Najib needs a diversion for the awful economic situation the country is in and the abundant cases of corruption (PKFZ, submarines that can’t dive, jets without engines, Bakun Dam, now Taib’s exposed corruption, etc) he doesn’t want to confront, not to mention the Sodomy 2 trial, which is turning to be a horrible, unconvincing replay and the bungled Selangor takeover which caused the death of a political aide (Teoh Beng Hock). He needs all these horrible truth to go away, so he’s playing along with all the racists demand by the ultra-Malays group. Unless he can shore up the country’s FDI, it’s only going to get worse. If the economy don’t improve after the New Year, he’ll likely opt for (ii) & (iii), coz calling for a GE with a possible lost of more seats will only benefit his deputy, Muhyddin. When Badawi lost the 2/3 majority, they forced him into retirement, and Najib knows very well that he could suffer from the same fate. What goes around, comes around; so, apart from crushing the Opposition, he also has to deal with the popular (among the Malays) Muhyddin.
Susie Wong, your comment of August 21 followed by my responses.:
1. On 21 June 1997, Cambodia requested United Nations assistance in organizing the process for the Khmer Rouge trials, in early 2006 the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) were formally established.
Myresponse: There is a long hiatus between the two dates because of the following: In 1997, the UN responded to the Cambodian request by sending an exprt group proposing a UN Cambodian mixed tribunal. Samdech Hun Sen insisted to the New York delegation that the tribunal must be a Cambodian tribunal with foreign assistance. During the long negotiations between the UN and Cambodia Excellency Sok An whom I frequently met during his negotiations in New York and Phnom Penh insisted on this point: that the court is a Cambodian court with UN assistance. That is why negotiations took so long and was even broken off at one point by the UN. Finally, Cambodia triumphed and the court is today a Cambodian court with international assistance and not repeat not an international court. Hence ECCC has three Cs in it: Chambers in the Court of Cambodia.
Then you mentioned Michelle Lee a United Nations official whom I know very well being a staffmember of the ECCC to prove that it is an international court. You are wrong. Michelle Lee, who has two years ago been replaced by UN staffer Knut Rosandhaug, is a a deputy Director of the Administration, and they serve as deputies under His Excellency Kranh Tony, Acting Director, who represents the Government of Cambodia. Likewise, the chief of Public Affairs representing the government is Mr Reach Sambath and all UN officials are under him. So it is clear that it is a Cambodian court with international assistance and not an international court. This is what the Cambodian government and people want. Suzie, we cannot argue about facts.
2. The General Assembly convened a conference in Rome in June 1998, with the aim of finalising a treaty. On 17 July 1998, the Rome Statute of International Criminal Court (ICC) was adopted by a vote of 120 to 7, with 21 countries abstaining. The seven countries that voted against the treaty were China, Iraq, Israel, Libya, Qatar, the United States, and Yemen.
My response: this is a fact that everybody knows that has nothing to do with our argument.
3. Cambodian people decide to combine ECCC plus ICC to make the objectives of ECCC (No.1 + No. 2). The purpose of ECCC is to try senior members of the Khmer Rouge for serious violations of Cambodian penal law, international humanitarian law and custom, and violation of international conventions recognized by Cambodia, committed during the period between 17 April 1975 and 6 January 1979. This includes crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide.
My response: objective of ECCC us the same as that of the ICC. The definition of crimes against humanity was taken from the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, New York, 9 December 1948. Pol Pot’s massacre was largely based on political and not ethnic consideration and therefore cannot be tried as genocide that is why the Khmer rouge is being tired for crimes against humanity. This is because the definition of Genocide adopted in 1948 did not include political crimes. Stalin cleverly excludes political reaons as genocide as he does not want his massacres to be classified as genocide.
You can say whatever you want but the fact is that the ECCC is not part of the ICC.
Regarding SEATO and ASEAN, Lee Jones is absolutely right by saying that Suzie Wong did not know what she was talking about when she said that “6. Lastly, Lee Jones and Benny Widyono, during the Cold War period, the organization was still SEATO not ASEAN because the bloc at the time had only 5 original members… Here’s the short summary of SEATO became ASEAN…” Suzie, I am sorry byt this is absolute balderdash.
