Thanks Andrew I have just come across your site and I’m impressed. I feel that Patrick Jory’s comments are apt and that we must continue to ‘maintain the rage’ at every opportunity. However, there is a new government in power, legitimate or not, and it is their ideas that we must critique. I found the comments made on the post “Exhibition: The King – “The Father of Innovation” fascinating and I hope I can read more and that they followed up in a more systematic way.
To return to the post at hand I found that your comments about the political sophistication of rural folk also match my observations from a small group of villages in northeast Thailand.
In my mind finding ways of continuing to disenfranchise the rural voice is going to be one of the biggest hurdles for the Bangkok elite to overcome. It will be interesting to see what they come up with
Here are some suggestions for Sondhi. . The witch-hunt that has already begun is always a good place to start of course, however, it will probably run out of steam after a year or two and some long-term solutions will be need. Previously you needed a Bachelors Degree to stand for election – perhaps this stipulation could be extended to be eligible to vote. Or perhaps Sondhi could follow the good old Australian lead with our proposed citizenship test. A test that assesses an appropriate amount of “Thainess” coupled with an examination of an a adequate command of Thai language – if you get over 75% then you go on to the electoral role. Or how about some form of gerrymander that gives a weighting of 5 to 1 for urban votes. It shouldn’t be too hard to sell something like this – if you can justify a coup you should be able to justify just about anything.
What is with you guys . . now BKKPundit has to come to rescue Dr. Patrick Jory, Dr. Andrew Walker and that ubiquitous little Ant?
I caught you with that lie “Sufficiency Economy will keep the Thai poor POOR”, I aske you all to articulate how you arrived at your authoritative conclusion, with or without help of Dr. BkkPundit, and you keep on your diversions and evasions. That was a trick by Thaksin S. that did not work, may I remind you guys.
If you lied, then admit it!
That is the reason I continue to believe that you created this forum to carry on a malicious campaign of misinformation, for the benefit of your patron Thaksin Shinawatra, against the Thai monarchy!
Now I am beginning to wonder whether any of you have real doctoral degrees guys . . . Some university at Houston, Texas perhaps?
Confused: Blacklisted them for re-entering the country? They were never deported, let alone blacklisted. Perhaps, you should read up on Supreme Court cases on lese majeste and see how strictly the law was enforced.
Did Crispin and Tasker make mention of the Royal Family in the FEER article? Yes, they did. Given the strict line that the Supreme Court has taken when interpreting the lese majeste law, it was certainly no suprise that the police would take action.
Case in point, how about the young man in the 1980s who advocated that Thailand should abolish the monarchy and set up a republic? Was that lese majeste? The court thought so and sent him to jail for 8 years.*
* Streckfuss, David Eirich. 1998 . “The poetics of subversion: Civil liberty and lese-majeste in the modern Thai state.” Ph.D. dissertation, The University of Wisconsin-Madison p218
[…] Sondhi Limthongkul and Kraisak Choonhaven are good communicators. At the SOAS seminar last Saturday they presented a clear vision of political change in Thailand. As Nicholas Farrelly indicates in his previous summary post a key aspect of this vision is the political mission of Thailand’s middle class. In Sondhi’s eyes the urban middle classes (not just in Bangkok but in provincial centres throughout the country where the anti-Thaksin no-vote was strongest) can act as a vanguard for changing the political hearts and minds of the rural population. Sondhi argued that his so-called pro-democracy movement has to focus its attention on the most receptive social groups (that is, the middle class) who can then extend their new forms of political knowledge to the more slow-moving masses. […]
Pirates off the rocky southwest coast of Burma. Assuming that the Kanchanaburi entrance to eastern Burma is inaccessible due to Thai/SLORC/drug-lords/ethnic-militias, the only way to enter Burma would be from the sea. Once he gets inside the country, he’ll be fighting SLORC soldiers in the jungles, ala Rambo II.
