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.

The real issue at stake is that the Thai leadership has become that accustomed to blatant lies that they’re not even realizing anymore when they’re stretching the truth – or to put it less diplomatically: when they cover someone’s arse because they’re only there because someone else covers their own arse because there is constant need to cover arses.

Reports Not The Nation most accurately:

With new estimates ranging as low as US$250 for the actual manufacturing price of the device, which has no actual bomb-detection technology inside its main circuit board according to a BBC investigation, the profit margin on just one GT200 is as high as 1.3 million baht, giving it an unprecedented 99.5% kickback margin.

“It would be comical if it wasn’t life-threatening,” read a related tweet. How Southerners react? Well the GT200 doubts irk, reports the Bangkok Post.

The list of official, blatant government and military lies grows longer and longer, just to mention the Rohingya, the adherence to law and order, the respect of international law, the assurances that protectionist Thailand is an open, if not liberal economy, etc. Dirty Shame, Mr. Clean, the Bangkok Post titled. Thailand is obviously not only a leader in fake products and pirated goods, but also in the faking of a reality – slowly but surely turning the land of smiles into the land of lies.

When even the cozy The Nation has enough of the lies you can bet the relevant authorities are technically – but this being Thailand – reduced ad absurdum in the eye of the public. The paper titled:

For the authorities reputation is more important than lives (…) The army chief trying to save face over faulty bomb scanners is typical of the ego-driven selfishness in our public servants.

Accusing the authorities of “absurd answers,” as The Nation concluded, we approach the core of the issue at stake as per the definition of absurd:

  1. Adjective: utterly or obviously senseless, illogical or untrue; contrary to all reason or common sense; laughably foolish or false: an absurd explanation.
  2. Noun: the quality or condition of existing in a meaningless and irrational world.

“Absurd arguing” is the logical, direct consequence of a political culture of impunity where you don’t have to fear the consequences of your actions. We were shown again and again that in Thailand not everyone has to fear the consequences of one’s actions. Most have to, disproportionally quickly and severe for that. Many don’t have to.

As the government’s chief-instigator just reassured us: No worries, no need for an investigation, the GT200s work.

The whole world knows they don’t.

Why do they work in Thailand? From the Post Bag:

Because in tests where the location of the bomb material is known in advance, our bodies can move involuntarily to make the detector seem to point at the target. This is called the ideomotor effect, and it has been observed in other scams including dowsing rods and Ouija boards.

A mystic approach to bomb detecting? It can only happen in? …

“If they don’t work, why did we buy so many,” government-friendly TAN asks not only rhetorically.

Welcome to Absurdistan.




Sphere: Related Content

Related posts on absolutelyBangkok.com:

  1. Those Annoying Torture Memos
  2. Thailand Perfects Hold On Power
  3. Alarmism: An Open Letter
  4. Loved Only @ Home
  5. The Ten Commandments Of Thai Politicians
  6. The Great Uncertainty
  7. I See Red When I See Yellow

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

Comments

10 Responses to “Welcome To Absurdistan”

  1. Rich on January 29th, 2010 10.07 pm

    With Suthep, an IQ detector would be a real useful thing to have. Abhisit is progressively being unmasked as a liar but Suthep is just a fool.

    Somewhere in Songkhla, a village must be missing its idiot.

    (BD: Last time, I told you already not to use words such as “idiot” on this site. And Suthep, stupid?)

  2. ChrisO on January 30th, 2010 12.46 am

    I’ve written an overview of the GT200 scandal at Wikipedia – see:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GT200

  3. Jaded on January 30th, 2010 2.16 am

    I think that what many commentators should be focusing on is the effect this is likely to have on both sides of the conflict in the south. If this low intensity conflict was beginning to look more manageable then the realization that a device considered critical to security is ineffective will certainly have an impact on heavily used tactical initiatives like mobile road blocks, security cordons and countryside sweeps. IEDs will be seen to have a much higher chance of success that had been previously thought and this may undermine the confidence of the troops and conversely, encourage the insurgents to take greater risks when deploying explosive devices. The seemingly non sensical statements being made by military men may reflect their generals’ realization of the potential impact to morale when soldiers can no longer believe in their magic electronic wand. I recall an earlier incident where a southern commander distributed magical amulets to his troops. Equally ineffective from a scientific point of view, many commentators missed the point which was the effect this gesture had on morale.

  4. Rich on January 30th, 2010 4.00 am

    “(BD: Last time, I told you already not to use words such as “idiot” on this site. And Suthep, stupid?)”

