New Mandala

12 responses so far ↓

• 1 Taxi Driver // Feb 8, 2007 at 8:26 am

  Thanks Patiwat for pointing out a connection between the CNS and the PAD. Interesting that the coup was planned before April and over the ensuing 5-6 months the PAD was doing everything it could to drive events to the brink….

  As to understanding Saprang the man, what was he doing (role, rank, etc.) in May 1992 when the military lost its political clout as the “rightful ruling class” of Thailand? One might posit that Saprang probably has always harboured ambitions to be the new Prem? In which case he probably sees 19 Sept as his chance to stage a counter-cop to the May-92 coup, and fulfil his personal ambitions. In which case Thaksin for him represented not a problem but an opprtunity.

• 2 patiwat // Feb 8, 2007 at 8:50 am

  Those comments of Saprang were made on a CNS PR tour of the Northeast. But wait a sec… what’s he doing in the Northeast?

  The junta fired Kowit Wattana for supposedly not being able to make any progress in the bombing investigation. But I thought that the Council for National Security was supposed to ensure national security? And yet instead of contributing to the investigation, grilling the ISOC, or using his 14,000 strong torture squad to prevent future bombings, Saprang goes out brainwashing the public.

  Sort of reminds me of the situation in the south in the months preceeding the coup. Instead of trying to control the Southern insurgency, Sonthi focused on toppling Thaksin. The result was that the insurgency got even worse and worse. Now, instead of trying to control the Bangkok insurgency, Saprang is focused on further defaming Thaksin. The situation is getting out of control.

• 3 fall // Feb 8, 2007 at 3:38 pm

  Quite strange that all newspaper acceptably translate Traitor = Thaksin. Well, most probably, it is him being refer to. But so does Prem = charismatic figure. Unspoken agreement to save from defamation lawsuit?

  Alway the three holies,.. nation, religion, and monarchy. Now it gone from “corrupt” politician to philosophical “evil”. According to Saprang’s, I guess if “rogue politican” allow to return to power. “Rogue politician” would own/destroy Thailand, become a pope and abolish Buddhism, and establish a new dynasty to rules, all-in-one. That would put even Qin Shi Huang to shame.

• 4 patiwat // Feb 8, 2007 at 4:09 pm

  fall, don’t forget to add “murder unborn fetuses”, “allow khmer voodoo shaman to take over the emerald buddha”, and “open up the gates to hell” in that litany of Thaksin evils

• 5 Jon Fernquest // Feb 8, 2007 at 7:20 pm

  “The traitor is slated to be banished to live foever in the jungle…Civil servants …are not supposed to allow themselves to become henchmen for rogue politicians…”

  Is this soldier language?
  It’s very dramatic.

  BTW they are selling black wristbands at 7-Eleven.
  That mean “I love Naresuan” according to the cashier.
  I also saw pink wristbands (???)

  It’s too bad they are watering down what was originally a nice way to show one’s love of HMK.

• 6 Srithanonchai // Feb 10, 2007 at 2:09 am

  Chula bans book critical of coup

  Chulalongkorn University Book Centre has banned a new anthology critical of the coup, due to fears of possible political repercussions.

  The book entitled: “The September 19th coup: a coup for a democratic regime under the constitutional monarchy” is an anthology written by leading academics and intellectuals, including Nidhi Eoseewong, Sulak Sivaraksa, Chaiwat Satha-anand and Thongchai Winichakul.

  Chula Book Centre yesterday informed the book’s distributor that the centre’s literary-approval group opposed selling the book at the university’s bookstores.

  “They just said that they dare not to sell the book,” said Tichakorn Chatanan of Kledthai, the book’s distributor. The book was published by Samesky Publishing House.

  An official at Chula Book Centre told The Nation that the group feared political repercussions from selling the book.

  “We are in educational institution, so we decided to be neutral,” said the official who asked not to be named.

  The official declined to say whether the group was pressured to ban the book.

  “Please do not ask, I feel uneasy about answering,” the official said.

