kerryk

Welcome to the outside world Aung San Suu Kyi, you truly are a giant among politicians.

Maybe Bangkok will go Gaga over a real Lady.

gand, on 2012-05-23 20:54:43, said:

No, it makes you what is generally called a troll in these parts.

Buchholz, on 2012-05-23 14:57:27, said:

whybother, on 2012-02-20 22:24:29, said:

Yawn, its a non story to all but the bitter and twisted trying to hang on to any coat tail that will give them hope for an unelected government again led by abhisit.

I repeat, there are much bigger issues out there, focus on them, dig up a few more press releases (as though they are all true    )

This is up there with 'thaksin has died of cancer' that I used to read on these boards before I stupidly decided to join and get involved, its like banging ones head against a brick will with the bully boy yellows on here     Go on tell me I am brainwashed (although I have the brains to form my own opinion) and tell me you are not brainwashed, then stick your tongue out and make parping noises and how your dad is bigger than my dad, the levels of immaturity and inability to see a balanced argument on here is laughable

For many it's a confidence thing that will take time to sort out. Right now she's feeling comfortable in an environment where her language skills are less of an issue and that's something she's willing to trade better wages for. Once she settles in and feels more comfortable in the community, and improves her English skills, she will be more motivated to find a better situation for herself. You just need to be patient with her because the issue to her is not money, but reducing the shock to her system as she integrates into UK society.

jonclark, on 2012-05-22 11:38:01, said:

Yes you did say 'most' and I suggested to you that actually it's a lot more than most. If the Thai schools of your experience are failing why not head out to the Surat Pittaya and Kanthararom Schools to find out why these schools are producing internationally award winning students. Then TV might be carrying a more balance view of Thailand instead of the daily 'let's bash the country' posts.

How many times are folks going to beat this horse in regards to the Swastika????

It is absolutely ridiculous to go on about the meaning (ancient, religious, current, political...)  of this symbol in these cases where the wearer (be it kids at a school or Red Shirts) almost surely had none of these things in mind. Surely no reasonable person here believes this women is trying to promote either Nazism or Buddhism by wearing this shirt.

KunMatt, on 2012-05-20 22:46:46, said:

You can assume all you like and judging by your posts that is not a skill you are deficient at.

I was not in Bangkok at the time of the riots and am thankful for that. Why? Because it does mean that I can observe, read articles, take part in forums etc without that chip of "I was there at the Bangkok Riots, I'm a victim too" consistently blurring my insight.

I understand that there are some non Thais on here that were genuinely personally affected by the events in Bangkok in 2010. I have read of westerners who hate Thaksin because they lost their job/money in a telecom business he set up, another whose wife gave birth prematurely because a red shirt "literally" threw her out of bed whilst looking for snipers in Chulakorn Hospital, yet another whose cousins' sister (or something like that) gave birth in a taxi because of traffic jams caused by red shirts setting up roadblocks, there's even one guy on here who posts regularly about how he's liquidating his considerable fortune (I say considerable, because he's been "liquidating" it for over a year now) in the fear of Thaksin coming back to Thailand and yet at least one more that has promised to leave Thailand the minute Taksin appears.

OK, I understand your stance. What I don't understand are members who diss anything they don't agree with. Case in point, Why is the Guardian or CNN or any other western media so laughable as a source? Have you fed into the belief that Thais are inscrutable (they are to an extent, but not totally) and that no westerners will ever understand. To the contrary the average westerner (if they wish to) has a far more vast access to knowledge regarding the situation than the average Thai. Certain banned articles are accessible, with their associated risks.

To rely on local sources (including this forum) is to deny yourself knowledge. Why do you think the economist is not distributed within Thailand on occasion? We can't even discuss the situation fully on any public forum in Thailand. Any media source associated with the UDD was shut down (only in some cases for genuine "threat" reasons). This left State (and in some cases Army run) TV to transmit what they wanted.Did you query the army spokesman when he stated that no live bullets were fired, the army was not responsible for any deaths, the 500 men in black?. When Suthep stated that the photographs and videos clearly showing soldiers on the tracks above the Wat were taken on the 20th May, not the 19th May?

No, all that is said is the red shirts are armed and deserved to be shot dead.

So, yes, I am biased towards the UDD but I'm upfront with it and provide examples why where I can. You, you were in Bangkok "when they tried to burn it down" and were inconvenienced for a month.

hyperdimension, on 2012-05-21 16:05:33, said:

Well, read the books. I am not gonna give you a short version of them here.