SEATO was primarily created to block further communist gains in Southeast Asia but only had three Asian members: Thailand, the Philippines and Pakistan )because of its membership in CENTO). SEATO could not do anything in the Cambodia conflict or about anything else because it lacks unanimity. ASEAN was established in 1967 grouping together non communist or anti communist countries Thailand, Indonesia,Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia later joined by Brunei. (Indonesia becvame staunchly anti communist after the 1965 coup attempt and the massacre of 800,000 socalled communists under the Suharto regime). It was supposed to be an economic union and only became a political force when supporting the Khmer Rouge government and opposing the People’s Republic of Cambodia in the UN in New York until 1991 as the detailed discussions between Lee Jones and I have explained. After the Cambodia conflict was settled Vietnam Laos, Myanmar and lastly Cambodia became members to achieve ASEAN ten a dream of teh founding fathers. As their economies grew stronger the economic bonds between the countries became stronger as well and there si now even a talk of an ASEAN stock market. Politically ASEAN is engaging Myanmar in a constructive dialogue and the US wants to use ASEAN to counter China’s menacing presence and flexing its muscles in the Pacific. For instance.during President Obama’s trip to Asia in November 2009. in Singapore, he met with Thein Sein, the Prime Minister of Myanmar during the first ASEAN-US summit.But that is another topic.
Dear Pinot Stricolli and Susie Wong. I think Thet Sambath made a great movie with such a small budget. He even said that he did not give his wife and children money to buy rice because of his “prokect”and his wife was asking when this project will be finished. Thet Sambbath,s interviews with Nuon Chea which took him more than two years, (NUON Chea is now in the ECCC detention(, will do more for understanding the mind of the Khmer Rouge than the tribunal. I am all in favor of circulating Thet Sambath’s movie with the help of donor funds rather than the costly tribunal costing more than $100 million where sophisticated international lawyers with fat salaries defending the criminals like Nuon Chea and Ieng Sary who are jailed in airconditioned comfort and get the best medical care in Cambodia. Unlike Suzie Wong, who persists in misquoting me as if i said that I think the future generation should forget the past, which I never said, I am all in favor of educating the young people about the evils of the Khmer Rouge. All I said was that apart from the Khmer Rouge tribunal which is very costly and is thirty years late. there are other ways to bring reconciliation and justice in Cambodia like the trith commissions in South Africa and Timor Leste or the face to face reconciliation meetings in Rwanda. Today the people in Cambodia do not look around them to ask were you or you or you are a former Khmer Rouge or try to find out whether the their neighbor was a former Khmer Rouge. That is a thing of the past. Fortunatelky because the killings were poltically nmotivated and not etnically or racially, it is easier to do so than if the perpetrators are another race such as between Jews who suffered in the Holocaust and ethnic Germans or between Tamils and Sinhalese in Sri lanka or between Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda. The only time business compabies in Phnom Penh are interested in hiring an ex Khmer Rouge is when they are looking for security guards as the Khmer Rouge were famous for being good soldiers. All I said in my original article was that there are other ways to reconciliation and justice including truth commissions etc. For instance apart from Thet Sambath’s movie I strongly support educating the children about the evils of the Khmer Rouge and I commend the efforts of Youk Chang of Documentation Center on Cambodia (DCCam) who published a text on the Khmer Rouge in English and Khmer which is now circulating in million copies. My own book Dancing in Shadows, is now being translated into Khmer by the Center for Khmer Studies, (CKS) in SiemReap for the purpose of educating the new Khmer generation about the evils of the Khmer Rouge and the unjust international manipulations of the problem to prolong the suffering of the Khmer people whom I love like my own.
You are interpreting events from reports and you are drawing conclusions that are incorrect. Soldiers maintained a base of fire at Rajaprarop and Sri Auyuttaya thus controlling eventually all of Rajaprarop from the Din Daeng intersection all the way to Auyuttaya. They kept people off of Rajaprarop down to Petchburi, or close to Petchburi. Red shirts were kept at bay at Petchburi but then had another tire barricade down Rajaprarop closer to the soldiers, but still quite far away. This journalist wasn’t walking towards soldiers with tires hanging around his neck; he was moving from one barricade to another. Or at least that’s what I assume from what I saw there. Soldiers fired from, what? A thousand meters? They were clearing the street, sending a message that they didn’t want you on that street. This journalist was part of a blob of people soldiers saw behind their sandbags and these soldiers simply pulled the trigger to clear them out. This is not complicated.
Col. Romklao: Don’t equate this colonel with these journalists I speak of. He was a professional soldier with protective gear holding a weapon among other soldiers holding a weapon standing among APCs facing for the most part unarmed protesters. He didn’t see this para military coming either.
Blame the victim? No. I have always referred to specific actions in specific circumstances.