  “It’s up to the puyai [superiors] whether they will reconsider the ban,” the official said.

  Pitch Pongsawat, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn, said: “This is one among various forms of self-censorship that is taking place in Thailand, especially after the coup.

  “In this particular case, it reflects the reality of how the university operates, which seems to be against the idea of ensuring academic freedom and the freedom of speech, which are important for Thailand in this particular time of political tension.”

  Pitch wrote an essay for the book called: “The September 19 Coup turned citizens into vassal serfs”.

  The book is selling well at other bookstores, including Amarin Bookstore’s Nai-in, Se-Ed Books and Thammasat University Bookstore.

  “We have already ordered more copies because many customers have asked for the book,” said Pracharakamol Ampunsaeng at Amarin Bookstore’s purchasing department. The book is displayed on the “Social and Political Issue” shelf at the store.

  The book’s contents include: “Historical status of the September 19th Coup” by historian Suthachai Yimprasert; and “The September 19th Coup in the eyes of foreign media” by Pakavadi Virapaspong. Other contributors include political scientist Thanet Wongyannava, historian Somsak Jeamtheerasakul, philosophy lecturer Kasem Penpinan, Somchai Preecha-silpakul of Chiang Mai University and University of Hawaii PhD candidate Sirote Klampaiboon.

  Subhatra Bhumiprabhas

  The Nation 9 February 2007

• 7 Srithanonchai // Feb 10, 2007 at 3:05 pm

  Anti-coup book ‘not banned’

  KULTIDA SAMABUDDHI

  Chulalongkorn University yesterday denied it has banned the Sept 19 Coup d’etat, a 460-page book containing articles criticising the putsch, from sale in the university’s book store. The allegation surfaced on Thursday when the book’s editor and publisher Thanapol Eawsakul, of the Fa Diew Kan printing house, complained to the media that the publication was banned from the CU Book Centre.

  ”It is a pity the students and clients of the CU book shop cannot buy the book,” he said.

  CU book store is a major book supplier for domestic and overseas libraries. The ban means a number of intellectuals and students would be impeded from learning the views of Thailand’s top thinkers on the current political situation, he said.

  But the CU Book Centre manager Uraiwan Kornwitysinn yesterday denied the book ban and said that readers could still buy it from the book store or order it through http://www.chulabook.com.

  ”There is no reason to ban the book. We have 500 copies of the Sept 19 Coup d’etat in our stock at the moment,” she claimed.

  ”I think the publisher is using this tactic to promote the book,” said the book shop manager.

  She admitted the book store began the sale of the controversial publication much later than other stores because the book had only just arrived at the university two days ago.

  Mr Thanapol dismissed the book shop’s claim, saying that the distributor had delivered the publication to all book stores within a week after the book was launched on Jan 19.

  Bangkok Post, 10 February 2007

• 8 Srithanonchai // Feb 12, 2007 at 2:34 am

  Anti-coup title in clampdown row

  The first anti-coup book to be published is not for sale at the Chulalongkorn Book Centre in Siam Square in spite of claims to the contrary from its manager.

  “September 19 coup: A coup for a democratic regime under a constitutional monarchy” is nowhere to be found at the Siam Square branch.

  On Friday, The Nation reported the shop had decided not to sell it.

  Shop manager Uraiwan Kornwitysinn denied in the Bangkok Post that the book had been banned out of fear of angering the junta. She said she had 500 copies in stock.

  The collection of anti-coup essays from Nidhi Aoseewong, Thongchai Winichakul, Chaiwat Satha-anand, two senior journalists at The Nation and others is published by Fah Diew Kan and was released on January 19.

  An employee of distributor Kledthai said the university had ordered 100 copies only and the bookshop had informed the company it would not stock the title.

  “How could they have 500 books?” Tichakorn Chatanan of Kledthai said. The shop told Kledthai it was deemed unsuitable for sale at the official bookshops of the university, Tichakorn said.

  Some Chulalongkorn University lecturers yesterday prepared a petition asking its president to intervene for the sake of the school’s reputation and academic freedom.

