[…] had thought that after a couple of weeks it would be in everybody’s best interest to simply ignore the provocative and childish videos that may, on occasion, cause offence in […]
Anon, how dare you insult one our my culture’s most revered figures. I have often been compared to Mr Bean, and have always taken this as a great honour. To include him in the same sentence as our Clown Prince is profoundly culturally insensitive. I will do my utmost to ensure that your website is banned in my country!
From the Connors article: “That’s why some people have given up on democracy all together, saying the rural masses in Thailand are not ready for it. Instead a mixed system that incorporates the people, the aristocracy, and the king should be devised until the masses are ready to act like democratic citizens.
Such criticism of the electoral process betrays aristocratic disdain for the masses; and it might suggest that one of South-East Asia’s most liberal of democracies (from the 1980s-1990s) might be headed down the road of Singaporean guided-democracy .”
Perhaps even Thaksin would have liked to have head towards the Singapore model, but unfortunately he is no LKY.
I thought the BB (Bullet Balls) ones are made in China, no? Found a lot of them at Mae Sai market. The variety of them and the price in Manau make the Mae Sai market envies.
[…] Of course, being a good teacher, I had to explain that this is a fairy story and no one would take it seriously in real life. [Hey dad, that doesn’t matter. We love fairy stories. Tomorrow can we have the draft constitution?] […]
Queen Elizabeth can’t compare against our father. She and her family are the laughing stock of the English people. Mr. Bean is probably more popular than the Crown Prince. The Thai people are without exception are full of love and respect for our father.
If, after the Poll Tax Riots, Thatcher had not resigned, and the Queen had instructed the British military to remove Thatcher, I’m sure that by now, England would be a republic. Don’t forget: despite the Riots, Thatcher was undefeated at the polls and was one of the longest-serving Prime Minister’s in UK history. She was about as popular as Thaksin was before the coup. If it had come to Thatcher vs. the Queen, the Queen would now be in exile in the Hague.
This is such a joke! Energy/natural resources consumption and greenhouse gas emissions are all things that can be quantitatively and objectively measured. Compliance can be evaluated, and the effectiveness of the declaration can be assessed. The effect on climatic change can, in theory, be modelled.
How the hell is anybody going to objectively measure whether a signatory party has actually “promoted lifestyles that uphold the sufficiency economy?” Did the Thaksin government do it? Is the Surayud junta doing it? Is Apirak doing it? There’s no way to really tell. The fact that Apirak is signing off on this shows how little he understands environmental issues.
>>Elected or not, TRT was sucking the consitution and all power into its gigantic poltical vacuum machine. The military, for better or worse, flicked the off switch.
Poor Labour Party in the UK had to wait for about 18 years for their return to power, during which they had to look helplessly how Maggy Thatcher tried to revolutionize the country. Did they ever think of getting Elizabeth and the military to do the job elections normally are devised for?
Was Thaksin good or bad for Thai democracy?
Answer: Thaksin was the worst thing to happen to Thailand’s democracy.
Is Thailand’s King good or bad for Thai democracy?
HMK Bhumibhol is good for Thai democracy …definitely.
HMK was a counterbalance against abusive leaders, democratically elected or otherwise. But overall,
HMK’s record to help Thai democracy flourish is positive.
Has the recent coup been good or bad for Thai democracy?
For removing Thaksin who was the danger to Thai democracy, VERY GOOD. But let’s wait. Let’s see how the junta handle the delicate redrafting of the Thai constitution and the election to follow after that.
Sioux? OK, maybe they do look a bit like contemporary grass dancers at a contest powwow, or maybe grass dancers looking for a 49.
On a more serious note, I would like to see a discussion about these men, since in the old days they would have been the priests, prophets and ceremonial leaders. In contemporary Burma they are often Christian pastors and church leaders. Who are they in China? I notice they are wearing hornbill heads, or replicas of them, rather than just the feathers as you usually see.
Jon, the “military flicking off the switch” was definitely for the worse.
The military’s interference in politics is the real underlying problem in Thailand. The level of corruption, incompetence, nepotism, and even criminality that permeates that institution is far worse than anything civilian politicians have done, or what the monarchy is (now more overtly as seen on YouTube) accused of doing.
Its the military’s continual interference in politics that has stunted the growth of democracy in Thailand and created constant instability. Its return to centre stage in May-06 was a major step backward for Thailand, particularly given the current monarch is approaching his twilight years (i.e. we only have a few more years of his “stability” and counter-weight to the excesses of the military).
The Thaksin problem, if it indeed was a problem, should have been solved within the rule of law & the pre-existing constitution. If he was corrupt, then persecute him. If he was incompetent, then vote him out. If he was a demagogue, then let the other political parties expose him. These things may be hard to do, and may even take some time, but it is better than allowing a junta to take over.
The saddest thing about all this is that the coup was accepted, and even cheered on, by many many people. If this is what the Thai people consider as an acceptable political solution, then the debate over the new constitution is a pointless exercise. No matter what is written in it, the enerals can always override it and pardon themselves.
This blog and others often focus on Thaksin or the Royalists as being the protagonists. The real culprit is the Military.
