What conference? It is the same group of people travelling as representatives of the PR “war room” of the PM’s office that went to the UK (SOAS) and Germany (Berlin) with the specific brief to defend the coup (minus Sulak, plus the former embassador).
Does really anybody think, ordinary people would spontaneously have attended the government-organized rallies at the royal plaza or the stadium in Chiang Mai? The government may complain about vote-buying, but they use exactly the same method.
Keith,
What you say is right and I watch with incedulity as the process goes on. I have written about it, and have edited hopelessly inadequate undergraduate level consultant’s reports which do not address issues such as potential species extinction as the result of turning Lao into a series of large swimming pools. .. or write pat livelihood reports based on no knowlege at all, much consultations with Lao women. Many of the consultancy firms, partic those based in Lao, have their eyes on the next fat contract and do not want to upset the cash filled rice bowl.
One thing that alarms me is the fact that most of the investment is private. Large asian transnational engineering companies and groups such as Thai’s EGAT/EDCO are increasingly dominating the game. ADB and the WB cannot compte and maybe after the brouhaha of the NT2 project they don’t want to. While consultants can write reports until they turn blue or brown, the outcomes are known. Gamuda Berhad, a Malaysian company responsible for some terrible projects and environmental damage in Malaysia (Selangor dam is one example) began building an access road through a Protected Area (the pristine and globally important Nam Kading NPA) before the Govt had given approval to the EIA. They stored explosives in the unlocked and unfenced WCS trainign center that will end up under a tailings dump and gave, in their reckless slashing drive through forest, some idea of what is to come. The dam wall they are building is 175 meters high which will effectively end the seasonal spawning migration of many species of Mekong fish.. Give them pitons the GoL says.
Thanks to Andrew Walker for the response. I think positively and regardless of who the speakers might be, the “discussion on the political situation in Australia” at my university or any university that offer Australian study courses will be a good education session for Thai students or anyone interested to listen, question, and learn about Australian politics and situation leading up to the upcoming election anyway. For NTSC’s role as a host for the issue regarding the current Thai politics at this crucial time, it is very timely and appropriate in the sense that the session will be open to everyone -even the least open-minded and short-sighted academic. All will be welcome and questions will be open anyway. However, considering that NTSC has played the role in studying the development of the situation on Thailand especially at this time when the upcoming vote on the referendum will affect the country’s future, if this isn’t a good place and time, then when? and where?
Thanks Serious Thai. I look forward to your university hosting a “discussion on the political situation in Australia leading up to the 2007 election” that features only speakers nominated by the Prime Minister’s office.
The fact that the queen utters something that is hardly more interesting than the kind of statement one hears from undergrads and others with a passing interest in the topic is of little interest of itself. That her comments become big news and the subject of debate is the interesting thing. For me it indicates how dismal things have become in Thailand.
Yes, thank you for the interview.
Certainly going to get World Development (1993) from Chula’s libary and give it a read.
Also the reference to the difficulty of engaging with Burma was interesting.
Hard nut to crack, I guess.
Guys…as a Thai, I am very much appreciated about you guys interest in Thai urrent cpolitics situation but I think the issue of NTSC holding the siminar and invited the speakers from Bangkok has nothing to do what so ever with NTSC being the “mouthpiece” or “stage” for Thai junta PR team. I found this rather absurd claim.
I mean, why you guys come up with such idea? Andrew Walker specially. You referred to the Nation report on junta PR mission to various countries…may I ask you … how much do you know about media in Thailand? could it be possible that they were just link up any possibility to just make the simple matter sound worst than it is? which I think in this kind of report, it is just that.
Obviously the NTSC held such conference annually for many years now and there’s always speakers from Thailand presented their views and answer questions on this stage, there’s never a report on the Nation even when there’s a speaker came from the Nation’s camp!
So guys, step outside a bit and see what’s shaking in the real world of Thai politics. I wish the delegation who will be coming to the conference knows that there’s this outrage discussion on NM blog about their influence on this trip…they’ll laugh their head off. Seriously
I like the new look, but I find it a bit hard to handle as you cannot find entries that just slipped out of the list “recent entries” straight away but have to make a search in the categories…
I suggest, that as there is quite some white space at the bottom you may expand the list of recent entries a bit, say, to ten articles.
