what Aung Zaw says is surely true, but for some it is still necessary to offer support for Gambari’s mission. This report by the Internationational Crisis Group acknowledges the difficulties and nevertheless advocates for the continuity of the mission:
As far as I understand it, there is no known relationship between the king and King Power, although rumors do exist. I doubt the funds they gave him were a bribe, the sum was fairly small (<Bt1mn)and the transaction was photographed. Seems more like a message being delivered that KP is OK with HMK.
Regarding SE, is it possible to preach sustainable economy, sit in a Rolls Royce and not be a hypocrite?
Doesn’t Samak know when it is time to yom phae? He makes things needlessly worse (from the perspective of his government), while one wonders how he will manage to exit this corner he has driven himself into.
Samak becomes pale when shown his picture taken with Prapass
Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej became pale when reporters showed him his picture s which he took with Field Marshal Prapass Jarusathien following the massacre of student activists on October 6 1976.
“Is that me? I didn’t know I took this picture. I didn’t know when I post for this picture and why,” Samak exclaimed when seeing the picture.
Reporters showed him the picture when he was giving a weekly interview to Government House reporters.
The reporters asked him to comment on the opposition’s plan to demand him to tell the House of his role during the October 6 event.
Samak insisted that only one student was killed at Sanam Luang and said he could not remember why he told Thai students in France that many students were killed.
I will get on to some of the many differences in future posts but, right now, I will try to give you a quick overview.
Compared to the extravagant Myitkyina Manau, the Manau in Miao this year (the 24th year that the Shapawng Yawng Manau has been celebrated in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh – the venue changes) was relatively small. In fact, compared to the many large Manau held across the region – in Laiza and in parts of Yunnan – it was small. It was, however, well attended by many of the local chiefly families and by important people from further afield. The much smaller scale of the festivities obviously gave everything a different feel.
The Buddhism of the Singpho is an interesting element of life in northeast India that I hope to say a great deal more about. One striking aspect of Singpho expression in India is the apparent lack of what could be called the “preacher’s voice” (with its dramatic tonalisation, etc) that is found throughout the Kachin State. There were some Kachin Christians at the festival (who spoke like they were back in Myitkyina) but everyone else has a slightly different way of talking. I wonder – does over 100 years of Christianity, regular church attendance and “Bible Jinghpaw” on the Kachin side of the national border have anything to do with this? How recent have changes in usage (or in the language(s) more generally) been? Anyway, this is one particularly noteworthy comparative issue.
The lack of missionary influence in Singpho society is especially interesting because so many other groups in Arunachal Pradesh have converted to Christianity. There is much more that should be said about this. Thanks for the question.
When I have tried to speak the truth about this I have faced censorship. Back in 2001, the Bangkok Post cut the section of my article which referred to the Palace and then tried to sue me when I complained.
Ji should be more honest. The Bangkok Post wasn’t suing Ji because (or ‘when’) he ‘complained’ about the cutting of his article (the details of Ji’s complain were not much in Ji’s favor, I’m afraid to say), but because Ji falsely accused Post on the issue of the infamous photo that sparked off the 6 October events.
Referring to comment #28.
Very insightful analysis, Republican. While most people, me included, are just outraged by what Samak had said, you go further and position Samak in a historical/political context and point out different ways to look at the situation. Thank you.
It could be interesting to watch Jakrapop’s handling of his government job.
“Jakrapob said he did not intend to show off his power over permanent officials but it was necessary to evaluate their performance in adhering to government policies.
‘They will be evaluated on that basis only. It’s not about personal matters, or about the past, or whether they supported the dictatorship. It is about the present, because we are a democratic government. We need to clean the germs. But what are the criteria? Where are germs? We will take one month for the evaluation,’ he said.”
The Nation, February 21, 2008
“Mr Jakrapob blamed the media for pushing the country into a crisis that eventually led to the coup in Sept 2006. Mr Jakrapob said the government would not allow politicians and activists to use media freedom as a front to hide their attempts to abuse the country.
