The emerging coup justification discourse evolves around topoi of the “clean slate”.
Nope Marc Saxer. The primary reason cited by General Prayuth was/is “to preserve peace and order” because the ongoing protests/rallies by the very peaceful ‘Uproot’ camp and the usually violent/threatening/armed Red shirt camp could escalate to deadly confrontation … or civil war (that Chris Beale kept ranting for montns now).
So five out of six readers here are willing to continue sucking up to one side or the other in this completely dumb power struggle. Best prepare for the civil war you are helping to make inevitable. Also prepare yourself for the inevitability of one paranoid repressive state being replaced by two or more. There will of course be a few people who will profit heavily from that. Factional apologists probably won’t.
The emerging coup justification discourse evolves around topoi of the “clean slate”. For a “fresh start”, Thailand needed to “bring its house in order” by “cleaning out the mess of corruption”. As I have shown in my latest study, the equation of democracy with corruption leads the middle class to embrace authoritarian rule. When “all politicians are corrupt”, then “intelligent” military men must be the answer.
This discourse cannot be countered by empirical facts of junta corruption, because it is a reflection of the inherent conservative inability to perceive the lethal flaws of a dying system: when the system cannot be wrong, then it must be “bad people” who corrupt it. The easy fix: exchange the “bad people” with “good people”, and everything will be back to “normal”.
My wife is Thai (middle class Bangkok) and willing to give up on democratic systems due to the level of perceived evils and corruption of Thaksin and allied parties. She generally supports democratic principles and has spent a lot of time volunteering in the north-east as a social worker. However, it is difficult to convince her that undemocratic “short cuts” to remove the influence of Thaksin (whom she hates) does not provide a long term solution and will lead to greater problems into the future. History alone should be enough to point to this.
As Andrew has mentioned, the problem is that the other side of politics are weak and unwilling to put in the hard work to win a majority of votes when they can just ride on the curtails of the old establishment. The PT party had recently given them a hand up to some extent with policies like the rice buying scheme.
I believe the UDD has the greatest potential to push forward democracy in Thailand. I wonder if Thaksin was not the figurehead, to what extent it could mobilize middle class Thai support. I believe my wife and many of her friends would support the UDD, but their hatred of Thaksin (built up through his demonisation in the media) is the obstacle.
The fact is that we are well aware of the real story as you put it. The sad thing is that so many supporters of this tragedy base their support on propaganda, myths and outright misrepresentation of facts.
No somchai those of us who care about thailand won’t keep our words to ourselves. You are entitled to your views and I respect your right to have them. You on the other hand seem to be unable to accept the right of others to hold an opposing view. There is a trend towards xenophobia in thailand which is disturbing
Yes Thai could have done differently for resolution to the political crisis. No one wants coup but the situation is getting more violence. How many more farmers could have committed suicides because of the corrupted rice scheme? How many innocent lives could have lost? Is this the human right those people deserved?
I think you we should look forward for the country. Now it is time to be harmonised. I do believe that you love Thailand as much as others in Thailand do but rather than criticising in overseas what would you suggest to prevent potential corruptions, vote buying, or get those corrupt politicians to finally serve jail time after convictions?
I’m very upset that the other country keep comment about Thai and they don’t know the real story. Please stop it. Government had a big corruption, and set red group to protect them. Thailand lost a lot of money because of them. They also can’t explain where is the money. A lot of farmer killed themselves because government take their rice and couldn’t give money to them. This is the bad government that we had in the history of Thailand. Once the army come. We feel like see god. Who can help us from the bad suituation. Let Us fix our problem. We will be fine.
Prayuth’s seizure of power in no way contravenes Suthep’s plan: The Pheu Thai cabinet and red shirt leaders have been arrested; top officials deemed loyal to the government, e.g. the police chief and defense permanent secretary, have been removed; the academics and media muzzled; and the Senate has been dissolved. The purges of Pheu Thai elements will continue.
Next Prayuth is expected to set up a council to draft the reforms that Suthep had been calling for, and a committee to draft a new constitution. This will take at least a year, probably two. Meanwhile Prayuth will remain in the driver’s seat until his “mission” is accomplished, well beyond what would have been his mandatory retirement in September. Only then will elections be permitted. According to this scenario, by then Thaksin’s influence will be all but a fading memory and Thailand made safe for the royalists and Democrats. The holy grail, hardly mentioned, is that they will be in charge during the fin de siècle, and thus hold the key to the brave new century.
By the way, Suthep always claimed to be the secretary-general of the shadowy PDRC; can you now guess who the president supposedly was?
Matt Owen Rees says “security must come first”. Is the abduction of the elected government at gunpoint “security”? Is a victory for the lawless “security”? Is a mafia takeover “security”? I call it tyranny.
Your friends passed you some bad info because the fact is that area is anti-red.
As for the hearsay about it being hard to land a gov’t job or get into a masters program at another institution that is bogus. Ramkhamhaeng has one of the most respected and highly regarded law schools in Thailand.