Nick: Amen brother! I guess you can get away with your opinion about how disgraceful many of the photojournalists have been covering this protest. I knew if I said such things I’d be attacked.
I was also appalled at what I saw as I stood there among international photojournalists blowing into Bangkok for the week to build careers exploiting the suffering of Thai people. I thought to myself that none of these photojournalists know anything about Thailand and could care less about the struggle of these rural people. They treated them like objects with their cameras and it was always about getting the most extreme picture possible and then hoping for glory on the front cover of The New York Times.
I remember seeing one guy riding in off of Rama IV into an alley with a big motorcross bike with some bandana around his neck and then getting off with this pompous attitude. Wonderful crowd these people.
What we all get is sensationalism or recycled summaries of the “background” of Thai politics and this does little to inform the reader.
Superanonymous: regarding Dan Rivers-unecessary risk: There is a vast middle ground where great reporting and great photojournalism can occur where journalists need not be reckless. Most of these protests were not spent shooting at things. Most of the protests were about speeches, and simply listening to speeches, and eating, and walking around and chatting. But it’s the bullet ridden protester off to the ambulance that gets published. This sh*t journalism and obscures a much larger, nuanced narrative about class, poverty, free speech, and history among other things.
At least Nick is taking the time to actually tell a story with his pictures to provide more context and not just another sound bite. And Nick, I hope you also include a bit of the view from the young soldiers who were thrust into this crap. They are victims too. I looked at the protesters and these soldiers as one and the same.
A Thai election is not free, unless of course everyone is free to sell or buy votes. No wonder the Red Shirts have only contempt for the restrictive ‘unfree’ Bangkok elections.
Well done Suzie Wong for setting me straight. Never again will I share a joke at work, or admire a thing of beauty when it happens into view at the wrong time of day. I look forward to your next post when hopefully you will list the millitary approved smiling times.
Average temp in Yangon during summer is 40┬║C even more in Mandalay.
Wearing short skirts and shorts has always been a blessing and accepted by most of the fair sex among Yangoners and village youth since the colonial time.
That being said the tradition has always been clothing length to wrists and ankles.
Enter Any popular nightclub in Yangon at any night one might think one is in Bangkok or Copenhagen, in terms of attire as well as behaviors.
The only difference here is only the truly/dirty rich can afford to engage in such activities.
SPDC is an entity that maintain control using any means.
Upholding tradition is a popular pretext.
With their and their cronies off springs as indicators of their hypocrisy New Mandala readers must see the merit of this article as:
“Having the cake and eating it too” success of SPDC.
Taking only the literal value of censorship make SPDC no more than a buffoon that the west will like to portray this present entity.
Thus ensuring a justification on continuing this useless careless policy.
The focus IS to educate the New Mandala readers here who are truly concern about the plight of Myanmar citizenry.
To unequivocally realize the present Myanmar quagmire is a continuum of west treachery.
Still ongoing as proof:
US/west continuing policy of useless sanction and careless vilification in dealing with SPDC.
Ko Moe Aung
Until such scathing criticism, on insignificant inaccuracies of one’s own, as a repeating detractor in New Mandala, become EXTINCT, the US/west policy that complimented SPDC’s own to an unconscionably perfect 100% against a hapless citizenry will ensue.
US/west will continue to ENJOY “getting away with the murder” of the most vulnerable within Myanmar as SPDC has been doing all along albeit using the useless careless policy of the west stated above as raison d’├кtre.
I think we have to respect the military code of conduct and distinguish them from civilian world. I don’t think it’s appropriate to have XXX type of pictures in formal serious magazine. If you want to see legs and other stuffs, buy playboy magazine. I don’t think women should act cheap by posting to arouse sexual reaction in a serious magazine because it makes women look stupid. There’s a place for leisure and a place for seriousness. We should not mix the two together.
Nick N: To some extent I share your wariness about RSF, but the value of it here is that it does serve as some kind of starting point, which can be checked or built upon, since the interviews are with named sources with first-hand involvement. This is in contrast to the “everybody knows” kind of assertions in comments by people such as Simon and Bangkok Dan, which are next to worthless for establishing any kind of factual record.
As a bit of a footnote, I find your criticism that “Many members of the media have put themselves at unnecessary risk while covering the mess” interesting, because it is kind of the mirror image of the criticism of CNN’s Dan Rivers for (supposedly) covering the trouble from the safety of his terrace. Oh dear, what’s a reporter to do?
