[…] The full extract (which runs to 37 pages) is available here. Readers are, as always, very welcome to post their comments and questions. Previous New Mandala discussion of Manau festivals is also available online. […]
The trouble with this Thaksin is actually the same as with that other Taksin. He’s far too ‘clever’ for his own good. I can see nothing good about living in a society with Thaksin in control. The WOD made it clear that this Thaksin has NO more scruples about wiping out certain sectors of society than does the royalty and its military-business stooges. The WOD was Thaksin’s 1976, which probably explains for his current desire to climb into bed with Samak.
Let’s just say that Thaksin succeeds in neutralising the monarchy. It will then be a bare knuckle brawl with those who really control the country. (The monarchy has clearly been hijacked by its own supposedly devoted loyalists.) You could argue that the resulting civil war is already under way. Civil wars almost always rip the guts out of a country. In which case, I would rather take the slow track to a more equitable society.
The trouble with politicians like Thaksin is that they are too clever to figure out that the simple stuff. If you like, he has been corrupted by too much dishonest dabbling in the black political arts. He’s a sort of political Alistair Crowley – the man who drove himself crazy with his own cleverness. Thaksin has a surprising amount in common with this monarch – who has been completely blinded by the constant & contrived adulation he receives. But the monarch is a tradition which I would be prepared to live with in a true constitutional monarchy system. Especially if accompanied by the possibility of electing a certain number of unashamed socialists (with a small s) to counter the worst excesses of capitalism. I am not be prepared to tolerate a Thaksin dictatorship. Two Thaksin terms were enough to convince me that he shares all the negatives of the current monarchy, but has none of its positives.
In Chiang Mai City, pro-Thaksin forces in 2006 indeed broke up a rally organized by the Democrat Party.
“Thaksin supporters raid Democrat’s rally site in Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai – Supporters of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra disrupted the rally site of the Democrat Party Thursday evening forcing Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva to cancel his speech.
Some 300 protesters turned up at the Democrat rally site at 7:10 pm while Democrat member Alongkorn Pollabutr was speaking on the stage.
The supporters later broke into the rally area and carried signs in support of Thaksin just before Abhisit could deliver his speech.
The protesters then rushed on the stage to hold banner in support of Thaksin and seized the stage. Police looked on helplessly.”
TN 30 March 2006
In Udon Thani, a “mob” led by TRT MPs made it impossible for the PAD with Suriyasai to hold a seminar at the Rajaphat University (?), and held their group hostage for many hours.
As for the “kamnan” intimidating people, I am not sure whether this referred to the entire sub-district or only to that/those village(s) under the direct influence of that person. It is not unusual in kamnan elections that the winner will be that village headman who can secure almost all votes in his own village, prevent rival village headmen from campaigning in his village, and who can team up with some other phu yai ban. Obviously, when they act as vote canvassers for candidates in PAO and national elections, such people are thought after because of their dominance and vote-generating cabability.
“Sham effort to place blame for the price hike on concerned citizens”
“In a disturbing new development, a report supposedly written by an advisory group of Rangoon-based economists and scientists recommended the price hike to cover higher budget expenditures by the military government. It was leaked to exile groups and the Burmese media outside the country. However, Dr. Maung Myint, a prominent Burmese economist and a member of the group, denied the authenticity of the report in a letter to The Irrawaddy, a Thailand based dissident magazine.
“I believe the report was a fake and an attempt to make scapegoats of the academics. It betrayed a poor and mechanistic “understanding” of “bringing prices in line with the world market.” It did some rudimentary arithmetic and said the budget deficit, caused by the government’s raising salaries of civil servants, could be covered by raising fuel prices. It did not go into the inflationary affects of this increase in money supply at all. The Burmese government has been continuously printing money to cover its expenditures since 1962.
“It was a sort of watered down version of the IMF/World Bank 4 step program of privatization, market based pricing, free trade and capital market liberalization that has been criticized by Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz, formerly chief economist at the World Bank. Allowing prices to float to market levels as per IMF/World Bank recommendations also caused demonstrations in Indonesia in 1998. “
Fantastic story! Totally hilarious! You couldn’t script it better if you tried. While I sympathise with your predicamet being force repatirated out of Laos after two years of working there, how it was orchestrated is just amazing. Very entertaining. I would be interested to know just what it was you were doing there though as ‘humanitarian work” doesn’t immediately translate to “non-problematic” to local interests. Care to share some detail?
