OFF TOPIC – from Bangkok Post Tuesday December 19, 2006
Ex-nun gets jail
LESE MAJESTE :The Ayutthaya provincial court yesterday sentenced a former Buddhist nun to three years in prison for lese majeste.
Benjawan Bensungnern, 73, formerly the head of a nuns’ organisation in tambon Phai Ling of Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya district, was found to have committed the offence during March and November 2002, together with Kamalas Samarnsap, then a Buddhist novice.
Ms Benjawan, who would appeal, was released on bail yesterday. Ms Kamalas was earlier found guilty and sentenced to jail in Chiang Mai.
My views came from Diamond’s “Guns, Germs, and Steel” (especially his section on the Austronesian migration and the makeup of Indonesia) as well as the personal experience of living as a Thai-Chinese trader in Malay-dominated Yala (where it was obvious that migration was the major factor behind genetic, economic, and language differences).
Paul, thanks for clarifying. While travelling in Lao, I mixed mostly with locals and Thai. I never saw the Irish pubs, coffee shops, and fancy restaurants that Bangkok and Hong Kong had led me to associated with an expat community.
Could I ask what most expats in Lao do? In Bangkok or HK, it’s mostly in business. I wasn’t aware that there was much foreign investment in Lao.
That was not amusing Republican and your attempts at humour left me flat and least entertained.
Same with your attempts at book promotion or selling 2nd hand cars, those too were failures.
And your ridiculous attempt to resurrect that total disgrace Thaksin Shinawatra by your directed malice at the monarchy are so obvious as to be totally suspect and lacking of merit. The man responsible for the suspension of Thai democracy was Thaksin Shinawatra because of his runaway abuse, corruption and extrajudicial killings. All the other decent people responded to the Thaksin Shinawatra danger the only way they know how: THEY ALL OPPOSED HIM. And those that opposed him included the military, the Thai academica, the Thai intelligentsia, the monarchy, and yours truly Vichai N., your only student who failed (did not even bother to attend) your, Republican’s, democracy lessons.
I can’t understand why you have such a one track mind, Republican – The position of the monachy was firmly entrenched in the old Constitution so don’t get youself too distressed.
If anything, the aim of the new Constitution, will be to try ensure that someone like Thaksin can be kept in check should that personality type ever rise to power again.
A “Royalist Constitution”. I can’t understand why we continue the charade of hiding the monarchy’s involvement, when there is no way that the Thai people would accept a military takeover without the king’s endorsement. The aim of the Constitution will be not to entrench a military regime but to ensure that the political position of the monarchy is enhanced and protected from any democratic challenge.
“Apart from the use of techniques such is prosopograthy, the study of social and family connections, what distinguished Namier’s work was meticulous attention to detail and emphasis on original sources. Namierisation, a word coined in his lifetime, was essentially a substitution of accurate detail for the generalisations that had contented earlier historians. Namier went to the grass-roots of politics. He asked such questions as : what determined the conduct of individual MPs? Why did men go into politics? What did they get out of it?” http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/reapp/lewis.html
Matthew’s journal was the newspaper of the Thai-Burma hinterlands that should have been written, but wasn’t.
When people are murdered under mysterious circumstances and it isn’t made public in newspapers, something is wrong.
(Note: I mean newspapers read with an audience of people who actually cared whether the person was murdered or not. Some newspapers are more interested in the shock value of mutilated corpses.)
Okas indeed attended class 4212 of the National Defence College. The chairperson of this class is none else then the deputy speaker of the National Legislative Assembly, Potjanee Thanavaranit. In October 2005, both Potjanee and Okas organized a congratulatory party for Sonthi Bunyaratgalin, their class mate.
[…] In my previous posts, I mentioned Mentur, and his part in the resettlement of the Hmong in and around Vieng Say. His story raises many questions: what made a man’s search for subsistence into an illegal trespass? Why it was possible for the resettlement program to be enforced? What logics of legality and illegality led to his incarceration? To answer these questions, it is important to understand first how land is owned and regulated in today’s Laos. Fortunately, the staff of the Vieng Say lands office were extremely helpful in explaining this to me. […]
[…] In my previous posts, I mentioned Mentur, and his part in the resettlement of the Hmong in and around Vieng Say. His story raises many questions: what made a man’s search for subsistence into an illegal trespass? Why it was possible for the resettlement program to be enforced? What logics of legality and illegality led to his incarceration? To answer these questions, it is important to understand first how land is owned and regulated in today’s Laos. Fortunately, the staff of the Vieng Say lands office were extremely helpful in explaining this to me. […]
I don’t think I have ever met Matt, perhaps once, but I have been following his Akha.org for many years. If nothing else he has served as a tireless activist for a people who get little respect from any corner. Regardless of any personality issues as perceived by others, I tip my hat to him for his efforts as nobody else has champoined their rights or brought to light the bizarre existence of these orphanges up north that focus almost exclusively on Akha children. When I first lived north of the Kok River in the early 1980s, Lahu was used as the local lingua franca. So why so few Lahu and other minorities at these orphanges? There are serious human rights issues involved here.