A human body is a human body, whether that of a male or female, and no matter what part of the body. A person is somewhat insane to be obsessed with human body. Viewed rather philosophically, no part of the human body is really exciting.
There must be some differences in specs. and maybe plus a list of ammo and missiles. I am sure the kickbacks.
Unless Thailand is buying the NG version which estimated to be around $40-55 million then you are talking about kickback of at least $15million, that’s almost baht 500 million each and we are buying 6 of them (2 being twin seats) that’s a whooping Baht 3 Billion of kickback! now where is my PAD friends, the champion of anti-corruption war? Maybe its time to take back your 6 yellow shirts huh?
The Khmer Rouge still have these large stockpiles of weapons given by China during those few year of their brutal rule.
I would say with the help of Thailand and the US ally, remembered that Thailand play a very important role in the raise of Khmer Rouge .
Thank you everyone for pressing me to be precise. Initially, my intention was only to defend the international regimes and principles of crimes against humanity so that horrific events at the level of genocides will not ever happen again. However, I realized that my argument can’t be separated from politics. So let me clarify a few points in relation to history of Southeast Asia during the Cold War era.
As for Lee Jones, your contention that, “top Thai generals and foreign policy officials were on record, at the time, as saying that Vietnam had no intention to invade Thailand. The threat wasn’t conventional in nature,” is an enticing argument. Such a contention is more complex than it seems on the surface. For example, your position statement mentions “top Thai generals and foreign policy officials” as though they were decision-makers. When in fact their opinions remained only opinions, it didn’t carry weigh into the decision making process. They simply were not decision makers. It may be more accurate to say, not that the Thai opinions were not important, but rather that decisions were made by the Great Powers: the US-China. At the time, General Kriangsak Chomanan was the Thai Prime Minister, he had the closest and warm relationship with to the US.
US combat operations ceased in 1973, nearly all American troops were withdrawn that year. Some advisors and logistical personnel remained to support the South Vietnamese. US Congress cut off aid to South Vietnam in 1975, North Vietnamese troops captured Saigon, ending the Vietnam War.
In Cambodia, Khmer Rouge overthrew the pro-US General Lon Nol in 1975. Immediately after the end of the Vietnam War, large numbers of people were killed by the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 to 1979. Large scale fighting last between December 25, 1978 and January 7, 1979, Vietnamese forces invaded Cambodia.
On Feb 17, 1979, a People’s Republic of China force of about 200,000 entered North Vietnam. Full scale fighting between China and Vietnam lasted between Feb 17 and March 16, 1979.
Lee Jones, I considered those aforementioned events as the result of conventional threat perception within the context of détente, Sino-Soviet split, and the US-China rapprochement.
I would suggest not to use the RSF “report” as prime source material. This “report” has been hurried and is badly if at all investigated.
It contains some good interviews, some lesser than good interviews, a few factual mistakes, gross simplifications, and many accusations full of hearsay that have done a lot of damage.
And generally speaking here, i have many problems with the lack of self criticism of the media itself. While reporting we, as a professional group, have done many mistakes. Many members of the media have put themselves at unnecessary risk while covering the mess. Many of us have put others at risk as well, such as hords of cameramen and photographers blocking the way to ambulances while taking images of injured being carried to safety.
There were times i was ashamed to be part of this profession. Many of us are caring people who try to do a good job. But when conflicts such as this one make the world news, they also attract some very disgusting people whose only care is making money out of the misery of others.
I have to cringe when we are put on this pedestal of something close to heroism. We clearly don not belong there.
Personally speaking, i am so glad that the fighting is over, for now. Obviously because people do not get killed and injured, but also because nowadays i can take my images undisturbed by this rat pack. Most of the time now i am the only professional photographer at Red Shirt events, and the images i take there make me a lot happier than when i have to take photos of dead and injured people.
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Happy Independence Day, Malaysia!
Spot on Greg!
Najib needs a diversion for the awful economic situation the country is in and the abundant cases of corruption (PKFZ, submarines that can’t dive, jets without engines, Bakun Dam, now Taib’s exposed corruption, etc) he doesn’t want to confront, not to mention the Sodomy 2 trial, which is turning to be a horrible, unconvincing replay and the bungled Selangor takeover which caused the death of a political aide (Teoh Beng Hock). He needs all these horrible truth to go away, so he’s playing along with all the racists demand by the ultra-Malays group. Unless he can shore up the country’s FDI, it’s only going to get worse. If the economy don’t improve after the New Year, he’ll likely opt for (ii) & (iii), coz calling for a GE with a possible lost of more seats will only benefit his deputy, Muhyddin. When Badawi lost the 2/3 majority, they forced him into retirement, and Najib knows very well that he could suffer from the same fate. What goes around, comes around; so, apart from crushing the Opposition, he also has to deal with the popular (among the Malays) Muhyddin.