Saving space by having a drop-down menu is a good idea though.
On NagaLim I have seen only Dutch names under contacts and I believe they are Dutch scholars. The more suspicious it is that such an irredentist idea is uncritically supported on the website. It is quite sad (albeit interesting) that with the age of the internet many ethnic groups embrace the idea of territorialism and boundaries as it is not applicable to Southeast Asia (and other regions) at all where the spatial division is not horizontal but vertical and where multi-ethnic communities are the norm. Ethnonationalism as described by Walker Connor is unfortunately more actual than ever.
I have made a quick internet research and found a quick overview by Ray Sahelian, M.D. who just states that Longan “MAY have antioxidant, chemo-preventive, and liver protective properties”. Branding something as anti-free radical is quite fashionable these days.
However, Longan is considered as being a “hot” category of fruits (together with Durian and Mango), believed to cause mouth ulcers and allergic reactions.
Still, I support the promotion of this delicious fruit.
“I’m a big fan of riparian buffer zones. But I don’t think they are what the queen had in mind. ”
I’m afraid you are more than likely right about that. And monoculture tree plantations are nothing more than green deserts that look nice from a distance. Japan provides classic examples of that- and the Japanese ones don’t really look that nice at all when vast plumes of cedar pollen are issuing from them. The Japanese have caught on to their mistake, albeit a bit late, but I am not too sanguine about the prospects here.
While the US, especially under Dubya, isn’t exactly the world’s friendliest government, I think the onus for lack of engagement pretty clearly rests on the military regime that abandons Rangoon for an ag school town. Not that there is anything wrong with ag schools or college towns, but not exactly the best move for engaging the outside world.
Also, I suspect that the Naga website isn’t being run by people in Burma or India, which points to the fact that there already are expat communities, especially of Burmese ethnic groups; here in Norman, Oklahoma, pretty much the middle of the US of A, the sushi in the local grocery stores are made by Chins from Burma. In my home town of Tulsa there’s a Chin church, which a Maru from Myitkyina attends. Dallas has a Kachin Baptist congregation where one of Maran Brang Seng’s daughter recently got married, and there are a bunch of Karens moving there these days.
These communities are using the new technologies in an attempt to leverage their agendas, which in some cases certainly have irridentist elements. Interesting times indeed.
Deja vu. This thing happened to my friend at Thammasat University once, and seriously she was just an undergrad at that time. Well…it’s just the politics inside the faculty. Someone just used it to cause Ass. Prof. Boonsong a trouble…a terribly big trouble actually.
I agree with kissmelon that the scores he gives to students can’t be counted a proof of disparaging H.M. The assessment is generally based on how rational the student’s arguments are, and it has nothing to do with their political positions. The question (no.6?) itself does not show anything that can be linked to lese majeste. By the way, Thai people should have freedom to voice out what they think no matter what their political positions are.
Thank you for that reference. Despite the failure of Iraq, the west seems to have developed an emotional attachment to “freedom fighters” as witnessed most recently by Rambo and his insightful comments on Burma’s politics (as seen on this blog).
Successful regime changes that got rid of longstanding dictatorships like Kim Dae Jung and Aquino didn’t require military intervention like Iraq, but did take place in a context of strong ties to expat communities outside the country and also strong diplomatic ties to the west. Burma’s 40-year isolation has precluded that. Economic sanctions continue to rule this sort of influence out. IMHO Burma will remain a backwater, perhaps becoming an even more violent one, until the US starts to engage with the government more. A sudden collapse of that government seems unlikely.
[…] appears in a better light, including on criteria 3 and 4. The junta is proposing a constitution which has some reasonable elements–banning future prime ministers from domineering media outlets is probably a good idea–and […]
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Talk and film on child prostitutes
[…] in July I briefly mentioned┬ the film “Sacrifice”.┬ It┬ follows the lives┬ of prostitutes from the Shan State in […]
ANU to host Thai junta PR machine
What conference? It is the same group of people travelling as representatives of the PR “war room” of the PM’s office that went to the UK (SOAS) and Germany (Berlin) with the specific brief to defend the coup (minus Sulak, plus the former embassador).
Yellow shirts, 100 baht and a speech from Surayud
Does really anybody think, ordinary people would spontaneously have attended the government-organized rallies at the royal plaza or the stadium in Chiang Mai? The government may complain about vote-buying, but they use exactly the same method.
