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Guest Post on Bangkok Pundit

I have written a guest post on Bangkok Pundit, just click the above link.

I had initially been asked to write a few but I declined while at the same time leaving the door ajar.  It's not that it wasn't very flattering, because it was, as they get way more traffic than this little blog.  I could have had my Warholian 15 minutes of fame.  

The fact is I don't thrive in a pressured environment I don't like deadlines, as I found out with a small newspaper.  I like to chew on what I'm going to say for a time and look at it in differing ways from differing angles.  I actually enjoy commenting on other people's work the most.  Maybe I'm just a bit lazy, shy or paranoid.  I'm sure no intellectual or academic by any stretch of the imagination.

I'd been thinking, yes I have that ability on occasion, about the way CRES seemed to be taking over the country and dictating to the elected officials.  CRES in the most part is appointed as set down in the Thai Emergency Situation Law which was never intended to deal with protests but emergencies against the state.  I still fail to see what a bunch of people singing on stage demanding elections has to do with and emergency.  There wasn't one until the military, armed to the teeth, were used for crowd control.  Then all hell broke loose.  As in the previous year there was not a problem until the government, who felt very pressured, instated the SOE. 

If you throw the first punch you are hard pressed to call the recipient of it the assaulter.  This is what the Government has done and shame on them.

So, I decided to write a post for Bangkok Pundit.

Swift “justice”

"Swift justice demands more than just swiftness." ~Potter Stewart

This is a copy of a post from Political Prisoners In Thailand. It is important to look at all sides but it is paramount that all sides are looked at equally and fairly.   I've added memorable quotes that are not part of the original.

Swift “justice”


Just look how fast the judiciary can work when it puts away red shirts!

The Bangkok Post (3 June 2010) reports that two “radio show hosts of a community radio in the northeastern province of Udon Thani were on Thursday sentenced to one year and six months jail term without suspension in connection with the arson attacks on the city hall and the municipality office building on May 19.”

"Justice cannot be for one side alone, but must be for both". ~Eleanor Roosevelt

Prasit Wichairat and Jakrapong Saenkham from 97.5 FM community radio “surrendered to police on June 2.” 

 What? That’s yesterday!

In less than 24 hours, the Udon Thani District Court has “found the two guilty of violating the emergency decree by urging the people through their radio programmes to stage an uprisin[g], leading to the torching of the city hall and municipality office building on May 19 in violation of the emergency decree.”

"I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice".~Abraham Lincoln

It would be hard to imagine how justice is served by such swift decision-making; another example of double standards.

"There is a higher court than courts of justice and that is the court of conscience. It supersedes all other courts." ~Mohandas Gandhi

I'll leave you with this final quote which shows we as humans have learned little over time.
 
"Extreme law is often extreme injustice". ~Terence 170–160 BC

From Political Prisoners in Thailand

Enemy of the State #13 - The Military

“He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice.” ~Albert Einstein


Does Thailand need a huge standing Military in this day and age and if so why?


That’s a good question and in my view it does not. Although the military comprises units like the Navy and the Air Force it’s the Army that has headed the charge in dispersing the recent protests. So for argument sake let’s just call the entire Military the Army for now. There is a self centered reason for this, later on I’ll give some figures and I’m too lazy to break them all down, if that’s even possible to do.


"They talk about conscription as a democratic institution. Yes; so is a cemetary". ~Meyer London


For those that don’t know the system. Thailand has military conscription on a sliding scale depending on your education level. High school or under you have to serve 2 years, Bachelors degree – 1 year and if you have a masters or a doctorate you get to do 6 months or less of pretty easy service. As an example Abhisit with a Masters got to lecture at the Military collage on economics. It also involves drawing a ball and if you get the right color you are off to the Army, Navy or Air Force. Compulsory service is also in the area you are registered in your house book. If you are in the North or Northeast, that means the Army in almost every case. As the North and Northeast also have the worst education in the country chances are the majority are serving 2 years. This also puts a huge burden on the farming community of the North and Northeast through the loss of part of their traditional workforce for 2 years on a continuous basis.


