Supachai was a Democrat, and the Democrats have the most to gain from the coup. To support him now would essentially be encouraging the junta. Given the US has just suspended over $20 million in foreign aid to the Thai government, this is unlikely.
In addition, the nomination of a Muslim to the post would prove highly unpopular with some segments of the American public. Reading a random assortment of American blogs following the coup, one theme that stood out among the more ignorant of the bloggers was “Muslim general leads coup overthrowing Buddhist government!” This is total nonsense of course – General Sonthi’s religion is totally irrelevant, but US politicians will have to contend with even more of that if they nominate Surin.
It was only a few days ago that The Nation was telling us it was Dr Supachai who was acceptable to the P5. Surin makes more sense than Dr Supachai, but I don’t see the UNSG coming from Thailand with the coup. Then, again we will have to wait for the 3rd straw poll.
Next time, Andrew, if you fly from Suvannabhumi, please not only prepare money for airport tax. But more importantly, you need to prepare some extra money in case the Airport will charge you more for the guardian spirit’s annual protection. At the new airport, there will be signs next to the “Amazing Thailand” poster saying “Donation for ‘whiskey and pig-head and multi-color, wrap-around clothes’ for airport guardian spirits is very welcomed!”
To me, what is unclear in Peter interpretion of ‘God-King’ here is the way he defines the concept of ‘deva-raja’ in modern thai society. Besides, I think by framing the analysis with such concept in explaining the changing images of kingship percieved by Thais is partial true yet too quick for conclusion. Another discourse that maybe worth understanding is the idea of ‘Dhama Raja’ And if you watch television program during the royal celebration, you might see the quick swap, and the mixture of, representations of the king as both Deva and Dhamma Raja. Often times, theses two concepts have been used interchangable by medias without really dig into the roots of its very idea. There is a trend in society to shift the the idea of King from merely grounded on Deva notion to the more integrative representation with relations to the realm of Dhama. The very reason is that the latter one, as it is more down to earth, can be ‘felt’ and ‘sympathetic’ by the Thai people better. And that they are more tied or feel closer to the royalty than the king as god. If you ask the Thais walking on the street how they percieve the King as, I am sure that the latter one will make more counts.
So, yes, I agree that the idea of Deva still is attached to the royalty symbolism and as social institution, but using merely Deva concept in explaining the changes may risk ignoring the dynamics of royal re-construction of public images as well as different chrarismatic tools employed by the palace in maintaining the royal legistimacy in today Thailand.
[…] The BBC, the Telegraph and the Bangkok Post, among others, are carrying “crack-down” stories that highlight potential restrictions on Tesco and other foreign retailers in Thailand. Before the coup, I wrote about the uncertain position of large international retailers, particularly those seeking to open dozens of new stores in the far-flung corners of the Kingdom. The mega-store conglomerates were already under some pressure before the recent change to military leadership. […]
The Burmese Rohingya Refugees in the Australian immigration detention centre at Nauru,are most oppressed and discriminated
refugees in the world,they should be brings into mainland of Australia andthen processing and given them asylum accordingly 1951 convention and 1964 protocal signed be Australian Government.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH
I suppose the key question is how you would translate “deva raja”. You may be interested in reading Grant Evans’ review of Paul Handley’s The King Never Smiles which we featured earlier on NewMandala. Evans is critical of Handley’s use of the deva-raja concept (and he also states that Handley overestimates the power of the king).
I understand your frustration but, just to clarify, Peter Jackson does, in my experience, speak and read Thai. He is a very competent historian, and a serious scholar of Thai religion, sexuality and politics.
The sloppy (and sometimes awkwardly eurocentric) interpretations that you criticise in your 2004 blog post perhaps don\’t apply in Jackson\’s current research. I didn\’t attend this recent seminar – and haven\’t seen his paper on this particular topic – but in my experience his work always merits a concerted reading.
It may be a bit presumptuous to dismiss his ideas as \”silly things\”.
Here, I wrote this blog in October 2004, “Pra Chao Paendin” not a God. I find it frustrating that people who don’t speak our language try to interpret our concepts for us. The dig in their books and papers and use their intelligence to imagine silly things.
