That hits the spot. Jokowi will not be able to exploit again his image as a reformer in 2019. The last two years of jokowi’s presidency has been marred by jokowi’s apparent feebleness before the powerful military generals and PDIP. Some indonesians might also recall how jokowi has made tons of compromises with corrupt officials of political parties to secure more power, thus failed to keep his words to form a professional cabinet.
In 2019, i suspect that jokowi’s campaign machine will be much dominately run by PDIP, rather than civil society. They will make good use of jokowi’s physical infrastructure projects as propaganda and vote-getters, while at the same time covering fact of jokowi’s impotence to stand against the influence of powerful generals and politic elites.
Indeed, and people should remember that, in general, the apple does not fall far from the tree. But the new head boy has a stronger will than his Dad, who was week and ineffectual; and easily dominated by Prem, his wife and many others. The new guy is altogether another kettle of fish.
[…] lalu Ian Wilson menulis di New Mandala (yang berafiliasi ke ANU) artikel berjudul Jakarta: inequality and the poverty of elite pluralism—yang kemudian dimuat ulang di the Jakarta Post dan beberapa media berbahasa Inggris lain […]
Pls track for me my roots:-
1. My grandfathers name is Manicam s/o Subrayan gounder
2. My Grandmother name is Renu manicam
3. My Grand Uncle’s name is govindaraju s/o subrayan gounder
4. My Grand unty’s name is govindama d/o subrayan gounder
5. My Grandfather had Eight (8) children’s all born in Malaysia (Rajendran Manicam,Raguventhiran Manicam,Rajagopal Manicam,Unnamalai Manicam,Sarathambal Manicam,Balakrisnan Manicam,Letchumanan Manicam,Rajasigamoney Manicam
6. My father born in Kongamedu(Kongampattu) Village in
1895 to 1905 .
6. He left india under kangani system to
work as a labourer in Puchong Selangor. Kindly help me i want to visit my Village to see my roots but how who can help. What information do you need to track my family in kongampattu village in india. TQ Mainmatheraja s/o M.Rajasigamoney
I think Pavin is getting a bit of a swollen head. Is he on the Junta’s radar? Yes, he’s become an annoyance to the generals. But a assassin sent by the king of Thailand? No. I would be surprised if Rama X has even heard of him.
I think we can end up putting too much blame on individuals. To a rational person, they are, after all, mere products of genes and environment. Confucius gave us a better idea of how to handle the matter effectively, when he said, “To attack evil as evil, and not as evil of a particular man, is that not the way to reform the depraved?” The evil is absolute monarchy. That is what has shaped the bad behaviour of Thai kings. Some, those with little sense of duty, are bound to be worse in that unrestrained role than the others. Whether they have one or not depends on upbringing. Bhumibol had a sense of duty and Vajiralongkorn has remarkably little. Given that no two-year-old has one, we can put sense of duty down to environment. Tractability can be put down to genes but sense of duty is a different thing. Sooner or later one has to make a stand on principle. Bhumibol’s father was a diligent public health professional, so this seems to be a Mahidol trait, one inherited by Sirindhorn. Sirikit must have thought it a demeaning characteristic for a king (perhaps confusing it with tractability, and maybe Bhumibol had a fair bit of that too), and she seems to have gone to some trouble to ensure that her son did not acquire one.
The real evil that needs to be eliminated is the Thai absolute monarchy. It is even built on a lie that it is somehow “Constitutional”. The fact is that no senior member of the hierarchy would ever tolerate the power over them that would be given to the courts, or to elected politicians by a genuine constitution. All the constitutions have been fakes, except to some extent, for the 1997 one which produced the TRT phenomenon, and was disposed of in the usual way. The greatest evil is the lie in Thailand’s heart.
I didn’t intend to suggest that the junta was interested in “raising taxes or extending social services”; simply destroying the livelihoods of what is being estimated at 15,000 people would surely be an odd way of going about it if they were.
As you pointed out in your article, promising to clear Bangkok’s sidewalks is standard practice for new city governors and new national administrations, but, as is the case with so many oft-promised outcomes, delivery has rarely ever taken place.
This means that at some level there is a long-standing consensus among the governing classes and a vocal part of their constituency in Bangkok that something needs to be done. As I pointed out, the non-taxed condition of these very visible businesses has given rise to a nasty ‘Respect My Taxes’ response to the ‘Respect My Vote’ call.
For me, this historical context and political push mean that it is not sufficient to refer this program solely to the junta and its “war against people who defy boundaries”. It is a long-standing BMA intention finally being acted upon in a typically crude and callous way and the responsibility for it cannot rest solely on the shoulders of the big bad junta. The Thai state has a habit of this kind of thing and the tipping point can come under just about any sort of regime, elected or not.