“The military caste did not originate as a party of patriots, but as a party of bandits” ~Henry Louis Mencken


Thailand’s military spending is 1.53% of GDP. That is lower than Malaysia (1.78%) and Myanmar (25.75%) but higher than Laos (0.28%) and Cambodia (1.23%). Where you really see the difference is in the Total Forces of each nation. Laos (129,000), Cambodia (191,000), Malaysia (160,000) and then there is Thailand (506,600) and Myanmar (513,250). It appears that Thailand is closer to the Burma model than any other nation in the area.

The difference is that Thailand and Myanmar have large armies where the others do not. In fact Thailand with a Military force of 506,600 outnumbers the combined military of Laos and Cambodia by 186,600. We know from our history the last time Thailand and Laos came to blows,Thailand lost decisively. But, do we have to outnumber the Cambodians by 2.65 times or Laotians by almost 4 times?

"Never base your budget requests on realistic assumptions, as this could lead to a decrease in your funding." ~ Scott Adams


Other things come to light as well from the numbers alone. Malaysia with a similar overall military budget ( 3,940 MillionUSD) has far outstripped Thailand ( 4,180 Million USD) by investing in high tech weaponry which needs less but higher trained forces to operate.  Thailand is stuck in the trench with foot soldiers which are very vulnerable to high tech things. On April 10th this year we witnessed first hand that a group of flip flop toting farmers from Issan were more than enough match for the arms and APC’s of the Thai army. Leaving a fleeing military and the hulks of 6 APS’c in the wake.
 Another question we have to ask, has the huge forces of the army outlived it’s usefulness on the modern battlefield in this day and age. The only answer is yes to this question unless the main aim of the Army is and has always been to suppress its own people and then the answer is still, yes.

Thailand needs to drastically readjust the military and upgrade it to more modern and streamlined units.


We need to drastically cut the huge amount of general and officer staff and to cut the numbers of foot soldiers down to acceptable limits for the risk in the area. Make the forces 100% volunteer and end conscription. Make them directly accountable to the Government and have an independent committee audit their spending, every baht of it.


“If there is one basic element in our Constitution, it is civilian control of the military” ~Harry S Truman


Cutting military numbers by half would be a good start while maintaining the budget at a rate just slightly under what we are spending now. That way we can invest in the long term training of long term highly trained military personnel and the purchase of more modern higher tech hardware rather than golf courses, swimming pools and flashy housing for Generals who have nothing better to do. Thailand would then be in a position to protect herself in the event that it was ever necessary.

“Military glory - that attractive rainbow that rises in showers of blood” ~Abraham Lincoln


At the moment the Army may be hard pressed to fend off the battle hardened Cambodians with their Vietnam vintage weaponry and ho chi min sandals.


“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.” ~Martin Luther King, Jr.



Figures derived from:- World Armed Forces and Defence Budgets.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=tTyizSfPzkl8SDeFoAQt6EQ&hl=en

Enemy of the State #12 - Media Censorship

"Though I disagree with everything you say, I will defend to the death your right to say it." ~Voltaire

This was an interview from April 2006 with Thai scholar and activist, Ubonrat Siriyuvasak. Dr. Ubonrat is associate professor and deputy dean of research and International affairs in the faculty of communication arts at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.

http://www.archive.org/download/041206_thai_com_radio/041206_thai_com_radio_wsiu_bigmuddy_24k_22.mp3

It’s quite long but very informative and interesting and will set the stage for what we are about to talk about here. Government censorship of the media in Thailand.

In March 2009, all existing Community radio stations had to register before the end of that month. The stations of the North had to do so at a big meeting in Chiang Mai. Already registered stations received a temporary licence for the next 300 days. The government announced it hoped to be able to prepare a new law regarding radio stations in Thailand and issue proper licences to the ones which meet the (to be defined) criteria. Since the meeting the government has announced that only stations that broadcast “government approved” content would be licensed. This law will restrict the power of the sender, advertisements, the height of the antenna, the range, etc... However, all existing stations can still operate until the new law appears. So far this new law is not in effect in the 300 day time frame of the temporary licences.
What was made very clear at the meeting is that radio stations operating without the temporary licence are considered as illegal. In other words, from April 2009, any new station is illegal as it is not possible to register a new radio station. Many operators not care about this and operate illegally.

