Do you want to live in North Korea or Kazakhstan? The human rights abuses in North Korea are far worse than anything that Nazarbayev can come up with.
AS for Albania having rigged elections, They just handed over power peacefully in 2013. What is the difference between Albania and Indonesia in 2014?
As for Kazakhstan’s economy according to the IMF and world bank its one of the better managed of the former Soviet economies outside Baltic States. Of course that is not saying a lot. Kazakhstan economic policies have been rather conservative.
Actually Kazakhstan per capita income is higher than Brazil and Malaysia in nominal terms. It also has a higher HDI than Brazil.
As for Nazarbayev vs Suharto. I am going to say this, and you might not like it. Nazarbayev didn’t murder 500,000 to 3 Million of his own people to get into power. My father’s God brother disappeared in 1965, to this day we don’t know what happened to him. Why don’t you ask Suharto or his associates what happened? Its clear you are very well connected, and associate with people who dabble in such things.
You don’t owe me an apology, but at least you should think before you write. I might not be as brilliant as you, but last time I heard Nazarbayev body count was a lot lower than Suharto’s. Did Nazarbayev kill hundred of thousands of people?
I am not brilliant or as knowledgeable as you. I am a prick, but I don’t go around saying that Suharto, a known mass murderer, was better than Nazarbayev, who despite his many faults didn’t butcher 500,000 of his own people. Last time I heard the Russians migrants in Kazakhstan weren’t being persecuted like Chinese in Indonesia under Suharto. Your analysis shows how willing you are to score cheap points at the expense of Suharto’s victims. Putting up 100 statutes means in your opinion, that person is are more dictatorial than one dictator who is a certified mass murderer right?
As tell me to shut up, I can say what I like. You people talk about freedom of speech, but when someone makes a comment you don’t like you tell people to shut up. I can say what I want, if you don’t like you can tell people they are idiots, but to tell people to shut up, makes you no better than those dictators that you lambast.
Prof. Pavin graduated from the same high school and same university as I so naturally I’m proud of him. Please continue to be the voice of Thai people.
I have seen many Thai dictators came and went. All of them were not very smart leaders but smart thieves; however, at least they knew that and they kept their mouths shut most of the time. Prayuth loves to talk to show that he is smart and savvy.
We have long indulged a certain level of bombastic intervention on New Mandala. But we do appreciate it when people stick to the one moniker (or when, at the least, they don’t use multiple identities to amplify themselves). Anonymity is fine enough, but it shouldn’t be abused.
It’s amazing how presumptuous you are, Mr. Smith. I and others need no lectures from you about Nursultan Nazarbayev. I happen to know his stepnephew, Daniyev Nazarbayev, engaged to the daughter of the current Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak. Before you lecture others, get YOUR facts straight and cease your pontificating. I have been to Almaty, you have not. I think you ARE Borat. Nursultan Nazarbayev is an egomaniacal dictator; he has nothing to do with Suharto, who also was an egomaniacal dictator, but a far more accomplished one. There are 300 statues of Nazarbayev in Kazakhstan, that exceeds even the number of Kim family members in North Korea; every university in Kazakhstan is named after Nazarbayev. Every High School is named after Nazarbayev. Everything is named after Nazarbayev. Not everything in Indonesia was crowned with Suharto’s name when he was President, and Suharto was a far smarter technocrat than Nazarbayev. Suharto surrounded with competent people. Nazarbayev surrounds himself with old USSR military hacks. You are very poorly informed about Kazakhstan.
He is as corrupt as Kim Jong Un, maybe somewhat less nutty (somewhat). Kazakhstan’s per-capita income is middle-level; it is not high. High is Singapore. High is Taiwan. High is even Brazil, which has a higher PC GDP and GNP than Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan has slums and poor people; it is not the paradise you aim to present.
