A cool feature on the conference website would be blogs where potential paper writers could float trial abstracts for papers and get feedback from other bloggers and blog readers, wait, me thinks that’s what this blog is or could be.
One of the common failings of some conferences that I’ve watched from a distance is the complete and utter disconnectedness of the paper themes/topics.
Over time the published articles in a discippline define the questions that people working in that discipline address, but this is a slow process, not very well adapted to the quickly developing issues in Thai politics nowadays, these have to be addressed in real time and blogs are the best publishing vehicle for doing this.
[…] to 15 June 2007. So it will be quite a wait to see if how liberal the organisers are in accepting panel and paper proposals which stray into sensitive […]
As a dog lover, I would just like to inform you, that without having any kind of warning of what I was going to see as I scrolled down, I am now left traumatized and morbidly disgusted.
When I get home tonight my dog is getting a few extra dog treats for no reason whatsoever.
Just a little follow up on my question above regarding the acceptance or otherwise of Thongchai’s panels – still keen to know. But I note the response of the junta to the Time Asia comment on the king and their immediate rebuttal stating again that the king wasn’t involved in the coup in any way. What does this mean for an open discussion of the king, palace and the coup?
Pig Latin said – “When using rhetoric such as โhope for the bestโ in a IR context… itโs rather condescending and arrogant … or even imperialistic, no?”.
I think the opposite – I think its “imperialistic” to think that we (in the West) can actually determine futures elsewhere in the world. I think we need to be realistic about what we can actually achieve and not assume that the answers are all within our grasp. Sometimes we can only hope for the best.
What’s tragic is if we have only a little leverage (like in Burma), but assume we can do everything, and give people there false expectations, or adopt policies (like sanctions) which have no realistic chance of suceeding but which may do damange none the less.
Party lists: I don’t really think that voters looked much at the party lists when they voted for TRT or the Democrats. They probably looked at the party leaders and their policies. The regional lists merely segment the national lists. Parties still can, as Woothisarn Tanchai of the CDC pointed out, sell their party, leader, and policies. And people on these lists must have stayed in the region for at least one year, it seems. Party list votes in Germany, btw, are at the state level. But votes are for the national parties and their leaders. In fact, the 1997 Constitution already required regional equity.
However, the above approach implies that voters will still have two separate votes–one (two, three) for the constituency candidates and one for the party list. Hardliner Charan Phakdithanakun has exactly tried to prevent this from the very beginning. He wanted to prevent any future prime minister from being able to refer to the direct support of the voters in justification of his actions ever again.
The conflicts surrounding the election system might have prevented it from being included in the constitution. Vital institutional decisions have thus been transferred to a CDC sub-committee to include these things in the election law instead.
It is thus difficult to get a clear picture, because all you ever see are some interview remarks in the Thai-language press. Sometimes they don’t make sense, sometimes they are ambigious. For example, one person stated that they wanted to employ the German system, where there is only one “bai” (here meaning ballot paper, but also implying only one vote). In fact, Germany has only one ballot paper, but you have two votes on it, one for the constituency candidates, and one for the parties. This is not feasible in Thailand, because you have so many political parties that they require a separate ballot paper. Moreover, MP seats in Germany are calculated on the basis of the proportional vote, which makes it impossible for the German parliament to have a fixed number of MPs. After all, a party might received more constituency MPs than it could claim according to the party list vote. In Thailand, however, the number of MPs is fixed.
Reporter: Kavi wasn’t forced to write this sort of column, right?
“grown almost unchecked for over 3 years” >> This is to say that Thaksin etc. had in fact done nothing, neither heavy nor soft handed?
“fueled by anger, fear and frustration” >> I can understand that the majority Muslims have these feelings, both concerning the actions of the insurgents and those of the government. But do you think that the unsurgents really are motivated by these things? Some observers on the ground maintain that this round of insurgency is fueled by a defensive and militant Islamist ideology. Or do the above feelings are meant to facilitate the insurgents recruitment efforts (besides propaganda, intimidation, and killing fellow Muslims who resist their demand for cooperation)?