‘The media has no right to [talk about] protecting its own freedoms while at the same time abusing the freedoms of others,’ he said, adding that the media must accept that a lot of news coverage is biased and emotional.”
I think your blistering Editorial opinion (page 34) summed it all up.
All right thinking people will be with you on this.
But where is the Family First Party or Fred Nile on this?
Are we to leave the morals of the county in the garden-soiled hands of the Tree Huggrers?!
Your salacious and gratuitous photograph did not improve matters. Have you heard from the press council yet? I hope they take you to task – severely. There should have been an R18+ warning somewhere. Not only the morals but the journalistic standards of the country are in free fall!
We knew this would happen once Labor was in power.
Then, I am sympathetic to Mike Carlton’s comment.
“How do you come between an elephant and its libido?”
Jonfernquest and Land of Snarls, thanks for sharing my deep appreciation of Phra Pinang’s work.
And thanks Teth. Actually we spend most of the time outside of those ‘trenches’ – as you have mentioned, Thailand is very much off the international radar now that its government is elected. We were in trenches due to circumstances than anything else. In many ways, I find that sad, as it is elected Thai governments that need as much scrutiny, if not more, from us as the monarchy – especially those who seek to really understand the workings of Thai society. After the elections, the bashing the monarchy, ‘network-royalists’, ‘sufficient economists’ season seems over – and NM seem to now care less about current political events. For a truly balanced view, let’s now really concentrate on the Shinawatra’s movements as well as the many highly influential figures from Isan like Newin or the North like Yongyuth – or even the old fox PMBanharn. Let’s discuss and analyse Jakrapob and his agendas more. Many of the banned 111 politicians are still making lots of moves behind the scenes through nominees. Let’s have some fun unraveling these fascinatingly entwined networks and connections. There’s so many ‘character developments’ needed here before a more complete story can be pieced together. I am sure NM participants are more than capable of undertaking these tasks. The question is does our interests extends that far? Are we able to see Thai society beyond this self-imposed rigid frame of the monarchy?
The “chart mai charoen” statement is interesting. I wonder if other ‘developing’ countries have a similiar problematic relationship with “kwamcharoen” (what is it exactly anyway?).
There are 2 hostile postings here, neither of which gives any critique of VNR’s points in the original blog. It would be valuable to know what Wasan & JFQ specifically object to, & why.
Supachai is an absolute idiot. A military coup throws out an elected government, tries to cement its illegitimate hold on power, trashes the constitution, rigs the political system and practically wrecks the economy and that is good because it saves us from having poor people be less poor?
Seems like he thinks the country is better dead than capitalist. Tell that to Vietnam and China. Luckily democracy will save Thailand from rich pretentious elite fools like him. No wonder he and the democrats have given up on elections, any Tuk Tuk driver can see right through this self-serving drivel
And the only fact he cites in his moronic rant is wrong. Public debt burdens went down under Thaksin.
“Do not regard the past one year and four months as a waste of time. In fact, it has been a blessing in disguise. It has helped slow down certain economic rhythms. The economy might not have moved fast but it adjusted the unbalanced growth”…
The country’s economy has not totally lost out under the administration as it helped slow down the imbalance in the economy, including a stream of bilateral agreements, said Mr Supachai.
The economic adjustment helped reduce public debt burdens which had been driven by the Thaksin Shinawatra government’s populist policies and views on bilateral trade agreements.
1. Things are way more complex than partisan politics makes them out to be, therefore…
2. Any research or investigative journalism that shows how “populist” programme funds are used and what benefits come from them, is surely necessary for meaningful debate…if this info is not available, both positive and negative, then garbage in, garbage out, as computer programmers say…too often an issue gets its 15 seconds of media coverage one day as breaking news, only to be forgotten about, anyone who can describe the economics of Thailand’s agricultural commodity markets, for instance, surely deserves a prize, but…
And how does King Power relate to HMK? A couple of days ago HMK came out (a rare occurrence nowadays) for King Power to present him with a tidy sum to “spend at his pleasure”. Hooray for bribery!