Also the reason the UDD called the rally there was because the location had symbolic meaning.
It’s wierd for me to see how many downvotes there are on comments that question the article and ask people to do their own research. What’s so bad about that?
I guess it’s easier to stick with the hive mind and click the red button that it is to do a little research.
I’m not asking people to take sides, I’m simply asking people to do some research before they pass judgement.
I’m a student at Ramkhamhaeng and I can tell you that the violence started once the Red shirts began encroaching on and destroying the campus, such that the head of the university called on all students by way of a televised announcement to come and protect the school because it was being vandalized.
I was there most of the days that the stadium was being occupied because besides the fact that I’m a student, I’m a skateboarder who frequents the skatepark there everyday.
I am not speaking for the PDRC as I have not been around them to know their behavior, but I was around the Reds during that time very much and as someone who can actually speak and understand Thai I can tell you most of what was being said was hateful and was in want of violence and retribution.
May be neither the military nor the monarchy is in power. Wasn’t the monarchy used since the last years as a means/instrument for legitimation? Wasn’t since the last years the military used as a means for getting rid of an elected government? Thus, who is in power?
[…] at New Mandala, we have a careful analysis by Tom Power of the ideological cleavages between the two coalitions contesting Indonesia’s presidential […]
Democracy in many parts of the world is essentially a balance of terror between the state and its citizens or between different power groups. In a good democracy there is no one power center that is able to take over completely from its competitors, whether because of respect for a Constitution that provides for checks and balances or by default since the competition is even. If the Thai military thinks it can run Thailand on the strength of its boots and guns it is quite mistaken as there have been preparations to counter such a move for a long time. Expect a guerrilla style hit and run war for the next year till there is a compromise and a new formula found to keep the system going. The future of Thailand, easily one of the world’s most beautiful countries (not the beaches, the people too), is unfortunately going to be settled with blood on the streets and farmlands. Brace yourselves for a rough ride ahead.
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Thailand’s invitation to violence
“That is an agenda that military men are incapable of pursuing.”
The military is not alone with this incapability.
A democratic anti-corruption discourse for Thailand
The emerging coup justification discourse evolves around topoi of the “clean slate”.
Nope Marc Saxer. The primary reason cited by General Prayuth was/is “to preserve peace and order” because the ongoing protests/rallies by the very peaceful ‘Uproot’ camp and the usually violent/threatening/armed Red shirt camp could escalate to deadly confrontation … or civil war (that Chris Beale kept ranting for montns now).
A coup by any other name…
In other words, vacuous university cohort politics written large.
A coup by any other name…
So five out of six readers here are willing to continue sucking up to one side or the other in this completely dumb power struggle. Best prepare for the civil war you are helping to make inevitable. Also prepare yourself for the inevitability of one paranoid repressive state being replaced by two or more. There will of course be a few people who will profit heavily from that. Factional apologists probably won’t.
Thailand’s invitation to violence
Dear Daniel,
I don’t care about Thaksin. What I care is Democracy and this make me call myself “Red Shirt.
A democratic anti-corruption discourse for Thailand
The emerging coup justification discourse evolves around topoi of the “clean slate”. For a “fresh start”, Thailand needed to “bring its house in order” by “cleaning out the mess of corruption”. As I have shown in my latest study, the equation of democracy with corruption leads the middle class to embrace authoritarian rule. When “all politicians are corrupt”, then “intelligent” military men must be the answer.
This discourse cannot be countered by empirical facts of junta corruption, because it is a reflection of the inherent conservative inability to perceive the lethal flaws of a dying system: when the system cannot be wrong, then it must be “bad people” who corrupt it. The easy fix: exchange the “bad people” with “good people”, and everything will be back to “normal”.
Thailand’s invitation to violence
My wife is Thai (middle class Bangkok) and willing to give up on democratic systems due to the level of perceived evils and corruption of Thaksin and allied parties. She generally supports democratic principles and has spent a lot of time volunteering in the north-east as a social worker. However, it is difficult to convince her that undemocratic “short cuts” to remove the influence of Thaksin (whom she hates) does not provide a long term solution and will lead to greater problems into the future. History alone should be enough to point to this.
As Andrew has mentioned, the problem is that the other side of politics are weak and unwilling to put in the hard work to win a majority of votes when they can just ride on the curtails of the old establishment. The PT party had recently given them a hand up to some extent with policies like the rice buying scheme.
I believe the UDD has the greatest potential to push forward democracy in Thailand. I wonder if Thaksin was not the figurehead, to what extent it could mobilize middle class Thai support. I believe my wife and many of her friends would support the UDD, but their hatred of Thaksin (built up through his demonisation in the media) is the obstacle.
ANU No Coup
The fact is that we are well aware of the real story as you put it. The sad thing is that so many supporters of this tragedy base their support on propaganda, myths and outright misrepresentation of facts.