Infant mortality is still high, though less than the other “Stans”. Nazarbayev controls ALL aspects of Kazakhstan. Even under Suharto, there were other political parties. There is only PARTY in Kazakhstan; it is called Nursultan Nazarbayev. Tunisia is not a democracy at all. President Moncrief Marzouki was a student activist, but became an autocrat when he took over. The Ennadha movement is not moderate if it advocates Shari’a Law and Hudud, and the Muslim Brotherhood is also influential in Tunisia. Tunisia regularly hangs and jails people without trial. Tunisia is no more liberal now, than under Habib Bourguiba, in some ways less so. Tunisia is ahead of many in the Islamic World, yes, but that does not make it a democracy. Far more women cover their heads than under Bourguiba, who also protected Jews in Juba and Berbers in southern Tunisia. Marzouki does neither.
Albania is not a democracy. Elections are rigged, by Albanian’s own admission. The leaders of Albania collect $ 200 million in illegal drug sales, in Europe, and elsewhere.
Prostitution is one of Albania’s main source of income, hardly a model of non-misogyny.
Your characterizations of Tunisia, Albania and Kazakhstan are false. Even under “Pasha” President Erdogan, Turkey is no less democratic than your inaccurate examples of Albania and Tunisia. Every nation I mention here, I have been to and you have not. Please, again, refrain from commenting, where you lack expertise, and I doubt you know one word of Albanian, Maghreb Arabic or Kazakh. Shush now.
Its amazing how many commentators here know so little of anything outside of Indonesia. I think you got the dictatorship of Kazakhstan confused with the previous dictator of of Turkminstan Saparmurat Niyazo. I think you have been watching way too much Borat.
The current leader of Kazakhstan is more like Suharto than Kim Jung Un, just slightly less corrupt. His name by the way is Nursultan Nazarbayev. Kazakhsta is not a bad country to live in, its per capita income is high, HDI is also high.
There are other Muslim majority nations that have democracies – Tunisia and Albania. About 60% of the population of Albania is Muslim.
You are just a liar and a corrupt assassin.
Yingluck government was THE LEAST CORRUPT in Thai history together with that of Thaksin, according Transparency International.
Please be aware that your slanders and falsities are crimes and your backing to genocide, dictatorship and massacres are tantamount to lawsuits in The Hague.
I had thought that Nusantara was a term in the Desawarnana/Nagarakrtagama that meant the archipelago beyond Java and before the mainland. So not quite the all encompassing fraternal bond now projected backwards into Indonesian history. … Stuart Robson or Merle Ricklefs would probably know better.
This kind of basic score keeping is really helpful when talking to coup supporters — what has actually happened and been said in the name of this grand reformation of Thai politics. Thank you.
And … “stupid”. Remember the Samak government of 2009? How Bangkok snorted and rolled its eyes at the ignoramuses of that government? Without a hint of humility or embarrassment. Like a khun naay in an ice-cream store, how dare you call me phii?
Pavin, you said, “This short article intends to showcase some of Prayuth’s wisdom in tackling the immediate problems facing Thailand.” but I read it all the way through and can’t find any!
For how many years have the amart been telling claiming that all of the various leaders (Samak, Somchai, Yingluck) were puppets/clones of Thaksin with Thaksin pulling the strings? Now Hang Tuah and the rest are changing the narrative. Yingluck is no longer a clone, she’s, “not Machiavellian like her brother. Not shrewd and sadistic enough…a dolt”. So now, apparently, Thaksin wasn’t pulling the strings after all? Either the name calling elites aren’t particularly bright (if they don’t see the contradiction) or they’re just very frustrated because no matter what they try, they still can’t win an election–and that threatens their power. The poor see through all the BS and the amart can only get their way by force which gives them time to pack the courts and other power positions with people who will continue to resist/overturn any democratic reforms threatening elite power. Corruption at it’s best! What will it take to stop this vicious cycle?
Best wishes to you, Pavin, as you watch the tragicomedy from the sidelines.
Sorry to be pedantic, Khun Pavin, but Yingluck was branded e-ngo, not e-ngor, as “ngo” in Thai means “stupid”, a point conservative wags sometimes use to belittle NGOs.
The place in the center in which things are held together. Naval, but with earthy vowels and a bilabial voiceless plosive at the start. We’d all speak with more honesty if we had pusat to use on a daily basis.
