[ภาษาไทยข้างล่าง]
We are very pleased to announce the launch of “Unspeakable Things” ["สิ่งที่แตะต้องไม่ได้"] as a special issue of the online, media-friendly outlet Sensate: A Journal of Critical Media Practice.
In “Unspeakable Things,” we explore Thai politics through everyday objects – both Thai and foreign analysts are limited in what we can say directly, so we turn to objects as a strategy of dissident analysis. We began this project as the one-year anniversary of the April-May 2010 violent crackdown by Thai state forces on red shirt protestors passed. We are finishing as the second anniversary of the crackdown dawns with accountability still elusive. This series is also launched at a time when the number of people convicted of violations of Article 112 and the 2007 Computer Crimes Act is high and growing.
Each piece in this series combines different media forms to create a layered, interactive collage of words, images, video, and sound. At this time, the introduction and the first three pieces, with contributions by Craig Reynolds and Team, Ben Tausig and Peter Doolan, and Elizabeth Fitzgerald, have been published. The remaining six pieces will be released in several groups over the coming weeks. We invite you to spend time viewing, listening, and reading, and in so doing reflect on the Thai present and the resonances and effects of what can be spoken and what utterances remain forbidden.
You can view the introduction and the first three pieces here.
***
เรายินดีที่จะเปิดตัววารสารออนไลน์ Sensate: A Journal of Critical Media Practice ฉบับพิเศษหัวข้อ “สิ่งที่แตะต้องไม่ได้” ["Unspeakable Things"]
บทความต่าง ๆ ใน “สิ่งที่แตะต้องไม่ได้” ["Unspeakable Things"] วิเคราะห์วิจารณ์การเมืองไทยผ่านสิ่งของในชีวิต ประจำวัน ด้วยในปัจจุบันผู้ติดตามและนักวิเคราห์สถานการณ์ทั้งคนไทยและคนต่างชาติมีข้อจำกัดในการพูดถึงบางอย่างอย่าง ตรงไปตรงมาได้ ดังนั้น เราจึงหยิบเอาสิ่งของต่าง ๆ มาใช้เป็นเครื่องมือในการวิเคราะห์วิจารณ์คัดค้านการปิดกันเสรีภาพดังกล่าว
เราริเริ่มโครงการนี้เพื่อรำลึกถึง 1 ปีของใช้กำลังโดยรัฐไทยเพื่อสลายการชุมนุมคนเสื้อแดงระหว่างเดือนเมษายนถึงพฤษภาคม
2553 ขณะนี้ปีที่ 2 หลังจากเหตุการณ์ดังกล่าวกำลังจะผ่านพ้นไปโดยไร้ร่องรอยความรับผิดชอบของรัฐ ขณะเดียวกันวารสารฉบับนี้ ก็เปิดตัวท่ามกลางคนจำนวนมากที่กำลังถูกดำเนินคดีภายใต้มาตรา 112 และ พรบ. คอมพิวเตอร์ฯ อย่างสูงขึ้นและต่อเนื่อง
แต่ละบทความในวารสารฉบับนี้จะใช้สื่อต่างๆ เพื่่อสร้างคำ ภาพ เสียง และ วิดีโอแบบตัดปะที่มีชั้นในรูป แบบเชิงโต้ตอบได้ (interactive) ในขณะนี้ บทนำและบทความ 3 ชิ้นแรกโดย เครก เรย์โนลด์ และคณะ [Craig Reynolds and Team] เบณ เทาสิก และ ปีเตอร์ ดูเล่น [Ben Tausig and Peter Doolan] และเอลิซาเบธ ฟิตซ์เจอรัลด์ [Elizabeth Fitzgerald] ได้ตีพิมพ์แล้ว ในสัปดาห์ต่อ ๆ ไปจะมีอีกหกบทความทยอยเพิ่มเติมตามมา เราขอเชิญทุกท่านมารับชม ฟัง อ่าน “สิ่งที่แตะต้องไม่ได้” ["Unspeakable Things"] เพื่อรับรู้ถึงสิ่งที่กำลังเกิดขึ้นกับเมืองไทยในปัจจุบัน และฟังเสียงสะท้อนและ ผลกระทบที่มาจากสิ่งที่พูดได้และเสียงที่ยังถูกต้องห้าม
พบกับบทนำและสามบทแรกได้ที่ลิงค์นี้.
Ben Tausig [เบณ เทาสิก] is a Ph.D. candidate in Ethnomusicology at New York University and can be reached at datageneral@gmail.com. Tyrell Haberkorn [ไทเรล ฮาเบอร์คอร์น] is a research fellow in Political and Social Change at the Australian National University and can be reached at tyrellcaroline@gmail.com.
> “This series is also launched at a time when the number of people convicted of violations of Article 112 and the 2007 Computer Crimes Act is high and growing.”
It’s hard to parse any useful meaning from this sentence. Of course the number is growing. How high is ‘high’? What sort of number would not be ‘high’?