The writer puts on a brave face to call this a ‘hilarious’ episode. Anyone researching or writing critically about Laos has fear of this kind of absolute power hanging over them like a shadow. The fear that I will not be able to get a visa because of something I wrote or that my colleagues, friends and people I love as family in Laos will be punished because of something I have done is a very real one. In Thailand the silence surrounding the king as a subject of academic and popular criticism and debate is at least a subject of some muted academic criticism and debate, despite the potential ostracism awaiting. In Laos this kind of absolutist power is the unquestioned source of authority. Their is no king in Laos, there is an entire politburo full of them. What is worrying is that the legitimacy of this kind of absolutism more globally seems to be increasingly shielded from any form of questioning and nationalist sentiment is all too easily whipped up to support it. Those who are critical of the way authority is established through threat of violence are branded unpatriotic or ignorant outsiders. This is not hilarious. This is sick, sad, humiliating, insulting and something to be struggled against until death or the victory of a more humane form of government. Full stop.
Historicus you should ask Andrew Walker who worries. I think thrice already Andrew Walker’s blocking-deleting-censorious fingers were attentively active with my posts.
Thaksin’s democracy had to end extra-constitutionally Historicus, there was no other way, either Thaksin’s coup or the pre-emptive General Sonthi coup that was successful. So far none of the NM bloggers can show me how Thaksin’s democracy, with the divisions and non-stop protests, was supposed to culminate.
I admit I do worry, but there is nothing sudden about it, as I have consistently stated that the electoral masses need to be more discerning before things can get better.
I note you have avoided my question in post #76 above.
Indeed, in the West there are plenty of dogs called Churchill, Patton, things like that. That such a deep level of ignorance on the part of one official’s wife (when everyone else clearly got the joke) can get someone ejected from Laos reflects very poorly on the country’s future prospects. I suppose foreign aid workers should be expected to bow down to “cultural norms” such as corruption too, eh? Not that I’m a believer in the infallibility of Western-style development, but I have to say–Laos will have an extremely hard time achieving a modicum of economic well-being for its citizens when energy is wasted on unimportant issues like offensive pet names. I wonder how many people the Lao government has employed full-time to make sure Thai pop stars don’t say offensive things about Laos? Apparently quite a few is you consider the speed with which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs swoops down on any perceived insult. Too bad they won’t react so swiftly to food shortages or floods.
I saw a series of concerts at the National Culture Hall in Vientiane in 2003 for “Japan-ASEAN Exchange year 2003.” The Japanese performers who came always had to go through the painful ritual of attempting to sing in Lao, answering many questions from the MCs about why Laos is so great, etc.
My point: this kind of foolishness on the part of the Lao government occurs in both very public settings, or more-or-less private ones (despite the resultant public apologies) like that described by the offending pet namer. So this is a funny episode, but of course points to larger issues in Lao society.
Back when I was trying to get a visa to do research in Laos, some poor secretary who worked with my contacts in the Ministry of Information and Culture was asked to submit my visa paperwork, based on my project proposal having been approved by the Ministry, etc. The secretary accidentally submitted the paperwork twice, after which my contacts were given the cold shoulder by the visa department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Although they were told once that the department was reluctant to issue my visa, they were in general told repeatedly that my paperwork was “lost.” My main contact sensed something amiss and told me he wouldn’t be able to campaign on my behalf any further. I could tell he feared a reprisal of the kind endured by those close to the pet namer.
In my case, based on the paperwork error, perhaps some official at the MoFA feared there were two of me trying to infiltrate the country? Not as funny as the woman who took offense over “Bouasone,” but it does point up some of the same sort of misguided bureaucratic paranoia and smallmindedness.
In the village that I’m from, people welcome the ‘improved’ access to health care, education, government services etc. They love the guy because he showed them that he would improve further other important matters etc, etc. This sentiment has been presented and to some was/would be dismissed as pro-Thaksin and TRT always. So, I’m not to go on. I’d just like to make a point that Chiangmai is a very safe place for Chaun and Abhisit and their supporters. They are not and have never been in danger. Just that their policy sucks. Social benefits for seniors? free 12 yr education? But when, where, in Bangkok first, right? The problem right now is WE are in danger to express, for example, that we don’t accept the junta supported constitution. I bet we are also in danger to say, for example, that we would like, something like… EU monitoring the whole process of election as the appointed committee has already made a decision. To me, the personal safety of myself and my rural northern family is a concern right now.