The piece is good, thanks for clarification (#4.1) Pavin is indeed now a leading intellectual voice in a sea of political turbulence and deceit in Thailand. His personal situation created by the amaat-military regime has led him into the centre of truth-seeking scholarship.
A great portrait of ThIland’s tyrant by Ajarn Pavin.
In fact Prayudh is just a clown, the symbol of decadence of Thailand’s rotten Royalist regime. I hope that we will soon celebrate the birth of a new Thai Democratic Republic where there will be no more Prayudhs
Happy to see him concerned about weed management viz water hyacinths.
The army runs a big rcreation area Huai Teng Tao at Chiang Mai and on the lake there water hyacinths have appeared this year. Alas not a finger is raised to remove these before they swamp the whole lake and make it unusable for swimming or fishing.
I’m surprised nobody has mentioned Thai “phrai” and “amat” yet (“serf” and “lord” – no further explanation necessary on this site)
as they are undoubtedly the way most British (and no doubt other nations’) politicians view the world, even if the rest of us disagree.
I read that the actual meaning of blusukan is to make passage through a very narrow or difficult space. But perhaps a place rarely travelled is right too. I like this one because of how quickly it took on a whole new meaning in such a short period.
Love the way some people brim with overconfidence and enthusiastically contribute to forums such as this even though it is patently obvious they can barely communicate in English.
Referring to a former queen of France who was deposed and ultimately executed, as “being born in the wrong country” (which was Austria in fact) has subtle nuances that one can one can only guess at.
The Yingluck government was probably the most corruption free government Thailand has ever had. They knew they were under the microscope from day one. Even before she was sworn in the yellows were trying to find a reason to block her.
The only surprise is it took 2 years to mobilize the mop to pave the way for the coup.
The yellows talked a lot about corruption but could produce no evidence so they had to resort to childish name calling to help justify the ousting of the elected government.
What is this garbage?
What he basically implying is, “Sorry, I don’t have solution for you, I coup de’tat just because I want this position and not solve any of your problem”
– Grow other cash crops – Do you even know which crops that have market? “That’s for you to find out!”
– Rubber planter compensation – Haha, sorry not helping you guys.
– Flood crisis – Basically what you are saying is that, as long it is nature cause you do not have to do anything with it? Seriously?
– If works do not get dumped onto the leader, why do we even elect our leader in the first place? Oh wait, he coup de tat for it..
– Education – Clearly you are really out of touch, you prefer your children to be taught with easier contents and later suffer out there? Might as well just clearly said out “I prefer everyone to not go to school so they are dumb enough and won’t criticize me for what I have done (coup) and what I will be going to do (nothing”
– Rice price issue – Don’t you love it when someone oversimplify the issue? You could probably put a monkey in the position and he might be able to do a better job. Grow other plants, can you give an example? “Not my problem!”
– Poverty – Easiest to blame poor people about not hardworking enough, but I bet he had never heard about poverty trap. “You own fault!”
– Democracy – oh wait, you just got your position through coup, so much for Democracy, maybe his version..
– Not going shopping – Seriously? So he is suggesting Thais not to spend their money and let businesses collapse without any customers?
I’m not sure how Yingluck will goes down in Thailand history but using inability to give good speech or English is weak and irrelevant. There are many leaders in this world that fit into those circumstances and still a good leader.
If Prayuth does not crack down and put military force to curb his critics, we would probably able to hear more about him, so much for freedom of speech under Democracy…
If those replies are authentic his replies, then….. good luck Thailand..
Nice opening, Nick. Adolf Hitler’s words I seem to remember. Prayuth’s biggest problem is to solve the problems he has created for himself by putting the democracy aside and staging a coup. Then there is Human Rights. Something he must learn something about.
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New president, old politics?
Do you want to live in North Korea or Kazakhstan? The human rights abuses in North Korea are far worse than anything that Nazarbayev can come up with.
AS for Albania having rigged elections, They just handed over power peacefully in 2013. What is the difference between Albania and Indonesia in 2014?