Time to challenge the status quo
Keith,
What you say is right and I watch with incedulity as the process goes on. I have written about it, and have edited hopelessly inadequate undergraduate level consultant’s reports which do not address issues such as potential species extinction as the result of turning Lao into a series of large swimming pools. .. or write pat livelihood reports based on no knowlege at all, much consultations with Lao women. Many of the consultancy firms, partic those based in Lao, have their eyes on the next fat contract and do not want to upset the cash filled rice bowl.
One thing that alarms me is the fact that most of the investment is private. Large asian transnational engineering companies and groups such as Thai’s EGAT/EDCO are increasingly dominating the game. ADB and the WB cannot compte and maybe after the brouhaha of the NT2 project they don’t want to. While consultants can write reports until they turn blue or brown, the outcomes are known. Gamuda Berhad, a Malaysian company responsible for some terrible projects and environmental damage in Malaysia (Selangor dam is one example) began building an access road through a Protected Area (the pristine and globally important Nam Kading NPA) before the Govt had given approval to the EIA. They stored explosives in the unlocked and unfenced WCS trainign center that will end up under a tailings dump and gave, in their reckless slashing drive through forest, some idea of what is to come. The dam wall they are building is 175 meters high which will effectively end the seasonal spawning migration of many species of Mekong fish.. Give them pitons the GoL says.
Mizmel
Vientiane
ANU to host Thai junta PR machine
Thanks to Andrew Walker for the response. I think positively and regardless of who the speakers might be, the “discussion on the political situation in Australia” at my university or any university that offer Australian study courses will be a good education session for Thai students or anyone interested to listen, question, and learn about Australian politics and situation leading up to the upcoming election anyway. For NTSC’s role as a host for the issue regarding the current Thai politics at this crucial time, it is very timely and appropriate in the sense that the session will be open to everyone -even the least open-minded and short-sighted academic. All will be welcome and questions will be open anyway. However, considering that NTSC has played the role in studying the development of the situation on Thailand especially at this time when the upcoming vote on the referendum will affect the country’s future, if this isn’t a good place and time, then when? and where?
Yellow shirts, 100 baht and a speech from Surayud
Never fear: “Rural voters not politically naive, says Aussie anthropologist”
http://rspas.anu.edu.au/rmap/newmandala/2007/05/30/the-nation-on-the-rural-constitution/
ANU to host Thai junta PR machine
Thanks Serious Thai. I look forward to your university hosting a “discussion on the political situation in Australia leading up to the 2007 election” that features only speakers nominated by the Prime Minister’s office.
Royal hydrology
The fact that the queen utters something that is hardly more interesting than the kind of statement one hears from undergrads and others with a passing interest in the topic is of little interest of itself. That her comments become big news and the subject of debate is the interesting thing. For me it indicates how dismal things have become in Thailand.
Interview with Professor Kevin Hewison – Part One
Yes, thank you for the interview.
Certainly going to get World Development (1993) from Chula’s libary and give it a read.
Also the reference to the difficulty of engaging with Burma was interesting.
Hard nut to crack, I guess.
ANU to host Thai junta PR machine
Guys…as a Thai, I am very much appreciated about you guys interest in Thai urrent cpolitics situation but I think the issue of NTSC holding the siminar and invited the speakers from Bangkok has nothing to do what so ever with NTSC being the “mouthpiece” or “stage” for Thai junta PR team. I found this rather absurd claim.
I mean, why you guys come up with such idea? Andrew Walker specially. You referred to the Nation report on junta PR mission to various countries…may I ask you … how much do you know about media in Thailand? could it be possible that they were just link up any possibility to just make the simple matter sound worst than it is? which I think in this kind of report, it is just that.
Obviously the NTSC held such conference annually for many years now and there’s always speakers from Thailand presented their views and answer questions on this stage, there’s never a report on the Nation even when there’s a speaker came from the Nation’s camp!
So guys, step outside a bit and see what’s shaking in the real world of Thai politics. I wish the delegation who will be coming to the conference knows that there’s this outrage discussion on NM blog about their influence on this trip…they’ll laugh their head off. Seriously
SOAS discussion on the Thai coup
Confused : are you Sondhi employee? or are you Sondhi?