I think it’s hard for a person who might have grown up in a privileged international school to see the real problems at a village level. My village in Sarapee is about 10 km from CM city, but why were/are my parents/grandparents’ generation illiterate with zero access to health care. They are hard working farmers, gardeners, merchants, mind you. Not to linger on the personal level at all, the people of beautiful and fertile northern land don’t deserve to be oppressed and accused of taking a few hundred bahts and blah, blah blah… same old, same old.
It is disheartening to see the so called ‘coup endorsing Thai elites’ are doing their best to suppress a glimpse of democratic society… that we might have experienced for a little time.
Having lived and travelled in Northern Thailand for ten years I have never come across or heard of physical intimidation at any of the elections TRT ran in, and neither against any opposition politician for that matter. Such an attack would have had huge repercussions in the media even before they turned anti-Thaksin and more so after, considering how the Central World incident was blown out of proportion by Sonthi L. et al. Why is Chuan quiet about the “attack as police looked on” I wonder?
TRT garnered the votes with their populist hand-outs and a can-do style of politics which was new and revolutionary in many ways. Why they would resort to violence with these majorities is beyond me.
Like the military junta and its puppet government, jeru and nganadeeleg have suddenly become worried that their views are not as widely held as they imagined.
jeru: I gave you the facts, you give none. “so where did Historicus get his conclusion that anti-Thaksin prostesters have quieted down?” – from tha Bangkok press. I cited all of the events. You now scratch around for protests in NYC and London. Do these equal the “massive street protests” that you wrote of above? You are doing a fine job of avoiding facts. I am not rewriting that’s your job for the boys in khaki and green. That should be absolutely clear to all on NM. You are not serious but a (self-appointed?) blogger for the junta.
My favorite canine is named after the Thai Miss Universe. Hope that doesn’t engender any ill-will or cultural misunderstandings like the kitty.
I think we need a more thorough brain dump of what was going on in the irate female official’s name to thoroughly understand what was happening, the thought processes involved and such. Certainly is scary.
“Devadatta” in Pali, in the Thai the names look so unfamiliar, now I understand, he’s in the Jatakas a lot, the part about him being sucked into the ground, I didn’t remember, guess these are important little but meaningful details that people later reinterpreted for their own political purposes. Thanks.
Today’s Thairath newspaper editorial really push the class-conflict button.
Whether it would ignite a spark or fizzle out remain to be seen.
But the name of the columnist sure highlight his/her topic: р╕Бр╕ер╣Йр╕▓р╣Др╕Фр╣Йр╕Бр╕ер╣Йр╕▓р╣Ар╕кр╕╡р╕в
Thaiwoman. You write that “My village is situated about 20 km from the provincial center. Rice and onion farming are the occupation for the 2000 or so who live there although most tend to middle aged, old or kids as the younger people have moved off to the factories of Ayuthaya, Lampang and a few to the East. There are social splits now between the farmers who may occaisionally do a bit of construction work on a seasonal basis and the young who pretty much prefer the city life and work, and who are now learnign that completion of technical qualifications can get them away. They are probably lucky in some way that they are close enough to the provincial center to study in a college. This is a big change when many of their parents are illiterate.”
I find this account very plausible, though I do wonder how many of the parental generation (rather than the grandparental) are/were illiterate. The image you paint of a diversified economy is very similiar to what I have observed in the north. But to me, this makes your account of the electoral process even more implausible. Are these economically diversified and increasingly educated families really so vulnerable to the threats and coersions of the local “kamnan”? What you describe does not look much like a feudal system to me. Rather it looks like a rather diverse system in which there are likely to be all sorts of cross cutting factions and allegiences. Are you seriously suggesting that the opposition parties (Democrat and/or Mahachon) were not free to actively and vigorously campaign in the 2001 or 2005 elections? Can you tell us which electorate the village is in? (They are pretty big so it shouldn’t breach any confidences.) It would be interesting to look at the electorate voting record over the past few elections. And I don’t think the personal safety of Chuan Leekpai can be taken as much of an indication of anything. There are plenty of parts of Australia where John Howard wouldn’t dare to venture out!
