Knowledge is Power

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Why are these very well educated, articulate, seemingly reasonable and 'harmless' Thai people in detention, jailed or exiled?

- Suthachai Yimpresert - several days detention at army base, finally released after going on a hunger strike


- Jakrapob Penkair - charged with LM, in exile


- Giles Ji Ungpakorn - charged with LM, in exile


- Darunee Charnchoensilpakul (also known as Da Torpedo) - 18 years jail after a closed trial


What have they said or done that necessitates such draconian government measures against them?
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The Days that we Die

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by Loudon Wainwright III

Dedicated to anyone who's listening (and especially to those who should be:)
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Hiatus ended

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I think it's clear now which way the current junta is going to proceed, so I'm re-opening my blog.

Might not blog for a little while as right now the situation seems so hopeless that I cannot come up with anything constructive.

Please check out the links listed on the left - those bloggers are doing a great job.

Update:
My feeling that the situation is hopeless stems from watching the 'reconciliation' actions of the current 'government' since they came to power.
Reading the various comments from many in the so called 'educated' class over the last few weeks, and observing the massive propaganda campaign currently underway within (and outside) Thailand has only reinforced my view that the end of the turmoil is nowhere in sight.

The brainwashed, and those with vested interests, have an unfair advantage over the rational & liberal voices in Thailand due to the LM laws and the Computer Crimes Act.
Such laws have forced some otherwise reasonable people to go 'underground' instead of being accepted into the system so that their talents can be utilized to help remake the Thai' system' of double standards into a fair, just and democratic society.

Checkmate or Stalemate?

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Unfortunately PAD/yellows set the precedent of how to overthrow a government (aided & abetted by the usual players, and you know who)

Compare how Thaksin (a legitimately elected PM) dealt with protests against his premiership, to the way Abhisit is KILLING just to AVOID an election.

It's a stalemate:
Reds won't go home till Abhisit sets an early election, and Abhisit won't even talk until red's go home.

The two choices are:

1. Red's go home --> but they have no guarantee from Abhisit (and unfortunately his word cannot be trusted anyway - just look at what he said and did as opposition leader, how he became PM, and how he talked of reconciliation but did the exact opposite)

or

2. Abhisit dissolves parliament --> the red's go home immediately - no if's or but's.


The solution to ending the violence seems clear.
(violence which, by the way, seems very one-sided - why is that?)

Unfortunately Abhisit's killing spree has made things so much worse, which probably suits those backing him, as they don't much like elections anyway.
(free & fair elections especially are the thing they must avoid at all costs, being the only weak point in their hegemony of Thailand)


A few extra questions:

- What is the 'glue' that holds the current coalition in place?
(when previous stronger looking coalition governments have collapsed under much less pressure than this latest killing spree of redshirts)
What powerful figures are keeping things together, and how?

- What has Newin Chidchob been up to lately?
(remember the 'blue shirts' involvement during the April 2009 uprising?)

- Is the 'revered' institution happy to stand aside and see so many Thai get killed?
(possibly they have been influenced by Prem's strong recommendation for all to read a certain article by Chirmsak Pinthong last December?)

What's changed (except the body count)?

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Avoiding Civil War - It's not Rocket Science
(originally posted 22/4/2010)

Neither side is innocent, each thinks it’s defending against attacks by the other, but bottom line is one side wants democracy and the other side wants to limit it (or sometimes ‘allow’ it, but only to the extent it doesn’t upset their applecart). NO CHANGE

There can be no doubt now that the supposedly more ‘educated’ are actually just as brainwashed as the ‘kwai’, and if not brainwashed then they are ‘jai dum’, which IMO is much worse. NO CHANGE

So the solution is still what it has always been - just trust the population as a whole, and allow democracy, without the interference! NO CHANGE

There can be no justification for (another) crackdown when there is a clear and simple solution. NO CHANGE

Forget about Thaksin – he’s history – it’s much bigger than him now, and the people won't allow his style of democracy any more than they will allow the old 'thai style democracy'.