Kurtz!?! Perhaps a smidgen from Conrad’s original Kurtz who had gone a bit too far native for the likes of most of his compatriots, but not Coppola’s Colonel who was an amalgam of Conrad’s Kurtz, legends of Lao snake eater Tony Poe, along with plenty of other personal musings added to the mix. I am a big fan of both works.
No. 2 was Pharani Leenuthapong, an executive of BMW Thailand, while No. 3 was Suwit Pipatwilaikul, a high-school graduate construction contractor from Nong Bua Lamphu. Sounds like their was some “lobbying” going on in this selection.
But it doesn’t really matter – in the end, the 2,000 junta-appointees have been distilled down to 200 junta-loyalists who will be concentrated to 100 junta-boot lickers who will be condensed into 25 junta-cronies who will be fortified with another 10 junta-appointees. It’s a forgone conclusion that this constitution is actually the Military’s Constitution.
You are right, perhaps I was a little harsh. In fact, thanks to New Mandala your real education has already begun. I was just in the middle of filling out your report card, which I will be sending home to your parents. I am a little worried what they might think so I’ll let you see it first:
р╕Ф. р╕К. Vichai N. (?)
WRITING: B
Good. Shows talent as a comedy writer.
READING: D
Appears to be able to read, but lacks comprehension. Refuses to read books assigned by his teacher. Prefers to watch TV and read popular magazines.
HISTORY: D+
Can’t separate historical fact from fiction. Seems to like historical romance about heroic kings. Failed the module on feudalism. Very weak on modern history.
POLITICS: F
Unable to grasp the basic concepts of democracy. Believes that royalist dictatorships are still a legitimate form of government in the 21st century. Shows an interest in absolutism.
ECONOMICS: F
Believes in pseudo-economic theories unaccepted by any school of economics. His former teacher must have been a cretin.
GEOGRAPHY: D
Has little conception of the world outside Thailand, and therefore cannot see how far Thailand lags behind developed countries.
ART: B
Has a vivid imagination. Should be encouraged. But needs to be able to separate the world of his imagination from the real world.
CLASSROOM BEHAVIOUR: D
A rather aggressive boy who is always teasing the other boys in his class. Likes to gang up with the children of aristocrats and military generals to bully the other boys. Tends to avoid associating with the poorer boys. Once caught stealing the right to vote from them. Suspect that he is jealous of another more popular boy who was voted school head-boy.
GPA: 1.3
Status: pro.
OVERALL COMMENTS: I am very worried about young Vichai. I realize that he is at a disadvantage compared to the other boys because of the brainwashing he went through before he came here, but now that he is here he needs to show more application. I believe he has the potential, but he needs to think for himself more, rather than aping his former teachers. In particular he needs to concentrate more on his reading. Otherwise he will not be able to meet the high standards we expect of students at New Mandala school.
The imagined expatriate community may even come second place to the tens of thousands of students in Vientiane (23,000 in higher education in 2005 with another 17,000 who could not get places) who have all been keenly learning English over the past decade. Update Magazine (cover photo above) specifically targets these students. It is filled with adverts for private colleges offering new international-style business degrees with English language components. If current trends continue, magazines like Update may not be needing an expatriate readership at all. The entire country wants to learn English.
Thanks all of you for your comments.
Basically, I see two main arguments here :
-a relativist/culturalist one (Jon): discourses on purity are “socially-constructed essentialisms” (and sometimes politically motivated) which can be found everywhere in the world, using different symbols. Western sensitivity to these kinds of discourses is related to what happened in Europe in the XXth century. I take this argument but what still worries me here is that this Thai discourse about race is not coming from students or from people I know in a private sphere for instance, but from well-known academics interviewed by on of the major international newspaper or Southeast Asia…
-a technological one (Patiwat): I do agree with the fact that scientists today have tools that they could not have imagined twenty years ago. The point here is that the new “differences” and the new “regularities” they find with their new tools need to be interpreted with precise words (and surely with new categories, not with a conceptual frame inherited from the 30’s !).