I hope that Rambo has finally found his moral compass. In Rambo II he was fighting the Vietnamese and in Rambo III he was aiding the Taliban. With the SLORC, *finally* he has found villains that the world can hiss at without cringing! 🙂
I’ve been seeing rumors about this movie for the last few months, but it looks like this is the first official synopsis I’ve seen. And pirates? How did pirates get into landlocked jungles of Burma? I’m not sure I’ve actually seen any of the old Rambo movies, but I fear I will be compelled to watch this one.
Oh boy, be careful not to touch that old taboo … shhh … Now, there are many ways of interpreting your little poem. One starting with this question: Are you (Andrew Walker) a gay queen? There are a lot like you (Andrew Walker the gay queen) in London too. The other ways of interpreting the poem … we’ll leave that to your imagination … don’t you think? I thought you hold a PhD? So sad that a PhD would make this comment in his own forum and get away with it. I’m really impress with your great intelligent short comment! How low can you really get, anyway?
The Nation had reported a member of the Royal Family would be in attendance without specifying who. Dr Jory cited The Nation’s article in his statement. As you have already said this only turned out to be Hugo.
The two journalists weren’t imprisoned and it was Thaksin who blacklisted them from re-entering the country, not the king. Ask the two journalists for yourself (they’re British). And they didn’t commit the lese majeste, Thaksin was angry that the article ridicule him so he charged them for committing lese majeste. Thaksin brought that charge against them to save his own face, you know put the blame on someone else. Next time get your facts straight. And keep your brain clean because it is a mess.
Dr. Jory,
Are you very intelligent? Are you the greatest intellectual ever lived? That is if you hope that one day your name will be in history. But I cannot see how that can be possible.
You may write with style but from your writing there are many points that you are wrong, do you think you can you accept that fact? Tell me please, why are you so certain that the “Sufficiency Economy” theory won’t work. Can you give clear explanation?
If an economist tells you that it can coexist in a society and help create progress, what would you say to him? Impossible?
Think before you leap because you may make a sweeping drop to the bottom of the cliff. Your reputation as an academic scholarly intellectual status will be ridiculed and shunned.
Andrew, nothing is as it seems in Thailand. There is little doubt that corruption and nepotism permiates every level of government. All political groups play dirty at some stage there-and it is sadly a fact that many thais accept with apathy. I don’t think it is enough to base your assumptions on viewing the superficial layer of the electoral process- rather take a closer look at the politicians involved- their backgrounds, personal connections, business activities and where their ultimate loyalties lie.
I don’t quite understand why you are focussing on how the thais view their king. You could ask any thai about how they feel towards the monarch and you would probably get this same answer (i.e Sondhi’s) millions of times over. What is the point you are making?
To my understanding there were no other persons connected to Thai royalty at the SOAS dicussion last Saturday. Andrew Walker was there and a few others on this forum- perhaps they recognized someone? Which royal family member was Dr. Jory referring to?
As long as,we are concerned,it doesn’t matter wherever we are on this earth, the comment can be done pratically,so that,I agree with Dr,Pattick Jory whether the the SOAS or the entire international seminars should be prohibited to be held in all unerected government countries that ruled by the Coup d’ tat such as Thailand that being ruled by the minions of the dull military gangsters.If this seminar is transpired in Thailand,of course,Mr,Taksin must be completely condemned and trampled alone without self protection../ I remain..
Facebook 
Twitter 
Soundcloud 
Youtube 
Rss
What about some political education for the elite?
Thanks Andrew I have just come across your site and I’m impressed. I feel that Patrick Jory’s comments are apt and that we must continue to ‘maintain the rage’ at every opportunity. However, there is a new government in power, legitimate or not, and it is their ideas that we must critique. I found the comments made on the post “Exhibition: The King – “The Father of Innovation” fascinating and I hope I can read more and that they followed up in a more systematic way.
To return to the post at hand I found that your comments about the political sophistication of rural folk also match my observations from a small group of villages in northeast Thailand.