As for Kazakhstan’s economy according to the IMF and world bank its one of the better managed of the former Soviet economies outside Baltic States. Of course that is not saying a lot. Kazakhstan economic policies have been rather conservative.
Actually Kazakhstan per capita income is higher than Brazil and Malaysia in nominal terms. It also has a higher HDI than Brazil.
As for Nazarbayev vs Suharto. I am going to say this, and you might not like it. Nazarbayev didn’t murder 500,000 to 3 Million of his own people to get into power. My father’s God brother disappeared in 1965, to this day we don’t know what happened to him. Why don’t you ask Suharto or his associates what happened? Its clear you are very well connected, and associate with people who dabble in such things.
You don’t owe me an apology, but at least you should think before you write. I might not be as brilliant as you, but last time I heard Nazarbayev body count was a lot lower than Suharto’s. Did Nazarbayev kill hundred of thousands of people?
I am not brilliant or as knowledgeable as you. I am a prick, but I don’t go around saying that Suharto, a known mass murderer, was better than Nazarbayev, who despite his many faults didn’t butcher 500,000 of his own people. Last time I heard the Russians migrants in Kazakhstan weren’t being persecuted like Chinese in Indonesia under Suharto. Your analysis shows how willing you are to score cheap points at the expense of Suharto’s victims. Putting up 100 statutes means in your opinion, that person is are more dictatorial than one dictator who is a certified mass murderer right?
As tell me to shut up, I can say what I like. You people talk about freedom of speech, but when someone makes a comment you don’t like you tell people to shut up. I can say what I want, if you don’t like you can tell people they are idiots, but to tell people to shut up, makes you no better than those dictators that you lambast.
Wisdom of General Prayuth
Prof. Pavin graduated from the same high school and same university as I so naturally I’m proud of him. Please continue to be the voice of Thai people.
I have seen many Thai dictators came and went. All of them were not very smart leaders but smart thieves; however, at least they knew that and they kept their mouths shut most of the time. Prayuth loves to talk to show that he is smart and savvy.
New president, old politics?
We have long indulged a certain level of bombastic intervention on New Mandala. But we do appreciate it when people stick to the one moniker (or when, at the least, they don’t use multiple identities to amplify themselves). Anonymity is fine enough, but it shouldn’t be abused.
Best wishes to all,
Nich
New president, old politics?
It’s amazing how presumptuous you are, Mr. Smith. I and others need no lectures from you about Nursultan Nazarbayev. I happen to know his stepnephew, Daniyev Nazarbayev, engaged to the daughter of the current Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak. Before you lecture others, get YOUR facts straight and cease your pontificating. I have been to Almaty, you have not. I think you ARE Borat. Nursultan Nazarbayev is an egomaniacal dictator; he has nothing to do with Suharto, who also was an egomaniacal dictator, but a far more accomplished one. There are 300 statues of Nazarbayev in Kazakhstan, that exceeds even the number of Kim family members in North Korea; every university in Kazakhstan is named after Nazarbayev. Every High School is named after Nazarbayev. Everything is named after Nazarbayev. Not everything in Indonesia was crowned with Suharto’s name when he was President, and Suharto was a far smarter technocrat than Nazarbayev. Suharto surrounded with competent people. Nazarbayev surrounds himself with old USSR military hacks. You are very poorly informed about Kazakhstan.
He is as corrupt as Kim Jong Un, maybe somewhat less nutty (somewhat). Kazakhstan’s per-capita income is middle-level; it is not high. High is Singapore. High is Taiwan. High is even Brazil, which has a higher PC GDP and GNP than Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan has slums and poor people; it is not the paradise you aim to present.
Infant mortality is still high, though less than the other “Stans”. Nazarbayev controls ALL aspects of Kazakhstan. Even under Suharto, there were other political parties. There is only PARTY in Kazakhstan; it is called Nursultan Nazarbayev. Tunisia is not a democracy at all. President Moncrief Marzouki was a student activist, but became an autocrat when he took over. The Ennadha movement is not moderate if it advocates Shari’a Law and Hudud, and the Muslim Brotherhood is also influential in Tunisia. Tunisia regularly hangs and jails people without trial. Tunisia is no more liberal now, than under Habib Bourguiba, in some ways less so. Tunisia is ahead of many in the Islamic World, yes, but that does not make it a democracy. Far more women cover their heads than under Bourguiba, who also protected Jews in Juba and Berbers in southern Tunisia. Marzouki does neither.