A lot of the material in this thesis is available in English in the following publication :
Chitbundid, C, Thulathon, C & Eawsakul, T 2004, ‘The Thai Monarchy and Non-Governmental Organisations’, in S. Shigetomi, K. Tejapira and A. Thongyou (eds), The NGO Way: Perspectives and Experiences from Thailand, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization, Chiba, Japan.
Although some further editing would have been helpful, it is trully a wonderful source of information.
The evolution of the nature and especially the number of royal projects quite surprised me. So I did a little work based on the data presented in http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Vines/1701/tab1.htm, which only span from 1952 to 1980 and is of unknown reliability. It appears the number of royal projects created per year first increased significantly in 1974 (1 yr after 1973….). It went from an average of 2 projects created per year between 1963 and 1973 to 18 between 1974 and 1976. Then, it ‘exploded’ after 1976 with an average of 69 projects/year between 1977 and 1980. The graph it makes illustrate very well the idea that royal projets were motivated, at least in part, by national security concerns.
When I compared this source of information with Chanida’s data, some discrepancy appeared, but the long-term trend looks the same. This might be due to Chanida’s use of a broader definition of ‘royal projects’.
Note also that you can get Chanida’s thesis in pdf format if you can get access to their network (this is not so hard to to).
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Burma mission over for Gambari?
what Aung Zaw says is surely true, but for some it is still necessary to offer support for Gambari’s mission. This report by the Internationational Crisis Group acknowledges the difficulties and nevertheless advocates for the continuity of the mission:
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=5273&l=1
I don’t know if this is the way, but it seems that there is now a desperate lack of options on the part of those opposing the junta
Royalist propaganda and policy nonsense
As far as I understand it, there is no known relationship between the king and King Power, although rumors do exist. I doubt the funds they gave him were a bribe, the sum was fairly small (<Bt1mn)and the transaction was photographed. Seems more like a message being delivered that KP is OK with HMK.
Regarding SE, is it possible to preach sustainable economy, sit in a Rolls Royce and not be a hypocrite?
Samak’s disgrace
Doesn’t Samak know when it is time to yom phae? He makes things needlessly worse (from the perspective of his government), while one wonders how he will manage to exit this corner he has driven himself into.
Samak becomes pale when shown his picture taken with Prapass
Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej became pale when reporters showed him his picture s which he took with Field Marshal Prapass Jarusathien following the massacre of student activists on October 6 1976.
“Is that me? I didn’t know I took this picture. I didn’t know when I post for this picture and why,” Samak exclaimed when seeing the picture.
Reporters showed him the picture when he was giving a weekly interview to Government House reporters.
The reporters asked him to comment on the opposition’s plan to demand him to tell the House of his role during the October 6 event.
Samak insisted that only one student was killed at Sanam Luang and said he could not remember why he told Thai students in France that many students were killed.
The Nation 22 February 2008
Manau in Arunachal Pradesh
Aiontay,
I will get on to some of the many differences in future posts but, right now, I will try to give you a quick overview.
Compared to the extravagant Myitkyina Manau, the Manau in Miao this year (the 24th year that the Shapawng Yawng Manau has been celebrated in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh – the venue changes) was relatively small. In fact, compared to the many large Manau held across the region – in Laiza and in parts of Yunnan – it was small. It was, however, well attended by many of the local chiefly families and by important people from further afield. The much smaller scale of the festivities obviously gave everything a different feel.
