Nearly all articles and commentaries in the Thai media at this moment are overly and overtly considerate of the yellow and the royalists’ cause…Conservatives are ubiquitous; they are trusted by newspaper reporters and respected by television producers. The radio airwaves featuring anti-establishment causes have either been brought down or screened out.
The author personally does not see a route of the type to facilitate a reconciliation as mentioned. In all honesty, what is most likely to happen is a continued stomping down of the liberal voice, the censoring of the anti-Democrat voice, and an ostracising process of any persons or entities potentially linked to the imagined republican cause.
For the sake of the conservative establishment’s own survival, the author here truly hopes that he is wrong.
- Extracted from M.L. Nattakorn Devakula, “Resentment of reds and the challenge of reconciliation”, Bangkok Post, 21 April 2009.
19 responses so far ↓
1 Chris Beale // Apr 22, 2009 at 11:45 am
If there is pure repression against the Red-shirts, there will simply be no more Thailand. The Thai state is an artificial construction by the Thai military, instituted in 1937. Inflamed regional identities have been brewing ever-larger for decades now – and will burst into a break-away by Isaarn (North-East Thailand, 60% of the population, who primarily speak Lao and Khmer, not Thai), and Lanna (Chiang Mai, Chieng Rai, etc.).
However, it seems Abhisit is very aware of this possibility, and is doing all he can to reach a compromise. I like him.
2 The Careful Observer // Apr 22, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Mom Luang Nattakorn Devakula is the epitomy of the “amatiyathipathai” the red shirts want “out”: a shallow, muddled thinker, and non talent who wouldn’t be given a newspaper column, television slot, or anything else were he not a member of the privileged aristocracy. Parsing Thailand’s current conflict into “conservatives” vs. “liberals” is about as accurate and enlightening as a Rush Limbaugh radio segment. I think when our good professors start quoting ML Nattakorn Devakula, they have truly reached the depths of intellectual bankruptcy.
3 Nicholas Farrelly // Apr 22, 2009 at 3:46 pm
The Careful Observer,
Sorry, you mistake this extract as an endorsement of the Mom Luang’s views? We regularly extract material (interesting, silly, insightful, intriguing, poorly argued, funny, brilliant, useful, or just plain wrong) from a range of different sources. I wouldn’t expect you to take my regular extracts from various personalities at The Nation or The Irrawaddy as an indication of my particular “professorial” (Ha!) approval.
All the same, thanks for your observations on M.L. Nattakorn. I found them useful. Perhaps you have more to say?
Best wishes to all,
Nicholas Farrelly
4 Srithanonchai // Apr 22, 2009 at 4:54 pm
Can “Careful Observer” tell us what he thinks about Khun Nattakorn’s father? Is that true epitomy of paternalist governance also “a shallow, muddled thinker” (recently, he expressed his desire to have a guy like Sarit Thanarat back, because, after all, that was a truly decisive leader!)?
Besides, if we applied “Careful Observer’s” stance — “non talent who wouldn’t be given a newspaper column, television slot, or anything else” — to Thai universities (Chula, Thammasat, NIDA, Mahidol, Kasetsat, etc.) would they not largely be depopulated? Thailand must do with the human resources that she has, even if some farang think that they are all “underdeveloped” “non talents.”
5 Nobody // Apr 22, 2009 at 6:57 pm
Maybe the Sukhumband piece in Spiegel would be a good addition to this one. It certainly seems to have sparked far more debate here in Thailand;)
6 The Careful Observer // Apr 22, 2009 at 9:33 pm
My apologies to Prof. Farelly for mistakenly regarding the post as equivalent ot subscribing to the viewpoint.
Srithanochai: My opinion of the ML’s father, considering his performance as Finance Minister, is also very low. You put underdeveloped in quotes when I did not use that word, please be more careful. Excusing the Post or TNN for giving valuable space or airtime to ML Nattakorn on the grounds that Thailand has to use the resources it has, is a fairly ridiculous argument. There is no shortage of Thai analysts out there who possess more depth, logic, insight, knowledge and writing ability than ML Nattakorn.
Ah, but he’s a Devakul…
7 t4e // Apr 23, 2009 at 12:39 am
Thailand is a Kingdom, not a socialist/communist state.
In SOE(state of emergency) its no surprise that
blood relatives(however distant) of HMK may
speak without upsetting the Govt.