Albania is not a democracy. Elections are rigged, by Albanian’s own admission. The leaders of Albania collect $ 200 million in illegal drug sales, in Europe, and elsewhere.
Prostitution is one of Albania’s main source of income, hardly a model of non-misogyny.
Your characterizations of Tunisia, Albania and Kazakhstan are false. Even under “Pasha” President Erdogan, Turkey is no less democratic than your inaccurate examples of Albania and Tunisia. Every nation I mention here, I have been to and you have not. Please, again, refrain from commenting, where you lack expertise, and I doubt you know one word of Albanian, Maghreb Arabic or Kazakh. Shush now.
New president, old politics?
Its amazing how many commentators here know so little of anything outside of Indonesia. I think you got the dictatorship of Kazakhstan confused with the previous dictator of of Turkminstan Saparmurat Niyazo. I think you have been watching way too much Borat.
The current leader of Kazakhstan is more like Suharto than Kim Jung Un, just slightly less corrupt. His name by the way is Nursultan Nazarbayev. Kazakhsta is not a bad country to live in, its per capita income is high, HDI is also high.
There are other Muslim majority nations that have democracies – Tunisia and Albania. About 60% of the population of Albania is Muslim.
Wisdom of General Prayuth
You are just a liar and a corrupt assassin.
Yingluck government was THE LEAST CORRUPT in Thai history together with that of Thaksin, according Transparency International.
Please be aware that your slanders and falsities are crimes and your backing to genocide, dictatorship and massacres are tantamount to lawsuits in The Hague.
Competition: Speaking of Southeast Asia
I had thought that Nusantara was a term in the Desawarnana/Nagarakrtagama that meant the archipelago beyond Java and before the mainland. So not quite the all encompassing fraternal bond now projected backwards into Indonesian history. … Stuart Robson or Merle Ricklefs would probably know better.
Wisdom of General Prayuth
This kind of basic score keeping is really helpful when talking to coup supporters — what has actually happened and been said in the name of this grand reformation of Thai politics. Thank you.
And … “stupid”. Remember the Samak government of 2009? How Bangkok snorted and rolled its eyes at the ignoramuses of that government? Without a hint of humility or embarrassment. Like a khun naay in an ice-cream store, how dare you call me phii?
Wisdom of General Prayuth
Pavin, you said, “This short article intends to showcase some of Prayuth’s wisdom in tackling the immediate problems facing Thailand.” but I read it all the way through and can’t find any!
For how many years have the amart been telling claiming that all of the various leaders (Samak, Somchai, Yingluck) were puppets/clones of Thaksin with Thaksin pulling the strings? Now Hang Tuah and the rest are changing the narrative. Yingluck is no longer a clone, she’s, “not Machiavellian like her brother. Not shrewd and sadistic enough…a dolt”. So now, apparently, Thaksin wasn’t pulling the strings after all? Either the name calling elites aren’t particularly bright (if they don’t see the contradiction) or they’re just very frustrated because no matter what they try, they still can’t win an election–and that threatens their power. The poor see through all the BS and the amart can only get their way by force which gives them time to pack the courts and other power positions with people who will continue to resist/overturn any democratic reforms threatening elite power. Corruption at it’s best! What will it take to stop this vicious cycle?
Best wishes to you, Pavin, as you watch the tragicomedy from the sidelines.
Wisdom of General Prayuth
Sorry to be pedantic, Khun Pavin, but Yingluck was branded e-ngo, not e-ngor, as “ngo” in Thai means “stupid”, a point conservative wags sometimes use to belittle NGOs.
Competition: Speaking of Southeast Asia
Pusat.
The place in the center in which things are held together. Naval, but with earthy vowels and a bilabial voiceless plosive at the start. We’d all speak with more honesty if we had pusat to use on a daily basis.
