BP | Asian Correspondent

Remembering Samak

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 06:00:00 +0800

Former Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej died yesterday morning. He had been Bangkok Governor, Interior Minister, Transport Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and finally became Prime Minister last year. BP wrote a biography on Samak's time up until 1992 here. Matichon has a reasonably long obituary of him here. The Bangkok Post also has an obituary. Key point: The Nation also has an obituary with this interesting tidbit: Unlike many Thai politicians, Samak did not dye his hair to look younger. He once said he got the idea of allowing his hair to grey naturally from his regular barber who said to him, "If you politicians lie about the colour of your hair, can we trust you about other th [...]

Fisking the Thai Army Chief and Talks

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:00:00 +0800

Nation State has a good fisking of Army C-in-C Anupong particularly on Anupong's comments about independent state and autonomy (raised some of the same issues in the earlier post yesterday) and also the role of the Malaysian PM. Did want to highlight one part. Army chief Anupong Paojinda said no talks would be held with separatist groups during his tenure, which ends in September next year. "We won't negotiate with them. But we will take legal action against them," he told the Bangkok Post.NS: Anupong is simply lying, negotiations have been an ongoing, but largely a secretive process, since Surayud was installed as Prime Minister. BP: Actually, while former Prime Minister Thaksin Shina [...]

Former Thai PM Samak dies of cancer

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:38:09 +0800

ASTV Manager, Post Today and most of the Thai media are reporting that former PM Samak Sundaravej has died of cancer. Last year, it was announced he had liver cancer and he had been receiving treatment in the US, but had been known to be very sick and was at Bumrungrad hospital in Bangkok. BP: It may be interesting who attends his funeral.... btw, you can read about posts about Samak here. [...]

Conspiracy Here, Conspiracy There, Conspiracy Everywhere

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 02:00:00 +0800

In response to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's interview with The Times (UK), Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban is quoted as stating in Matichon that those who read the interview online may suspect that the two arranged/conspired for conducting the interview. Pro-Thaksin red shirt leader Jautpon (BP: who else?) is quoted as in Thai Rath as calling on executives of The Times to investigate the interviewer of the Thaksin interview as the 12-page transcript includes some parts that have been distorted. The questions are stated to have come from a source in order to ask Thaksin questions. Now, PM Office Minister Sathit is quoted in the Bangkok Post as stating that: He said [...]

Bunkers for Thai schools on Cambodian border UPDATE

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:00:00 +0800

UPDATE: Anasuya of Channel News Asia also has a report on the bunkers. Have already blogged on the Justice Minister's trip to Sisaket with the foreign media, but the Straits Times also reported (subscription only): The Thai authorities have built 340 bunkers in two schools and several villages close to the Cambodian border in the province of Si Saket.The bunkers are made of concrete, earth and sandbags, and were built at a cost of 40 million baht ($1.2 million)....Mr Wichit Buakaew, 43, a volunteer civilian militiaman at the Ban Pom-Sa-Ron school, told The Straits Times: 'The bunkers are good - just in case - but we are not worried.' His three children are among the 500 students studying [...]

Ringtones to warn about traitors

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:00:00 +0800

Matichon has an article quoting Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's personal spokesman, Thepthai, which BP has summarized below: Thepthai displayed a CD with the song, "traitors" and stated that some singer(s) had sung it. He said the song didn't refer to any particular person, but it was a warning to all Thais. He is arranging for his people to contact the owner(s) to make a ringtone for mobile phones. One part of the song refers to someone who was born in Siam and the sad situation of someone selling out their country and that this person should ask themselves "who are your parents?" or "whether you are a spy for Cambodia?". It is embarrasing that a politician is playing a game and asks [...]

Non-Thais to protest with the reds UPDATE

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:00:00 +0800

Ty writes in a comment and reminds BP of 1976: In 1976, before the October 6 massacre, the rumor went around that Vietnamese sappers had infiltrated Thammasat students. On October 6, the story was that the students who were killed were Vietnamese who couldn't speak Thai, the unspoken message being that therefore it was all right to kill them. In the runup to the massacre as well, a song that received heavy daily airplay was the song "Nak Pandin" (which is translated here as "traitors" but is probably more accurately translated as "those who impose a burden on the land" (and thus do not deserve to live)). And back then, as today, the government in power was the Democrats, led by an intellige [...]