  The book’s publisher and editor Thanapol Eiwsakul has been accused by Uraiwan of using the alleged ban to boost sales.

  “She lied. If she were smart she would have just placed the book on the shelves. They must have lost face because it’s supposed to be an academic bookshop. It’s a reminder that the university lacks freedom,” he said, adding that sellers such as Dork Ya had been offering it for weeks.

  Subhatra Bhumiprabhas

  The Nation 11 February 2007

• 9 James Haughton // Feb 13, 2007 at 11:56 am

  Is this a thai-language book?

• 10 Srithanonchai // Feb 13, 2007 at 3:31 pm

  JH: Yes, it is a Thai-language book. รัฐประหาร 19 กันยา: รัฐประหารเพื่อระบอบประชาธิปไตยอันมีพระมหากษัตริย์ทรงเป็นประมุข. Bangkok: ฟ้าเดียวกัน, 2550. 464 pp.

• 11 Srithanonchai // Feb 14, 2007 at 1:38 am

  An English-language book on the coup–whether academic, as Giles claims, or political-propagandistic, as is his usual approach–is also being “banned”.

  Chula bans second coup book

  Chulalongkorn University Book Centre (CU Book Centre) has banned “A Coup for the Rich”, written by a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University.

  Assoc Professor Giles Ungpakorn yesterday accused CU Books of going back on its promise to sell his book titled “A Coup for the Rich: Thailand’s Political Crisis”, an academic work.

  Giles said the bookshop’s purchasing department had agreed to sell his book and already had 500 copies in stock. “When asked [yesterday] why there were no copies for sale, I was told the management are reconsidering the sale of this book,” he said.

  CU Book Centre manager Uraiwan Kornwitthayasin denied they had promised to sell the book. She said it was a sensitive issue as Giles had quoted from Paul Handley’s book “The King Never Smiles”. “We needed other academics and experts to read the book and we are waiting for their opinions,” she said.

  Giles defended his book saying it was a collection of his academic work that had been presented at international academic forums on Thai Studies in Northern Illinois and Singapore.

  The book contains four chapters: The Thaksin Crisis and the Coup for the Rich; Inventing Ancient Thai Traditions: an analysis of the Monarchy; The politics of the Peoples Movement and the “October People”, and Southern Woes: Why the Thai state is responsible for the violence in the South and problems of the tsunami.

  Meanwhile, the CU Book Centre has decided to overturn its ban on, “The September 19th coup: a coup for a democratic regime under the constitutional monarchy”, an anthology critical of the coup, written by leading academics and intellectuals.

  The bookstore manager admitted her staff wouldn’t dare to sell the book published by the Fah Diew Kan Publishing earlier, because the publishing house had one of its publications confiscated by the special branch due to charges of lese majeste.

  “Now customers can order the book from our bookshops,” Uraiwan confirmed.

  However, the publisher, Thanaphol Eawsakul, yesterday told The Nation he had received complaints from many customers that the book was nowhere to be found at Chulalongkorn Book Centre.

  A group of academics at Chulalongkorn, and the 19th September Network – an anti-coup group – is organising a seminar on “Academic freedom and freedom of expression” next week at Chulalongkorn University.

  Jiles’s book, “A coup for the Rich”, will be launched at the Bangkok Foreign Correspondents Club on March 13.

  Subhatra Bhumiprabhas

  The Nation 13 February 2007

• 12 Srithanonchai // Feb 14, 2007 at 11:17 pm

  ศูนย์หนังสือจุฬาฯ ไม่ยอมขายหนังสืออ.ใจ เพราะอ้างอิงผู้เขียน TKNS พิมพ์บทความนี้

  ประชาไท – 14 ก.พ. 50 หลังจากศูนย์หนังสือจุฬาฯ สั่งแบนหนังสือ ‘รัฐประหาร 19 กันยา รัฐประหารเพื่อระบอบประชาธิปไตยอันมีพระมหากษัตริย์ทรงเป็นประมุข’ ของสำนักพิมพ์ฟ้าเดียวกัน ซึ่งเป็นหนังสือที่ผู้จัดพิมพ์แถลงไว้ในบทนำว่า ข้อเขียนที่ปรากฏในเล่มนั้นเป็น “ทัศนะของคนที่ไม่เห็นด้วยกับการรัฐประหาร”