In a more general sense, whereas I can say that I appreciate the poetry of your comparing Bangkok curry vendors to wandering monks upsetting obsessively orderly Maoist China (!) and placing them in the context of Chatwin’s romanticized vision of the nomadic alternative, I somehow doubt it would carry much water with the people themselves.
Running a business, especially on a busy street where you have to wash dishes repeatedly without a source of running water, is not really in the same category of life experience as an Aboriginal Australian singing his way along a ley line.
Thailand’s stalled modernization, and that is what this is all related to, is not so much about the harshness of authoritarian rule (although there is that without a doubt), as it is related to the inability/unwillingness of Thai authorities to do the hard thing in either the old-fashioned “western” method of enclosure and semi-forced emigration or the modern social democratic method of retraining and welfare support in order to make Bangkok’s streets as antiseptic and orderly as streets are expected to be throughout the liberal democratic nations of the G7.
It isn’t just “soldiers” who obsess about order and control and it isn’t just authoritarian governments who do so either. How do we imagine Bangkok came to be so different from European and American cities? Surely not from an obsessive concern with order on the part of Thai soldiers.
One can only hope that once this particular phase of Thailand’s tidal swing between elected and military governments is over, the streets of Bangkok will find their way back to Thailand from their sad sterile sojourn in the Denmark of the authoritarian imagination.
There is a real danger in demonizing Rama X of forgetting the murders commited in the name of Bumipol, his utter right wing support of military massacre , venal corrupt accumulation of wealth and land stolen from the people and disrespect for the common people. He was evil and Rama X is a chip off the old block.
Thaksin lives in far less democratic, law-abiding countries than Thailand’s King. How come Thaksin is not being accused here of plotting murder ? Something does n’t stack up.
This is being shared (Facebook url below) by at least a few folks using Facebook in Thailand. The comment on the share I saw was “Clean Japanese canals,” which I perhaps presumptuously take to be a, “See, this what a street should look like” comment.
Set backs, green-space, landscape buffers — these are ways that planning and zoning codes can see to the creation of open public space around urban development. Minimal set backs, such as are the norm in Bangkok even in residential neighborhoods benefit developers by allowing more area for building while depriving the public of access for circulation and sight lines. Yes, vendors clog the sidewalks, but, yes too, the space allotted for public access is clearly inadequate, and that is in the service of the moneyed classes.
There’s one item missing from this discussion : bugs.
General Prayut PM Sir – where can I buy fried bugs ?
Especially my favourite : fried cockroach ?
If street vendors are gone ?
Thai beer – in which your family may have some steak – simply won’t taste as delicious as when gulped down with a good old, well-fried cockey.
Mate – Thailand is world’s best practice re. this.
Only serious competitor is Cambodia.(Vietnam a distant third).
Surely PM Sir, you do not want to be beaten by Cambodia ??!!
And in Singapore, I can n’t find a fried cockroach for the beer-swilling life of me.
On behalf of the simple cockroach Sir, I petition you to take another bite at this crunch-line issue.
Don’t agree that this illegal coup détat government is not interested in raising taxes, Prayuth ran this up the VAT flagpole just a couple of weeks ago. Wrong tree up barking the.
Even so, I do agree that this has nothing to do with trying to regularise a part of the grey economy, though it may be hoped that would be a useful by-product. The government is trying to make Bangkok more appealing to the ‘higher-worth’ tourists. I would suggest they do something about the sewer system first but of course they won’t. No point in going crazy with money that could be used to buy tanks, submarines, planes and helicopters that Thailand doesn’t need and whose only purpose is to make a few inadequate general staff feel all tough and virile and stuff Misfits to a man, mental illness abounds. What a joke.
Personally I think it’s a terrific idea to boot out the street traders though. The more people this shower piss off the better. More the merrier, stoke the fires and loose the tumbrils.
I feel it is important that this brave film is seen by as many Thai citizens as possible. How do we view the film in its entirety, beyond the short clip, either inside or outside Thailand?
The event that took place in 1976 is relatively unknown in depth by many. It is clear that the prevalent dictatorial political culture of Thailand is very unlikely to change on its own. The culture is self-perpetuating and the only possible change can come from a profound shift in the thinking, mentality and expectations of everyday people, who together can bring about that change.
The self-serving political culture, the disregard for truth and integrity and the indoctrination of patronage can only be ended by educating ordinarily people.
In 1976 the murderous event at Thammasat University took place with the blessing of the last monarch. The wife of former Prime Minister, Sarit Thanarat, proclaimed shortly afterwards, “They got what was coming to them”. What has changed since that time, 41 years ago?