That two such persons speak up is no
coincidence – maybe they felt a deep feeling to do so.
Its better to focus on their messages i/o “shooting the messenger “
8 Srithanonchai // Apr 23, 2009 at 5:03 pm
“Careful” Observer:
Why do you think I put that word in quotation marks and paired it with another sort of quotation marks for “non talents”? Since you seem to be not only careful (at what level, I can only guess), but surely also the opposite of a “a shallow, muddled thinker”, I would have expected you to recognize this hermeneutic extension of your comment. In fact, you even reacted on its meaning.
Which brings me to your statement that, “There is no shortage of Thai analysts out there who possess more depth, logic, insight, knowledge and writing ability than ML Nattakorn.” I consider this as apologetic (otherwise, it might have to be considered ignorant). If there really were so many highly qualified people around here, why don’t we see them writing columns in the papers or acting as TV anchors? Oh, yes — because their places are occupied by all these undeserved, such as “ML.”
In any case, I do in fact think that Khun (unlike you, I prefer to call him this way) Nattakorn has one or two things to learn.
Hopefully, he will be given this time — by his admirers, by his own ego, and by those who think that they should hide a disagreement of opinion behind an attack on his capabilities and formal social status and nepotism (quite a worn tactic, I might add). Your perspective looks more like an insinuation of censorship (of which we already have quite a lot) than as a reasoned evaluation of his position.
BTW, what do you think about Nick’s piece on the red-shirt protests? (Apologies in advance if I have overlooked your comment.)
9 David Brown // Apr 27, 2009 at 12:40 am
the Abhisit government has been remarkably swift in organising identifiaction and arrests of redshirt leaders and those alleged to have been involved in attacks in Pattaya, the Interior Ministry and Lopburi
but, why has there apparently been no effort to identify and arrest those alleged to have been involved in the murders at Nang Lerng and the gas tanker scare at Din Daeng?
surely there were many witnesses to both events..
is it because the government knows that redshirts were not involved in those incidents?
or some other not so politically sensitive reason?
10 Sidh S // Apr 27, 2009 at 8:28 pm
Interestingly the House and Senate meeting last week for the objective of societal ‘reconciliation’ turned into sessions for Pheu Thai MPs to shift all blame for the Red’s violence (specifically the Hot-headed radical reads) over Songkran to the government!!!
It is this precisely this attitude that refuses any accountability and responsibility on PMThaksin and the Red Leadership part that is a major barrier to any possible reconciliation. This could be comparable to TycoonSonthi and Chamlong saying that ‘PMSamak and PMSomchai illegally occupied Government House and the two airports’ – or saying the ‘crowds did it themselves, we did not issue the order’, which they wouldn’t do. This is another clear contrast between the Reds and Yellow leaderships.
David Brown#9, surely you know that is easier to identify leaders than the actual people, amidst the mayhem, that committed the violence. Look, have the police under PMSamak and PMSomchai governments ever found out who committed the violence against PAD at Udonthani, or the person who shot the M79 at PAD crowd at Government House and DonMuang?
And surely it is better than Chalerm’s favoured anonymous ‘AaiPaed’ to shoulder all the blame!
11 David Brown // Apr 27, 2009 at 9:05 pm
Sidh S
have you heard of any investigation of the perpetrators of Nang Lerng and the gas tanker events?
do you think the police should collect evidence? and question witnesses?)?
or do you really think we should only discuss whether Abhisit or Thaksin are responsible for these events? (without evidence?)
12 Elly // Apr 28, 2009 at 2:56 am
I endorse Careful Observer’s views on the ML. He is simply using media to gain a cult profile (some obviously have fallen for his tricks) and votes for his future political campaign. Funny he should talk about grudges and consoling hearts of reds when the ML is notorious for building grudges. There’s no education here people by the ML.