“Unfortunately the local ranger units seem to lack discipline and are stirring the pot by firing on unarmed civilians.” >> Very true, but regular military also seem to have been involved. I am not sure about this, but it seemed to me that Surayud did not come out to express his sorrow in the same way he did with the lady who was short and burned. I would also like to know more about the measures that were taken against those who were involved in the killing of unarmed students. After all, “justice” was an important corner stone of Surayud’s policy shift. So, here are two instances where he can publicly prove for all to see that he is serious.
As Jon F. notes above, John Strong wrote an excellent book which deals in some depth with Upagupta (Upakhut). One of the most famous stories about Upagupta (and the story which is depicted in the first photo) is that one day Upagupta was unable to finish his meal before noon, after which monks are no longer allowed to eat solid foods until the next day. Instead of putting away his bowl, he magically stopped the sun in the sky until he could finish. That’s why he’s looking up at the sky.
The amulet at the bottom doesn’t look particularly Khmer to me, though that means nothing about the ‘type.’ Upagupta is a famous personality throughout SEA, though I was surprised at how little he was in evidence in Cambodia, compared to what some of the literature (Strong again) had led me to expect.
Puzzling? Not really. A surge in violence by an insurgency that’s grown almost unchecked for over 3 years, fueled by anger, fear and frustration. And sees an opportunity to expand as Bangkok dithers.
Just as US can’t contain Iraqi conflict with all its weaponry and manpower, Thailand will struggle to keep lid on south. I’m not suggesting that administrative changes by Surayud are the key to solving the conflict. “Bangkok discourse” is just that. Nor does his peaceful rhetoric bring instant relief, though it did impress some in south. Surayud’s orders to army commanders to defuse standoffs with Muslims without resorting to excessive force are a step forward, I would argue, and a reason for cautious applause. Unfortunately the local ranger units seem to lack discipline and are stirring the pot by firing on unarmed civilians. Watch for more fireworks…
It’s facile to knock Kavi for offering no concrete solutions. Lets see you try.
I also don’t like Sec 279, which makes all employees of local administrative organizations civil servants. Thailand needs fewer civil servants, not more!
I think the idea to make ัโโกัโะัโะฃัโโัโะัโะณัโะณัโะฑัโะัโโัโะณัโะฎัโโคัโะงัโโัโะัโะนัโฃะัโะณัโโัโะชัโะชัโะัโโัโะฃัโะจัโะณัโะณัโะฑัโะณัโโัโะคัโโัโะชัโะงัโฃะัโะฝัโะัโะฆัโโคัโฃะัโะฉัโะคัโฃะัโะทัโะฒ (Committees for the Defense of Local Virtue) is quite scary. If some guys in khaki come knocking on my door claiming that I am lacking in virtue, I’d reach for a gun and tell them to go away.
In case any of you were wondering, Sections 18-25 (regarding royal succession) are identical to the 1997 Constitution. The Crown Prince’s status as heir apparent has not changed.
One of the most ironic things is that Section 65 (“A person shall have the right to resist peacefully any act committed for the acquisition of the power to rule the country by a means which is not in accordance with the modes provided in this Constitution.”) is still around (renumbered as Section 68). So you’re free to protest if the military rips up the new constitution. Of course, they could still arrest you and declare amnesty for themselves…
I also think that the draft gives the judiciary way too much authority in selecting members of the Constitutional Court (now called the Constitutional Tribunal).
A Constitutional Court that is composed of Supreme Court judges and appointees will be too conservative, and will narrowly interpret the letter of the law. There are a lot of new and ambiguous clauses in the draft constitution, and the Constitutional Court needs to be somewhat liberal in order to obey the spirit of the constitution.
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Lao target
Saysettha OT is the font referenced in the web page.
Event after uninstalling Lao Script this font remains.
But it is also available here
http://www1.mot.gov.vn/laowebsite/download/Saysettha%20OT.ttf
Lao target
Jon, the fonts of the link you refer to have to be purchased after 30 days. Are there any free fonts? And which encoding do I have to choose?
Roads and riches
Modellers, like artists ,tend to fall in love with their models.
New ICTS deadline
A cool feature on the conference website would be blogs where potential paper writers could float trial abstracts for papers and get feedback from other bloggers and blog readers, wait, me thinks that’s what this blog is or could be.
One of the common failings of some conferences that I’ve watched from a distance is the complete and utter disconnectedness of the paper themes/topics.
