Firmly in Power
No one truly reasonable can argue that Thammasat University law lecturer and spokesperson of the Nitirat group Worachet Pakeerat isn’t right when he says “people who talk about the institution in a contemptuous or offensive way will be punished, but we need to amend the law so these people receive reasonable penalties.”
Those who oppose any changes of the lese majeste laws do not do give an inch simply because they’re scared that many smart Thais will take a mile – not hurling abuse, but discussing, and eventually disassembling the Monarchy to its very core, only to discover that all those decades of semi-divinity, respect, reverence and sufficiency economy were only in place to keep the ruling oligarchy firmly in power.
Entering the realm of unknown consequences: Either it adapts, or ceases to exist. Expires
Earlier today we saw dozens of people marching their Fearlessness Walk from Victory Monument to Ratchaprasong. The longer I observe Thai politics from afar, the simpler it all seems to me. Being a commentator of especially weird and incongruous variety, I am not growing more exasperated in any way. Nonetheless, I rather painfully realize that with every passing day I come closer and closer to committing some kind of lese majeste offence myself. And yet, the longer I stay in London, the more it evolves into something clearly defined and embarrassingly explicit. Stating here and elsewhere that lese majeste laws are, along with its shadowy Royal Thai Army, the biggest hindrance to Thailand’s progress among really well mannered, cultured and truly civilized countries, has become a matter of perhaps surprising urgency for me.
Thailand is entering a critical stage, and it will all get worse before it gets better. Thais have clearly been fighting a very odd civil war with themselves. For many of them the possibility of amending or abolishing its strict lese majeste laws remains sacrilegious, un-Thai, alien and thoroughly wrong.
It is perhaps foolish, and some would even say self serving and culturally supremacist to say there are lese majeste laws much more realistic, humane and fair in any of European monarchies than in the Kingdom of Thailand. Although I am aware of differences between more or less stable monarchies of The Old World and their volatile Siamese strain, the situation’s clearly unsustainable. Not being able to discuss the virtues of the Bhumibol Adulyadej‘s children in press, among other important issues (non-payment of taxes etc) is not healthy at all. And that is before even mentioning anything Andrew MacGregor Marshall has had to say so far.
The Monarchy in itself is not detrimental to Thailand’s future development, but it has to change. As I mentioned earlier and elsewhere: …the monarchy can’t exist on its own. Either it adapts, or ceases to exist. Expires.
Eerie Calm of Inundation
Just a quick note on the catastrophic floods in Thailand.
Once again, Nick Nostitz’s masterclass images, published as usually in New Mandala leave me in awe both for their technical virtuosity and eerie calm that has followed the inundation.
Let’s hope the people of Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani and the rest of Thailand will be able to rebuild their lives. Also, let’s not forget the emergency warning services must be improved and disposed of political interference for the sake of those who have perished. Those who have erred and underestimated the scale of impending disaster in recent months in order to accommodate misplaced priorities of saving Thai Crown Property Bureau commercial landholdings must be named, shamed and brought to justice. Will they..?!
Where simple truths are never pronounced
Federico Ferrara’s paper “L’état, ce n’est plus moi: Popular Sovereignty and Citizenship over a Century of Thai Political Development” is an absorbing read; and what is yet more worthwhile, it uncovers a recent history of Thailand in light so piercing that many of those who follow the country’s developments might feel blinded at first…, or perhaps hear it ringing true in rather bizarrely uncomfortable flashbacks of “Oh, wait a minute, that’s what I’ve always thought!” Thought and never said – because that’s what Thailand is truly about.
The country of unseen and unheard. The country where simple truths are never pronounced.
Bangkok Tollway Crash Classified
Bangkok Tollway Crash
The world will carry on even after you’re dead…
Earlier this year, in my post called The Question of Thai Military I wrote, among other things, the following lines: “It would indeed take an act of revolutionary change to put the military meddling in politics to the end. I am not fully convinced that current red shirt movement, or its remnants that were not forced underground, will ever be able to become an agent of such a thorough upheaval.
I am inclined to say it would take many years and numerous elections till the majority of the population, regardless its social standing, fully realizes that they have had been lied and bluffed for many decades. One-sided, reactionary propaganda is too embedded in this society.”
I am not going to speculate whether there were no civilians shot or wounded by the Royal Thai Army during April and May protests, but I can’t fail to mention the pitifully ridiculous Colonel Sansern “Seh Kai Ou” Kaewkamnerd of “panda eyes” fame who once said:“Never think you are better than anyone else, because the world will carry on even after you’re dead.”