An alternative view of the Duch verdict in Cambodia
Susie Wong, your comment of August 21 followed by my responses.:
1. On 21 June 1997, Cambodia requested United Nations assistance in organizing the process for the Khmer Rouge trials, in early 2006 the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) were formally established.
Myresponse: There is a long hiatus between the two dates because of the following: In 1997, the UN responded to the Cambodian request by sending an exprt group proposing a UN Cambodian mixed tribunal. Samdech Hun Sen insisted to the New York delegation that the tribunal must be a Cambodian tribunal with foreign assistance. During the long negotiations between the UN and Cambodia Excellency Sok An whom I frequently met during his negotiations in New York and Phnom Penh insisted on this point: that the court is a Cambodian court with UN assistance. That is why negotiations took so long and was even broken off at one point by the UN. Finally, Cambodia triumphed and the court is today a Cambodian court with international assistance and not repeat not an international court. Hence ECCC has three Cs in it: Chambers in the Court of Cambodia.
Then you mentioned Michelle Lee a United Nations official whom I know very well being a staffmember of the ECCC to prove that it is an international court. You are wrong. Michelle Lee, who has two years ago been replaced by UN staffer Knut Rosandhaug, is a a deputy Director of the Administration, and they serve as deputies under His Excellency Kranh Tony, Acting Director, who represents the Government of Cambodia. Likewise, the chief of Public Affairs representing the government is Mr Reach Sambath and all UN officials are under him. So it is clear that it is a Cambodian court with international assistance and not an international court. This is what the Cambodian government and people want. Suzie, we cannot argue about facts.
2. The General Assembly convened a conference in Rome in June 1998, with the aim of finalising a treaty. On 17 July 1998, the Rome Statute of International Criminal Court (ICC) was adopted by a vote of 120 to 7, with 21 countries abstaining. The seven countries that voted against the treaty were China, Iraq, Israel, Libya, Qatar, the United States, and Yemen.
My response: this is a fact that everybody knows that has nothing to do with our argument.
3. Cambodian people decide to combine ECCC plus ICC to make the objectives of ECCC (No.1 + No. 2). The purpose of ECCC is to try senior members of the Khmer Rouge for serious violations of Cambodian penal law, international humanitarian law and custom, and violation of international conventions recognized by Cambodia, committed during the period between 17 April 1975 and 6 January 1979. This includes crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide.
My response: objective of ECCC us the same as that of the ICC. The definition of crimes against humanity was taken from the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, New York, 9 December 1948. Pol Pot’s massacre was largely based on political and not ethnic consideration and therefore cannot be tried as genocide that is why the Khmer rouge is being tired for crimes against humanity. This is because the definition of Genocide adopted in 1948 did not include political crimes. Stalin cleverly excludes political reaons as genocide as he does not want his massacres to be classified as genocide.
You can say whatever you want but the fact is that the ECCC is not part of the ICC.
An alternative view of the Duch verdict in Cambodia
Regarding SEATO and ASEAN, Lee Jones is absolutely right by saying that Suzie Wong did not know what she was talking about when she said that “6. Lastly, Lee Jones and Benny Widyono, during the Cold War period, the organization was still SEATO not ASEAN because the bloc at the time had only 5 original members… Here’s the short summary of SEATO became ASEAN…” Suzie, I am sorry byt this is absolute balderdash.
SEATO was primarily created to block further communist gains in Southeast Asia but only had three Asian members: Thailand, the Philippines and Pakistan )because of its membership in CENTO). SEATO could not do anything in the Cambodia conflict or about anything else because it lacks unanimity. ASEAN was established in 1967 grouping together non communist or anti communist countries Thailand, Indonesia,Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia later joined by Brunei. (Indonesia becvame staunchly anti communist after the 1965 coup attempt and the massacre of 800,000 socalled communists under the Suharto regime). It was supposed to be an economic union and only became a political force when supporting the Khmer Rouge government and opposing the People’s Republic of Cambodia in the UN in New York until 1991 as the detailed discussions between Lee Jones and I have explained. After the Cambodia conflict was settled Vietnam Laos, Myanmar and lastly Cambodia became members to achieve ASEAN ten a dream of teh founding fathers. As their economies grew stronger the economic bonds between the countries became stronger as well and there si now even a talk of an ASEAN stock market. Politically ASEAN is engaging Myanmar in a constructive dialogue and the US wants to use ASEAN to counter China’s menacing presence and flexing its muscles in the Pacific. For instance.during President Obama’s trip to Asia in November 2009. in Singapore, he met with Thein Sein, the Prime Minister of Myanmar during the first ASEAN-US summit.But that is another topic.
