Jeru?
Was wondering the same where he is.
Tried to find his legendary dialog between Bush and Samak – but even the old blog-content isn’t on-line anymore.
Anyone got a copy?
Thomas Bleming in the news
Thomas Bleming’s ‘War in Karen Country’ contains many significant errors, both of fact and interpretation. Like ‘The Long Patrol’, it reproduces a set of assumptions and clichés about Karen nationalism and armed conflict in eastern Burma. These books fail to question who is fighting for what, and why. They also expose third parties to danger [e.g. ‘No 4 Guest House’ in Mae Sot, and the villages visited and named by the authors].
Unfortunately, there are few credible, historically-informed, first-hand accounts of life in the war-zones of Burma. What is required is a good ethnography of the armed Karen nationalist movement. The closet thing so far is ‘True Love and Bartholomew’ [an excellent read]. The Free Burma Rangers’ regular field reports also provide much accurate and useful information. Additional useful sources include:
тАв Desmond Ball, Burma’s Military Secrets: Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) from the Second World War to Civil War and Cyber Warfare (White Lotus 1998)
тАв Burma Ethnic Research Group, Forgotten Victims of a Hidden War: internally displaced Karen in Burma (Chiang Mai April 1998)
тАв Burma Issues, After the 1997 Offensives: the Burma Army’s relocation program Kamoethway area, Tenasserim Division (Bangkok 2003)
тАв Mary Callahan, Political Authority in Burma’s Ethnic Minority States: devolution, occupation and coexistence (East-West Center Washington, ‘Policy Studies’ No.21 2007)
тАв Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, Displacement and Dispossession: forced migration and land rights in Burma (Geneva 2007)
тАв Jonathan Falla, True Love and Bartholomew: rebels on the Burmese border (Cambridge UP 1991)
тАв Mikael Gravers (ed.), Exploring Ethnic Diversity in Burma (NIAS Press 2007)
тАв Alan Smith, Burma/Myanmar: struggle for democracy and ethnic rights, in Kymlicka & He (eds), Multiculturalism in Asia (Oxford UP 2005)
тАв Martin Smith, Burma: insurgency and the politics of ethnicity (Zed Books; second edition 1999)
тАв Martin Smith, Burma: the Karen conflict, in Joseph Rudolph Jr. (ed.), Encyclopaedia of Modern Ethnic Conflicts (Greenwood Press, London and Connecticut 2003)
тАв Martin Smith, State of Strife: the dynamics of ethnic conflict in Burma (East-West Center Washington, ‘Policy Studies’ No.36 2007)
тАв Ashley South, Burma: the changing nature of displacement crises (Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford University, Working Paper No.39 February 2007)
тАв Ashley South, Karen Nationalist Communities: the ‘problem’ of diversity, in ‘Contemporary Southeast Asia’ (Vol.29, No.1 April 2007)
тАв Ashley South, Ethnic Politics in Burma: States of Conflict (Routledge 2008 – in press)
тАв David Taw, Choosing to Engage: strategic considerations for the Karen National Union, in ‘Choosing to Engage: armed groups and peace processes’ (Conciliation Resources/ Accord Vol.16 2005)
тАв Thailand-Burma Border Consortium, Internal Displacement in Eastern Burma: 2007 survey (Bangkok October 2007)
Thomas Bleming in the news
Charles F – Are you Thomas Bleming?
I don’t have anything against Bleming. I’ve never met him and I have not read his book. However, I am interested in it.
What you write at the end here “If anything is to be learned from all this it’s never to talk to the press. Or if you do, talk to them in the jungle, then let them file their story from the bottom of a slit trench.” just confirms the line that others seemingly take against Bleming for being a superficial glory hunter. This is because you are demanding a belief in the legitimacy of Bleming and then articulating it in a way that is a little bit too Tom Clancy. People who have been in trenches or situations where their will is involved with a struggle on an inseparable level, could never write of these situations in such a corny manner.
Could it be that your words here (and perhaps the emails to journalists) and ridiculous posts by members of the Black Flag Cafe (which thankfully has nothing to do with the band) are responsible for giving Thomas Bleming more bad press than he is himself?