Excuse another self-link, but since such surveys are questioned above, I thought I should include some information on the methodology of the World Bank and TI, see the comments on this blog post.
Here is from the World Bank on their underlying sources for the Governance Indicators?
“Our data sources reflect the perceptions of a very diverse group of respondents. For 2006, we use 276 variables drawn from 31 sources and 25 different organizations.
Several of our data sources are surveys of individuals or domestic firms with first-hand knowledge of the governance situation in the country. We also capture the perceptions of country analysts at the major multilateral development agencies, reflecting these individuals’ in-depth experience working on the countries they assess. Other data sources from NGOs, as well as commercial risk rating agencies, base their assessments on a global network of correspondents typically living in the country they are rating.”
—
So who to rely on? Two credible organisations with years of data for comparison or Jeru?
James and others: It is not just TI. Here is something I wrote which also mentions World Bank stats:
The World Bank also publishes a survey on Governance Indicators and one of these indicators is Control of Corruption. The Governance Indicators use “276 variables drawn from 31 sources and 25 different organizations”. A higher percentile rank indicates better governance ratings. As can be shown by the below table, control of corruption reduced during the term of the opposition Democrat Party, but has gradually improved during the Thaksin government. The Thaksin government has almost manage to restore the control of corruption to the level it was before the Democrat Party took power.
Yes, it doesn’t include figures for 2006, but any 2006 figures are complicated by the fact that perception of corruption or control of corruption might have changed as a result of the coup – sorry to shock those anti-Thaksinites but the military is also known for corruption. It would be interesting in 2008 to see 2007 figures to see how well the CNS did.
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Guns and other weapons at a Manau festival
[…] The full extract (which runs to 37 pages) is available here. Readers are, as always, very welcome to post their comments and questions. Previous New Mandala discussion of Manau festivals is also available online. […]
Strange but true in Laos
Entertaining indeed. Should make a short movie out of it and post the result on youtube !
Thaksin skeptic
The trouble with this Thaksin is actually the same as with that other Taksin. He’s far too ‘clever’ for his own good. I can see nothing good about living in a society with Thaksin in control. The WOD made it clear that this Thaksin has NO more scruples about wiping out certain sectors of society than does the royalty and its military-business stooges. The WOD was Thaksin’s 1976, which probably explains for his current desire to climb into bed with Samak.
Let’s just say that Thaksin succeeds in neutralising the monarchy. It will then be a bare knuckle brawl with those who really control the country. (The monarchy has clearly been hijacked by its own supposedly devoted loyalists.) You could argue that the resulting civil war is already under way. Civil wars almost always rip the guts out of a country. In which case, I would rather take the slow track to a more equitable society.
The trouble with politicians like Thaksin is that they are too clever to figure out that the simple stuff. If you like, he has been corrupted by too much dishonest dabbling in the black political arts. He’s a sort of political Alistair Crowley – the man who drove himself crazy with his own cleverness. Thaksin has a surprising amount in common with this monarch – who has been completely blinded by the constant & contrived adulation he receives. But the monarch is a tradition which I would be prepared to live with in a true constitutional monarchy system. Especially if accompanied by the possibility of electing a certain number of unashamed socialists (with a small s) to counter the worst excesses of capitalism. I am not be prepared to tolerate a Thaksin dictatorship. Two Thaksin terms were enough to convince me that he shares all the negatives of the current monarchy, but has none of its positives.
Observing an electoral fiction
In Chiang Mai City, pro-Thaksin forces in 2006 indeed broke up a rally organized by the Democrat Party.
“Thaksin supporters raid Democrat’s rally site in Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai – Supporters of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra disrupted the rally site of the Democrat Party Thursday evening forcing Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva to cancel his speech.
Some 300 protesters turned up at the Democrat rally site at 7:10 pm while Democrat member Alongkorn Pollabutr was speaking on the stage.
The supporters later broke into the rally area and carried signs in support of Thaksin just before Abhisit could deliver his speech.
The protesters then rushed on the stage to hold banner in support of Thaksin and seized the stage. Police looked on helplessly.”
TN 30 March 2006
In Udon Thani, a “mob” led by TRT MPs made it impossible for the PAD with Suriyasai to hold a seminar at the Rajaphat University (?), and held their group hostage for many hours.