An alternative view of the Duch verdict in Cambodia
Dear Pinot Stricolli and Susie Wong. I think Thet Sambath made a great movie with such a small budget. He even said that he did not give his wife and children money to buy rice because of his “prokect”and his wife was asking when this project will be finished. Thet Sambbath,s interviews with Nuon Chea which took him more than two years, (NUON Chea is now in the ECCC detention(, will do more for understanding the mind of the Khmer Rouge than the tribunal. I am all in favor of circulating Thet Sambath’s movie with the help of donor funds rather than the costly tribunal costing more than $100 million where sophisticated international lawyers with fat salaries defending the criminals like Nuon Chea and Ieng Sary who are jailed in airconditioned comfort and get the best medical care in Cambodia. Unlike Suzie Wong, who persists in misquoting me as if i said that I think the future generation should forget the past, which I never said, I am all in favor of educating the young people about the evils of the Khmer Rouge. All I said was that apart from the Khmer Rouge tribunal which is very costly and is thirty years late. there are other ways to bring reconciliation and justice in Cambodia like the trith commissions in South Africa and Timor Leste or the face to face reconciliation meetings in Rwanda. Today the people in Cambodia do not look around them to ask were you or you or you are a former Khmer Rouge or try to find out whether the their neighbor was a former Khmer Rouge. That is a thing of the past. Fortunatelky because the killings were poltically nmotivated and not etnically or racially, it is easier to do so than if the perpetrators are another race such as between Jews who suffered in the Holocaust and ethnic Germans or between Tamils and Sinhalese in Sri lanka or between Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda. The only time business compabies in Phnom Penh are interested in hiring an ex Khmer Rouge is when they are looking for security guards as the Khmer Rouge were famous for being good soldiers. All I said in my original article was that there are other ways to reconciliation and justice including truth commissions etc. For instance apart from Thet Sambath’s movie I strongly support educating the children about the evils of the Khmer Rouge and I commend the efforts of Youk Chang of Documentation Center on Cambodia (DCCam) who published a text on the Khmer Rouge in English and Khmer which is now circulating in million copies. My own book Dancing in Shadows, is now being translated into Khmer by the Center for Khmer Studies, (CKS) in SiemReap for the purpose of educating the new Khmer generation about the evils of the Khmer Rouge and the unjust international manipulations of the problem to prolong the suffering of the Khmer people whom I love like my own.
Who killed Italian photographer Fabio Polenghi?
superanonymous:
You are interpreting events from reports and you are drawing conclusions that are incorrect. Soldiers maintained a base of fire at Rajaprarop and Sri Auyuttaya thus controlling eventually all of Rajaprarop from the Din Daeng intersection all the way to Auyuttaya. They kept people off of Rajaprarop down to Petchburi, or close to Petchburi. Red shirts were kept at bay at Petchburi but then had another tire barricade down Rajaprarop closer to the soldiers, but still quite far away. This journalist wasn’t walking towards soldiers with tires hanging around his neck; he was moving from one barricade to another. Or at least that’s what I assume from what I saw there. Soldiers fired from, what? A thousand meters? They were clearing the street, sending a message that they didn’t want you on that street. This journalist was part of a blob of people soldiers saw behind their sandbags and these soldiers simply pulled the trigger to clear them out. This is not complicated.
Col. Romklao: Don’t equate this colonel with these journalists I speak of. He was a professional soldier with protective gear holding a weapon among other soldiers holding a weapon standing among APCs facing for the most part unarmed protesters. He didn’t see this para military coming either.
Blame the victim? No. I have always referred to specific actions in specific circumstances.
Nick: Amen brother! I guess you can get away with your opinion about how disgraceful many of the photojournalists have been covering this protest. I knew if I said such things I’d be attacked.
I was also appalled at what I saw as I stood there among international photojournalists blowing into Bangkok for the week to build careers exploiting the suffering of Thai people. I thought to myself that none of these photojournalists know anything about Thailand and could care less about the struggle of these rural people. They treated them like objects with their cameras and it was always about getting the most extreme picture possible and then hoping for glory on the front cover of The New York Times.