The Buddhism of the Singpho is an interesting element of life in northeast India that I hope to say a great deal more about. One striking aspect of Singpho expression in India is the apparent lack of what could be called the “preacher’s voice” (with its dramatic tonalisation, etc) that is found throughout the Kachin State. There were some Kachin Christians at the festival (who spoke like they were back in Myitkyina) but everyone else has a slightly different way of talking. I wonder – does over 100 years of Christianity, regular church attendance and “Bible Jinghpaw” on the Kachin side of the national border have anything to do with this? How recent have changes in usage (or in the language(s) more generally) been? Anyway, this is one particularly noteworthy comparative issue.
The lack of missionary influence in Singpho society is especially interesting because so many other groups in Arunachal Pradesh have converted to Christianity. There is much more that should be said about this. Thanks for the question.
Best wishes to all,
Nich
Manau in Arunachal Pradesh
How is the manau different, if it is, in India given that the Singhpo are mainly Buddhist, as opposed to the “Christian” manau at Myitkyina?
The Senate, 6th October, the south and Thai democracy
When I have tried to speak the truth about this I have faced censorship. Back in 2001, the Bangkok Post cut the section of my article which referred to the Palace and then tried to sue me when I complained.
Ji should be more honest. The Bangkok Post wasn’t suing Ji because (or ‘when’) he ‘complained’ about the cutting of his article (the details of Ji’s complain were not much in Ji’s favor, I’m afraid to say), but because Ji falsely accused Post on the issue of the infamous photo that sparked off the 6 October events.
The Senate, 6th October, the south and Thai democracy
Ji might well be a Leninist, but he is no Lenin, that much seems to be clear.
Samak’s disgrace
Referring to comment #28.
Very insightful analysis, Republican. While most people, me included, are just outraged by what Samak had said, you go further and position Samak in a historical/political context and point out different ways to look at the situation. Thank you.
Volunteering to fight in Burma
does anyone knows of another group trying to organize a trip to the Thai Burma border and assist the Karens or where I could find such information?
Samak’s disgrace
It could be interesting to watch Jakrapop’s handling of his government job.
“Jakrapob said he did not intend to show off his power over permanent officials but it was necessary to evaluate their performance in adhering to government policies.
‘They will be evaluated on that basis only. It’s not about personal matters, or about the past, or whether they supported the dictatorship. It is about the present, because we are a democratic government. We need to clean the germs. But what are the criteria? Where are germs? We will take one month for the evaluation,’ he said.”
The Nation, February 21, 2008
“Mr Jakrapob blamed the media for pushing the country into a crisis that eventually led to the coup in Sept 2006. Mr Jakrapob said the government would not allow politicians and activists to use media freedom as a front to hide their attempts to abuse the country.
‘The media has no right to [talk about] protecting its own freedoms while at the same time abusing the freedoms of others,’ he said, adding that the media must accept that a lot of news coverage is biased and emotional.”
Bangkok Post, February 21, 2008
Thong dee, not so dee
I think your blistering Editorial opinion (page 34) summed it all up.
All right thinking people will be with you on this.
But where is the Family First Party or Fred Nile on this?
Are we to leave the morals of the county in the garden-soiled hands of the Tree Huggrers?!
Your salacious and gratuitous photograph did not improve matters. Have you heard from the press council yet? I hope they take you to task – severely. There should have been an R18+ warning somewhere. Not only the morals but the journalistic standards of the country are in free fall!
We knew this would happen once Labor was in power.
Then, I am sympathetic to Mike Carlton’s comment.
“How do you come between an elephant and its libido?”
More on the 2008 Thai Studies conference
Jonfernquest and Land of Snarls, thanks for sharing my deep appreciation of Phra Pinang’s work.