It has to be noted – Col. Sansern is no more than an unimportant army fop. It’s not him. Indeed, many would say the military has already been implicated. But alas… any military only mirrors the society it operates within. It’s the society, in its entirety, that has to be blamed. For many decades Thais have been living in the bubble of ‘societal rightfulness’, where traditions, real or perceived, matter the most, where seniority is sacred, where independence of thought is seen as vulgar and open criticism socially unacceptable.
And as a consequence, certain sectors of Thai society will perhaps need to learn to learn a new set of skills. They’re called honest self-criticism and higher self-awareness. It’s not easy as it takes time and effort. Some will never learn and will fall by the wayside. Some others can’t learn anymore as they belong to the past. Some of them will be remembered and forgiven. Some will be condemned and punished.
But I can’t read the future. It’s something I’ve never learned. I can only fight my doubts and hope for the best, and for the justice. And I can’t do any worse than quoting myself again: “Thai society will change forever. It will either truly democratize, or militarize yet further. There will be no middle ground left. And no reds, nor yellows either. Only people left to their own devices.”
People indeed die if shot. Just don’t blame the Colonel. He couldn’t say anything else. Blame all his bosses. From the bottom…to the top…
Before it gets banned…
Patrick Jory, Adjunct Professor, Ohio University, reviews Streckfuss’s “Truth on Trial in Thailand: Defamation, Treason and Lèse-Majesté” http://bit.ly/hR81s6 (New Mandala)
David Streckfuss, through his brilliant book, reminds us how important it is to ask questions and seek answers, an uneasy task in Thailand, where any semblance of truth is marginalized and trivialized.
But then Streckfuss was able to discuss the same topic on pages of Bangkok Post back in 2007 http://bit.ly/fZQxi2 , and here is hoping that beauty and reason of academic debate will prevail over deceit and irrational hate spawned about by certain sections of Thai media and security agencies nowadays.
Hopefully, his extensive study of Lèse majesté will be translated to Thai – an uneasy task in itself – and thus made available to a wider Thai audience…before it gets banned…
The Fear and Loathing of Lèse Majesté
It’s been nearly 4 months since I left Thailand. I have neglected Autarchy & Liberty in the meantime, getting on with my life in London. Yeah, I’ve been tweeting a lot, but generally speaking I was rather keen to avoid posting anything significantly over 140 characters. A temporary hitch you may call it, trying to understand my past, trying to see the future… Earlier today I tweeted: “The change will come to Thailand when people stop watching their tongues, just to avoid Lèse majesté. No regime can imprison hundreds at once.” Not surprisingly, a few moments later I got several answers that prompted me to put down, rather hastily written, several lines over the Twitter shorthand limit on fear and Lèse majesté. I truly loathe myself for all that cheap, syncopathic, and thoroughly wrong speech….
…And still, I’d like to say my thanks to my Twitter followers, and especially to Tony Hedges who offered his view, saying: “it wouldn’t be in the hundreds, you’d be surprised how many people talk about it behind closed doors…” That made me truly wonder, and… anyone else who cares…read my take on reasons behind this anxiety from my, rather peculiar, perspective:
The fear of Lèse majesté, or rather specifically, uneasiness that accompanies any meaningful discussion about Lèse majesté abolition or thorough reform is perfectly justified. This fear is nearly overwhelming, and in some mysterious ways, it is laid bare by those who insist that Darunee Charnchoensilpakul and others are foolish, mean, stupid, mentally unstable and thus deserving to be heavily reprimanded…
All this reminds me of times when, a quarter century ago, being the “immature adolescent”, I despised and feared Czech and Russian Communists, listening to VOA, Radio Free Europe and BBC on a huge transistor radio, semi illegally and behind the closed doors, with volume down and all that…
In Thailand, it seems, they’ve gone about it all in smarter manner – it is not illegal to listen to and watch foreign media, and, to my knowledge, never has been. The regime is more accommodating – making sure the consequence of breaching Lèse majesté laws are properly understood by exemplary punishment and consequent leniency afforded to victims by the King Bhumibol Adulyadej, and therefore safeguarding that any anti Royalist resistance is ridiculed and propagandized as absolutely un-Thai. As with Chinese Communists, the Thai Royalists make sure they’re a step ahead. In China “everyone” supports the Communist Party. In Thailand “everyone” supports the Royalist establishment. The question is…for how long… , and I have no answers here…
And indeed, I equate Chinese Communists with Thai Royalists. Call me naive, but I somehow believe most of both Thais and Chinese would strongly disagree with me. Or perhaps they will stay quiet, saying nothing, thinking how ridiculously vile I am. Or maybe not? Am I just “Western foreigner” who doesn’t get it?