Quality comment or not?
0 
0
Unspeakable things in Thailand. Well, the truth for a start. The deaths on Phi Phi Island of tourists, the deaths in Chiangmai of tourists, all in mysterious circumstances, whilst staying in hotels, deserves to be mentioned here as the truth and cover ups in Chiangmai are still to be cleared up. The probable cause in Chiangmai was poinoning from industrial chemicals used to kill vermine. The tourist industry is a big earner and every suspicious death must be investigated.
Maybe I have got the wrong meaning of “Unspeakable things”. If I have I apologise.
Quality comment or not?
0 
0
Bravo! [Reflection] in Walter Benjamin’s “The Origin of German Tragic Drama” the writer contrasted the Classical Hero in Greek tragedy who is silent in his suffering, in his tragic and unspeakable fate. Not able to speak, this hero become superior to the gods and thus transcends not just the deities but also history itself…
Quality comment or not?
0 
0
Indeed, Roy. Initially it’s being blamed on food poisoning. A virulent form of food poisoning that causes massive vomiting, loss of blood and turns the toes and fingernails blue – doubtless, if the room had a balcony they would have both jumped off it. Also the police can’t decide whether the couple had been dead for 12 or 24 hours when they were found. Is any Thai police investigation worth more than a half-day old plate of somtam? Much closer than the unexplained deaths in Chiang Mai are two ‘similar’ deaths on Phi Phi itself just three years ago …
Quality comment or not?
0 
0
Jon@1: I half agree with you. The growing bit seems out of place today in 2012. The numbers being charged seem to have dropped precipitously when compared with the previous government. That said, the number charged under the previous government was certainly high when compared with any previous government, at least back to 1976-77. The data are clear on the latter.
Quality comment or not?
0 
0
Ralph: Note the quote talks about number convicted, not charged. Over the last nine months we’ve had the high-profile convictions of Joe, Ah Kong, Surachai and Chiranuch. Over the nine months prior to that there were four less-publicized convictions. In 2010: two; 2009: three; 2008/2007: three.
Quality comment or not?
0 
0
“It’s hard to parse any useful meaning from this sentence. Of course the number is growing. How high is ‘high’? What sort of number would not be ‘high’?”
Jon Wright, it is hard to parse these things. But it’s not a grammar exercise. I think the answer to your question is “unspeakably” high. If you can find more precise figures, please let us know.
Great idea, Ben and Tyrell. And you are quite right that in Thailand at the moment we “are limited in what we can say directly”. I hope this can get us nearer to that ideal.
Quality comment or not?
0 
0
And of course we are also limited in what we can say indirectly. Because LM judgements have often been based on interpretation of metaphor and presumed intention. ThoughtCrime.
If this had not been the case I might have quoted directly from the use of T-shirts celebrating the King of Rock and Roll (Elvis) and the great British Rock Band Queen. Difficult to parse of course.
Quality comment or not?
0 
0
More or less a translation issue…
Why “Unspeakable things” when the Thai, สิ่งที่แตะต้องไม่ได้, means untouchable, or sometimes intangible? If something is unspeakable, then ไม่สามารถบรรยายได้ [mai samart barnyai dai].
In a less direct sense, unspeakable could imply untouchable. Hopefully I am not nitpicking here…if off the mark I would appreciate being put in my place. Thanks.
Quality comment or not?
0 
0
Jon: not sure where you get your stats from, for I have seen no official stats on convictions. If you have some, let us know the source.
ALRC says this: “Statistics provided by the Office of the Judiciary indicate a sharp rise in lese-majesty charges filed since the 19 September 2006 coup, with 33 charges filed in 2005, 30 filed in 2006, 126 filed in 2007, 77 filed in 2008, 164 filed in 2009, and an extraordinary 478 charges filed in 2010. While statistics released for the first five months of 2011 indicate a reduction in the number of charges filed, information for the second half of 2011 and 2012 to date has not been made available publicly.” Given that the conviction rate has been about 95%, then we’d expect more convictions than your figures suggest. Data for the last years seems a blank.
Quality comment or not?
0 
0
“Off-limit” should be a possible rendition in English of the Thai expression แตะต้องไม่ได้
Quality comment or not?
0 
0
Tom Hoy: What do you mean, more precise? More precise than what? I thought you were in the English teaching business?
Quality comment or not?
0 
0
That’s also correct, off-limit. But unspeakable? No.
Quality comment or not?
0 
0
Jon, the number of LM cases is “unspeakably” high because LM can’t be freely talked about. It’s an area which for most people is unspeakable. And this unspeakability makes things like the number of prosecutions, invesigations, and charges difficult to know. And difficult to parse, I guess.
But you are right, one prosecution would be one too many.
BTW, jis because I’m in the English teaching business don’t mean I speak proper all the time. I try to learn ‘em the whole range of Angkrit – the good, the bad, and the ugly. And occasionally, a phrase or two from the Queen’s English.
Quality comment or not?
0 
0