"You have not converted a man because you have silenced him." ~John Morley

Directly after the Coup, 2000 community radio stations in the North and Northeast were closed by the Military. Most of those stations have again taken to the airwaves mostly illegally. A fair portion of those stations were anti coup and since anti Democrat. Some of those stations have defiantly pushed the envelope, if not outright broken the law. There is a rule in the broadcast industry, if you do not appeal to your audience you will not survive for long. These stations, although radical, command a huge audience. Unlike the Police, Government and Military which have huge budgets to broadcast, listeners or not, community stations are dependent almost entirely on donations from their listeners. At this point the Government of Abhisit is pressuring stations to self censor and if they do not conform to the government model they have been closed.
The Government or Military also controls almost all of the TV channels available in Thailand. Of the 2 big non government channels ASTV, which supports the government, has never been censured while PTV and the subsequent channels for the UDD have all been closed. The UDD was very successful during their protest at getting around the government’s attempts to get it off the air. They managed to keep broadcasting live until the final minutes of their protest when troops overran their encampment.

"Censorship reflects society's lack of confidence in itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime". ~Potter Stewart

It’s not just community radio it’s also the print media. Any organization that comes out against the government or its policies instantly finds the government on the offensive to close it down. The government has asked the print media to self censor. Some newspapers like the Post and the Nation have taken the request to heart and now never print anything opposing the Government. This attitude is no longer news reporting, they have now become just an outlet for government propaganda.

“The first condition of progress is the removal of censorship.” ~George Bernard Shaw

The internet in Thailand is so heavily censored that it resembles North Korea or China in it’s gusto to stifle any dissenting voice.

The government just yesterday extended censorship to stifle communications through four publications related to the UDD. Reuters reports, the outlawed publications include the twice-weekly Truth Today newspaper, the weekly Thai Red News and Vivatha, and bi-monthly Voice of Taksin, which mimics the U.S. news magazine, Time.

"These media outlets are not real newspapers. They are tools for groups to create chaos in the country," Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thuagsuban.

This is the line we continually hear from the government. It’s always the same line by the government it’s for “national unity” or “national security” or “causing chaos”. I’ll bring you back to an earlier point, “if you do not appeal to your audience you will not survive”. For the government to be so concerned to ban these publications these publications must have mass grassroots support.

"The test of democracy is freedom of criticism". ~David Ben-Gurion

These actions by the government go directly contrary to one of the five key elements of the Prime minister’s roadmap to reconciliation. It says that is to form an independent body to monitor all media, including state-controlled outlets, to ensure unbiased and balanced reporting. If you censor all dissenting media how can you have “Fair and balanced reporting”. It’s not only impossible but it’s hypocritical.

For Thailand to reconcile all sides from ASTV to the People’s channel have to be allowed to voice their opinions otherwise Thailand is just Myanmar in the mask of Democracy.

“The fact is that censorship always defeats its own purpose, for it creates, in the end, the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion.” ~Henry Steele Commager


AND just maybe, that is exactly what the Abhisit government and the Military are trying to achieve as they guide Thailand from 65 in the world in 2002 for press freedom to 130 in 2009, according to the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders.

Enemy of the state #11 - The Terrorists

“There is only one thing which gathers people into seditious commotion, and that is oppression” ~ John Locke

The Thai government was quick to brand the UDD and their leaders Terrorists. Are they or are they not? Or is it someone else?

First lets look at who is a terrorist which is not always easy to define. Sometimes it is easy like with the PAD occupation of the airports and control tower. It’s covered in documents like the Montréal protocols and the UN’s Supplementary to the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation even if the Thai government does nothing.

The position taken by the Thai government against the UDD and it’s leaders is much more murky. Until the night of April 10th when the Government sent the Police and Army, with war weapons, to disperse the protesters there had been no instance of the UDD with weapons. Unless you class water bottles and flagpoles as weapons. From many videos I have viewed the Military opened fire with live ammunition on unarmed protesters. From videos it is also apparent that there were snipers stationed on tall buildings overlooking the protesters and that at least one sniper was firing. No one can say with any certainty who the sniper was firing at. That night there also appeared the black clad men who appeared to be well trained and they inflicted casualties on the Army.  To date, no one has been able to say who these black clad fighters were.

