New Mandala

5 responses so far ↓

• 1 Frederick // Feb 28, 2009 at 1:55 pm

  According to the report, the two army boys were beaten up and one ended up in hospital. Of course the yellow shirts would have done the same.

  But this comes on the heels of the red shirt thugs who stopped the Gay Pride parade in Chiang Mai last week. That was a Thai-driven parade with a major anti-AIDS focus. Just how nasty the red shirts’ efforts were is just beginning to emerge, eg from the Nation:
  http://xpress.nationmultimedia.com/2009/02/27/lifestyle/lifestyle_5621.php
  A couple of pics here:
  http://www.flickr.com/photos/zjayl/page2/

  Giles may be right that the red shirts are a mixed bunch. But they’re quickly discrediting themselves as a legitimate protest movement.

• 2 David Brown // Feb 28, 2009 at 5:18 pm

  Frederick

  do you have any comments on whether you regard the PAD (yellow shirts) as a legitimate protest movement?

  for example I believe that strong homophobic sentiments have been expressed on stage by the PAD and over astv… but I have not heard of any direct confrontations (like the chiang mai group claiming to be part of the red shirt group).

  do you think legitimacy comes from group discipline or some such?

  what are your criteria for legitimacy?

• 3 Noone // Feb 28, 2009 at 6:01 pm

  nice try Frederick ,

  however chalk ‘n cheese come to mind

  suspect you had more than a passing interest in the parade , would I be correct ?

  that of course was NOT the red shirts as the generic term applies

  unbiased folks see that the yellows are far ahead in the violence stakes

• 4 Frederick // Feb 28, 2009 at 8:10 pm

  Seems like people have read into my brief comment more than was there. My intention was simply to ensure that people hear about what went on in Chiang Mai. The more people who know, the more likely it is that these thugs representing the red shirts will be put back in their place.

  The news reports described them as red shirts, and Giles conceded that homophobic elements existed in the movement (as they do amongst the yellow shirts).

  In any case, I will expand on my position.

  I am essentially a red shirt supporter. I regard the yellow shirts as contemptible. But as gay man I was outraged at the terrorism demonstrated by the mob in Chiang Mai against Thai gay and transgendered people, including youth, in blocking a parade with a strong anti-AIDS theme.

  Thailand has essentially no history of anti-gay violence. While the extent of gay acceptance is often exaggerated, the phrase that has been used by at least one scholar is “tolerance not acceptance”. I think that’s fairly accurate. Some of the western-educated elites have absorbed western homophobia. And Thai-Chinese are influenced by Chinese homophobia. The gay stereotypes one sees on TV, for example in soap operas and comedy shows, are often deplorable. Strangely, even many gay Thais regard them as funny.

  But basically Thais have a non-confrontational, ‘live and let live’ attitude. And everyone seems to have at least one gay or khatoey in their extended family !

  So my support for the red shirts is now in question.

  Anti-gay factions on either side must be condemned:
  http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2009/02/26/politics/politics_30096659.php

• 5 nganadeeleg // Mar 1, 2009 at 10:21 am

  unbiased folks see that the yellows are far ahead in the violence stakes

  That doesn’t sound like an unbiased comment.

  Unless you can provide detailed evidence from 2006 to date, I suggest a more objective view would be that there are elements of both sides that have a propensity to violence.

  It looks like the leadership of both sides seem to be showing more restraint of late, so hopefully that is a good sign for the future (if they do have any control over their respective groups).

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