As for the “kamnan” intimidating people, I am not sure whether this referred to the entire sub-district or only to that/those village(s) under the direct influence of that person. It is not unusual in kamnan elections that the winner will be that village headman who can secure almost all votes in his own village, prevent rival village headmen from campaigning in his village, and who can team up with some other phu yai ban. Obviously, when they act as vote canvassers for candidates in PAO and national elections, such people are thought after because of their dominance and vote-generating cabability.
Kyi May Kaung on Burma’s predicament
Not much new information there, except the section quoted below which doesn’t really cover as much ground as say Larry Jagan’s Op-Ed piece in the Bangkok Post last week.
“Sham effort to place blame for the price hike on concerned citizens”
“In a disturbing new development, a report supposedly written by an advisory group of Rangoon-based economists and scientists recommended the price hike to cover higher budget expenditures by the military government. It was leaked to exile groups and the Burmese media outside the country. However, Dr. Maung Myint, a prominent Burmese economist and a member of the group, denied the authenticity of the report in a letter to The Irrawaddy, a Thailand based dissident magazine.
“I believe the report was a fake and an attempt to make scapegoats of the academics. It betrayed a poor and mechanistic “understanding” of “bringing prices in line with the world market.” It did some rudimentary arithmetic and said the budget deficit, caused by the government’s raising salaries of civil servants, could be covered by raising fuel prices. It did not go into the inflationary affects of this increase in money supply at all. The Burmese government has been continuously printing money to cover its expenditures since 1962.
“It was a sort of watered down version of the IMF/World Bank 4 step program of privatization, market based pricing, free trade and capital market liberalization that has been criticized by Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz, formerly chief economist at the World Bank. Allowing prices to float to market levels as per IMF/World Bank recommendations also caused demonstrations in Indonesia in 1998. “
Strange but true in Laos
Fantastic story! Totally hilarious! You couldn’t script it better if you tried. While I sympathise with your predicamet being force repatirated out of Laos after two years of working there, how it was orchestrated is just amazing. Very entertaining. I would be interested to know just what it was you were doing there though as ‘humanitarian work” doesn’t immediately translate to “non-problematic” to local interests. Care to share some detail?
Strange but true in Laos
The writer puts on a brave face to call this a ‘hilarious’ episode. Anyone researching or writing critically about Laos has fear of this kind of absolute power hanging over them like a shadow. The fear that I will not be able to get a visa because of something I wrote or that my colleagues, friends and people I love as family in Laos will be punished because of something I have done is a very real one. In Thailand the silence surrounding the king as a subject of academic and popular criticism and debate is at least a subject of some muted academic criticism and debate, despite the potential ostracism awaiting. In Laos this kind of absolutist power is the unquestioned source of authority. Their is no king in Laos, there is an entire politburo full of them. What is worrying is that the legitimacy of this kind of absolutism more globally seems to be increasingly shielded from any form of questioning and nationalist sentiment is all too easily whipped up to support it. Those who are critical of the way authority is established through threat of violence are branded unpatriotic or ignorant outsiders. This is not hilarious. This is sick, sad, humiliating, insulting and something to be struggled against until death or the victory of a more humane form of government. Full stop.
Six threats and one opportunity
Historicus you should ask Andrew Walker who worries. I think thrice already Andrew Walker’s blocking-deleting-censorious fingers were attentively active with my posts.
Thaksin’s democracy had to end extra-constitutionally Historicus, there was no other way, either Thaksin’s coup or the pre-emptive General Sonthi coup that was successful. So far none of the NM bloggers can show me how Thaksin’s democracy, with the divisions and non-stop protests, was supposed to culminate.
Six threats and one opportunity
Historicus: Why would I be ‘suddenly’ worried?
I admit I do worry, but there is nothing sudden about it, as I have consistently stated that the electoral masses need to be more discerning before things can get better.
I note you have avoided my question in post #76 above.
Strange but true in Laos
Indeed, in the West there are plenty of dogs called Churchill, Patton, things like that. That such a deep level of ignorance on the part of one official’s wife (when everyone else clearly got the joke) can get someone ejected from Laos reflects very poorly on the country’s future prospects. I suppose foreign aid workers should be expected to bow down to “cultural norms” such as corruption too, eh? Not that I’m a believer in the infallibility of Western-style development, but I have to say–Laos will have an extremely hard time achieving a modicum of economic well-being for its citizens when energy is wasted on unimportant issues like offensive pet names. I wonder how many people the Lao government has employed full-time to make sure Thai pop stars don’t say offensive things about Laos? Apparently quite a few is you consider the speed with which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs swoops down on any perceived insult. Too bad they won’t react so swiftly to food shortages or floods.