Not one more drop of blood need be shed, and if it is, then the blame will clearly be with those who refuse to let the people have an immediate say on what they think of all the events that have happened since the 2006 military coup.
(That say needs to be at the ballot box - an election is the only poll that counts!) NO CHANGE, EXCEPT MORE BLOOD HAS ALREADY BEEN NEEDLESSLY SHED

Today, Abhisit needs to announce an immediate house dissolution, and an immediate cessation of the state of emergency.
Protesters of all sides must then go home, and the ballot box is the place for their voice to be heard. NO CHANGE

In the lead up to the elections, all the leaders should promote tolerance of opposing views, and present their case against those views in a civil manner. They should also ask their supporters to respect fully the electoral decision of the country as a whole, and not seek to interfere with or obstruct the new government. NO CHANGE, EXCEPT SONDHI L HAS RE-ENTERED THE FRAY, AND SURPRISE, SURPRISE, HE STILL HAS FASCIST TENDENCIES:
"does not believe in the majoritarian system because Parliament is a place of evil. He will fight against the one-man-one-vote system because he wants a ‘Dharma-ocracy’ instead. If Mr Abhisit cannot achieve it, there should be a military coup. He adds that no one is bloodthirsty but is just doing their duties"

As for what to do with all the pending cases & investigations, we all know that there will not be equal justice for all the wrongdoers, so (sadly) the only way to get fair closure is to draw a line in the sand AS OF TODAY - amnesty for all, including any banned politicians no matter what colour, for the events up to today, however after today each and every illegal act to be prosecuted fairly, without discrimination or favor - it's the only way the country can move forward. THE ONLY THING I'D CHANGE HERE IS MOVE THE LINE BACK TO 9th APRIL 2010, AS WAY TOO MANY LIVES HAVE BEEN LOST AND THEIR DEATHS MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO BE SWEPT UNDER THE CARPET LIKE HAS HAPPENED SO REGULARLY IN THAILAND'S PAST.

UNFORTUNATELY I HAVE GRAVE DOUBTS WHETHER THE THAI 'JUSTICE' SYSTEM IS CAPABLE OF DEALING WITH THE INVESTIGATIONS, AND NOTE THAT THAILAND HAS NOT RATIFIED ITS BECOMING A STATE PARTY UNDER THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT (PERHAPS THAT EXPLAINS WHY FOREIGN NATIONALS INCLUDING JOURNALISTS SEEM TO BE 'FAIR GAME' TO THE THAI MILITARY?)

Please do it, Abhisit - for the sake of your country and for your own redemption.

IT'S NOT TOO LATE FOR YOUR COUNTRY
(BUT YOU WILL NEED TO PUT IN A NUMBER OF YEARS HARD WORK FOR RECONCILIATION, JUSTICE, FAIRNESS, AND RULE OF LAW TO BE IN A POSITION TO EXPECT REDEMPTION - UNLESS YOU'VE ALREADY GOT THE NOD FOR THE OTHER REWARD GIVEN TO ROGUE THAI PM'S)

Loyalty & Sympathy

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As previously blogged, Abhisit & his minders are playing hardball with the old royalty card trick - it's worked before, so they are trying it again.

As far as I know all red leaders, and Thaksin, have continiously expressed loyalty and admiration for the King, and have never expressed any desire to remove the monarchy.
Likewise the red rank and file express their love for the king.

The $64,000 question is whether the love is genuine, or enforced?
A sub question might be: Would the love be genuine if all sides to the story were allowed to be aired?

The only way to know the answer would be to remove to LM law.
(Did I just explain why the LM law hasn't been removed? :)

Anyway, here's some interesting quotes from a great essay and comments on New Mandala:

Thongchai Winichakul: "The mass base of the Reds is people who remain deeply religious, nationalistic, and royalist, although with some disappointment at the royals. The leaders of the UDD reflect the politics of their people. They have not shown any signs of anti-monarchy but to the contrary. The strongest comment is disappointment and they beg for some royal sympathy"

Aladdin: "I believe that the lese majeste law and the incessant propaganda about the monarchy may be leading to an underestimation of the real extent of “anti-monarchy” feeling in Thailand. This is very dangerous for the future of the monarchy.
The sooner that the problem of the monarchy can be talked about openly, and proposals discussed to reform it, the safer its future"

Food for thought :)