Over time the published articles in a discippline define the questions that people working in that discipline address, but this is a slow process, not very well adapted to the quickly developing issues in Thai politics nowadays, these have to be addressed in real time and blogs are the best publishing vehicle for doing this.
Lao target
This is great.
Does anyone know how to make the Lao script come up when using a Mac (Safari)?
More on the 2008 Thai Studies conference
[…] to 15 June 2007. So it will be quite a wait to see if how liberal the organisers are in accepting panel and paper proposals which stray into sensitive […]
Liberating Burma with $2 million a year?
But determining futures is exactly what your alluding too Alice with your high maintenence, low maintenence model?
And remember, only George Soros can do everything – he’s investing $2 million a year!
Lunch?
As a dog lover, I would just like to inform you, that without having any kind of warning of what I was going to see as I scrolled down, I am now left traumatized and morbidly disgusted.
When I get home tonight my dog is getting a few extra dog treats for no reason whatsoever.
Lao target
I thought the title was “Tarot” which might be more appropriate for doing business in Laos. ๐
More on the 2008 Thai Studies conference
Well, any honest academic would never want to discuss what the honest military had said did not exist, right?
More on the 2008 Thai Studies conference
Just a little follow up on my question above regarding the acceptance or otherwise of Thongchai’s panels – still keen to know. But I note the response of the junta to the Time Asia comment on the king and their immediate rebuttal stating again that the king wasn’t involved in the coup in any way. What does this mean for an open discussion of the king, palace and the coup?
Liberating Burma with $2 million a year?
Pig Latin said – “When using rhetoric such as โhope for the bestโ in a IR context… itโs rather condescending and arrogant … or even imperialistic, no?”.
I think the opposite – I think its “imperialistic” to think that we (in the West) can actually determine futures elsewhere in the world. I think we need to be realistic about what we can actually achieve and not assume that the answers are all within our grasp. Sometimes we can only hope for the best.
What’s tragic is if we have only a little leverage (like in Burma), but assume we can do everything, and give people there false expectations, or adopt policies (like sanctions) which have no realistic chance of suceeding but which may do damange none the less.
Lao target
Figured it out, the latest version 7.01 of Lao Script for Windows works:
http://www.laoscript.net/downloads/
The font name apparently being Saysettha OT
Lao target
Thanks for this link. Will definitely include it in my links section too.
Noticed that Lao language can’t be added via the Windows control panel.
Is there a standard Lao font that people install to read Lao in their browsers?
Back to the 1970s
Party lists: I don’t really think that voters looked much at the party lists when they voted for TRT or the Democrats. They probably looked at the party leaders and their policies. The regional lists merely segment the national lists. Parties still can, as Woothisarn Tanchai of the CDC pointed out, sell their party, leader, and policies. And people on these lists must have stayed in the region for at least one year, it seems. Party list votes in Germany, btw, are at the state level. But votes are for the national parties and their leaders. In fact, the 1997 Constitution already required regional equity.
However, the above approach implies that voters will still have two separate votes–one (two, three) for the constituency candidates and one for the party list. Hardliner Charan Phakdithanakun has exactly tried to prevent this from the very beginning. He wanted to prevent any future prime minister from being able to refer to the direct support of the voters in justification of his actions ever again.
The conflicts surrounding the election system might have prevented it from being included in the constitution. Vital institutional decisions have thus been transferred to a CDC sub-committee to include these things in the election law instead.
It is thus difficult to get a clear picture, because all you ever see are some interview remarks in the Thai-language press. Sometimes they don’t make sense, sometimes they are ambigious. For example, one person stated that they wanted to employ the German system, where there is only one “bai” (here meaning ballot paper, but also implying only one vote). In fact, Germany has only one ballot paper, but you have two votes on it, one for the constituency candidates, and one for the parties. This is not feasible in Thailand, because you have so many political parties that they require a separate ballot paper. Moreover, MP seats in Germany are calculated on the basis of the proportional vote, which makes it impossible for the German parliament to have a fixed number of MPs. After all, a party might received more constituency MPs than it could claim according to the party list vote. In Thailand, however, the number of MPs is fixed.
ICG, Southern Thailand and the coup
Reporter: Kavi wasn’t forced to write this sort of column, right?
“grown almost unchecked for over 3 years” >> This is to say that Thaksin etc. had in fact done nothing, neither heavy nor soft handed?