Abused or confused?
Phor Phiang is Thai term for ‘sufficiency economy’. This is what we know. It is also a general knowledge that ‘phor phiang’ is associated with H.M.K. Bhumibol Adulyadej. It came into prominence especially after the coup of 2006, and in the following years it was promoted as a part of ‘national agenda’, as it is, among others, stated in the following excerpt:
“The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), in conjunction with Crown Property Bureau, Siam Commercial Bank PCL and Siam Cement Group, has published 80,000 copies of an easy-to-read book aimed at promoting the King’s Sufficiency Economy philosophy among primary and high school students. The book, Phor-Phor-809, will be distributed to academic institutions nationwide.
In the book’s title, phor-phor is an acronym for the Thai word: phor-phiang (sufficiency), and the number 809 refers to the King’s 80th birthday as the ninth sovereign of the Chakri dynasty. The volume is suitable for teaching and explains how to apply Sufficiency Economy in day-to-day living.”
For King’s birthday Thai bourse publishes Sufficiency Economy for youth l ข่าวทั่วไป PRESS RELEASE l LOCAL — Thu 6 Dec 2007 14:16:39
Now, let’s move on. There’s nothing unusual about anything we read above. We all know this is the way royal pronouncements are dealt with, we have learned to understand them, bow our heads and keep on eating our rice porridge. Anyone who lives in Thailand and reads newspapers also knows Thanong Khanthong, “a vigorous and outspoken supporter of the People’s Alliance for Democracy and the 2006 military coup”*, who himself, back in early March, 2009, wrote in his Overdrive column ‘Lese Majeste allows criticism but not abuse’: “I would argue that there is nothing was wrong with lese majeste law.” ** Many of those who know Thanong are also aware that he is relatively actively using his twitter account to communicate with his followers, friends and adversaries. His ‘phor phiang’ tweets should not surprise us. They are normally accepted with a slight bemusement, and are perceived as quirky, or even outrageous. Nothing can shock us, right? And yet today, on Friday the 13th of August, I was slightly shattered when reading:
“@ThanongK “I claim phr phiang model is mine cause I want the buck to stop here. In fact phor phiang is middle path principle belonging to Buddha.”
I couldn’t help myself but to reply: “ @igorc166 @ThanongK Phor Phiang yours? That’s LM statement, no?”
Needless to say, I am still waiting for his answer. I honestly feel confused. But should I feel abused?
*The Nation’s Thanong Khanthong on criticism of the monarchy; Political Prisoners in Thailand, March 9, 2009. Political Prisoners in Thailand is one of numerous websites blocked by Thai ICT http://118.175.8.61/
** The Nation, OVERDRIVE, Lese Majeste allows criticism but not abuse’, By Thanong Khanthong, The Nation, published on March 6, 2009
Only a wet dream (Revisited)
This is an edited version of a short post, originally dated 28th of May 2010. (And I deleted the former one, so apologies..!)
Here it’s how I compare Chinese communists with Thai Democrats…
The Chinese have corrected mistakes of former Socialist and Communist countries and allowed the façade of free-market. They’ve made their communist propaganda a national priority. Chase, prosecute and punish dissent! How different are policies of Communist Party of China (CPC) from policies of Democrat Party? It would be interesting to know how Privy Council comes into mix but I am neither an expert nor insider here.
All in all, in Thailand they say they do not like communism (double-faced lie!), they say they do not propagate (lie again). The Royalist propaganda, along with image worshipping, has been the mainstay in Thai public life for decades.
The Kingdom of Thailand is actually very similar to former communist countries of Europe (in late 70. and 80.) where they had in some cases actually allowed minor quasi parties to contest elections to propone the semblance of plurality, only to win 97% of vote. That’s Democrat Party/PAD’s wet dream, impossible to replicate in any form.
Nonetheless, it seems the Democrat Party prefers to look into the future anyway. Perhaps, the Democrats would like to model themselves according to Chinese Communist Party paradigm of competent macroeconomic policies, along with quashing and censoring dissent by all means, and denying it all the same.
Friday 28th May 2010 (Edited on Friday, 13th August 2010)