In my mind finding ways of continuing to disenfranchise the rural voice is going to be one of the biggest hurdles for the Bangkok elite to overcome. It will be interesting to see what they come up with
Here are some suggestions for Sondhi. . The witch-hunt that has already begun is always a good place to start of course, however, it will probably run out of steam after a year or two and some long-term solutions will be need. Previously you needed a Bachelors Degree to stand for election – perhaps this stipulation could be extended to be eligible to vote. Or perhaps Sondhi could follow the good old Australian lead with our proposed citizenship test. A test that assesses an appropriate amount of “Thainess” coupled with an examination of an a adequate command of Thai language – if you get over 75% then you go on to the electoral role. Or how about some form of gerrymander that gives a weighting of 5 to 1 for urban votes. It shouldn’t be too hard to sell something like this – if you can justify a coup you should be able to justify just about anything.
Exhibition: The King – “Father of Thai Innovation”
What is with you guys . . now BKKPundit has to come to rescue Dr. Patrick Jory, Dr. Andrew Walker and that ubiquitous little Ant?
I caught you with that lie “Sufficiency Economy will keep the Thai poor POOR”, I aske you all to articulate how you arrived at your authoritative conclusion, with or without help of Dr. BkkPundit, and you keep on your diversions and evasions. That was a trick by Thaksin S. that did not work, may I remind you guys.
If you lied, then admit it!
That is the reason I continue to believe that you created this forum to carry on a malicious campaign of misinformation, for the benefit of your patron Thaksin Shinawatra, against the Thai monarchy!
Now I am beginning to wonder whether any of you have real doctoral degrees guys . . . Some university at Houston, Texas perhaps?
Sondhi at the SOAS event…
In his post on Political Education for the Elite, Andrew Walker has described Sondhi as ‘patronising’
I suspect Sondhi’s view of the King is more in line with the average Thai (urban or rural) than the view presented by Andrew, Nicholas, Patrick etc.
Who is patronising?
Exhibition: The King – “Father of Thai Innovation”
A thai repubic – sounds interesting, however I think I would prefer the King to be the ‘strongman’ rather than another type of strongman.
What about some political education for the elite?
Taking a few hundred baht to vote for a particular individual at election time does not sound like ‘rational political decision-making’ to me.
Exhibition: The King – “Father of Thai Innovation”
Confused: Blacklisted them for re-entering the country? They were never deported, let alone blacklisted. Perhaps, you should read up on Supreme Court cases on lese majeste and see how strictly the law was enforced.
Did Crispin and Tasker make mention of the Royal Family in the FEER article? Yes, they did. Given the strict line that the Supreme Court has taken when interpreting the lese majeste law, it was certainly no suprise that the police would take action.
Case in point, how about the young man in the 1980s who advocated that Thailand should abolish the monarchy and set up a republic? Was that lese majeste? The court thought so and sent him to jail for 8 years.*
* Streckfuss, David Eirich. 1998 . “The poetics of subversion: Civil liberty and lese-majeste in the modern Thai state.” Ph.D. dissertation, The University of Wisconsin-Madison p218
SOAS discussion on the Thai coup
[…] Sondhi Limthongkul and Kraisak Choonhaven are good communicators. At the SOAS seminar last Saturday they presented a clear vision of political change in Thailand. As Nicholas Farrelly indicates in his previous summary post a key aspect of this vision is the political mission of Thailand’s middle class. In Sondhi’s eyes the urban middle classes (not just in Bangkok but in provincial centres throughout the country where the anti-Thaksin no-vote was strongest) can act as a vanguard for changing the political hearts and minds of the rural population. Sondhi argued that his so-called pro-democracy movement has to focus its attention on the most receptive social groups (that is, the middle class) who can then extend their new forms of political knowledge to the more slow-moving masses. […]
New Rambo and Free Burma
Pirates off the rocky southwest coast of Burma. Assuming that the Kanchanaburi entrance to eastern Burma is inaccessible due to Thai/SLORC/drug-lords/ethnic-militias, the only way to enter Burma would be from the sea. Once he gets inside the country, he’ll be fighting SLORC soldiers in the jungles, ala Rambo II.