  ล่าสุด ศูนย์หนังสือจุฬาฯ ได้สั่งระงับการขายหนังสือ ‘A Coup for the Rich’ หรือ ‘การทำรัฐประหารเพื่อคนรวย’ ซึ่งเป็นหนังสือภาษาอังกฤษที่เขียนโดย รศ.ใจ อึ๊งภากรณ์ คณะรัฐศาสตร์ จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย

  รศ.ใจ กล่าวว่า ที่ผ่านมาหนังสือของเขาก็สามารถวางขายในศูนย์หนังสือจุฬาฯ ได้ ทั้งฉบับที่เป็นภาษาไทยและภาษาอังกฤษ และสำหรับเล่มนี้นั้น เดิมทางศูนย์หนังสือจุฬาฯ ก็ได้ตกลงแล้วว่าจะวางขายให้ แต่ก็กลับคำพิจารณา

  รศ.ใจกล่าวว่า ได้สอบถามนายทรงยศ สามกษัตริย์ รองผู้จัดการของศูนย์หนังสือจุฬาฯ ก็ได้รับทางเหตุผล ซึ่งเป็นเหุผลส่วนตัวของนายทรงยศว่า เป็นเพราะหนังสือดังกล่าวมีการอ้างอิงงานเขียนของ Paul Handley (ผู้เขียน The King Never Smile)

  อย่างไรก็ดี ในเวลานี้ทางศูนย์หนังสือจุฬาฯ ยังไม่มีคำตอบที่ชัดเจน ถึงกรอบหลักเกณฑ์การพิจารณา รวมถึงระยะเวลาที่จะพิจารณาเสร็จสิ้น อีกทั้งข้อมูลที่ได้จากศุนย์หนังสือจุฬาฯ ก็ไม่ตรงไปตรงมา เช่น เจ้าหน้าที่ระดับล่างแจ้งต่อรศ.ใจว่า กระบวนการเวลานี้กำลังอยู่ระหว่างการพิจารณา ซึ่งมีกรรมการท่านหนึ่งของศูนย์หนังสือจุฬาฯ กำลังพิจารณา แต่เมื่อสอบถามต่อ กรรมการท่านนั้นได้ปฏิเสธ กล่าวว่าไม่ได้พิจารณาหนังสือ ‘A Coup for the Rich’

  ทั้งนี้ หนังสือ ‘A Coup For the Rich: Thailand’s political Crisis’ หรือ ‘การรัฐประหารเพื่อคนรวย : วิกฤตการเมืองประเทศไทย’ นั้น เป็นหนังสือวิเคราะห์สถานการณ์วิกฤตการณ์การเมืองไทย ที่ต้องเผชิญหน้ากับทั้งวิกฤตจากทักษิณ วิกฤตจากคณะรัฐประหาร วิกฤตที่มาจากชนชั้นนำอันหลากหลายซึ่งรวมถึงระบอบราชาธิปไตย และยังมีสถานการณ์ความไม่สงบในภาคใต้

  นอกจากนี้ รศ.ใจ ให้ข้อมูลเพิ่มเติมว่า นายทรงยศ สามกษัตริย์ รองผู้จัดการศูนย์หนังสือจุฬาฯ ได้กล่าวว่าขณะนี้ทางศูนย์ฯ ยอมให้ขายหนังสือ ‘รัฐประหาร 19 กันยา รัฐประหารเพื่อระบอบประชาธิปไตยอันมีพระมหากษัตริย์ทรงเป็นประมุข’ ของสำนักพิมพ์ฟ้าเดียวกันแล้ว

  โดย : ประชาไท
  วันที่ : 14/2/2550

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