The Government was quick to brand them as terrorists and to brand then as part of the UDD which they also branded as terrorists. There are many theories about who they are/were. The government and CRES says UDD terrorists, some say they were disgruntled regular military, some say they are mercenaries and some say they were trained by General Khattiya Sawatdiphol (Seh Daeng).

So what is a terrorist? Definitions are few and far between but here goes.

~ a radical who employs terror as a political weapon; usually organizes with other terrorists in small cells

~ An individual who uses violence, terror, and intimidation to achieve a result.

None of these seem to fit the UDD prior to the final dispersal by the military when factions rioted in Bangkok.  Between April 10 and the final crackdown the protesters at best could be called disruptive, unruly and unorganized at least outside the stockade.

In order to respond to terrorism, a clear definition is necessary. Terrorism is defined by Title 22 of the U.S. Code as politically motivated violence perpetrated in a clandestine manner against non-combatants. Experts on terrorism also include another aspect in the definition: the act is committed in order to create a fearful state of mind in an audience different from the victims.

“Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Wait, just wait a gall darn minute.

That more describes the actions of the Government, CRES and the Military than the actions of the UDD. The UDD prior to the final crackdown by the Army did not work in a clandestine manner with violence against non-combatants. Although there were small incidents it was not widespread. The government on the other hand, either through their orders or the actions of those they control DID USE politically motivated violence in a clandestine manner against non-combatants. Things like the use of live fire, live fire zones, Snipers and the Assassination of Seh Daeng can only be seen as acts to cause terror and panic inside the Reds encampment. The arbitrary shooting and killing of unarmed citizens, who may or may not have been aligned with the Reds is also a terrorist act.  Furthermore the turning off of water and the stoppage of food supplies, although unsuccessful, is also a crime against humanity.

“A suffocating siege and ongoing oppression.”  ~ Yasser Arafat

The terms "terrorism" and "terrorist" (someone who engages in terrorism) carry strong negative connotations. These terms are often used as political labels, to condemn violence or the threat of violence by certain actors as immoral, indiscriminate, unjustified or to condemn an entire segment of a population.

This is exactly what the Government and CRES have done, labeled the UDD and it’s leaders Terrorists without any provocation other than political motive.  The numbers tell another story,  88 dead, 1,885 injured, 17 still in ICU almost exclusively from the so called "Terrorist UDD Side" a body count that would even make Dick Cheney shake his head. It was a planned massacre, not a dispersal.

Those labeled "terrorists" by their opponents rarely identify themselves as such, and typically use other terms or terms specific to their situation, such as separatist, freedom fighter, liberator, revolutionary, vigilante, militant, paramilitary, guerrilla, rebel, patriot, or any similar-meaning word.

The UDD labels itself a peaceful Pro-democracy group but there are defiantly units that are aligned with the UDD who would not hesitate to break away and form armed militias or subversive cells as seen on the evening of the overrunning of the UDD site by an armed military.

It very well might be worth noting at the end of this blog that some groups involved in a struggle, have been labeled "terrorists" by governments or media. Two examples of this are the Nobel Peace Prize laureates Menachem Begin and Nelson Mandela.

"The risk of a terrorist victory is greater when in fighting terror, democracy betrays its own essence". ~ Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero


Thaksin and Terrorist charges , a blog add on.


“He who lives by fighting with an enemy has an interest in the preservation of the enemy's life.” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

Thaksin may be many things but a terrorist he is not. If he ever had the intention of causing havoc in that way he has the capital to raise a small army. After seeing some of the actions of the Thai Military over the last month, only a small army would be needed. Thailand does not have, at this point, an armed insurgency in the North and Northeast so he’s not supporting that sort of action.

