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 

Welcome To Absurdistan

Apologies for joining this dark dowsing rod aka GT200 debate slightly too late, but fact is: the self-prepossession of our leadership-in-green is wasting human lives and even the Thai media are now stunned and in uproar, completely bewildered by the official line of argumentation, ridiculing their leaders. And the men in green and their civil representatives keep on lying despite utter humiliation in not only the eyes of the Thai public, but the world.

Kudos to Bangkok Pundit who already in November 2009 reported The GT200: Do we detect a scam? After much public pressure our dear army chief at least banned further purchases of the devices. It’s one of those rare occasions a Thai authority caves in to public pressure. Well, the honorable BBC spoke of “shocking (…) shortcomings” of the bomb detectors and even the propaganda-friendly Thai public didn’t believe those assurances from the top any longer that what’s actually considered a hoax in the rest of the world works in Thailand …

Well, you’d think there’s a limit to making a fool of oneself. The Thai leadership certainly crossed that limit umpteen times, blatantly ignoring scientific data and common sense by desperately trying to save their own faces. And they’re still not even apologetic with their head-in-sand policy. Well, even the usually excessively resilient Thai people have had it. Picture above is part of the aftermath of a bomb attack in Thailand in which the GT200 device used by the Thai police failed to detect any explosives. But that some leaders are trying to cover their own arse is not the real issue here.

Read more

Sphere: Related Content

January 29, 2010 | Filed Under Culture Shock, News & Media, Politics, Society | 10 Comments 

Next Page →