[…] Right now, we are, however, hearing much banter about Thaksin’s supposedly “corrupt domination of the rural vote”. The realities on the ground often defy such convenient generalisation. […]
[…] David Glenn, a journalist at The Chronicle of Higher Education, has sent me the link to the transcript of an interview conducted with Duncan McCargo, one of the best known writers on the now defunct Thaksin government. As I noted in an earlier post, last year I reviewed McCargo’s co-authored book on the former Prime Minister. The full text of the Chronicle of Higher Education article is only available to the Chronicle’s subscribers after the temporary link I have been sent expires in a few days time. There is, however, much in the article that will interest New Mandala readers. I have taken a few choice quotations from the transcript and, with any luck, a permanent electronic version will become available soon. […]
[…] Right now, we are, however, hearing much banter about Thaksin’s supposedly “corrupt domination of the rural vote”. The realities on the ground often defy such convenient generalisation. […]
[…] Right now, we are, however, hearing much banter about Thaksin’s supposedly “corrupt domination of the rural vote”. The realities on the ground often defy such convenient generalisation. […]
[…] Right now, we are, however, hearing much banter about Thaksin’s supposedly “corrupt domination of the rural vote”. The realities on the ground often defy such convenient generalisation. […]
Local government officials ordered to refrain from travelling temporarily
The Interior Ministry has instructed officials of local administrations nationwide to refrain from making trips until further notice.
Sujarit Pujchimnan, permanent secretary for Interior Ministry, said he had not heard any movement of local administrators that they would hold rallies against coup makers.
But he said he had instructed the officials of local administrators to refrain from making trips for the time being.
The site claims that it is managed by the ICT Ministry. However, a DNS lookup reveals its IP as 203.78.110.25. That domain reversed back to Netway Communication, a private web hosting provider in Thailand. Thus it appears to be not legitimate.
Lack of logic?
1. An elected PM and his government can NOT select generals they trust? It is supposed to be undemocratic.
2. Generals can select a PM and a government and it is supposed to be democratic.
I don’t understand!
In what kind of situations, if any, can an elected government be removed by none democratic means? And why? Some guidance might be given by international laws and UN human rights declarations. But it is not related to tax violations. The democratic process has to cope with ordinary and even large forms of defective administration.
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Surin for Sec-Gen?
Extremely unlikely in my opinion.
Supachai was a Democrat, and the Democrats have the most to gain from the coup. To support him now would essentially be encouraging the junta. Given the US has just suspended over $20 million in foreign aid to the Thai government, this is unlikely.
In addition, the nomination of a Muslim to the post would prove highly unpopular with some segments of the American public. Reading a random assortment of American blogs following the coup, one theme that stood out among the more ignorant of the bloggers was “Muslim general leads coup overthrowing Buddhist government!” This is total nonsense of course – General Sonthi’s religion is totally irrelevant, but US politicians will have to contend with even more of that if they nominate Surin.
Surin for Sec-Gen?
Nick
It was only a few days ago that The Nation was telling us it was Dr Supachai who was acceptable to the P5. Surin makes more sense than Dr Supachai, but I don’t see the UNSG coming from Thailand with the coup. Then, again we will have to wait for the 3rd straw poll.
I’m leaving on a jet plane…
Next time, Andrew, if you fly from Suvannabhumi, please not only prepare money for airport tax. But more importantly, you need to prepare some extra money in case the Airport will charge you more for the guardian spirit’s annual protection. At the new airport, there will be signs next to the “Amazing Thailand” poster saying “Donation for ‘whiskey and pig-head and multi-color, wrap-around clothes’ for airport guardian spirits is very welcomed!”
The deva-raja
To me, what is unclear in Peter interpretion of ‘God-King’ here is the way he defines the concept of ‘deva-raja’ in modern thai society. Besides, I think by framing the analysis with such concept in explaining the changing images of kingship percieved by Thais is partial true yet too quick for conclusion. Another discourse that maybe worth understanding is the idea of ‘Dhama Raja’ And if you watch television program during the royal celebration, you might see the quick swap, and the mixture of, representations of the king as both Deva and Dhamma Raja. Often times, theses two concepts have been used interchangable by medias without really dig into the roots of its very idea. There is a trend in society to shift the the idea of King from merely grounded on Deva notion to the more integrative representation with relations to the realm of Dhama. The very reason is that the latter one, as it is more down to earth, can be ‘felt’ and ‘sympathetic’ by the Thai people better. And that they are more tied or feel closer to the royalty than the king as god. If you ask the Thais walking on the street how they percieve the King as, I am sure that the latter one will make more counts.
So, yes, I agree that the idea of Deva still is attached to the royalty symbolism and as social institution, but using merely Deva concept in explaining the changes may risk ignoring the dynamics of royal re-construction of public images as well as different chrarismatic tools employed by the palace in maintaining the royal legistimacy in today Thailand.