A new look for NM
I like the new look, but I find it a bit hard to handle as you cannot find entries that just slipped out of the list “recent entries” straight away but have to make a search in the categories…
I suggest, that as there is quite some white space at the bottom you may expand the list of recent entries a bit, say, to ten articles.
Saving space by having a drop-down menu is a good idea though.
Nagalim online
On NagaLim I have seen only Dutch names under contacts and I believe they are Dutch scholars. The more suspicious it is that such an irredentist idea is uncritically supported on the website. It is quite sad (albeit interesting) that with the age of the internet many ethnic groups embrace the idea of territorialism and boundaries as it is not applicable to Southeast Asia (and other regions) at all where the spatial division is not horizontal but vertical and where multi-ethnic communities are the norm. Ethnonationalism as described by Walker Connor is unfortunately more actual than ever.
Actress gives PM a longan
I have made a quick internet research and found a quick overview by Ray Sahelian, M.D. who just states that Longan “MAY have antioxidant, chemo-preventive, and liver protective properties”. Branding something as anti-free radical is quite fashionable these days.
However, Longan is considered as being a “hot” category of fruits (together with Durian and Mango), believed to cause mouth ulcers and allergic reactions.
Still, I support the promotion of this delicious fruit.
Interview with Professor Kevin Hewison – Part One
I find all the interviews in NM inspiring especially for a novice like myself. Congrats, Nich. Keep up the good work.
Royal hydrology
“I’m a big fan of riparian buffer zones. But I don’t think they are what the queen had in mind. ”
I’m afraid you are more than likely right about that. And monoculture tree plantations are nothing more than green deserts that look nice from a distance. Japan provides classic examples of that- and the Japanese ones don’t really look that nice at all when vast plumes of cedar pollen are issuing from them. The Japanese have caught on to their mistake, albeit a bit late, but I am not too sanguine about the prospects here.
Nagalim online
While the US, especially under Dubya, isn’t exactly the world’s friendliest government, I think the onus for lack of engagement pretty clearly rests on the military regime that abandons Rangoon for an ag school town. Not that there is anything wrong with ag schools or college towns, but not exactly the best move for engaging the outside world.
Also, I suspect that the Naga website isn’t being run by people in Burma or India, which points to the fact that there already are expat communities, especially of Burmese ethnic groups; here in Norman, Oklahoma, pretty much the middle of the US of A, the sushi in the local grocery stores are made by Chins from Burma. In my home town of Tulsa there’s a Chin church, which a Maru from Myitkyina attends. Dallas has a Kachin Baptist congregation where one of Maran Brang Seng’s daughter recently got married, and there are a bunch of Karens moving there these days.
These communities are using the new technologies in an attempt to leverage their agendas, which in some cases certainly have irridentist elements. Interesting times indeed.
Academic freedom?
Deja vu. This thing happened to my friend at Thammasat University once, and seriously she was just an undergrad at that time. Well…it’s just the politics inside the faculty. Someone just used it to cause Ass. Prof. Boonsong a trouble…a terribly big trouble actually.
I agree with kissmelon that the scores he gives to students can’t be counted a proof of disparaging H.M. The assessment is generally based on how rational the student’s arguments are, and it has nothing to do with their political positions. The question (no.6?) itself does not show anything that can be linked to lese majeste. By the way, Thai people should have freedom to voice out what they think no matter what their political positions are.
Nagalim online
Thank you for that reference. Despite the failure of Iraq, the west seems to have developed an emotional attachment to “freedom fighters” as witnessed most recently by Rambo and his insightful comments on Burma’s politics (as seen on this blog).
Successful regime changes that got rid of longstanding dictatorships like Kim Dae Jung and Aquino didn’t require military intervention like Iraq, but did take place in a context of strong ties to expat communities outside the country and also strong diplomatic ties to the west. Burma’s 40-year isolation has precluded that. Economic sanctions continue to rule this sort of influence out. IMHO Burma will remain a backwater, perhaps becoming an even more violent one, until the US starts to engage with the government more. A sudden collapse of that government seems unlikely.
Debating constitutional merit
[…] appears in a better light, including on criteria 3 and 4. The junta is proposing a constitution which has some reasonable elements–banning future prime ministers from domineering media outlets is probably a good idea–and […]