I remember seeing one guy riding in off of Rama IV into an alley with a big motorcross bike with some bandana around his neck and then getting off with this pompous attitude. Wonderful crowd these people.
What we all get is sensationalism or recycled summaries of the “background” of Thai politics and this does little to inform the reader.
Superanonymous: regarding Dan Rivers-unecessary risk: There is a vast middle ground where great reporting and great photojournalism can occur where journalists need not be reckless. Most of these protests were not spent shooting at things. Most of the protests were about speeches, and simply listening to speeches, and eating, and walking around and chatting. But it’s the bullet ridden protester off to the ambulance that gets published. This sh*t journalism and obscures a much larger, nuanced narrative about class, poverty, free speech, and history among other things.
At least Nick is taking the time to actually tell a story with his pictures to provide more context and not just another sound bite. And Nick, I hope you also include a bit of the view from the young soldiers who were thrust into this crap. They are victims too. I looked at the protesters and these soldiers as one and the same.
Thai style reconciliation a recipe for further conflict
A Thai election is not free, unless of course everyone is free to sell or buy votes. No wonder the Red Shirts have only contempt for the restrictive ‘unfree’ Bangkok elections.
Interview with Claudio Sopranzetti: The politics of motorcycle taxis
[…] article written by an anthropologist whose subject of study is the motorsai guys. Can be found here. Nuts In A Blender + Reply to […]
Who killed Italian photographer Fabio Polenghi?
“superanonymous”:
There is calculated risk and recklessness…
Burmese women’s legs in the media
Well done Suzie Wong for setting me straight. Never again will I share a joke at work, or admire a thing of beauty when it happens into view at the wrong time of day. I look forward to your next post when hopefully you will list the millitary approved smiling times.
Concept + Process = ?
Just to clarify, if it was not made clear by the Irrawaddy article already, Aung Htut is Nay Win Maung’s pen name.
On the front line of globalisation
Does anyone know who the composer of the image is? i need it for my HSC.
Burmese women’s legs in the media
Average temp in Yangon during summer is 40┬║C even more in Mandalay.
Wearing short skirts and shorts has always been a blessing and accepted by most of the fair sex among Yangoners and village youth since the colonial time.
That being said the tradition has always been clothing length to wrists and ankles.
Enter Any popular nightclub in Yangon at any night one might think one is in Bangkok or Copenhagen, in terms of attire as well as behaviors.
The only difference here is only the truly/dirty rich can afford to engage in such activities.
SPDC is an entity that maintain control using any means.
Upholding tradition is a popular pretext.
With their and their cronies off springs as indicators of their hypocrisy New Mandala readers must see the merit of this article as:
“Having the cake and eating it too” success of SPDC.
Taking only the literal value of censorship make SPDC no more than a buffoon that the west will like to portray this present entity.
Thus ensuring a justification on continuing this useless careless policy.
Abhisit and Thailand’s bad men
@ #22
And behind every good man there is ……………well sometimes.
Burma in Limbo, Part 2
The focus IS to educate the New Mandala readers here who are truly concern about the plight of Myanmar citizenry.
To unequivocally realize the present Myanmar quagmire is a continuum of west treachery.
Still ongoing as proof:
US/west continuing policy of useless sanction and careless vilification in dealing with SPDC.
Ko Moe Aung
Until such scathing criticism, on insignificant inaccuracies of one’s own, as a repeating detractor in New Mandala, become EXTINCT, the US/west policy that complimented SPDC’s own to an unconscionably perfect 100% against a hapless citizenry will ensue.
US/west will continue to ENJOY “getting away with the murder” of the most vulnerable within Myanmar as SPDC has been doing all along albeit using the useless careless policy of the west stated above as raison d’├кtre.
Burmese women’s legs in the media
I think we have to respect the military code of conduct and distinguish them from civilian world. I don’t think it’s appropriate to have XXX type of pictures in formal serious magazine. If you want to see legs and other stuffs, buy playboy magazine. I don’t think women should act cheap by posting to arouse sexual reaction in a serious magazine because it makes women look stupid. There’s a place for leisure and a place for seriousness. We should not mix the two together.
Who killed Italian photographer Fabio Polenghi?
Nick N: To some extent I share your wariness about RSF, but the value of it here is that it does serve as some kind of starting point, which can be checked or built upon, since the interviews are with named sources with first-hand involvement. This is in contrast to the “everybody knows” kind of assertions in comments by people such as Simon and Bangkok Dan, which are next to worthless for establishing any kind of factual record.