I saw a series of concerts at the National Culture Hall in Vientiane in 2003 for “Japan-ASEAN Exchange year 2003.” The Japanese performers who came always had to go through the painful ritual of attempting to sing in Lao, answering many questions from the MCs about why Laos is so great, etc.
My point: this kind of foolishness on the part of the Lao government occurs in both very public settings, or more-or-less private ones (despite the resultant public apologies) like that described by the offending pet namer. So this is a funny episode, but of course points to larger issues in Lao society.
Back when I was trying to get a visa to do research in Laos, some poor secretary who worked with my contacts in the Ministry of Information and Culture was asked to submit my visa paperwork, based on my project proposal having been approved by the Ministry, etc. The secretary accidentally submitted the paperwork twice, after which my contacts were given the cold shoulder by the visa department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Although they were told once that the department was reluctant to issue my visa, they were in general told repeatedly that my paperwork was “lost.” My main contact sensed something amiss and told me he wouldn’t be able to campaign on my behalf any further. I could tell he feared a reprisal of the kind endured by those close to the pet namer.
In my case, based on the paperwork error, perhaps some official at the MoFA feared there were two of me trying to infiltrate the country? Not as funny as the woman who took offense over “Bouasone,” but it does point up some of the same sort of misguided bureaucratic paranoia and smallmindedness.
Observing an electoral fiction
In the village that I’m from, people welcome the ‘improved’ access to health care, education, government services etc. They love the guy because he showed them that he would improve further other important matters etc, etc. This sentiment has been presented and to some was/would be dismissed as pro-Thaksin and TRT always. So, I’m not to go on. I’d just like to make a point that Chiangmai is a very safe place for Chaun and Abhisit and their supporters. They are not and have never been in danger. Just that their policy sucks. Social benefits for seniors? free 12 yr education? But when, where, in Bangkok first, right? The problem right now is WE are in danger to express, for example, that we don’t accept the junta supported constitution. I bet we are also in danger to say, for example, that we would like, something like… EU monitoring the whole process of election as the appointed committee has already made a decision. To me, the personal safety of myself and my rural northern family is a concern right now.
I think it’s hard for a person who might have grown up in a privileged international school to see the real problems at a village level. My village in Sarapee is about 10 km from CM city, but why were/are my parents/grandparents’ generation illiterate with zero access to health care. They are hard working farmers, gardeners, merchants, mind you. Not to linger on the personal level at all, the people of beautiful and fertile northern land don’t deserve to be oppressed and accused of taking a few hundred bahts and blah, blah blah… same old, same old.
It is disheartening to see the so called ‘coup endorsing Thai elites’ are doing their best to suppress a glimpse of democratic society… that we might have experienced for a little time.
Observing an electoral fiction
Having lived and travelled in Northern Thailand for ten years I have never come across or heard of physical intimidation at any of the elections TRT ran in, and neither against any opposition politician for that matter. Such an attack would have had huge repercussions in the media even before they turned anti-Thaksin and more so after, considering how the Central World incident was blown out of proportion by Sonthi L. et al. Why is Chuan quiet about the “attack as police looked on” I wonder?
TRT garnered the votes with their populist hand-outs and a can-do style of politics which was new and revolutionary in many ways. Why they would resort to violence with these majorities is beyond me.
Six threats and one opportunity
Like the military junta and its puppet government, jeru and nganadeeleg have suddenly become worried that their views are not as widely held as they imagined.
Six threats and one opportunity
jeru: I gave you the facts, you give none. “so where did Historicus get his conclusion that anti-Thaksin prostesters have quieted down?” – from tha Bangkok press. I cited all of the events. You now scratch around for protests in NYC and London. Do these equal the “massive street protests” that you wrote of above? You are doing a fine job of avoiding facts. I am not rewriting that’s your job for the boys in khaki and green. That should be absolutely clear to all on NM. You are not serious but a (self-appointed?) blogger for the junta.