While i naturally mention the elite struggles and its effects, the bulk of my work concerns street events and the grass roots level conflict, including the rise of political consciousness under grass roots level people. Reporting on elite struggles is mostly highly speculative and dominated by rumor, and even worse - the elites of all sides have a tendency to instrumentalize journalists for their own ends and means. As long as we have no real access to corroborate information on that level, i think it is quite fruitless to base our analyses on elite machinations. And, given the nature of the conflict, we very soon get to limits what we can legally report on elite machinations.

I am most interested to find out and give factually correct accounts of what took place on the street, basically as historical raw material for future research and analyses. You may argue this, but i believe that the driving force of the past 6 years have not been the elite struggle, but to the most part the events on the street. While it appears that now the elites of both sides may have found an understanding, and will try to reign in street politics, history does not end at this. The rising political consciousness under common Thais will not be simply brought under control of the elites again, even though it may take some years before their expression will be again a visible threat against the elites.

Therefore, your questions regarding Thaksin are quite irrelevant, or better, concentrating only on Thaksin while ignoring the massive changes in Thai society will inevitably lead to a skewed analyses of this highly complex conflict.

rixalex, on 2012-05-21 08:50:11, said:

There is another reason why it is much easier to form personal relationships with Red Shirts than with the other side. While the Red Shirts are much more open to western journalists and also to criticism, the Yellow Shirts from the start have been not overly welcoming and can be vile when faced with criticism.
Let me give you a few examples: already the backstage design of PAD 1 and 2 was such that there were several perimeters. Journalists were not allowed into the inner perimeter. Especially during PAD 2 there were whole areas which were completely closed off to us, especially during the government house occupation. During Red Shirt rallies we can freely mingle everywhere, and that was so from the beginning. It is much easier to meet Red Shirt leaders for background chats than Yellow Shirt leaders. These things improved though during the PAD rallies in 2011 in front of Government House, but by then the PAD was a spent force already and quite irrelevant.
As to criticism - after i wrote my story on the Oct. 7 incident, the PAD derided me from the stage, and accused me of having accepted a huge bribe from Thaksin, which made my life very difficult for quite some time. For a month i even needed a bodyguard when going out in public.
In many of my stories i have been critical of the Red Shirts as well, i have, for example, never bought the peaceful movement talk. That led to discussions with Red Shirt leaders, but nothing else. I have strongly criticized the Red Shirts for permanently occupying Rajaprasong, and told several leaders at the time that i will be critical over this action. This again led to discussion, but not to be shunned or accused of bribery and such.
It is more difficult for Thai journalists as they will get problems from both sides, yet if you ask the regular crowd of Thai political Thai journalists that work in the field, they will tell you that nevertheless, it is a much more pleasant experience to work in the Red Shirts than under their opponents, even though at times they have to work under very difficult conditions in the Red camp.

There are a few Yellow leaders with whom i have a very good relationship, especially with the Thai Patriot Network leaders, such as Chaiwat, etc.

And a basic point here: i am not in the habit of pretending to be somebody i am not. My ideals and values are formed by being a westerner, with all the luggage of humanism, the belief that all humans have an inherent equal worth, etc. The Yellow side's philosophy is quite opposed to many of those values. Their views on Thai society and where it should go in the future are, lets say, quite reactionary, and to a large part they reject western political systems and philosophy. This is made quite clear not just in speeches but also in personal conversations.

Nevertheless, i do go to Yellow rallies whenever they are taking place. In 2011 i have spent more time at Yellow rallies than at Red rallies - i just didn't have the time to write about them, yet. Don't forget - i do not get paid for my stories on New Mandala.

I don't know who you are, and naturally, i do not blame you for staying anonymous, given the extreme nastiness that get thrown at people who do take a position. Taking a position, by the way, is perfectly acceptable in journalism, and very different from being biased, and only a natural development when one works a subject intensively. One has to take utmost care though to stay objective and factual. And i have always done so. As i said already, i am in close contact with many people that help me to constantly re-evaluate my position, many of those people have extensive experience in the field, others are theoretically far more knowledgeable than i am.
There is a lot involved by working such a complex subject matter, far more than you and others see. It is not just running to a protest, getting quotes, write some stuff and that's it. You say that i may not know what your experience regarding the protests are. Well, i am sorry, but judging from all you have written here, these experiences do not seem to be very extensive, as most posters here. Which is OK, why should you or anyone spend that much time with this mess anyhow? That is what people like I are for.