Thomas Bleming in the news
Actually, no. He’ll stop and talk to you. He’s a friendly guy. Sometims too friendly for his own good.
He gave one short interview, but now three journalists are saying that they interviewed him. Antonio Graceffo is NOT one of those who says he interviewed him.
In fact, I’ve been corresponding with Graceffo, and was a little surprised when that article came out. Unlike the other journalists, Graceffo has been around the block more than a few times.
I didn’t agree with everything Graceffo wrote, but taken as a whole, I thought it was reasonably fair.
As far as the Casper Star Tribune article – and the responses it garnered – the guy who wrote it made a serious factual error. Tom never took any arms or munitions into Burma. He took food, medicine and web gear. That’s all.
I wonder if all the journalist realize – or even care – that when they write these articles they’re putting Bleming in danger. Or perhaps that’s the point.
It’s getting more than a little tiresome to read about American Viet Nam war vets as mentally ill. Sylvester Stallone is probably most responsible for that view, what with all his Rambo movies.
I really believe that if Rambo 4 had not been made, Bleming wouldn’t be receiving all of this undue attention.
Tom has a thick skin and can handle the slings and arrows from the McCartans of the world.
But another way to look at it is that as long as they’re focused on Bleming, they’re leaving some other poor bastard alone.
If anything is to be learned from all this it’s never to talk to the press. Or if you do, talk to them in the jungle, then let them file their story from the bottom of a slit trench.
Roads in the eastern Shan State
Thanks Stephen,
Good info.
I think that the Toyota Corolla monopoly that you saw in action is the result of the restrictions placed on the importation of vehicles. I always had the impression that these “legal” taxis are the remnants of ambitious deals with the Japanese (and maybe the Singaporeans too). All cars in Burma cost a fortune, and even a patched up, 25 year-old Corolla can apparently go for 20 grand US these days. An old article in The Telegraph has some other interesting points on the car trade.
In other parts of Burma a similar range of old Japanese cars ply the major inter-town routes. So these fleets are not unique to the eastern Shan State. I have heard reports that the substantial four-wheel drives favoured by Burma’s rich and famous were fetching prices of over 100 grand in the past year…if they have to be bought on the black-market. And then there is the risk of confiscation…
Best wishes to all,
Nich
Whatever happened to Colonel Jeru?
He definitely cannot have been censored, so it must be an intellectual crisis. Like when an artist tears up their work in a fit of despair after having an epiphany that they had not taken into account before.
There is noticeably an unfortunate absence of pro-elite commentary on New Mandala.
Roads in the eastern Shan State
I’m not sure if things have changed since I took this road in 2006, but that initial 6-lane checkpoint outside of Tachilek definitely seemed like overkill at the time. The whole way to Keng Tung only a trickle of cars, trucks and motorbikes were on the road and most of the gates on this checkpoint were blocked off as their seemed no use keeping them open given the lack of traffic. I wonder if they were planning 20 years ahead. Furthermore, people in Keng Tung complained that trade in the area was poor because, amongst other things, there were so many toll gates on the surrounding roads that it wasn’t economically feasible to conduct small-scale trade. I also couldn’t figure out at the time why the only ‘cars’, per se, on the road (aside from pick-ups, motorbikes and army trucks) were white Toyota Corolla station wagons.
Thomas Bleming in the news
Hey, man, you don’t talk to Bleming. You listen to him. The man’s enlarged my mind. He’s a poet-warrior in the classic sense. I mean sometimes he’ll… uh… well, you’ll say “hello” to him, right? And he’ll just walk right by you. He won’t even notice you. And suddenly he’ll grab you, and he’ll throw you in a corner, and he’ll say, “do you know that ‘if’ is the middle word in life? If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, if you can trust yourself when all men doubt you”… I mean I’m no, I can’t… I’m a little man, I’m a little man, he’s… he’s a great man. I should have been a pair of ragged claws scuttling across floors of silent seas…
The Pink Man comes to Canberra
Hi there!
I love your work on the Pink Man series and standby the very thing you stand for. That is We are too consumeristic and forget our values within us…….
Michael Palmer
Kunming to Bangkok road links
[…] by the question┬ from long-time contributor Roger Casas I thought I should┬ put up some pictures of roads in the […]