As a bit of a footnote, I find your criticism that “Many members of the media have put themselves at unnecessary risk while covering the mess” interesting, because it is kind of the mirror image of the criticism of CNN’s Dan Rivers for (supposedly) covering the trouble from the safety of his terrace. Oh dear, what’s a reporter to do?
Burmese women’s legs in the media
A human body is a human body, whether that of a male or female, and no matter what part of the body. A person is somewhat insane to be obsessed with human body. Viewed rather philosophically, no part of the human body is really exciting.
Abhisit’s territorial rite
denyzofisarn – 31
There must be some differences in specs. and maybe plus a list of ammo and missiles. I am sure the kickbacks.
Unless Thailand is buying the NG version which estimated to be around $40-55 million then you are talking about kickback of at least $15million, that’s almost baht 500 million each and we are buying 6 of them (2 being twin seats) that’s a whooping Baht 3 Billion of kickback! now where is my PAD friends, the champion of anti-corruption war? Maybe its time to take back your 6 yellow shirts huh?
The Khmer Rouge still have these large stockpiles of weapons given by China during those few year of their brutal rule.
I would say with the help of Thailand and the US ally, remembered that Thailand play a very important role in the raise of Khmer Rouge .
An alternative view of the Duch verdict in Cambodia
Thank you everyone for pressing me to be precise. Initially, my intention was only to defend the international regimes and principles of crimes against humanity so that horrific events at the level of genocides will not ever happen again. However, I realized that my argument can’t be separated from politics. So let me clarify a few points in relation to history of Southeast Asia during the Cold War era.
As for Lee Jones, your contention that, “top Thai generals and foreign policy officials were on record, at the time, as saying that Vietnam had no intention to invade Thailand. The threat wasn’t conventional in nature,” is an enticing argument. Such a contention is more complex than it seems on the surface. For example, your position statement mentions “top Thai generals and foreign policy officials” as though they were decision-makers. When in fact their opinions remained only opinions, it didn’t carry weigh into the decision making process. They simply were not decision makers. It may be more accurate to say, not that the Thai opinions were not important, but rather that decisions were made by the Great Powers: the US-China. At the time, General Kriangsak Chomanan was the Thai Prime Minister, he had the closest and warm relationship with to the US.
US combat operations ceased in 1973, nearly all American troops were withdrawn that year. Some advisors and logistical personnel remained to support the South Vietnamese. US Congress cut off aid to South Vietnam in 1975, North Vietnamese troops captured Saigon, ending the Vietnam War.
In Cambodia, Khmer Rouge overthrew the pro-US General Lon Nol in 1975. Immediately after the end of the Vietnam War, large numbers of people were killed by the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 to 1979. Large scale fighting last between December 25, 1978 and January 7, 1979, Vietnamese forces invaded Cambodia.
On Feb 17, 1979, a People’s Republic of China force of about 200,000 entered North Vietnam. Full scale fighting between China and Vietnam lasted between Feb 17 and March 16, 1979.
Lee Jones, I considered those aforementioned events as the result of conventional threat perception within the context of détente, Sino-Soviet split, and the US-China rapprochement.
Who killed Italian photographer Fabio Polenghi?
“superanonymous”:
I would suggest not to use the RSF “report” as prime source material. This “report” has been hurried and is badly if at all investigated.
It contains some good interviews, some lesser than good interviews, a few factual mistakes, gross simplifications, and many accusations full of hearsay that have done a lot of damage.
And generally speaking here, i have many problems with the lack of self criticism of the media itself. While reporting we, as a professional group, have done many mistakes. Many members of the media have put themselves at unnecessary risk while covering the mess. Many of us have put others at risk as well, such as hords of cameramen and photographers blocking the way to ambulances while taking images of injured being carried to safety.
There were times i was ashamed to be part of this profession. Many of us are caring people who try to do a good job. But when conflicts such as this one make the world news, they also attract some very disgusting people whose only care is making money out of the misery of others.
I have to cringe when we are put on this pedestal of something close to heroism. We clearly don not belong there.
Personally speaking, i am so glad that the fighting is over, for now. Obviously because people do not get killed and injured, but also because nowadays i can take my images undisturbed by this rat pack. Most of the time now i am the only professional photographer at Red Shirt events, and the images i take there make me a lot happier than when i have to take photos of dead and injured people.