Thais love Tesco
[…] The BBC, the Telegraph and the Bangkok Post, among others, are carrying “crack-down” stories that highlight potential restrictions on Tesco and other foreign retailers in Thailand. Before the coup, I wrote about the uncertain position of large international retailers, particularly those seeking to open dozens of new stores in the far-flung corners of the Kingdom. The mega-store conglomerates were already under some pressure before the recent change to military leadership. […]
Rohingyas on Nauru, part II
The Burmese Rohingya Refugees in the Australian immigration detention centre at Nauru,are most oppressed and discriminated
refugees in the world,they should be brings into mainland of Australia andthen processing and given them asylum accordingly 1951 convention and 1964 protocal signed be Australian Government.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH
The deva-raja
I suppose the key question is how you would translate “deva raja”. You may be interested in reading Grant Evans’ review of Paul Handley’s The King Never Smiles which we featured earlier on NewMandala. Evans is critical of Handley’s use of the deva-raja concept (and he also states that Handley overestimates the power of the king).
The deva-raja
Dear Nui,
I understand your frustration but, just to clarify, Peter Jackson does, in my experience, speak and read Thai. He is a very competent historian, and a serious scholar of Thai religion, sexuality and politics.
The sloppy (and sometimes awkwardly eurocentric) interpretations that you criticise in your 2004 blog post perhaps don\’t apply in Jackson\’s current research. I didn\’t attend this recent seminar – and haven\’t seen his paper on this particular topic – but in my experience his work always merits a concerted reading.
It may be a bit presumptuous to dismiss his ideas as \”silly things\”.
Nicholas
Blog on HIV in Myanmar
The power of IEC is always strong. It can speak different languages and can reach remote places.
The drawback is the stigma associated with the contents of HIV/AIDS related IECs which lead to premature removal of those IECs.
Comedy is one calatalyst that can dilute those stigmas in a funny way, and maximize the creativity and innovation of IECs.
The deva-raja
Here, I wrote this blog in October 2004, “Pra Chao Paendin” not a God. I find it frustrating that people who don’t speak our language try to interpret our concepts for us. The dig in their books and papers and use their intelligence to imagine silly things.
“Yes sir, I understood”
[…] Right now, we are, however, hearing much banter about Thaksin’s supposedly “corrupt domination of the rural vote”. The realities on the ground often defy such convenient generalisation. […]
The “De-Thaksinization” of Thailand
[…] David Glenn, a journalist at The Chronicle of Higher Education, has sent me the link to the transcript of an interview conducted with Duncan McCargo, one of the best known writers on the now defunct Thaksin government. As I noted in an earlier post, last year I reviewed McCargo’s co-authored book on the former Prime Minister. The full text of the Chronicle of Higher Education article is only available to the Chronicle’s subscribers after the temporary link I have been sent expires in a few days time. There is, however, much in the article that will interest New Mandala readers. I have taken a few choice quotations from the transcript and, with any luck, a permanent electronic version will become available soon. […]
Coming Attractions: Elections, Constitutions and More…
[…] Right now, we are, however, hearing much banter about Thaksin’s supposedly “corrupt domination of the rural vote”. The realities on the ground often defy such convenient generalisation. […]
A New Mandala scoop on vote buying
[…] Right now, we are, however, hearing much banter about Thaksin’s supposedly “corrupt domination of the rural vote”. The realities on the ground often defy such convenient generalisation. […]
Elections under Thaksin
[…] Right now, we are, however, hearing much banter about Thaksin’s supposedly “corrupt domination of the rural vote”. The realities on the ground often defy such convenient generalisation. […]
Tightening the grip – stop local political activity!
From today’s Nation:
Local government officials ordered to refrain from travelling temporarily
The Interior Ministry has instructed officials of local administrations nationwide to refrain from making trips until further notice.
Sujarit Pujchimnan, permanent secretary for Interior Ministry, said he had not heard any movement of local administrators that they would hold rallies against coup makers.
But he said he had instructed the officials of local administrators to refrain from making trips for the time being.
The Nation
Tightening the grip – stop local political activity!
An English translation of the proclamation is at:
http://www.mict.go.th/cdrc/Image/pdf/8135_pdf.pdf
www.coup.com.th
Correct official site of the junta seems to be http://www.mict.go.th/cdrc
www.coup.com.th
The site claims that it is managed by the ICT Ministry. However, a DNS lookup reveals its IP as 203.78.110.25. That domain reversed back to Netway Communication, a private web hosting provider in Thailand. Thus it appears to be not legitimate.
Good one Giles!
Lack of logic?
1. An elected PM and his government can NOT select generals they trust? It is supposed to be undemocratic.
2. Generals can select a PM and a government and it is supposed to be democratic.
I don’t understand!
In what kind of situations, if any, can an elected government be removed by none democratic means? And why? Some guidance might be given by international laws and UN human rights declarations. But it is not related to tax violations. The democratic process has to cope with ordinary and even large forms of defective administration.