It is now crucial that such researchers learn to speak with social anthropologists (and the reverse) in order to avoid misleading and potentially dangerous associations between genetic categories and cultural/social ones.
Moreover, I do not believe the history of a these waves migrations of people with each its specific genes and tools and language. Sorry patiwat, but these are 19th century diffusionist theories which have been revisited many times already ! Anthropology show that tools and languages travel much more quicker than men. They have also shown that all the current “ethnic” categories in Southeast Asia are “products” of political and social history and relationships. They do not come “naturally” and “genetically” from the past.
Astonishingly Patiwat “can’t imagine Laos having any significant expats community”, perhaps he should see for himself and give his imagination a rest. Given the strict censorship regime and other difficulties in importing or publishing in Laos, the extensive expat community is quite glad of the English language Vientiane Times and magazines with parallel texts. As for why parallel text publications exits at all, the explanation is more symbolic than practical (although with practical implications)l: putting Lao (or Thai) side by side with English gives it dignity and importance, by equating it graphically with the world’s most important language. One could write a PhD about the meanings and motivations underlying that.
[…] New Mandala readers who can t get enough news and views on Burma may be keen to … Burma Digest covers events both inside and outside Burma and is currently … For anybody interested in Burma – and particularly its current period of … – more – […]
Akha.org presents Interesting, conflicting and complex stuff Nick.
There is a bit of a biography on Matthew by Antonio Graceffo on Hackwriters.com. Have you seen it? The line comparing Matthew to Colonel Kurz, from Apocalypse Now is amusing (or should that read telling?)
The parallel texts follow the example of so many Thai magazines today. For the Lao the obvious path for modernizing is to follow the Thailand example in most things. This is the basic answer, but there are many other aspects to your question that need to be discussed.
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Who is Okas Tepalakul?
OFF TOPIC – from Bangkok Post Tuesday December 19, 2006
Ex-nun gets jail
LESE MAJESTE :The Ayutthaya provincial court yesterday sentenced a former Buddhist nun to three years in prison for lese majeste.
Benjawan Bensungnern, 73, formerly the head of a nuns’ organisation in tambon Phai Ling of Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya district, was found to have committed the offence during March and November 2002, together with Kamalas Samarnsap, then a Buddhist novice.
Ms Benjawan, who would appeal, was released on bail yesterday. Ms Kamalas was earlier found guilty and sentenced to jail in Chiang Mai.
Nationalism and genetics: Thai obsession with race
I wasn’t aware that diffusionism was so outdated.
My views came from Diamond’s “Guns, Germs, and Steel” (especially his section on the Austronesian migration and the makeup of Indonesia) as well as the personal experience of living as a Thai-Chinese trader in Malay-dominated Yala (where it was obvious that migration was the major factor behind genetic, economic, and language differences).
Book Zone – Lao popular culture
Paul, thanks for clarifying. While travelling in Lao, I mixed mostly with locals and Thai. I never saw the Irish pubs, coffee shops, and fancy restaurants that Bangkok and Hong Kong had led me to associated with an expat community.
Could I ask what most expats in Lao do? In Bangkok or HK, it’s mostly in business. I wasn’t aware that there was much foreign investment in Lao.
Against the grain?
That was not amusing Republican and your attempts at humour left me flat and least entertained.
Same with your attempts at book promotion or selling 2nd hand cars, those too were failures.
And your ridiculous attempt to resurrect that total disgrace Thaksin Shinawatra by your directed malice at the monarchy are so obvious as to be totally suspect and lacking of merit. The man responsible for the suspension of Thai democracy was Thaksin Shinawatra because of his runaway abuse, corruption and extrajudicial killings. All the other decent people responded to the Thaksin Shinawatra danger the only way they know how: THEY ALL OPPOSED HIM. And those that opposed him included the military, the Thai academica, the Thai intelligentsia, the monarchy, and yours truly Vichai N., your only student who failed (did not even bother to attend) your, Republican’s, democracy lessons.
Who is Okas Tepalakul?
I can’t understand why you have such a one track mind, Republican – The position of the monachy was firmly entrenched in the old Constitution so don’t get youself too distressed.
If anything, the aim of the new Constitution, will be to try ensure that someone like Thaksin can be kept in check should that personality type ever rise to power again.
Who is Okas Tepalakul?
A “Royalist Constitution”. I can’t understand why we continue the charade of hiding the monarchy’s involvement, when there is no way that the Thai people would accept a military takeover without the king’s endorsement. The aim of the Constitution will be not to entrench a military regime but to ensure that the political position of the monarchy is enhanced and protected from any democratic challenge.
