Tom, You are spot on! The military is the one in power and not the monarchy, the monarchy is being used. The army has been planning this for years as the recent events unfold, the potest by PdRc suthed, the hans off policy of the military, the judicial coup and finally the coup d’etat!
To the Thais, wake up, the king is ‘dead’! It has been so for many years now. The real power is in the hand of the Privy council, Prem!
sad
AMM’s comment should be enough to stop me – another old British man (who would be delighted to be considered eccentric) but…
Events in Bangkok, coming after more than a decade of continuously successful attempts by various factions of the nation’s elite to overthrow Thai people’s electoral choice, is, as the Thai ANU group (scholars or not), a loss of the country’s honour. One despairs.
It’s a sad day for the people of Thailand. ASad day for Buddhism as Thailand is a Buddhist country, where is the principle of non-violence and wellfare? The military is just greedy to protect their interests and not the Thais. The world must not only condemn But to suspend Thailand from world organisations. If not, it’s seen as only mere lip service!
Imagine an elected leader Prime Minister Yinluck being detained in an undisclosed location, how can that be label as peacefull coup d’etat?
Mr Barak, where are you? UN and Mr Ban, where are you? This is the time to show your leadership!
” … the reds are preparing indeed but Ratchaprasong is not the target this time.”
You present yourself K. Chavichai as a Red Shirt insider … privy to Red/Black Shirts “next” bombing/arson/M79 grenade launch targets. Lots of children, women, elders and innocents were killed and maimed by the Red/Black Shirts indiscriminate machine gun, bombings and M79 grenade attacks. Your and Thaksin’s ‘targets’ presumably K. Chavichai?
As a footnote – a couple of minor historical errors in the postings of two contributors to this thread should be pointed out:
@ Donald Persons – In the mid 80s General Arthit Kamlang-ek was both army commander and Supreme Commander – the man was no Air Force General;
@ Thaibeaver – ‘In 1932 a few months before the successful coup some army officers tried to poison the food of Rama VI.’ What is your source for this particular howler? Rama VI – or King Vajiravudh – passed away back in 1925 (BTW are you male and is your moniker a bad joke?)
On the other side of the fence – a very interesting comment by James Quilty.
Why are the eccentric views of an elderly British man who has chosen to retire in Thailand more valuable than the heartfelt protest of Thai scholars abroad?
What should have been done differently? Well, here’s one idea – the military should not have staged a coup and launched a disgraceful crackdown on freedom of speech.
Dear Matt, please don’t insult the intelligence of the readers of this forum with such arrant nonsense. You seem to have no understanding of the situation in Thailand and you don’t even comprehend how social media works.
It is not up to the Thai military or anybody (including you) to determine what it means to “act responsibly”.
There is indeed a flood of information on Thailand online, some accurate, some not. Most people are intelligent enough to figure out for themselves who is worth listening to, and who is not.
With all due respect, you fall into the latter category.
Much of the Thai Army’s 250,000 are actually from Isarn-Lanna – though they mostly occupy lower-ranking positions. Their loyalty to whoever is now being sorely tested – and will be much more so in months, and years ahead.
I don’t like bans on press freedom but the press and internet forums must act responsibly. They don’t always do that.
Richard Barrow, on his blog with more than any 50000 followers (who themselves of course repost and retweet), declared that on driving round Bangkok he had seen only one soldier. Earlier he had blogged that there was no disrution to incoming foreign mail (despite advisories on the UK Royal mail and other national sites.
So you see it’s not just irresponsible and inaccurate comment and propaganda that is anti-government that is being perpetrated
The media and bloggers should be posting well-sourced facts.
Sensible comment, Tom. You seem to understand as the “scholars” do not how Thailand works and how a solution longer term can be found – however slowly.
“The situation has been worse since the coup” is a silly statement not even based on the fact there was no violence. The scholars – whose open letter I would not pass even at a secondary level examination – are right taht there was intrigue but no violence and no condemnation from the majority of Thais.
I’m all for democratic elections and freedom of speech but security must come first (as Thais would agree and are agreeing). Dvelopment of a more mature political uncorrupt system comes next. Th “scholars” seem to have western mindsets with no knowledge of Thai culture or the fact that both parties are actually very right wing.
No matter. No-one will listen to a badly thought out argument. Develop something factual if you want to try to be creditable.
He is clearly in a very tight corner, which has been very carefully planned by his implacable opponents. It could be the endgame. The best – probably the only – thing he can do for now is to keep his powder dry
There are also a number of non-Muslims in Gerindra. Hary Tanoe is clearly an opportunist, and he was effectively booted out of Hanura after the pileg (a forced ‘loncat’?). His case is interesting but doesn’t change the ideological nature of party alignments. We have Gerindra, PAN, (part of) Golkar and the Islamic parties in one kubu, and a pretty pluralist band in the other. We have an Orde Baru conservative on one side and a reformist product of otonomi daerah on the other. Cukup jelas laaah…
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Condemnation of the coup
Tom, You are spot on! The military is the one in power and not the monarchy, the monarchy is being used. The army has been planning this for years as the recent events unfold, the potest by PdRc suthed, the hans off policy of the military, the judicial coup and finally the coup d’etat!
To the Thais, wake up, the king is ‘dead’! It has been so for many years now. The real power is in the hand of the Privy council, Prem!
sad
Review of Beyond Democracy in Cambodia
Well done, Virak!
ANU No Coup
AMM’s comment should be enough to stop me – another old British man (who would be delighted to be considered eccentric) but…
Events in Bangkok, coming after more than a decade of continuously successful attempts by various factions of the nation’s elite to overthrow Thai people’s electoral choice, is, as the Thai ANU group (scholars or not), a loss of the country’s honour. One despairs.