You're either with us or against us in the fight against Thaksin

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:00:00 +0800

Kong Rithdee in the Bangkok Post on the anti-Thaksin PAD statement in a rally eight days ago which begin with: "We are the people of the Kingdom of Thailand and are citizens who are loyal to our nation, our religion and our monarchy...[list of statements and demands]...Our presence represents Thai citizens who remain devoted to protecting the honor and dignity of our nation, our King and our constitutional monarchy as stipulated in the Kingdom of Thailand's Constitution." In response to this Kong writes: The pompous PAD statement, read on the Sanam Luang stage last Sunday, thundered "WE"!But who are "We"? If you and I exclude ourselves from the plural pronoun "we", then by logic, we [...]

Chronicle of Thailand

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 07:00:00 +0800

The Chronicle of Thailand is a new book edited by Nicholas Grossman and was released last week. The Bangkok Post, which was a partner, has the blurb: Although the most populated and happening place in Thailand, Bangkok is just one corner of the country. The 444-page Chronicle of Thailand charts the changed and the unchanged, the growth, the crumbling, the crumbled and the resolutely erect in this complex country. Based on stories from the print media in Thailand and abroad, mainly the Bangkok Post archive, the book gathers the big news stories of Thailand to tell the country's history from 1946, the first year of HM the King Bhumibol's reign and the year Bangkok Post was founded, to the p [...]

The Nation and ideas on the Deep South

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:00:00 +0800

The Nation in an editorial: Unlike other party leaders, Sonthi has made the insurgency in Thailand's Deep South one of his party's top priorities, mainly because most of the politicians under his wing hail from there.Now that's not to say that other political parties have been ignoring the South, it's just that they don't make it a campaign issue, because they know the subject will not score them any political points. After all, the voters are not interested in hearing any more about rights and cultural differences, much less historical grievances of the Malays in the Patani region.So should Sonthi be given credit for promising to tackle a difficult task? BP: So has anyone else started [...]

Not a joking matter: Update

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 16:00:00 +0800

The Bangkok Post: Although members of Rak Chiang Mai (Love Chiang Mai) 51 group do not welcome Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva who will visit the province on Nov. 29, the red-shirts have no plan to assassinate him, the group’s leader Kanyaphak Maneechak insisted on Saturday.Mrs Kanyaphak claimed that a DJ of the red-shirts’ community radio station, Petcharawat Watthanapong, was just making joke when he said he would kill Mr Abhisit in a bomb attack during his Chiang Mai visit next weekend.She accused the government of slandering Chiang Mai red-shirts to justify its plan to use ten of thousands of police and military force to attack the antigovernment protesters. BP: Well, [...]

Government Revenue and Expenditure

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 05:00:00 +0800

The below was interesting (UPDATE: Figures in millions of Baht, ie so 1997 Govt revenue is 843 Billion Baht) Year Govt. Revenue Govt. Expenditure Balance 1997 843,365.5 925,000.0 -81,634.5 1998 733,463.7 830,000.0 -96,536.3 1999 709,117.7 825,000.0 -115,882.3 2000 750,082.5 860,000.0 -109,917.5 2001 772,966.4 910,000.0 -137,033.6 2002 851,097.2 1,023.000.0 -171,902.8 2003 961,365.1 999,000.0 -38,534.9 2004 1,114,834.7 1,163,500.0 -48,665.3 2005 1,255,629.2 1,250,000.0 5,629.2 2006 1,339,690.2 1,360,000.0 -20,309.8 2007 1,390,000.0 1,566,200.0 -176,200.0 2008 1,495,000.0 1,660,000.0 -165,000.0 Source: Matichon Weekly, November 13-19, p91 BP: As you can see that [...]

Legislature vs Judiciary

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:00:00 +0800

The Nation: Pheu Thai MP Wisarati Techatheerawat on Friday met with police and prosecutors to acknowledge her indictment for contempt of the Constitution Court.The police report has recommended to try Wisarati by citing her censure speech in April. Her remarks were critical of the high court for faulting and dissolving the People Power Party last year. BP: As blogged about here, parliamentary privilege in Thailand is relatively limited. What happens if an MP has evidence of corruption within the judiciary? What is to stop the court from bringing contempt charges then? *yes, have corrected the headline. It was Friday! [...]

Seizing an opportunity, but how long will it last?