13 Sidh S // Apr 28, 2009 at 5:57 pm
David Brown#11. Yes, the police should collect evidences and question witness – unfortunately they have not gone far on any cases that I’ve mentioned nor, it is likely, the case at Nang Learng and the SiamGas gas truck cases. On the latter, I only hear that GenChaiyasit, PMThaksin’s cousin and Board Director at SiamGas, is suing DPMSuthep for accusing him that he is behind the gas truck saga:
http://www.matichon.co.th/news_detail.php?newsid=1240840742&grpid=00&catid=01
At the end of day, it may just be that the simple universal fact that the lives of the poor cost less – and the police will likely be preoccupied with TycoonSonthi’s attempt assasination case than any that we have mentioned concerning Red and Yellow foot soldier’s deaths. For PMThaksin, PheuThai and Red Elites, the poor Red crowds were mere sacrificial lambs for their very personal interests – wounded and dead bodies on photographs and VDO to peddle to the local and global media. You can also see that, interestingly, the gas tanks were parked near the urban poor communities – which then precipitated into a very local war of the locals fighting the Reds for their survival and nothing to do with political leanings…
14 Portman // Apr 28, 2009 at 9:25 pm
Srithanonchai #4
“Can “Careful Observer” tell us what he thinks about Khun Nattakorn’s father? Is that true epitomy of paternalist governance also “a shallow, muddled thinker” (recently, he expressed his desire to have a guy like Sarit Thanarat back, because, after all, that was a truly decisive leader!)?”
I agree with Careful Observer that ML Nattakorn’s father is also “a shallow, muddled thinker”. MR Pridyatorn was arguably the worst finance minister in over 20 years and made stupid and damaging mistakes through his refusal to listen to people with more knowledge and experience than himself. Then he resigned in a sulk, leaving others to try to clean up the messes he had created. His performance as governor of the Bank of Thailand and chairman of Exim Bank was more non-descript but is marred by credible allegations of conflicts of interest. His articles in the English language Thai press, including the one about Sarit are close to pure drivel.
Neither father nor son would ever have got the jobs they have had or anywhere to publish their vacuous thoughts, if they were not born to privilege and wealth. If anything, they are ideal motivators for those who would like a bolshevik revolution in Thailand to liquidate the aristocracy and redistribute their wealth. That a poser like Nattakorn can jump on the red shirt bandwagon without being rejected as a fake emphasises that the red shirt movement is led and manipulated by the elite for their own ends and lack a credible leadership of intellectuals with working class backgrounds.
15 Ralph Kramden // Apr 28, 2009 at 11:37 pm
Yes, Portman, ignore all of those guys who got Thailand into the 1997 crisis. They were all pretty sharp, like bowling balls.
16 Elephant // Apr 29, 2009 at 11:48 am
Agree with Portman. ML or Mister Lousy is anti-Democrats – they didn’t want him, and he’s using all ways and means to ensure its downfall. Which is what politicians do. And the piece on “consoling hearts of reds” is merely to be on the so-called right or “winning” side, so he can look like the White Knight when the time comes. Be careful with the Mon whatevers… they’re all about wealth and personal interests and status.
17 Portman // Apr 29, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Ralph #15
I am a bit confused by this apparent non sequitur but appreciate that economics and finance is not a forte of the Thai studies crew.
18 Sidh S // Apr 29, 2009 at 7:07 pm
We are witnessing a wholesale PMThaksin, Pheu Thai, Red Elite PR reinvention. PMThaksin now claims he is a man of peace (the Thai Nelson Mandela), Pheu Thai are advocating for Human Rights. They are all fighting for “True Democracy” against an oppressive, “totalitarian government”.
Thairath’s editorial today asks very pointed questions of where were these TRT/PPP/PT Human Rights advocates during The War on Drugs, Krue-sae, Takbai, Sabai-Yoi, Somchai Neelapaijit’s disappearance???:
“นักสิทธิมนุษยชนตัวจริง”
http://www.thairath.co.th/content/pol/2531
(on this, anyone know if AjarnKraisak Choonhavan’s “Citizen Juling” documentary has been publicly released?)
19 Portman // Apr 30, 2009 at 5:06 am
Well, if you’ve got money to pay foreign strategists and spin doctors, of course you can change tack and think up new packaging to try and bounce back when you have just hit a brick wall, after the army was so unsporting as to divert from the script and refrain from shooting down truck loads of your naive “baan nok” foot soldiers. But this seems to be aimed at foreign opinion, as local opinion is all for blowing away suspected drug dealers, even if they are just secretive lottery winners, 70 year old women or 9 year old boys, and definitely in favour of a hard line against the ungrateful Muslim “khaeks” in the deep South who so stubbornly refuse to see the benefits of Siamese colonial rule. It is hard to see how this desperate move will win much support at home or abroad but this is a war of attrition to be fought on any front and by any means you can afford, however implausible it may appear.
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