ANU No Coup
It’s a sad day for the people of Thailand. ASad day for Buddhism as Thailand is a Buddhist country, where is the principle of non-violence and wellfare? The military is just greedy to protect their interests and not the Thais. The world must not only condemn But to suspend Thailand from world organisations. If not, it’s seen as only mere lip service!
Imagine an elected leader Prime Minister Yinluck being detained in an undisclosed location, how can that be label as peacefull coup d’etat?
Mr Barak, where are you? UN and Mr Ban, where are you? This is the time to show your leadership!
Coup? What coup?
Some military raids in Isarn cities – but what have n’t they found ? It is going to be much, much harder for them in the countryside, where weapons have always been anyhow ubiquitous, and which is now awash with them. This separatist insurgency has only just begun. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/411556/red-shirts-army-khon-kaen-arrests-bomb-explosives
Coup? What coup?
” … the reds are preparing indeed but Ratchaprasong is not the target this time.”
You present yourself K. Chavichai as a Red Shirt insider … privy to Red/Black Shirts “next” bombing/arson/M79 grenade launch targets. Lots of children, women, elders and innocents were killed and maimed by the Red/Black Shirts indiscriminate machine gun, bombings and M79 grenade attacks. Your and Thaksin’s ‘targets’ presumably K. Chavichai?
Counting Thailand’s coups
As a footnote – a couple of minor historical errors in the postings of two contributors to this thread should be pointed out:
@ Donald Persons – In the mid 80s General Arthit Kamlang-ek was both army commander and Supreme Commander – the man was no Air Force General;
@ Thaibeaver – ‘In 1932 a few months before the successful coup some army officers tried to poison the food of Rama VI.’ What is your source for this particular howler? Rama VI – or King Vajiravudh – passed away back in 1925 (BTW are you male and is your moniker a bad joke?)
On the other side of the fence – a very interesting comment by James Quilty.
Condemnation of the coup
Voice.less? Suggest you broaden your circle of Thais you talk to or engage with and discuss with them
Thailand’s information war
[…] Read original article here: http://www.newmandala.org/2014/05/24/thailands-information-war/ […]
ANU No Coup
Why are the eccentric views of an elderly British man who has chosen to retire in Thailand more valuable than the heartfelt protest of Thai scholars abroad?
What should have been done differently? Well, here’s one idea – the military should not have staged a coup and launched a disgraceful crackdown on freedom of speech.
Thailand’s information war
Dear Matt, please don’t insult the intelligence of the readers of this forum with such arrant nonsense. You seem to have no understanding of the situation in Thailand and you don’t even comprehend how social media works.
It is not up to the Thai military or anybody (including you) to determine what it means to “act responsibly”.
There is indeed a flood of information on Thailand online, some accurate, some not. Most people are intelligent enough to figure out for themselves who is worth listening to, and who is not.
With all due respect, you fall into the latter category.
A coup by any other name…
Much of the Thai Army’s 250,000 are actually from Isarn-Lanna – though they mostly occupy lower-ranking positions. Their loyalty to whoever is now being sorely tested – and will be much more so in months, and years ahead.
Thailand’s information war
I don’t like bans on press freedom but the press and internet forums must act responsibly. They don’t always do that.
Richard Barrow, on his blog with more than any 50000 followers (who themselves of course repost and retweet), declared that on driving round Bangkok he had seen only one soldier. Earlier he had blogged that there was no disrution to incoming foreign mail (despite advisories on the UK Royal mail and other national sites.
So you see it’s not just irresponsible and inaccurate comment and propaganda that is anti-government that is being perpetrated
The media and bloggers should be posting well-sourced facts.
Condemnation of the coup
Sensible comment, Tom. You seem to understand as the “scholars” do not how Thailand works and how a solution longer term can be found – however slowly.
“The situation has been worse since the coup” is a silly statement not even based on the fact there was no violence. The scholars – whose open letter I would not pass even at a secondary level examination – are right taht there was intrigue but no violence and no condemnation from the majority of Thais.
I’m all for democratic elections and freedom of speech but security must come first (as Thais would agree and are agreeing). Dvelopment of a more mature political uncorrupt system comes next. Th “scholars” seem to have western mindsets with no knowledge of Thai culture or the fact that both parties are actually very right wing.
No matter. No-one will listen to a badly thought out argument. Develop something factual if you want to try to be creditable.
Coup? What coup?
Using logic.. you are being unfair.
ANU No Coup
Very brave comment from outside the country but not constructive or well-thought out (or written)
What should have been done or done differently?
A coup by any other name…
He is clearly in a very tight corner, which has been very carefully planned by his implacable opponents. It could be the endgame. The best – probably the only – thing he can do for now is to keep his powder dry
Is there an ideological cleavage in 2014?
There are also a number of non-Muslims in Gerindra. Hary Tanoe is clearly an opportunist, and he was effectively booted out of Hanura after the pileg (a forced ‘loncat’?). His case is interesting but doesn’t change the ideological nature of party alignments. We have Gerindra, PAN, (part of) Golkar and the Islamic parties in one kubu, and a pretty pluralist band in the other. We have an Orde Baru conservative on one side and a reformist product of otonomi daerah on the other. Cukup jelas laaah…
A coup by any other name…
One thing wrong in your sequence; fat profit invariably follows fraudulent coup.
Condemnation of the coup
Next steps?
An Outsider’s Guide to Supporting
Nonviolent Resistance to Dictatorship.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/outsiders-guide.org/The+Outsider%27s+Guide+to+Supporting+Nonviolent+Resistance+to+Dictatorship.pdf