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:00:00 +0800

Last week, the Bangkok Post translated Thai Rath's analysis on Thaksin's trip to Cambodia: Thailand stands to lose more than Cambodia will in the ongoing war of words and diplomatic row over deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.Riding on the crest of nationalism, the ruling Democrat Party has exploited the situation for its own advantage. At least, testy economic issues and corruption allegations have been pushed aside by the media's focus on Thaksin and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.However, it is big Thai investors and border traders who will suffer if the conflict drags on or escalates into a bigger political issue. BP: Blogged on initial views last week on the winners and l [...]

Red Shirts to take to the streets

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:00:00 +0800

Reuters: The United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), better known as the "red shirts", would begin the rally on Nov. 28 in the historic heart of the capital before marching to an intersection near the office of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.Nattawut Saikeau, one of the UDD's leaders, declined to name the other areas where the "red shirts" will march. "We will not disrupt daily activities in the city or besiege government offices," Nattawut told reporters."We will protest until the government returns power to the people," he added. It seems we are in for long protests, but then... Nattawut said the group will march on key roads in Bangkok on Nov. 30 before peac [...]

PAD's nationalist and extreme rhetoric

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:00:00 +0800

Prachatai has translated a number of statements made at the anti-Thaksin PAD rally on Sunday. These are statements from the stage - usually accompanied by jeers. One really doesn't know which excerpts to exclude as there are so many. You have talk of non-humans: Then some students came up to condemn Hun Sen and Thaksin, the traitor. They vowed to fight to the death to protect the Nation, Religion and King. A group of artists also read a statement, referring to both men as ‘non-human’. Then talking of getting rid of enemies: Gen Preecha Iamsuphan, who had led yellow shirts in raucous protests near the Preah Vihear site in September, spoke to the crowd that it was time to [...]

Pirapan goes to Sisaket

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:00:00 +0800

The Justice Minister Pirapan Salirathavibhaga takes the foreign journalists to Sisaket on a press tour. Chris Blake of AP: "We respect the court ruling but hope to one day have the evidence to prove the temple itself is ours," Pirapan told The Associated Press. Pirapan incorrectly claimed that the court ruled only that the temple itself belonged to Cambodia, but not the land it stands on. The official summary of the court's judgment says it "found that the Temple of Preah Vihear was situated in territory under the sovereignty of Cambodia." Asked why Thailand was willing to fight over the disputed land near the temple, Pirapan responded: "because it's ours. Even if it is only one square [...]

Doctor arrested over King's health rumors UPDATE

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:00:00 +0800

UPDATE: The Bangkok Post has a story on it here. Have already blogged on the arrests of the persons arrested under the Computer Crimes Act for alledgedly spreading rumours about HM the King - see here or the more comprehensive report here (in the end it was more for translating news articles reporting that stock market fell on rumors about the health of HM the King than starting the rumor). Then a third person was arrested. Now, Matichon reports on a fourth with a female doctor at Thonburi Hospital being arrested under Section 14 of the Computer Crimes Act for spreading inauspicious news leading to a fall in stock prices. The police state she was part of a gang spreading news leading the [...]

Thai Post interviews Sulak: Part 2 on Abhisit and Thaksin

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:00:00 +0800

Sulak Sivaraksa is a Thai intellectual who is probably much better known in intellectual circles outside of Thailand than inside Thailand for his role on the lecture circuit in the '70s and '80s in particular. BP has blogged on some of his views on lese majeste (LM) here and here. Earlier this month, Thai Post Tabloid interviewed Sulak - Prachatai's format of the interview is much read and is available in Thai from here. Part 1 of the interview is here on lese majeste law and the monarchy. Summary of the points about Thaksin and Abhisit is below: “To be frank, this government is unstable, only good at rhetoric, and relies on bureaucrats too much. Abhisit has been the PM for a [...]

Rumours about what?

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:00:00 +0800

The Nation in an editorial: Rumours spread like wildfire, and some information recipients are ready to buy into hearsay without much consideration for the facts.Thailand has recently fallen foul of a series of rumours, many of which have turned out to be intentionally leaked to serve particular purposes. It would be fun only if such speculation was meant to boost ticket sales. But when rumours are meant to discredit certain people, we should heed such information only after thorough consideration. Wise men should exercise judgement carefully. Otherwise, the misunderstanding created by unfounded rumours and speculation can create panic with damaging consequences.What is even more disturbin [...]