Who is Okas Tepalakul?
A Namier for Thai political history would be nice. The British historian Namier was the first to study the composition of parliament in minute detail:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Bernstein_Namier
“Apart from the use of techniques such is prosopograthy, the study of social and family connections, what distinguished Namier’s work was meticulous attention to detail and emphasis on original sources. Namierisation, a word coined in his lifetime, was essentially a substitution of accurate detail for the generalisations that had contented earlier historians. Namier went to the grass-roots of politics. He asked such questions as : what determined the conduct of individual MPs? Why did men go into politics? What did they get out of it?”
http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/reapp/lewis.html
Special interview: Matthew McDaniel, pro-Akha activist
Matthew’s journal was the newspaper of the Thai-Burma hinterlands that should have been written, but wasn’t.
When people are murdered under mysterious circumstances and it isn’t made public in newspapers, something is wrong.
(Note: I mean newspapers read with an audience of people who actually cared whether the person was murdered or not. Some newspapers are more interested in the shock value of mutilated corpses.)
Who is Okas Tepalakul?
Okas indeed attended class 4212 of the National Defence College. The chairperson of this class is none else then the deputy speaker of the National Legislative Assembly, Potjanee Thanavaranit. In October 2005, both Potjanee and Okas organized a congratulatory party for Sonthi Bunyaratgalin, their class mate.
Seminar: tool of oppression or reunification?
[…] In my previous posts, I mentioned Mentur, and his part in the resettlement of the Hmong in and around Vieng Say. His story raises many questions: what made a man’s search for subsistence into an illegal trespass? Why it was possible for the resettlement program to be enforced? What logics of legality and illegality led to his incarceration? To answer these questions, it is important to understand first how land is owned and regulated in today’s Laos. Fortunately, the staff of the Vieng Say lands office were extremely helpful in explaining this to me. […]
Welcome to Vieng Say
[…] In my previous posts, I mentioned Mentur, and his part in the resettlement of the Hmong in and around Vieng Say. His story raises many questions: what made a man’s search for subsistence into an illegal trespass? Why it was possible for the resettlement program to be enforced? What logics of legality and illegality led to his incarceration? To answer these questions, it is important to understand first how land is owned and regulated in today’s Laos. Fortunately, the staff of the Vieng Say lands office were extremely helpful in explaining this to me. […]
Special interview: Matthew McDaniel, pro-Akha activist
I don’t think I have ever met Matt, perhaps once, but I have been following his Akha.org for many years. If nothing else he has served as a tireless activist for a people who get little respect from any corner. Regardless of any personality issues as perceived by others, I tip my hat to him for his efforts as nobody else has champoined their rights or brought to light the bizarre existence of these orphanges up north that focus almost exclusively on Akha children. When I first lived north of the Kok River in the early 1980s, Lahu was used as the local lingua franca. So why so few Lahu and other minorities at these orphanges? There are serious human rights issues involved here.
Kurtz!?! Perhaps a smidgen from Conrad’s original Kurtz who had gone a bit too far native for the likes of most of his compatriots, but not Coppola’s Colonel who was an amalgam of Conrad’s Kurtz, legends of Lao snake eater Tony Poe, along with plenty of other personal musings added to the mix. I am a big fan of both works.
Who is Okas Tepalakul?
No. 2 was Pharani Leenuthapong, an executive of BMW Thailand, while No. 3 was Suwit Pipatwilaikul, a high-school graduate construction contractor from Nong Bua Lamphu. Sounds like their was some “lobbying” going on in this selection.
But it doesn’t really matter – in the end, the 2,000 junta-appointees have been distilled down to 200 junta-loyalists who will be concentrated to 100 junta-boot lickers who will be condensed into 25 junta-cronies who will be fortified with another 10 junta-appointees. It’s a forgone conclusion that this constitution is actually the Military’s Constitution.
Against the grain?
You are right, perhaps I was a little harsh. In fact, thanks to New Mandala your real education has already begun. I was just in the middle of filling out your report card, which I will be sending home to your parents. I am a little worried what they might think so I’ll let you see it first:
р╕Ф. р╕К. Vichai N. (?)
WRITING: B
Good. Shows talent as a comedy writer.
READING: D
Appears to be able to read, but lacks comprehension. Refuses to read books assigned by his teacher. Prefers to watch TV and read popular magazines.
HISTORY: D+
Can’t separate historical fact from fiction. Seems to like historical romance about heroic kings. Failed the module on feudalism. Very weak on modern history.