    Not really Dan, what you said (as I recall) was “we don’t call each other idiots here”, which is not the same as “the word idiot is banned on this site”. I am not calling anyone else in here an idiot, as indeed I wasn’t the last time either as it happens. A fine point perhaps but no matter, lets not get bogged down with unnecessary accuracy. This is Thailand after all, we should all try to get in the spirit, even if it is absurd.

    Personally, given your own analysis, I don’t think ‘idiot’ is too strong a word. Let’s see the definition from my trusty dictionary:

    “idiot
    noun informal
    - a stupid person
    - in archaic medicine a mentally handicapped person”

    Or from my trusty thesaurus:

    “idiot
    noun
    informal
    - “that idiot was driving way too fast”: also fool, ass, halfwit, dunce, dolt, ignoramus, cretin, moron, imbecile, simpleton; informal dope, ninny, nincompoop, chump, dimwit, dumbo, dummy, dum-dum, loon, dork, sap, jackass, blockhead, jughead, bonehead, knucklehead, fathead, numbskull, numbnuts, dumb-ass, doofus, clod, dunderhead, ditz, lummox, dipstick, thickhead, meathead, meatball, woodenhead, airhead, pinhead, lamebrain, peabrain, birdbrain, jerk, nerd, donkey, nitwit, twit, boob, twerp, schmuck, bozo, turkey, chowderhead, dingbat

    antonyms
    genius”

    Perhaps “pinhead”? No, I don’t think so. Would “dingbat” be OK?

    Also, “village idiot” is a time-honoured expression to suggest someone who behaves stupidly. Or indeed, absurdly.

    Suthep not stupid? Perhaps not. Perhaps he’s a genius, though you hardy suggest he is on a par with Albert Einstein. Perhaps he just does a good job of concealing his true status as an intellectual giant. Still, I wonder if there is a better word … “absurd” seems pretty harsh too, but that’s just my interpretation, perhaps my connotations are different.

    Just re-reading your own commentary once more, the word “idiot” seems appropriate Dan, but for my general guidance, are there any other arbitrary words you don’t allow on this site? Fool? Lying? Arse? Absurd? Just that it might be better for everyone to know so they don’t inadvertently tread upon toes.

    Perhaps you will feel more at ease if I don’t bother posting again, I, like you, have a distaste for absurdity. Yes, that’s probably it. That’s the best thing.

  5. Hobby on January 30th, 2010 9.32 am

    Please don’t go Rich – I for one value your comments.

    btw, I don’t think Suthep is an idiot, and actually feel he’s quite shrewd (in the thai context:)

    One of the following might best describe him:

    arrant, base, casuistic, conscienceless, corrupt, crafty, crooked, deceitful, degraded, degrading, disgraceful, dishonest, dishonorable, exploitative, illegal, improper, low-down, mercenary, perfidious, petty, questionable, recreant, ruthless, scandalous, scheming, self-seeking, selfish, shady, shameless, shifty, sinister, slippery, sly, two-faced, unconscientious, unconscionable, underhand, underhanded, unethical, unfair, unprincipled, unworthy, venal, wicked, wrongful

  6. Hobby on January 30th, 2010 9.35 am

    Good points by Jaded too – might need to also be posted over at Bangkok Pundit’s site.

  7. David on January 30th, 2010 11.15 am

    I think pretty much everyone, Thai and farang alike, was already aware that many purchases made by the Thai military have often included the precentage/commission/kickback factor.

    But what seems really unusually apparent here, even to the most patriotic Thais, even to royalists, PADistas, ASTV clones and TAN followers, probably even to the younger levels of the Thai officer corps, god knows, even to that ultimate defender of the Thai status quuo StanG, is the incredible level of blind ignorance, especially in continuing to insist these plastic boxes with blinking lights and a pretend antenna actually “work” in any other way than as a morale booster for the poor foot soldier who’s been told to walk ahead of everyone else.

  8. Chunkton on January 31st, 2010 5.51 pm

    Look the military have installed their puppet government, so they know there will be no major investigation here. So SOP applies, just keep smiling and denying, eventually it will go away. With luck another panda story will push it off the news once and for all.

    Aside from all that the army have all the guns, end of story. Or maybe there will be a new budget for an even more profitable unit, that new S class does look nice.

  9. uberVU - social comments on February 1st, 2010 8.16 am

    Social comments and analytics for this post…

    This post was mentioned on Twitter by BangkokDan: (BLOG) Welcome To Absurdistan http://bit.ly/aIzqJn...

  10. crocodilexp on February 18th, 2010 2.46 am

    How dare you bring this up? Obviously, the device works, because the phu yai say so. They certainly find GT200 useful (for obvious reasons), and so should everyone else.

    Just sit back and enjoy the show. Trying to change things is futile and dangerous.

Leave a Reply