Alarmism: An Open Letter

Dear Dan, I hope you don’t take this the wrong way but I have to say that I have been a little disconcerted by aB.com’s rather strident alarmism over the past few days. Of course, you are entitled to your own opinion, which I respect, but I would ask you to consider this possibility. Their public statements notwithstanding, the reds have no real interest in engaging in large-scale violence and property destruction. What they are trying to do is to: 1) Show that Abhisit cannot govern; and 2) Perhaps bait the government into cracking down violently. At the very worst, that is, they are trying to find a way to portray themselves as the victims of violence, as opposed to engaging in violence themselves. You might argue that this is a very cynical strategy and I would definitely agree with that. Alas, that’s how the game is played in Thailand.

However, I hope you would entertain the possibility that the only party that is actually interested in the reds turning violent is the government – in large part because that will delegitimize the red shirts and provide the excuse to repress them. As such, I think it’s at best naive and at worst disingenuous to blame the red shirts alone for the climate of fear that envelops Bangkok. We have The Nation for that, anyway. A particularly good example of this is the fact that the government now appears to be ready to impose a state of emergency, which in essence suspends all civil liberties, in the face of what so far has been an entirely peaceful demonstration (with the exception of a one-on-one scuffle in Pathum Thani).

Do they have any reasons for doing so, other than to scare the public to death? After all, the behavior of the red shirts so far has not really squared with the government’s propaganda, so that’s apparently all they have left aside from instigating some violence themselves (that itself is, in my view, forthcoming). Given the track record of military governments and military-backed governments in Thailand, are you sure you want to give them this much benefit of the doubt? Much like the reds, these people are also playing a very cynical game.

Read more

Sphere: Related Content

March 14, 2010 | Filed Under Being Farang, Culture Shock, News & Media, On Our Own, Politics | 29 Comments 

Mean Thai Resistance Tactics

Yes, some people here are very upset. Another shit tosser has been arrested. Human waste attacks against our dear ruling Democrats are on the rise. They’re a distinctively Thai way of saying: “Hey, you’re shit.”

Human feces as a political statement is nothing new in Thai politics. Excrement tossers hit the headlines all the time in times of political divide. Sometimes there are groups of them. The practice is as old as Thai politics.

But there is much more to the quirky ways and means of opposition politics, of uniquely Thai ways to show utter disgust. Yes, creative cursing can be an act of self-defence.

Read more

Sphere: Related Content

March 2, 2010 | Filed Under Culture Shock, Politics, Society, The Thai Mind | 5 Comments 

Thailand Perfects Hold On Power

After a long series of tumultuous coups with blood filling the streets upheaval-rich Thailand has demonstrated in convincing manner that the days of gory changes of power have come to an end. In a most impressive, clinically executed fourth de facto coup against fugitive Thaksin Shinawatra, the Thai kingdom’s disgraced prime minister, Judgement Day on February 26th, 2010, made it once and for all clear that tanks, guns and elections are no longer needed to achieve and maintain power, taking presented democracy to a whole new level.

There may still be some collateral damage along the way, but coups in Thailand are no longer what they once were, due to constant fine-tunings and adjustments in the execution and implementation of thereof. Already the first of the series of coups against authoritarian populist Thaksin on September 19th, 2006, saw tanks decorated with flowers and sexy pom pom girls dancing around soldiers who were smilingly sporting their guns. Even cute female soldiers were stationed at strategic key positions to please the cameras of locals and tourists alike. The world loved this distinctively Thai “flower coup.”

The second coup, the Charter Court’s removing from office of Thaksin’s nominee prime minister Samak Sundaravej in September 2008 on the grounds of his love for cooking, this second coup d’état was a judicial coup that made history even before this stroke of genius hit the headlines. Thailand’s powers that be made the impossible possible by spinning a seemingly irrelevant fact so cunningly that prime ministers around the world stopped cooking immediately.

Read more

Sphere: Related Content

March 1, 2010 | Filed Under Culture Shock, Politics, Seriously, Not ..., Society | 4 Comments 

Haiti = Thailand Missionary Lies

It seems like another life, back then in the late 90s when I was touring Thailand’s northern hill tribe areas with Matthew McDaniel and his legendary indestructible Jeep. Matthew McDaniel was the self-proclaimed savior and defender of the Akha. Matthew was arrested by Thai authorities in 2004 and kicked out of the country.

When I met Matthew the last time in Chiang Rai he had just fathered another – I think his second – girl with an Akha hill tribe woman. He was one of the Akha and his most bitter fight he fought against Christian missionaries threatening hell and promising heaven while distributing strange translations of the Bible. A fight Matthew’s pursuing to this day, even back in the U.S., his “exile.”

Matthews not cagey about his own belief. At the bottom of his Akha Heritage Foundation website you read: “The Choice – After considering the facts as a human rights activist, when it comes to choosing between following the teachings of Christianity or following Jesus Christ, I have decided to follow Jesus Christ.” So why is he all over those Idaho Baptist missionaries who tried to kidnap some 30 “orphans” in earthquake-devastated Haiti? Matthew draws parallels with missionary work in Thailand.

Read more

Sphere: Related Content

February 11, 2010 | Filed Under Being Farang, Culture Shock, News & Media, Society | 8 Comments 

Why Morals

Leaping into the morality debate ring, as someone recently wrote. Momma always told you to be nice and not to lie. There will be consequences, you were told. And indeed. You cheat, you get cheated. You betray. In a moment you’re the betrayed.

Morality, a key concept of Western thought, is a much more flexible thing over here in the East. Morals are more pragmatic, more Confucian, less rigid. What’s moral leadership for some here is a culture shock for others.

The more pleased I was to read a piece in The Nation titled Moral students projects rolls across 9 provinces; project that set aside a special quota for students with a record of volunteerism and strong morals to become “good students.”

Read more

Sphere: Related Content

February 1, 2010 | Filed Under Culture & Arts, Culture Shock, Politics, Society, The Thai Mind | 5 Comments 

The Ten Commandments Of Thai Politicians

I rarely do this, but this “field manual” for Thai politicians written by Prophessor Stephen B. Young for The Nation is worth to be mirrored in full. You may remember The Nation’s telling interview back in September last year with the man. Young introduces his helpful rules for Thai politicians with this:

“Having tasted of politics both east and west, and having shared many a story over the last 49 years with Thais in and out of government and politics and from Isaan villages to royal residences, it seems to me the current unrest in Thailand could be overcome by application of the following guidelines for Thai politicians:” (…)

Take a deep breath. It’s an again telling list. Explicitly mentioning to “beware farangs bearing condescending advice” as if we’d still be stuck in colonial times. Or Thailand as a potential Leitkultur? The old man has definitely gone Thai. And who’s that “established moral elite”?! But Young only lists eight helpful rules. So what two rules are missing to make it a uniquely Thai Decalogue? Maybe “Thou shalt first and foremost dismiss thouself” …

Read more

Sphere: Related Content

January 30, 2010 | Filed Under Culture & Arts, Culture Shock, History, Politics, Society | 9 Comments 

Next Page →