POLITICS: F
Unable to grasp the basic concepts of democracy. Believes that royalist dictatorships are still a legitimate form of government in the 21st century. Shows an interest in absolutism.
ECONOMICS: F
Believes in pseudo-economic theories unaccepted by any school of economics. His former teacher must have been a cretin.
GEOGRAPHY: D
Has little conception of the world outside Thailand, and therefore cannot see how far Thailand lags behind developed countries.
ART: B
Has a vivid imagination. Should be encouraged. But needs to be able to separate the world of his imagination from the real world.
CLASSROOM BEHAVIOUR: D
A rather aggressive boy who is always teasing the other boys in his class. Likes to gang up with the children of aristocrats and military generals to bully the other boys. Tends to avoid associating with the poorer boys. Once caught stealing the right to vote from them. Suspect that he is jealous of another more popular boy who was voted school head-boy.
GPA: 1.3
Status: pro.
OVERALL COMMENTS: I am very worried about young Vichai. I realize that he is at a disadvantage compared to the other boys because of the brainwashing he went through before he came here, but now that he is here he needs to show more application. I believe he has the potential, but he needs to think for himself more, rather than aping his former teachers. In particular he needs to concentrate more on his reading. Otherwise he will not be able to meet the high standards we expect of students at New Mandala school.
Teacher’s Signature:
Republican
………………………
Book Zone – Lao popular culture
The imagined expatriate community may even come second place to the tens of thousands of students in Vientiane (23,000 in higher education in 2005 with another 17,000 who could not get places) who have all been keenly learning English over the past decade. Update Magazine (cover photo above) specifically targets these students. It is filled with adverts for private colleges offering new international-style business degrees with English language components. If current trends continue, magazines like Update may not be needing an expatriate readership at all. The entire country wants to learn English.
Nationalism and genetics: Thai obsession with race
Thanks all of you for your comments.
Basically, I see two main arguments here :
-a relativist/culturalist one (Jon): discourses on purity are “socially-constructed essentialisms” (and sometimes politically motivated) which can be found everywhere in the world, using different symbols. Western sensitivity to these kinds of discourses is related to what happened in Europe in the XXth century. I take this argument but what still worries me here is that this Thai discourse about race is not coming from students or from people I know in a private sphere for instance, but from well-known academics interviewed by on of the major international newspaper or Southeast Asia…
-a technological one (Patiwat): I do agree with the fact that scientists today have tools that they could not have imagined twenty years ago. The point here is that the new “differences” and the new “regularities” they find with their new tools need to be interpreted with precise words (and surely with new categories, not with a conceptual frame inherited from the 30’s !).
It is now crucial that such researchers learn to speak with social anthropologists (and the reverse) in order to avoid misleading and potentially dangerous associations between genetic categories and cultural/social ones.
Moreover, I do not believe the history of a these waves migrations of people with each its specific genes and tools and language. Sorry patiwat, but these are 19th century diffusionist theories which have been revisited many times already ! Anthropology show that tools and languages travel much more quicker than men. They have also shown that all the current “ethnic” categories in Southeast Asia are “products” of political and social history and relationships. They do not come “naturally” and “genetically” from the past.
Book Zone – Lao popular culture
Astonishingly Patiwat “can’t imagine Laos having any significant expats community”, perhaps he should see for himself and give his imagination a rest. Given the strict censorship regime and other difficulties in importing or publishing in Laos, the extensive expat community is quite glad of the English language Vientiane Times and magazines with parallel texts. As for why parallel text publications exits at all, the explanation is more symbolic than practical (although with practical implications)l: putting Lao (or Thai) side by side with English gives it dignity and importance, by equating it graphically with the world’s most important language. One could write a PhD about the meanings and motivations underlying that.
Burma Digest
[…] New Mandala readers who can t get enough news and views on Burma may be keen to … Burma Digest covers events both inside and outside Burma and is currently … For anybody interested in Burma – and particularly its current period of … – more – […]
Special interview: Matthew McDaniel, pro-Akha activist
Akha.org presents Interesting, conflicting and complex stuff Nick.
There is a bit of a biography on Matthew by Antonio Graceffo on Hackwriters.com. Have you seen it? The line comparing Matthew to Colonel Kurz, from Apocalypse Now is amusing (or should that read telling?)
http://www.hackwriters.com/saveMathewMcDaniel.htm
Book Zone – Lao popular culture
The parallel texts follow the example of so many Thai magazines today. For the Lao the obvious path for modernizing is to follow the Thailand example in most things. This is the basic answer, but there are many other aspects to your question that need to be discussed.