Wisdom of General Prayuth
The piece is good, thanks for clarification (#4.1) Pavin is indeed now a leading intellectual voice in a sea of political turbulence and deceit in Thailand. His personal situation created by the amaat-military regime has led him into the centre of truth-seeking scholarship.
Wisdom of General Prayuth
A great portrait of ThIland’s tyrant by Ajarn Pavin.
In fact Prayudh is just a clown, the symbol of decadence of Thailand’s rotten Royalist regime. I hope that we will soon celebrate the birth of a new Thai Democratic Republic where there will be no more Prayudhs
Wisdom of General Prayuth
Happy to see him concerned about weed management viz water hyacinths.
The army runs a big rcreation area Huai Teng Tao at Chiang Mai and on the lake there water hyacinths have appeared this year. Alas not a finger is raised to remove these before they swamp the whole lake and make it unusable for swimming or fishing.
Competition: Speaking of Southeast Asia
I’m surprised nobody has mentioned Thai “phrai” and “amat” yet (“serf” and “lord” – no further explanation necessary on this site)
as they are undoubtedly the way most British (and no doubt other nations’) politicians view the world, even if the rest of us disagree.
Competition: Speaking of Southeast Asia
I read that the actual meaning of blusukan is to make passage through a very narrow or difficult space. But perhaps a place rarely travelled is right too. I like this one because of how quickly it took on a whole new meaning in such a short period.
Wisdom of General Prayuth
Love the way some people brim with overconfidence and enthusiastically contribute to forums such as this even though it is patently obvious they can barely communicate in English.
Referring to a former queen of France who was deposed and ultimately executed, as “being born in the wrong country” (which was Austria in fact) has subtle nuances that one can one can only guess at.
Wisdom of General Prayuth
The Yingluck government was probably the most corruption free government Thailand has ever had. They knew they were under the microscope from day one. Even before she was sworn in the yellows were trying to find a reason to block her.
The only surprise is it took 2 years to mobilize the mop to pave the way for the coup.
The yellows talked a lot about corruption but could produce no evidence so they had to resort to childish name calling to help justify the ousting of the elected government.
Wisdom of General Prayuth
What is this garbage?
What he basically implying is, “Sorry, I don’t have solution for you, I coup de’tat just because I want this position and not solve any of your problem”
– Grow other cash crops – Do you even know which crops that have market? “That’s for you to find out!”
– Rubber planter compensation – Haha, sorry not helping you guys.
– Flood crisis – Basically what you are saying is that, as long it is nature cause you do not have to do anything with it? Seriously?
– If works do not get dumped onto the leader, why do we even elect our leader in the first place? Oh wait, he coup de tat for it..
– Education – Clearly you are really out of touch, you prefer your children to be taught with easier contents and later suffer out there? Might as well just clearly said out “I prefer everyone to not go to school so they are dumb enough and won’t criticize me for what I have done (coup) and what I will be going to do (nothing”
– Rice price issue – Don’t you love it when someone oversimplify the issue? You could probably put a monkey in the position and he might be able to do a better job. Grow other plants, can you give an example? “Not my problem!”
– Poverty – Easiest to blame poor people about not hardworking enough, but I bet he had never heard about poverty trap. “You own fault!”
– Democracy – oh wait, you just got your position through coup, so much for Democracy, maybe his version..
– Not going shopping – Seriously? So he is suggesting Thais not to spend their money and let businesses collapse without any customers?
I’m not sure how Yingluck will goes down in Thailand history but using inability to give good speech or English is weak and irrelevant. There are many leaders in this world that fit into those circumstances and still a good leader.
If Prayuth does not crack down and put military force to curb his critics, we would probably able to hear more about him, so much for freedom of speech under Democracy…
If those replies are authentic his replies, then….. good luck Thailand..
Wisdom of General Prayuth
Nice opening, Nick. Adolf Hitler’s words I seem to remember. Prayuth’s biggest problem is to solve the problems he has created for himself by putting the democracy aside and staging a coup. Then there is Human Rights. Something he must learn something about.