The Thai Government’s latest action just raises a huge Red Flag to all foreign governments. Thailand’s current government has to ask themselves why they can’t get anyone to extradite Thaksin now.   Just in case they don’t already know it’s because they found him guilty of a crime the Junta had to write a law for and then use retroactively. Almost every legal rights group on earth came out against the use of this retroactive law.  Foreign governments also see the way the Abhisit Government threw away the extradition agreement with Canada in the Sexana case.
"To vilify a great man is the readiest way in which a little man can himself attain greatness". ~Edgar Allan Poe

So what will this latest arrest warrant do? Absolutely nothing. It’s an attempt by a failing government to criminalize and vilify an opponent they know they cannot defeat at the ballot box and the governments of the western world know that . They should know this from recent statements from agencies outside Thailand
What we are witnessing is the final panic of the death roll of the Democrat led coalition. Their way is not the way to reconciliation but to further and likely much bloodier confrontation. If the only way to stay in power is to kill or imprison your opponents is there actually any victory at all?  And they have a name for that too.

“He who seeks vengeance must dig two graves: one for his enemy and one for himself”

Enemy of the State #10 - The Witch Hunt and Denial

Few tragedies can be more extensive than the stunting of life, few injustices deeper than the denial of an opportunity to strive or even to hope, by a limit imposed from without, but falsely identified as lying within. ~ Stephen Jay Gould


I was reading Tony Hedges's Blog http://tonyhedges.wordpress.com/ and this idea came to me from something he had said about reconciliation.

The Abhisit government keeps trying to reassure the people that they are all for reconciliation but in reality they are conducting a Which Hunt on the UDD, the Reds, banned politicians, the PTP and still on Thaksin.

Someone on Twitter, I think @tri26, mentioned the Wiki page “Denial”. I opened it and read “Types of Denial”. Lo and behold there it was in black and white, jumping off the page - Denial of fact & Denial of responsibility - and I quote:-

In Denial of fact, someone avoids a fact by lying. This lying can take the form of an outright falsehood (commission), leaving out certain details to tailor a story (omission), or by falsely agreeing to something (assent, also referred to as "yessing" behaviour). Someone who is in denial of fact is typically using lies to avoid facts they think may be painful to themselves or others.

The reasemblance to what the Government, CRES, the Government PR people have been doing and saying is remarkable.  They have all been using Denial of Fact and the UDD is not off the hook with this one either but to a much lesser degree IMHO.

Denial of responsibility involves avoiding personal responsibility by:


blaming - a direct statement shifting culpability and may overlap with denial of fact


minimizing - an attempt to make the effects or results of an action appear to be less harmful than they may actually be, or


justifying - when someone takes a choice and attempts to make that choice look okay due to their perception of what is "right" in a situation.


Someone using denial of responsibility is usually attempting to avoid potential harm or pain by shifting attention away from themselves.

There it was wrapped up with a big Red bow. That is what the government and CRES has been doing all along. We all knew it but this made it too simple, too easy to see and explain the Witch Hunt that’s going on.

"This is a vicious witch-hunt aimed at crushing the voice of dissent". ~ Aidan White

Carl Forti had an interesting quote some years ago, “I'm going to call Roswell (N.M.) and warn them that Ronnie Earle is on the witch hunt for the Martians they have there“. The quote can be rearranged to reflect the current situation. “I'm going to call (Add any North or Northeatern town) and warn them that (CRES, Abhisit, Suthep, etc) is on the witch hunt for the Reds they have there".

What Thailand needs is some outside independent inquiry into what happened in April and May in Bangkok.

Abhisit has resisted any attempt by outside governments, Amnesty International or the UN to intervene. It's time he swallowed his pride and allowed an independent outside review. If the blame is all on the Reds, as he and Suthep keep stating, what has he to fear. Thailand deserves this let someone independent, who will not sway with the pressure exerted on them, from all the influences inside Thailand come up with a finding. Lay blame at the feet of the UDD if that is their finding; lay it at the feet of the army or CRES or government or media or all of them. We need to know the facts, not the facts as seen through a prism reflecting highly divided and transfixed views of the occurrences in Bangkok.

"You don't want a witch hunt and you don't want a whitewash". ~ William Doherty

BUT: - You do want the truth to come out, whatever it is. and you want those truly responsible for the bloodshed punished. Something that is not happening in Thailand at the moment.

"Better a thousand fold abuse of free speech than denial of free speech". ~ Charles Bradlaugh