Thanks Srithanonchai for the link to the working papers but they stop in 2002 and the one you pointed to was from 1998.
Srithanonchai: “Without clearly conceptualizing the issue of “stability” and determining what the dependent variable means and what the independent variables are, this will remain a ghost debate.”
Agreed that the stabilities of Myanmar or Singapore are not for Thailand, Bangkok is not an autonomous little city state like Singapore, it has a huge agricultural hinterland surounding it (culturally, socially, and economically fundamentally different), determining Bangkok’s destiny under electoral democracy, or at least that’s one way to look at it.
Nor are the US subsidised and supported harsh military regime-strong states of South Korean development, that jump started steel, ship, and car industries without foreign joint ventures, as desirable as the ultimate outcomes were, and as horrible as the means of obtaining them were.
Nor is the Burmese way to socialism through 40 years of isolation and pretending the outside world does not exist, and now dire poverty.
Nor is the Nepalese experience of kingship where the Nepalese King intervened so excessively in politics that he ran the ship of state into a rock and sunk it, with himself.
Elected or not, TRT was sucking the consitution and all power into its gigantic poltical vacuum machine. The military, for better or worse, flicked the off switch.
Another one-sided event hosted by SOAS. I wonder if anyone there will have anything nice to say about Thaksin or will it be he is the spawn of the devil?
Nick: Make sure you ask them who paid for the trip? And ask if they are part of the CNS propaganda campaign?
To be fair, give credit where credit’s due. It’s good to see (at least from the announcement) that SOAS’s CSEAS seems to have publically disassociated itself from this one. But one hopes some of them will be there to heckle Kraisak after his performance last time he was at SOAS. And if Srithanonchai is right, then the rest of the speakers should also be roundly condemned for allowing themselves to be used as the propaganda arm of a royalist-military dictatorship (and no doubt receiving a nice pay cheque for their trouble) – as should the SOAS Thai Society for hosting them. If not I hope we can rely on Nicholas to ask the tough questions, though he will probably not make himself popular in that company.
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The regime’s royal ridicule
[…] had thought that after a couple of weeks it would be in everybody’s best interest to simply ignore the provocative and childish videos that may, on occasion, cause offence in […]
Has the coup been good for democracy?
Anon, how dare you insult one our my culture’s most revered figures. I have often been compared to Mr Bean, and have always taken this as a great honour. To include him in the same sentence as our Clown Prince is profoundly culturally insensitive. I will do my utmost to ensure that your website is banned in my country!
Howling dogs and Thai politics
From the Connors article: “That’s why some people have given up on democracy all together, saying the rural masses in Thailand are not ready for it. Instead a mixed system that incorporates the people, the aristocracy, and the king should be devised until the masses are ready to act like democratic citizens.
Such criticism of the electoral process betrays aristocratic disdain for the masses; and it might suggest that one of South-East Asia’s most liberal of democracies (from the 1980s-1990s) might be headed down the road of Singaporean guided-democracy .”
Perhaps even Thaksin would have liked to have head towards the Singapore model, but unfortunately he is no LKY.
Howling dogs and Thai politics
Yes, the first time a Thai friend told me this I didnt believe it….funny in a way (sad in another)
A fairy story
Before you give them the draft constitution, please check with the Thai original whether the sections you select for reading are correctly translated.
Guns and other weapons at a Manau festival
I thought the BB (Bullet Balls) ones are made in China, no? Found a lot of them at Mae Sai market. The variety of them and the price in Manau make the Mae Sai market envies.
English version of new constitution
[…] Of course, being a good teacher, I had to explain that this is a fairy story and no one would take it seriously in real life. [Hey dad, that doesn’t matter. We love fairy stories. Tomorrow can we have the draft constitution?] […]
Has the coup been good for democracy?
Queen Elizabeth can’t compare against our father. She and her family are the laughing stock of the English people. Mr. Bean is probably more popular than the Crown Prince. The Thai people are without exception are full of love and respect for our father.
If, after the Poll Tax Riots, Thatcher had not resigned, and the Queen had instructed the British military to remove Thatcher, I’m sure that by now, England would be a republic. Don’t forget: despite the Riots, Thatcher was undefeated at the polls and was one of the longest-serving Prime Minister’s in UK history. She was about as popular as Thaksin was before the coup. If it had come to Thatcher vs. the Queen, the Queen would now be in exile in the Hague.
Sufficiency Bangkok and climate change
This is such a joke! Energy/natural resources consumption and greenhouse gas emissions are all things that can be quantitatively and objectively measured. Compliance can be evaluated, and the effectiveness of the declaration can be assessed. The effect on climatic change can, in theory, be modelled.
How the hell is anybody going to objectively measure whether a signatory party has actually “promoted lifestyles that uphold the sufficiency economy?” Did the Thaksin government do it? Is the Surayud junta doing it? Is Apirak doing it? There’s no way to really tell. The fact that Apirak is signing off on this shows how little he understands environmental issues.
Thailand after the coup: Event at SOAS
If it is in London, why not invite Thaksin to speak?
Has the coup been good for democracy?