What is unacceptable though are the consistent personal accusations i have to bear with. Criticize me factually, where i am wrong, give me facts that challenge mine, and it helps me to do better work. Whenever i have asked for facts though here on this forum from my critics, they disappeared with flimsy excuses, or, as it turned out, have not even be anywhere near the events they criticize my accounts over.

ebmzlm, on 2012-05-19 20:37:54, said:

You are joking? The Philippines is notorious for "sympathy" scams and many websites carry warnings to that affect. Western Union posts warnings due to the number of complaints from American's sending money to Pinay's and then finding they don't exist or suddenly disappear. Normally starts with - no money for food, can't pay rent, parents / sibblings / offspring ill and no money for hospitals, accident / illness and no money for medicine etc etc. All caerfully planted into conversations whilst trying to build a relationship. A friend in the Philppines nearly fell for all this crap, but luckily got someone to check. The young lady was actually living in a very nice house with boyfriend and children, and apparently had several "friends" in Europe and the States sending regular donations to aleviate her poverty!  I saw similar things in India, China and yes, the UK too. Not unique to Thailand at all.

I suggest you all read today's column by Voranai Vanijaka in "The Other Newspaper".  He lays out the entire sordid affair clearly.  Its all gray areas.  Both sides are right - and both sides are wrong. The problem is that the TV red shirts - Phi, and others, refuse to see that their "side" is wrong in any degree, while the TV yellow shirts see everything the red shirts do as evil and having a hidden agenda from Thaksin.  Therein lies the problem  No compromise means no progress.  

The army killed red shirts - yes
The red shirts killed army - yes
Thaksin paid red shirts - yes
The army used live ammunition and killed innocents - yes
The red shirts fired RPG rounds and used human shields and parked NGV trucks near residential areas - yes
The yellow shirts invaded the airport and forced its closure - yes
The red shirts invaded a meeting of world leaders and forced its closure - yes
The red shirts burned down lots of buildings and invaded a hospital - yes

All these things happened.  Not just some of them.  ALL are at fault.  ALL need to try to restore a sense of balance.  I actually think Thaksin understands that.  It seems the TV red shirts do not, TV Yellow shirts, and anyone else who constantly refuses to view both sides of the issue are at fault - which is most of us.

WhizBang, on 2012-05-19 12:04:09, said:

No.

hmmm...I think there's alot of people who don't understand how really common and ingrained the gumon tong is in Thailand.  Translated it means "baby gold".   Virtually all Thais beleive in it, though not necessarily all Thais have one.   My dad had one.  My mom was and today remains scared of them. (Would not allow me to get one.) My brother had one, and is now scared of them.  My brother's wife is scared of them and won't allow one in her house. My auntie has three, and my uncle is also scared by 'em.

The idea of the gumon tong was that the spirit of child is placed in an effigy/statue that looks like a child, covered in gold leaf.  The gumon tong is basically a domesticated ghost. A monk transfers the sould of a dead child to the effigy. You have to "feed" it daily with special spirit oil.  You raise the gumon tong as if it is a living breathing human child.  You give it toys.  You talk to it.  You take care of it.  When you go out you invite the gumon tong to go with you. The purpose is that it is a "house ghost". It protects the house.  (The auntie with three--all the other homes in her neighborhood were broken into--except hers.)  The uncles have reported sleeping on the couch and a child tickling their feet.    The gumon tong gets angry and can be vengeful if not properly taken care of.  It is also a child so it has a mischevious streak to it.   If not treated properly, the ghost can turn on the owner.

There are so many fake gumon tongs in existence.  The guy arrested had REAL ones made from actual baby fetuses (hard to get).  This is not a Chinese thing, it is a Thai thing that originated in Thailand from the Ayuthaya period.  

The story that was playing on Thai television (which I have been watching of late) says that the dude was staying in a hotel and the other guests called the police after they heard the sounds of babies crying.  The Thai news is playing it up that the ghosts did not want to leave Thailand for Taiwan.  

The thing that gets me is that people here think this is sooooo unusual, when it is really really ingrained in Thai culture. EVERYBODY BELIEVES IN THEM.   If it weren't for the fact that the guy was not Thai and taking them out of the country, nothing would have happened to him.  I am sure that the gumontongs will find good Thai homes with the police that arrested him.

Jingthing, on 2012-05-17 17:35:10, said:

I don't suppose you can provide a link to a website or to a TV post showing that the above isn't just part of your vivid imagination? Because I have NEVER heard that from anywhere. It is becoming clear that as the evidence slowly comes to light, everything you have been raving about since March is all very likely BS. You invested yourself so deep in those lies that you must start making things up to convince yourself that you weren't taken in by the lowlifes using this tragedy to further their own agenda.

maidu, on 2012-03-25 07:22:19, said:

That she inherited a country in the midst of a world economic crisis, on the verge of war with Cambodia and at the time of the worst flooding experienced in Thailand in more than a century. Seems that she has held up rather well as the war was prevented, the nation cared for during the floods, and she has managed to deliver benefits to the poor in a world where  other countries are reducing benefits.