ANU No Coup
No somchai those of us who care about thailand won’t keep our words to ourselves. You are entitled to your views and I respect your right to have them. You on the other hand seem to be unable to accept the right of others to hold an opposing view. There is a trend towards xenophobia in thailand which is disturbing
A coup by any other name…
“The NCPO also announced on Saturday evening that Pol Gen Adul Saengsingkaew had been moved to an inactive post in the Prime Minister’s Office.”
Hmm, isn’t this the sort of thing that got Yingluck tossed?
Just sayin’
ANU No Coup
If you are not ready to die for the nation like the army does, you are not ready to criticize them.
ANU No Coup
Yes Thai could have done differently for resolution to the political crisis. No one wants coup but the situation is getting more violence. How many more farmers could have committed suicides because of the corrupted rice scheme? How many innocent lives could have lost? Is this the human right those people deserved?
I think you we should look forward for the country. Now it is time to be harmonised. I do believe that you love Thailand as much as others in Thailand do but rather than criticising in overseas what would you suggest to prevent potential corruptions, vote buying, or get those corrupt politicians to finally serve jail time after convictions?
ANU No Coup
I’m very upset that the other country keep comment about Thai and they don’t know the real story. Please stop it. Government had a big corruption, and set red group to protect them. Thailand lost a lot of money because of them. They also can’t explain where is the money. A lot of farmer killed themselves because government take their rice and couldn’t give money to them. This is the bad government that we had in the history of Thailand. Once the army come. We feel like see god. Who can help us from the bad suituation. Let Us fix our problem. We will be fine.
A coup by any other name…
Prayuth’s seizure of power in no way contravenes Suthep’s plan: The Pheu Thai cabinet and red shirt leaders have been arrested; top officials deemed loyal to the government, e.g. the police chief and defense permanent secretary, have been removed; the academics and media muzzled; and the Senate has been dissolved. The purges of Pheu Thai elements will continue.
Next Prayuth is expected to set up a council to draft the reforms that Suthep had been calling for, and a committee to draft a new constitution. This will take at least a year, probably two. Meanwhile Prayuth will remain in the driver’s seat until his “mission” is accomplished, well beyond what would have been his mandatory retirement in September. Only then will elections be permitted. According to this scenario, by then Thaksin’s influence will be all but a fading memory and Thailand made safe for the royalists and Democrats. The holy grail, hardly mentioned, is that they will be in charge during the fin de siècle, and thus hold the key to the brave new century.
By the way, Suthep always claimed to be the secretary-general of the shadowy PDRC; can you now guess who the president supposedly was?
Condemnation of the coup
Matt Owen Rees says “security must come first”. Is the abduction of the elected government at gunpoint “security”? Is a victory for the lawless “security”? Is a mafia takeover “security”? I call it tyranny.
Ramkhamhaeng: A view from inside the stadium
Your friends passed you some bad info because the fact is that area is anti-red.
As for the hearsay about it being hard to land a gov’t job or get into a masters program at another institution that is bogus. Ramkhamhaeng has one of the most respected and highly regarded law schools in Thailand.
Also the reason the UDD called the rally there was because the location had symbolic meaning.
It’s wierd for me to see how many downvotes there are on comments that question the article and ask people to do their own research. What’s so bad about that?
I guess it’s easier to stick with the hive mind and click the red button that it is to do a little research.
I’m not asking people to take sides, I’m simply asking people to do some research before they pass judgement.
Ramkhamhaeng: A view from inside the stadium
Very biased article.
I’m a student at Ramkhamhaeng and I can tell you that the violence started once the Red shirts began encroaching on and destroying the campus, such that the head of the university called on all students by way of a televised announcement to come and protect the school because it was being vandalized.
I was there most of the days that the stadium was being occupied because besides the fact that I’m a student, I’m a skateboarder who frequents the skatepark there everyday.
I am not speaking for the PDRC as I have not been around them to know their behavior, but I was around the Reds during that time very much and as someone who can actually speak and understand Thai I can tell you most of what was being said was hateful and was in want of violence and retribution.
Condemnation of the coup
May be neither the military nor the monarchy is in power. Wasn’t the monarchy used since the last years as a means/instrument for legitimation? Wasn’t since the last years the military used as a means for getting rid of an elected government? Thus, who is in power?
Is there an ideological cleavage in 2014?
[…] at New Mandala, we have a careful analysis by Tom Power of the ideological cleavages between the two coalitions contesting Indonesia’s presidential […]
Condemnation of the coup
Democracy in many parts of the world is essentially a balance of terror between the state and its citizens or between different power groups. In a good democracy there is no one power center that is able to take over completely from its competitors, whether because of respect for a Constitution that provides for checks and balances or by default since the competition is even. If the Thai military thinks it can run Thailand on the strength of its boots and guns it is quite mistaken as there have been preparations to counter such a move for a long time. Expect a guerrilla style hit and run war for the next year till there is a compromise and a new formula found to keep the system going. The future of Thailand, easily one of the world’s most beautiful countries (not the beaches, the people too), is unfortunately going to be settled with blood on the streets and farmlands. Brace yourselves for a rough ride ahead.