I hope that Rambo has finally found his moral compass. In Rambo II he was fighting the Vietnamese and in Rambo III he was aiding the Taliban. With the SLORC, *finally* he has found villains that the world can hiss at without cringing! 🙂
New Rambo and Free Burma
I’ve been seeing rumors about this movie for the last few months, but it looks like this is the first official synopsis I’ve seen. And pirates? How did pirates get into landlocked jungles of Burma? I’m not sure I’ve actually seen any of the old Rambo movies, but I fear I will be compelled to watch this one.
-Tara
SOAS and the coup
Andrew,
Oh boy, be careful not to touch that old taboo … shhh … Now, there are many ways of interpreting your little poem. One starting with this question: Are you (Andrew Walker) a gay queen? There are a lot like you (Andrew Walker the gay queen) in London too. The other ways of interpreting the poem … we’ll leave that to your imagination … don’t you think? I thought you hold a PhD? So sad that a PhD would make this comment in his own forum and get away with it. I’m really impress with your great intelligent short comment! How low can you really get, anyway?
SOAS and the coup
And a \”gay London\” website reported that perhaps that \”a Thai royal\” really meant \”a Thai queen.\” No shortage of them in London!
SOAS and the coup
Rebecca
The Nation had reported a member of the Royal Family would be in attendance without specifying who. Dr Jory cited The Nation’s article in his statement. As you have already said this only turned out to be Hugo.
Exhibition: The King – “Father of Thai Innovation”
Ant,
The two journalists weren’t imprisoned and it was Thaksin who blacklisted them from re-entering the country, not the king. Ask the two journalists for yourself (they’re British). And they didn’t commit the lese majeste, Thaksin was angry that the article ridicule him so he charged them for committing lese majeste. Thaksin brought that charge against them to save his own face, you know put the blame on someone else. Next time get your facts straight. And keep your brain clean because it is a mess.
Sufficiency and the junta
Dr. Jory,
Are you very intelligent? Are you the greatest intellectual ever lived? That is if you hope that one day your name will be in history. But I cannot see how that can be possible.
You may write with style but from your writing there are many points that you are wrong, do you think you can you accept that fact? Tell me please, why are you so certain that the “Sufficiency Economy” theory won’t work. Can you give clear explanation?
If an economist tells you that it can coexist in a society and help create progress, what would you say to him? Impossible?
Think before you leap because you may make a sweeping drop to the bottom of the cliff. Your reputation as an academic scholarly intellectual status will be ridiculed and shunned.
Elections under Thaksin
Andrew, nothing is as it seems in Thailand. There is little doubt that corruption and nepotism permiates every level of government. All political groups play dirty at some stage there-and it is sadly a fact that many thais accept with apathy. I don’t think it is enough to base your assumptions on viewing the superficial layer of the electoral process- rather take a closer look at the politicians involved- their backgrounds, personal connections, business activities and where their ultimate loyalties lie.
Sondhi at the SOAS event…
I don’t quite understand why you are focussing on how the thais view their king. You could ask any thai about how they feel towards the monarch and you would probably get this same answer (i.e Sondhi’s) millions of times over. What is the point you are making?
Sondhi at the SOAS event…
Attention people of the world. Please say your word now. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/specials/thefall/compare.php
Naypyidaw reports from The Irrawaddy team
People around the world. Do not stay silent now. Have your word now at http://www.nationmultimedia.com/specials/thefall/compare.php
SOAS and the coup
To my understanding there were no other persons connected to Thai royalty at the SOAS dicussion last Saturday. Andrew Walker was there and a few others on this forum- perhaps they recognized someone? Which royal family member was Dr. Jory referring to?
SOAS and the coup
As long as,we are concerned,it doesn’t matter wherever we are on this earth, the comment can be done pratically,so that,I agree with Dr,Pattick Jory whether the the SOAS or the entire international seminars should be prohibited to be held in all unerected government countries that ruled by the Coup d’ tat such as Thailand that being ruled by the minions of the dull military gangsters.If this seminar is transpired in Thailand,of course,Mr,Taksin must be completely condemned and trampled alone without self protection../ I remain..