Living in Bangkok the last two years I have been interested in the development of resistance to the political situation. Although there may be a ground swell of support for student protesters, I do not believe it will end well. The people in power are ruthless and will, some time in the near future, decide enough is enough. I am surprised that General Prayut has taken a low key approach to demonstrations. Maybe he is unsure what he can do, or feels he lacks support within the military. The only thing on which I am certain is that repression will get worse before it gets better.
“The country’s crisis in 2020 is not only a showdown between students and arch-royalist aristocrats. It’s also a pivotal flashpoint where the military is becoming increasingly disunited.”. Ditto.
“Officers who are members of other less-favoured factions are likely to become increasingly disgruntled.” Excellent news for Thailand’s small, but growing, Isaarn and Lanna secessionist movements hoping to emulate Patani success.
Thanks for your feedback. I understand that my reluctance to offer clear definition of localization may be frustrating, but my intention was precisely to highlight that conflicts can emerge because people mean different things when they say ‘local’. The post is definitely not meant as a celebration of ASEAN’s humanitarian role, and one of the dangers I highlight is that member states will appropriate the buzzword of localization to monopolize the field. What I want to show is that simply shouting ‘localization’ will not magically solve all the problems of humanitarian action.
However, I do take issue with your idea of sending in ‘neutral’ outsiders to sort out internecine conflicts. In my view, it is a typically Western impulse to claim objectivity in order to legitimize intervention elsewhere with the purpose of maintaining order according to Western ideas.
I feel more sympathetic towards your suggestion to change recruiting practices, as this is an issue that is raised again and again by black people and people of colour in the humanitarian sector who feel they are being overlooked when it comes to promotions. On the other hand, the fact that these demands have been there for many years shows how deeply engrained these structural injustices seem to be in the humanitarian ‘club’.
Finally someone with the guts to name the demands. A little disappointing that they are so minimal. These are exactly the sort of demands which the English parliament fought for in the 17th century or the jacobins 100 years later or the Russians people 100 years after that. It’s thailand’s turn 400 years after. hopefully these minimal demands will be resisted tooth and nail leading to more radical demands.
Thank you for this very insightful article. It is amazing that Thai youth can have the courage to criticize those sections of Thai society that have the power to have them incarcerated and murdered.
“The creation of the 10-point announcement began on a quiet night in mid-July this year when a group of TU students held a meeting in a dorm called ‘J-Park’ near Thammasat’s Rangsit campus.”
There are parallels here with the creation of OTPOR, instrumental in the overthrow of Slobodan Milosevic in Serbia.
Remember also that student protests had been going on for nearly a decade before OTPOR started to take off.
It is very easy when considering Cambodia to blame outside factors for its internal problems: “….conflicting perceptions held by Brussels and Phnom Penh over the human rights situation in Cambodia prevent the two sides from having constructive and meaningful dialogues”. The two sides referred to are the ruling CPP party and the now disbanded Opposition CNRP party.
This is simply not true. The two sides do not have constructive and meaningful dialogue because one side – the ruling party – has no intention of risking giving up power. From the 1993 election that it lost, and every one since none of which have been free or fair, it has held on to power, at times ruthlessly attacking all forms of opposition, both political and Civil Society.
Sadly the Cambodian tragedy of more conflict and bloodshed is set to continue as the ruling party is out-of-touch with many of its citizens and especially today’s youth.
Cambodia has never been a liberal market democracy, and why should it? Does the EU really want to mindlessly follow America in promoting color revolution/ regime change of leaders and forms of government it doesn’t like and comprehend?
2020 correction. X’s son by Nui was rumor only. Poof!
OTOH, Trump’s rumored affair with porn star (not mentioned above) was real. Un-poof!
And, Trump and X have proven equally lethal, just in different ways.
Corona infections appear less in South-east Asia, than elsewhere, for 3 reasons : 1) perhaps most important – South-east Asia has a younger age demographic, 2) statistics are not so reliable, 3) testing is generally
less widespread.
it is sarcastic that global warming increased by villagers.villagers are soft target anyone and that decison is also ruthless that taxes will apply on villegers…
Kilian, I have a few difficulties with this. As you have no definition of localism it is hard ot know what the paramaters are here. Also, you do not seem to take into account that locals (province leaders and others) can also be racist and paternalistic. Sometimes a ‘neutral’ outsider can overide the impulses of locals. Sometimes human rights necessitates overiding culture, of course, in a culture like Aceh it can be a mine field, and elsewhere it can be problematic. Shouldn’t this be an argument for sensitivity training or changing recruiting practices. Without any examples it is difficult to ascertain what you are referring to. I am surprised you highlight Nargis as a shining example of a response, I have not heard any good reports on the response. perhaps you should study the response to the collapse of a dam in southern Laos recently to see how neglectful local responses can be, i am sure there are many more examples around the world. Your faith in ASEAN is unsubstantiated here in this article, overall I am unimpressed by the article. You have some points that certainly need to be explored. I have not worked on disasters as such but have worked in many remote and rural areas, thus I am sure you have a lot of learning that I do not have.