And thanks Teth. Actually we spend most of the time outside of those ‘trenches’ – as you have mentioned, Thailand is very much off the international radar now that its government is elected. We were in trenches due to circumstances than anything else. In many ways, I find that sad, as it is elected Thai governments that need as much scrutiny, if not more, from us as the monarchy – especially those who seek to really understand the workings of Thai society. After the elections, the bashing the monarchy, ‘network-royalists’, ‘sufficient economists’ season seems over – and NM seem to now care less about current political events. For a truly balanced view, let’s now really concentrate on the Shinawatra’s movements as well as the many highly influential figures from Isan like Newin or the North like Yongyuth – or even the old fox PMBanharn. Let’s discuss and analyse Jakrapob and his agendas more. Many of the banned 111 politicians are still making lots of moves behind the scenes through nominees. Let’s have some fun unraveling these fascinatingly entwined networks and connections. There’s so many ‘character developments’ needed here before a more complete story can be pieced together. I am sure NM participants are more than capable of undertaking these tasks. The question is does our interests extends that far? Are we able to see Thai society beyond this self-imposed rigid frame of the monarchy?
The “chart mai charoen” statement is interesting. I wonder if other ‘developing’ countries have a similiar problematic relationship with “kwamcharoen” (what is it exactly anyway?).
A wake-up call
There are 2 hostile postings here, neither of which gives any critique of VNR’s points in the original blog. It would be valuable to know what Wasan & JFQ specifically object to, & why.
A new look at “populist” policies
Supachai is an absolute idiot. A military coup throws out an elected government, tries to cement its illegitimate hold on power, trashes the constitution, rigs the political system and practically wrecks the economy and that is good because it saves us from having poor people be less poor?
Seems like he thinks the country is better dead than capitalist. Tell that to Vietnam and China. Luckily democracy will save Thailand from rich pretentious elite fools like him. No wonder he and the democrats have given up on elections, any Tuk Tuk driver can see right through this self-serving drivel
And the only fact he cites in his moronic rant is wrong. Public debt burdens went down under Thaksin.
Royal hegemony
Could someone kindly post link to the pdf document please? Thanks.
A new look at “populist” policies
1. Things are way more complex than partisan politics makes them out to be, therefore…
2. Any research or investigative journalism that shows how “populist” programme funds are used and what benefits come from them, is surely necessary for meaningful debate…if this info is not available, both positive and negative, then garbage in, garbage out, as computer programmers say…too often an issue gets its 15 seconds of media coverage one day as breaking news, only to be forgotten about, anyone who can describe the economics of Thailand’s agricultural commodity markets, for instance, surely deserves a prize, but…
3. Supachai’s right. The coup was a blessing in disguise.
Royalist propaganda and policy nonsense
And how does King Power relate to HMK? A couple of days ago HMK came out (a rare occurrence nowadays) for King Power to present him with a tidy sum to “spend at his pleasure”. Hooray for bribery!
Assassination of Mahn Sha
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/JB16Ae03.html
Royal hegemony
A lot of the material in this thesis is available in English in the following publication :
Chitbundid, C, Thulathon, C & Eawsakul, T 2004, ‘The Thai Monarchy and Non-Governmental Organisations’, in S. Shigetomi, K. Tejapira and A. Thongyou (eds), The NGO Way: Perspectives and Experiences from Thailand, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization, Chiba, Japan.
Although some further editing would have been helpful, it is trully a wonderful source of information.
The evolution of the nature and especially the number of royal projects quite surprised me. So I did a little work based on the data presented in http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Vines/1701/tab1.htm, which only span from 1952 to 1980 and is of unknown reliability. It appears the number of royal projects created per year first increased significantly in 1974 (1 yr after 1973….). It went from an average of 2 projects created per year between 1963 and 1973 to 18 between 1974 and 1976. Then, it ‘exploded’ after 1976 with an average of 69 projects/year between 1977 and 1980. The graph it makes illustrate very well the idea that royal projets were motivated, at least in part, by national security concerns.
When I compared this source of information with Chanida’s data, some discrepancy appeared, but the long-term trend looks the same. This might be due to Chanida’s use of a broader definition of ‘royal projects’.
Note also that you can get Chanida’s thesis in pdf format if you can get access to their network (this is not so hard to to).
Royal hegemony
Her original thesis is also available in .pdf format through the Thammasat political science library.