“fueled by anger, fear and frustration” >> I can understand that the majority Muslims have these feelings, both concerning the actions of the insurgents and those of the government. But do you think that the unsurgents really are motivated by these things? Some observers on the ground maintain that this round of insurgency is fueled by a defensive and militant Islamist ideology. Or do the above feelings are meant to facilitate the insurgents recruitment efforts (besides propaganda, intimidation, and killing fellow Muslims who resist their demand for cooperation)?
“Unfortunately the local ranger units seem to lack discipline and are stirring the pot by firing on unarmed civilians.” >> Very true, but regular military also seem to have been involved. I am not sure about this, but it seemed to me that Surayud did not come out to express his sorrow in the same way he did with the lady who was short and burned. I would also like to know more about the measures that were taken against those who were involved in the killing of unarmed students. After all, “justice” was an important corner stone of Surayud’s policy shift. So, here are two instances where he can publicly prove for all to see that he is serious.
Upakhut – saint and spirit
As Jon F. notes above, John Strong wrote an excellent book which deals in some depth with Upagupta (Upakhut). One of the most famous stories about Upagupta (and the story which is depicted in the first photo) is that one day Upagupta was unable to finish his meal before noon, after which monks are no longer allowed to eat solid foods until the next day. Instead of putting away his bowl, he magically stopped the sun in the sky until he could finish. That’s why he’s looking up at the sky.
The amulet at the bottom doesn’t look particularly Khmer to me, though that means nothing about the ‘type.’ Upagupta is a famous personality throughout SEA, though I was surprised at how little he was in evidence in Cambodia, compared to what some of the literature (Strong again) had led me to expect.
ICG, Southern Thailand and the coup
Puzzling? Not really. A surge in violence by an insurgency that’s grown almost unchecked for over 3 years, fueled by anger, fear and frustration. And sees an opportunity to expand as Bangkok dithers.
Just as US can’t contain Iraqi conflict with all its weaponry and manpower, Thailand will struggle to keep lid on south. I’m not suggesting that administrative changes by Surayud are the key to solving the conflict. “Bangkok discourse” is just that. Nor does his peaceful rhetoric bring instant relief, though it did impress some in south. Surayud’s orders to army commanders to defuse standoffs with Muslims without resorting to excessive force are a step forward, I would argue, and a reason for cautious applause. Unfortunately the local ranger units seem to lack discipline and are stirring the pot by firing on unarmed civilians. Watch for more fireworks…
It’s facile to knock Kavi for offering no concrete solutions. Lets see you try.
Back to the 1970s
I also don’t like Sec 279, which makes all employees of local administrative organizations civil servants. Thailand needs fewer civil servants, not more!
I think the idea to make ัโโกัโะัโะฃัโโัโะัโะณัโะณัโะฑัโะัโโัโะณัโะฎัโโคัโะงัโโัโะัโะนัโฃะัโะณัโโัโะชัโะชัโะัโโัโะฃัโะจัโะณัโะณัโะฑัโะณัโโัโะคัโโัโะชัโะงัโฃะัโะฝัโะัโะฆัโโคัโฃะัโะฉัโะคัโฃะัโะทัโะฒ (Committees for the Defense of Local Virtue) is quite scary. If some guys in khaki come knocking on my door claiming that I am lacking in virtue, I’d reach for a gun and tell them to go away.
In case any of you were wondering, Sections 18-25 (regarding royal succession) are identical to the 1997 Constitution. The Crown Prince’s status as heir apparent has not changed.
One of the most ironic things is that Section 65 (“A person shall have the right to resist peacefully any act committed for the acquisition of the power to rule the country by a means which is not in accordance with the modes provided in this Constitution.”) is still around (renumbered as Section 68). So you’re free to protest if the military rips up the new constitution. Of course, they could still arrest you and declare amnesty for themselves…
Back to the 1970s
I also think that the draft gives the judiciary way too much authority in selecting members of the Constitutional Court (now called the Constitutional Tribunal).
A Constitutional Court that is composed of Supreme Court judges and appointees will be too conservative, and will narrowly interpret the letter of the law. There are a lot of new and ambiguous clauses in the draft constitution, and the Constitutional Court needs to be somewhat liberal in order to obey the spirit of the constitution.