It was my first time in Cambodia and needed some GREEN , my driver gave me Greenie’s contact. He has the best quality weed in Cambodia, he is discreet , reliable and deals face2face. You can reach him at ( LOCAL420DELIVERY (AT) YAHOO (DOT) COM ) and he will get you the best quality WEED in Cambodia. He got us very good quality for my friends and we will forever remain grateful
Insufficient opportunities to study Asian languages in school is not the problem. The problem is that every school my daughters attended offered a different Asian/European language. At the end of their time in school they had not learnt any foreign language. What a waste of time and resources.
I found the article to be very interesting. I’ve never believed that the king of Thailand is as powerful as you or some of his other critics believe him to be. He no doubt has great influence because of the enormous prestige of the institution he heads. But his power is nothing compared to his middle Eastern counterparts. While his views no doubt have a impact on the yearly military reshuffle they are not the dominating factor. The king does have a loyal faction (as did both his father and his mother before him ) of military officers who support him. However, they are only one faction in the military. Rama X does not share his fathers intense interest in the minutia of day-to-day politics. My personal opinion is that it simply bores him. I suspect that if he can ensure His security and safety from the military ( The true center of power in Thailand today) he would be thrilled to leave politics to the politicians.
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“Red rim soldiers”: the changing leadership of Thailand’s military in 2020
Living in Bangkok the last two years I have been interested in the development of resistance to the political situation. Although there may be a ground swell of support for student protesters, I do not believe it will end well. The people in power are ruthless and will, some time in the near future, decide enough is enough. I am surprised that General Prayut has taken a low key approach to demonstrations. Maybe he is unsure what he can do, or feels he lacks support within the military. The only thing on which I am certain is that repression will get worse before it gets better.
Mengapa media gagal meliput Papua?
Membutuhkan dokumen pemberitaan tentang nederlan new guinea west.
“Red rim soldiers”: the changing leadership of Thailand’s military in 2020
“The country’s crisis in 2020 is not only a showdown between students and arch-royalist aristocrats. It’s also a pivotal flashpoint where the military is becoming increasingly disunited.”. Ditto.
“Red rim soldiers”: the changing leadership of Thailand’s military in 2020
“Officers who are members of other less-favoured factions are likely to become increasingly disgruntled.” Excellent news for Thailand’s small, but growing, Isaarn and Lanna secessionist movements hoping to emulate Patani success.
Towards genuinely localised humanitarian action
Dear Allan,
Thanks for your feedback. I understand that my reluctance to offer clear definition of localization may be frustrating, but my intention was precisely to highlight that conflicts can emerge because people mean different things when they say ‘local’. The post is definitely not meant as a celebration of ASEAN’s humanitarian role, and one of the dangers I highlight is that member states will appropriate the buzzword of localization to monopolize the field. What I want to show is that simply shouting ‘localization’ will not magically solve all the problems of humanitarian action.
However, I do take issue with your idea of sending in ‘neutral’ outsiders to sort out internecine conflicts. In my view, it is a typically Western impulse to claim objectivity in order to legitimize intervention elsewhere with the purpose of maintaining order according to Western ideas.
I feel more sympathetic towards your suggestion to change recruiting practices, as this is an issue that is raised again and again by black people and people of colour in the humanitarian sector who feel they are being overlooked when it comes to promotions. On the other hand, the fact that these demands have been there for many years shows how deeply engrained these structural injustices seem to be in the humanitarian ‘club’.
Happy to discuss this further!
Best,
Kilian
Ola Hanson from the archive on vocabulary size
Yes, I also agree with Seng Hkum’s comments that is exceptional..
The ten demands that shook Thailand
Finally someone with the guts to name the demands. A little disappointing that they are so minimal. These are exactly the sort of demands which the English parliament fought for in the 17th century or the jacobins 100 years later or the Russians people 100 years after that. It’s thailand’s turn 400 years after. hopefully these minimal demands will be resisted tooth and nail leading to more radical demands.
The ten demands that shook Thailand
Thank you for this very insightful article. It is amazing that Thai youth can have the courage to criticize those sections of Thai society that have the power to have them incarcerated and murdered.
The ten demands that shook Thailand
“The creation of the 10-point announcement began on a quiet night in mid-July this year when a group of TU students held a meeting in a dorm called ‘J-Park’ near Thammasat’s Rangsit campus.”