Strange but true in Laos
My favorite canine is named after the Thai Miss Universe. Hope that doesn’t engender any ill-will or cultural misunderstandings like the kitty.
I think we need a more thorough brain dump of what was going on in the irate female official’s name to thoroughly understand what was happening, the thought processes involved and such. Certainly is scary.
Scum of the earth
“Devadatta” in Pali, in the Thai the names look so unfamiliar, now I understand, he’s in the Jatakas a lot, the part about him being sucked into the ground, I didn’t remember, guess these are important little but meaningful details that people later reinterpreted for their own political purposes. Thanks.
Scum of the earth
Today’s Thairath newspaper editorial really push the class-conflict button.
Whether it would ignite a spark or fizzle out remain to be seen.
But the name of the columnist sure highlight his/her topic: р╕Бр╕ер╣Йр╕▓р╣Др╕Фр╣Йр╕Бр╕ер╣Йр╕▓р╣Ар╕кр╕╡р╕в
http://www.thairath.co.th/news.php?section=society05&content=60731
Oh, Giles would be proud.
Observing an electoral fiction
Thaiwoman. You write that “My village is situated about 20 km from the provincial center. Rice and onion farming are the occupation for the 2000 or so who live there although most tend to middle aged, old or kids as the younger people have moved off to the factories of Ayuthaya, Lampang and a few to the East. There are social splits now between the farmers who may occaisionally do a bit of construction work on a seasonal basis and the young who pretty much prefer the city life and work, and who are now learnign that completion of technical qualifications can get them away. They are probably lucky in some way that they are close enough to the provincial center to study in a college. This is a big change when many of their parents are illiterate.”
I find this account very plausible, though I do wonder how many of the parental generation (rather than the grandparental) are/were illiterate. The image you paint of a diversified economy is very similiar to what I have observed in the north. But to me, this makes your account of the electoral process even more implausible. Are these economically diversified and increasingly educated families really so vulnerable to the threats and coersions of the local “kamnan”? What you describe does not look much like a feudal system to me. Rather it looks like a rather diverse system in which there are likely to be all sorts of cross cutting factions and allegiences. Are you seriously suggesting that the opposition parties (Democrat and/or Mahachon) were not free to actively and vigorously campaign in the 2001 or 2005 elections? Can you tell us which electorate the village is in? (They are pretty big so it shouldn’t breach any confidences.) It would be interesting to look at the electorate voting record over the past few elections. And I don’t think the personal safety of Chuan Leekpai can be taken as much of an indication of anything. There are plenty of parts of Australia where John Howard wouldn’t dare to venture out!
Observing an electoral fiction
Excuse another self-link, but since such surveys are questioned above, I thought I should include some information on the methodology of the World Bank and TI, see the comments on this blog post.
Here is from the World Bank on their underlying sources for the Governance Indicators?
“Our data sources reflect the perceptions of a very diverse group of respondents. For 2006, we use 276 variables drawn from 31 sources and 25 different organizations.
Several of our data sources are surveys of individuals or domestic firms with first-hand knowledge of the governance situation in the country. We also capture the perceptions of country analysts at the major multilateral development agencies, reflecting these individuals’ in-depth experience working on the countries they assess. Other data sources from NGOs, as well as commercial risk rating agencies, base their assessments on a global network of correspondents typically living in the country they are rating.”
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So who to rely on? Two credible organisations with years of data for comparison or Jeru?
Observing an electoral fiction
James and others: It is not just TI. Here is something I wrote which also mentions World Bank stats:
The World Bank also publishes a survey on Governance Indicators and one of these indicators is Control of Corruption. The Governance Indicators use “276 variables drawn from 31 sources and 25 different organizations”. A higher percentile rank indicates better governance ratings. As can be shown by the below table, control of corruption reduced during the term of the opposition Democrat Party, but has gradually improved during the Thaksin government. The Thaksin government has almost manage to restore the control of corruption to the level it was before the Democrat Party took power.
Year Percentile Rank
1998 52.0
2000 45.1
2002 46.6
2003 47.1
2004 48.0
2005 51.2
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Yes, it doesn’t include figures for 2006, but any 2006 figures are complicated by the fact that perception of corruption or control of corruption might have changed as a result of the coup – sorry to shock those anti-Thaksinites but the military is also known for corruption. It would be interesting in 2008 to see 2007 figures to see how well the CNS did.