>>Elected or not, TRT was sucking the consitution and all power into its gigantic poltical vacuum machine. The military, for better or worse, flicked the off switch.
Has the coup been good for democracy?
Poor Labour Party in the UK had to wait for about 18 years for their return to power, during which they had to look helplessly how Maggy Thatcher tried to revolutionize the country. Did they ever think of getting Elizabeth and the military to do the job elections normally are devised for?
Has the coup been good for democracy?
Was Thaksin good or bad for Thai democracy?
Answer: Thaksin was the worst thing to happen to Thailand’s democracy.
Is Thailand’s King good or bad for Thai democracy?
HMK Bhumibhol is good for Thai democracy …definitely.
HMK was a counterbalance against abusive leaders, democratically elected or otherwise. But overall,
HMK’s record to help Thai democracy flourish is positive.
Has the recent coup been good or bad for Thai democracy?
For removing Thaksin who was the danger to Thai democracy, VERY GOOD. But let’s wait. Let’s see how the junta handle the delicate redrafting of the Thai constitution and the election to follow after that.
Guns and other weapons at a Manau festival
Sioux? OK, maybe they do look a bit like contemporary grass dancers at a contest powwow, or maybe grass dancers looking for a 49.
On a more serious note, I would like to see a discussion about these men, since in the old days they would have been the priests, prophets and ceremonial leaders. In contemporary Burma they are often Christian pastors and church leaders. Who are they in China? I notice they are wearing hornbill heads, or replicas of them, rather than just the feathers as you usually see.
Has the coup been good for democracy?
I meant prosecute, not persecute. Generals not enerals.
Has the coup been good for democracy?
Jon, the “military flicking off the switch” was definitely for the worse.
The military’s interference in politics is the real underlying problem in Thailand. The level of corruption, incompetence, nepotism, and even criminality that permeates that institution is far worse than anything civilian politicians have done, or what the monarchy is (now more overtly as seen on YouTube) accused of doing.
Its the military’s continual interference in politics that has stunted the growth of democracy in Thailand and created constant instability. Its return to centre stage in May-06 was a major step backward for Thailand, particularly given the current monarch is approaching his twilight years (i.e. we only have a few more years of his “stability” and counter-weight to the excesses of the military).
The Thaksin problem, if it indeed was a problem, should have been solved within the rule of law & the pre-existing constitution. If he was corrupt, then persecute him. If he was incompetent, then vote him out. If he was a demagogue, then let the other political parties expose him. These things may be hard to do, and may even take some time, but it is better than allowing a junta to take over.
The saddest thing about all this is that the coup was accepted, and even cheered on, by many many people. If this is what the Thai people consider as an acceptable political solution, then the debate over the new constitution is a pointless exercise. No matter what is written in it, the enerals can always override it and pardon themselves.
This blog and others often focus on Thaksin or the Royalists as being the protagonists. The real culprit is the Military.
Has the coup been good for democracy?
Jon: The direct link to the paper is
http://www.asiafoundation.org/pdf/wp8.pdf
Has the coup been good for democracy?
Thanks Srithanonchai for the link to the working papers but they stop in 2002 and the one you pointed to was from 1998.
Srithanonchai: “Without clearly conceptualizing the issue of “stability” and determining what the dependent variable means and what the independent variables are, this will remain a ghost debate.”
Agreed that the stabilities of Myanmar or Singapore are not for Thailand, Bangkok is not an autonomous little city state like Singapore, it has a huge agricultural hinterland surounding it (culturally, socially, and economically fundamentally different), determining Bangkok’s destiny under electoral democracy, or at least that’s one way to look at it.
Nor are the US subsidised and supported harsh military regime-strong states of South Korean development, that jump started steel, ship, and car industries without foreign joint ventures, as desirable as the ultimate outcomes were, and as horrible as the means of obtaining them were.
Nor is the Burmese way to socialism through 40 years of isolation and pretending the outside world does not exist, and now dire poverty.
Nor is the Nepalese experience of kingship where the Nepalese King intervened so excessively in politics that he ran the ship of state into a rock and sunk it, with himself.
Elected or not, TRT was sucking the consitution and all power into its gigantic poltical vacuum machine. The military, for better or worse, flicked the off switch.
Thailand after the coup: Event at SOAS
Another one-sided event hosted by SOAS. I wonder if anyone there will have anything nice to say about Thaksin or will it be he is the spawn of the devil?
Nick: Make sure you ask them who paid for the trip? And ask if they are part of the CNS propaganda campaign?
Thailand after the coup: Event at SOAS
To be fair, give credit where credit’s due. It’s good to see (at least from the announcement) that SOAS’s CSEAS seems to have publically disassociated itself from this one. But one hopes some of them will be there to heckle Kraisak after his performance last time he was at SOAS. And if Srithanonchai is right, then the rest of the speakers should also be roundly condemned for allowing themselves to be used as the propaganda arm of a royalist-military dictatorship (and no doubt receiving a nice pay cheque for their trouble) – as should the SOAS Thai Society for hosting them. If not I hope we can rely on Nicholas to ask the tough questions, though he will probably not make himself popular in that company.