There are parallels here with the creation of OTPOR, instrumental in the overthrow of Slobodan Milosevic in Serbia.
Remember also that student protests had been going on for nearly a decade before OTPOR started to take off.
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2013/05/30/serbia-student-protests-otpor/
The Cambodia dilemma: foreign affairs and human rights in tension
It is very easy when considering Cambodia to blame outside factors for its internal problems: “….conflicting perceptions held by Brussels and Phnom Penh over the human rights situation in Cambodia prevent the two sides from having constructive and meaningful dialogues”. The two sides referred to are the ruling CPP party and the now disbanded Opposition CNRP party.
This is simply not true. The two sides do not have constructive and meaningful dialogue because one side – the ruling party – has no intention of risking giving up power. From the 1993 election that it lost, and every one since none of which have been free or fair, it has held on to power, at times ruthlessly attacking all forms of opposition, both political and Civil Society.
Sadly the Cambodian tragedy of more conflict and bloodshed is set to continue as the ruling party is out-of-touch with many of its citizens and especially today’s youth.
The Cambodia dilemma: foreign affairs and human rights in tension
Cambodia has never been a liberal market democracy, and why should it? Does the EU really want to mindlessly follow America in promoting color revolution/ regime change of leaders and forms of government it doesn’t like and comprehend?
Magic families
2020 correction. X’s son by Nui was rumor only. Poof!
OTOH, Trump’s rumored affair with porn star (not mentioned above) was real. Un-poof!
And, Trump and X have proven equally lethal, just in different ways.
Launching: Southeast Asia in the time of coronavirus
Corona infections appear less in South-east Asia, than elsewhere, for 3 reasons : 1) perhaps most important – South-east Asia has a younger age demographic, 2) statistics are not so reliable, 3) testing is generally
less widespread.
Blaming villagers for global warming
it is sarcastic that global warming increased by villagers.villagers are soft target anyone and that decison is also ruthless that taxes will apply on villegers…
Towards genuinely localised humanitarian action
Kilian, I have a few difficulties with this. As you have no definition of localism it is hard ot know what the paramaters are here. Also, you do not seem to take into account that locals (province leaders and others) can also be racist and paternalistic. Sometimes a ‘neutral’ outsider can overide the impulses of locals. Sometimes human rights necessitates overiding culture, of course, in a culture like Aceh it can be a mine field, and elsewhere it can be problematic. Shouldn’t this be an argument for sensitivity training or changing recruiting practices. Without any examples it is difficult to ascertain what you are referring to. I am surprised you highlight Nargis as a shining example of a response, I have not heard any good reports on the response. perhaps you should study the response to the collapse of a dam in southern Laos recently to see how neglectful local responses can be, i am sure there are many more examples around the world. Your faith in ASEAN is unsubstantiated here in this article, overall I am unimpressed by the article. You have some points that certainly need to be explored. I have not worked on disasters as such but have worked in many remote and rural areas, thus I am sure you have a lot of learning that I do not have.
Cambodia exports can get high on cannabis
It was my first time in Cambodia and needed some GREEN , my driver gave me Greenie’s contact. He has the best quality weed in Cambodia, he is discreet , reliable and deals face2face. You can reach him at ( LOCAL420DELIVERY (AT) YAHOO (DOT) COM ) and he will get you the best quality WEED in Cambodia. He got us very good quality for my friends and we will forever remain grateful
Letter from the editor: Will Australia’s “place” in Asia seem like history for future generations?
Insufficient opportunities to study Asian languages in school is not the problem. The problem is that every school my daughters attended offered a different Asian/European language. At the end of their time in school they had not learnt any foreign language. What a waste of time and resources.
Thailand’s King Vajiralongkorn: turning back time
I found the article to be very interesting. I’ve never believed that the king of Thailand is as powerful as you or some of his other critics believe him to be. He no doubt has great influence because of the enormous prestige of the institution he heads. But his power is nothing compared to his middle Eastern counterparts. While his views no doubt have a impact on the yearly military reshuffle they are not the dominating factor. The king does have a loyal faction (as did both his father and his mother before him ) of military officers who support him. However, they are only one faction in the military. Rama X does not share his fathers intense interest in the minutia of day-to-day politics. My personal opinion is that it simply bores him. I suspect that if he can ensure His security and safety from the military ( The true center of power in Thailand today) he would be thrilled to leave politics to the politicians.
Thailand’s King Vajiralongkorn: turning back time
Both the king and the military are HUGELY unpopular. Monarchy and military are split.
China won’t end Myanmar’s conflict with the United Wa State Army
Can North-eastern Thailand’s Isaarn separatist develop a similiar relationship with China ??