The final scene, as overseen by the big shots of the People Power Party, will produce one of two outcomes. First, there will be bloodshed, which will lead to a political compromise (Thaksin gets part of his money back; he has a room to move on Thai soil). Second, there will be bloodshed, which leads to the complete rout of one of the two sides. Either way, bloodshed is imminent.
- Extracted from Thanong Khanthong, “More violence on the cards as political tensions heighten”, The Nation, 21 November 2008.
7 responses so far ↓
1 amberwaves // Nov 22, 2008 at 12:32 pm
If the excerpt didn’t mention the People Power Party, I would have thought this was the blog editor’s trick, and he was quoting one of Thanong’s columns from before the September 2006 coup. This year, Thanong has been writing this sort of thing every two weeks.
That’s not to say his prediction is wrong, though the purpose of such pronouncements seems to be to encourage a coup.
At the same time, The Nation’s many apocalyptic stories and headlines (other Thai newspapers as well) have done much to ramp up the atmosphere of fear and confrontation.
Thanong is also one of those opinion leaders who spread the idea that members of the foreign press who publish stories unsympathetic to his viewpoint are probably in the pay of Thaksin. Publicly he stops just short of saying this, privately he crosses the line.
I believe that if you look you’ll find other examples that this editor of a major newspaper is no friend of free speech when it doesn’t follow his party line. Sadly, the mass layoffs of recent months at The Nation have gotten rid of most (not all) the countervailing voices there.
2 doctorJ // Nov 22, 2008 at 3:37 pm
believe that if you look you’ll find other examples that this editor of a major newspaper is no friend of free speech when it doesn’t follow his party line. Sadly, the mass layoffs of recent months at The Nation have gotten rid of most (not all) the countervailing voices there.
Can’t agree more with you, Amberwaves
3 Ralph Kramden // Nov 23, 2008 at 1:14 am
If I recall correctly, Thanong was targeted by Thaksin with the AMLO investigations of people at the Nation and seems to have taken a personal hatred to remarkable levels. He has taken to baying for blood. More than any other journalist writing in English, he has been calling for confrontation and violence in order to rid the country of Thaksin and his cronies. He saw long ago that a battle was required if the man he hates so much is to be crushed.
Of course, it is not all personal. Thanong probably considers that the palace for not preparing well enough for succession, and like some others he has come to the conclusion that a succession with Thaksin around would be a disaster for the conservative elite.
4 Neither Red nor Yellow Shirt // Nov 23, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Actually it was Suthichai Yoon who was targetted for investigation by AMLO during Thaksin era. But The Nation columnists like Suthichai, Thanong, Sophon, Tulsatit, Thepchai (Suthichai’s brother at PBS tv station) etc share a common hatred against Thaksin and these people have lost their journalistic perspectives and indulge in personal vendetta. One journalist from this newspaper who remains objective is Pravit and I once attended his talk at the FCCT and you can clearly see what kind of person he is. Also, try to read “Chang Noi” column at the Nation and one can see the balance in its analysis.
5 Ralph Kramden // Nov 23, 2008 at 11:43 pm
NRNYS seems correct that Thanong was not one of those specifically investigated. In the meantime, I have been doing a bit of searching. Here’s some added detail, based on (http://www.seapabkk.org/news/thailand/20020320.html).
AMLO went after more at the Nation. This was the subject of a number of reports in 2002.
One report , mostly based on leaks via the Democrats, stated: “Nation Group editor Suthichai Yoon and his son, Prabda, group editor Thepchai Yong and senior editor Sopon Onkgara…” in one report and “…Amlo had ordered 17 banks to send to the agency the financial statements of 35 journalists and their family members…” in another. In one report it is stated that, in total, AMLO was conducting “… financial checks on some of the 247 targetted individuals…”. At one stage Thaksin himself claimed that he had been investigated by AMLO. Other names on the list were reportedly Capital Nomura Securities and Merrill Lynch.
Yet another report says this: “The list included businessmen Somsak Leesawattrakul, Veena Cherdboonchart, Narong Chokewattana and Chumpol Pornprapa; Gen Sunthorn Kongsompong, late former supreme commander, his wife Khunying Orachorn and his common-law wife, Ampapan; former navy chief Prapat Krissanachan; Phetchabun senator Prasong Kositanond and academic Nath Bhamarapravati. American citizen Peter Jensen, former husband of Princess Ubonrat, was also on the list.” Note the last one!
AMLO also invetigated a bunch of NGO activists. Thaksin as PM was the chair of AMLO.
More broadly, readers might find this interesting: http://www.transparency.org/content/download/16360/218980/file/NIS_Thailand_2006%5B1%5D.pdf
6 marranara // Nov 26, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Is “civil warmongering” the right phrase?
If Thanong is the bald-headed Nation editor with a wild crown of frizzy black hair, I believe I sat through one of his guest lectures years ago at Chula university (May 06).
The talk was an apocalyptic forecast for Thai politics for 2006, and it was interesting enough and probably even predicted the last coup. But, the brightest detail I recall was being distracted by how frazzled and utterly stressed-out he appeared.
After the lecture, my professor explained that this infamous rebel-editor sort of always has that “i’m about to jump out of a window” demeanor about him. This is more than sensational media. I feel like it’s a fillip for violence of any kind…
As a bystander, I wonder about other bystanders (e.g. students). I can’t blame university students for their apparent lack of awareness and engagement of these issues. The Bangkok youth with whom I’ve spoken are either too jaded or just too frightened to attempt to open the paper.
7 amberwaves // Nov 27, 2008 at 4:07 pm
marranara:
The frizzy hair and frazzled manner suggest that it was Kavi _ sort of frantic but actually a reasonable guy, and currently sidelined. He also used to go out and give talks frequently. He’s a pretty sincere and thoughtful guy. The evil Thanong has a blog, you can see his picture there
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