I am so sorry to hear of the loss of Pamela. She was a much respected friend of my father Dr Than Lwyn. I have only just learnt of her passing and deeply regret I let so much time pass without having contacted her after my father’s death. She read my Honours thesis and praised me to my father. I am so deeply indebted to her.
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‘Bottom up’ campaigning failed Ahok, and it might fail Jokowi.
That hits the spot. Jokowi will not be able to exploit again his image as a reformer in 2019. The last two years of jokowi’s presidency has been marred by jokowi’s apparent feebleness before the powerful military generals and PDIP. Some indonesians might also recall how jokowi has made tons of compromises with corrupt officials of political parties to secure more power, thus failed to keep his words to form a professional cabinet.
In 2019, i suspect that jokowi’s campaign machine will be much dominately run by PDIP, rather than civil society. They will make good use of jokowi’s physical infrastructure projects as propaganda and vote-getters, while at the same time covering fact of jokowi’s impotence to stand against the influence of powerful generals and politic elites.
A crown prince and German affairs
Here we go again , suspect this post will get NM blocked in Thailand ……
Thai-König bauchfrei im Möbelhaus
http://www.bild.de/regional/muenchen/royals/thai-koenig-bauchfrei-im-moebelhaus-51474812.bild.html
meanwhile his country is a powder-keg which will result in more bloodshed , only question is when .
Kingdom of fear (and favour)
Indeed, and people should remember that, in general, the apple does not fall far from the tree. But the new head boy has a stronger will than his Dad, who was week and ineffectual; and easily dominated by Prem, his wife and many others. The new guy is altogether another kettle of fish.
Kingdom of fear (and favour)
Well said Mark Dunn – “assassin sent by the King”. It’s crackpot stuff. Vajiralongkorn is NOT Kim Jun Un, KL Airport style killer.
Jakarta: inequality and the poverty of elite pluralism
[…] lalu Ian Wilson menulis di New Mandala (yang berafiliasi ke ANU) artikel berjudul Jakarta: inequality and the poverty of elite pluralism—yang kemudian dimuat ulang di the Jakarta Post dan beberapa media berbahasa Inggris lain […]
Indian migrant workers in Malaysia – part 1
Pls track for me my roots:-
1. My grandfathers name is Manicam s/o Subrayan gounder
2. My Grandmother name is Renu manicam
3. My Grand Uncle’s name is govindaraju s/o subrayan gounder
4. My Grand unty’s name is govindama d/o subrayan gounder
5. My Grandfather had Eight (8) children’s all born in Malaysia (Rajendran Manicam,Raguventhiran Manicam,Rajagopal Manicam,Unnamalai Manicam,Sarathambal Manicam,Balakrisnan Manicam,Letchumanan Manicam,Rajasigamoney Manicam
6. My father born in Kongamedu(Kongampattu) Village in
1895 to 1905 .
6. He left india under kangani system to
work as a labourer in Puchong Selangor. Kindly help me i want to visit my Village to see my roots but how who can help. What information do you need to track my family in kongampattu village in india. TQ Mainmatheraja s/o M.Rajasigamoney
Kingdom of fear (and favour)
I think Pavin is getting a bit of a swollen head. Is he on the Junta’s radar? Yes, he’s become an annoyance to the generals. But a assassin sent by the king of Thailand? No. I would be surprised if Rama X has even heard of him.
Kingdom of fear (and favour)
I think we can end up putting too much blame on individuals. To a rational person, they are, after all, mere products of genes and environment. Confucius gave us a better idea of how to handle the matter effectively, when he said, “To attack evil as evil, and not as evil of a particular man, is that not the way to reform the depraved?” The evil is absolute monarchy. That is what has shaped the bad behaviour of Thai kings. Some, those with little sense of duty, are bound to be worse in that unrestrained role than the others. Whether they have one or not depends on upbringing. Bhumibol had a sense of duty and Vajiralongkorn has remarkably little. Given that no two-year-old has one, we can put sense of duty down to environment. Tractability can be put down to genes but sense of duty is a different thing. Sooner or later one has to make a stand on principle. Bhumibol’s father was a diligent public health professional, so this seems to be a Mahidol trait, one inherited by Sirindhorn. Sirikit must have thought it a demeaning characteristic for a king (perhaps confusing it with tractability, and maybe Bhumibol had a fair bit of that too), and she seems to have gone to some trouble to ensure that her son did not acquire one.
The real evil that needs to be eliminated is the Thai absolute monarchy. It is even built on a lie that it is somehow “Constitutional”. The fact is that no senior member of the hierarchy would ever tolerate the power over them that would be given to the courts, or to elected politicians by a genuine constitution. All the constitutions have been fakes, except to some extent, for the 1997 one which produced the TRT phenomenon, and was disposed of in the usual way. The greatest evil is the lie in Thailand’s heart.
Jakarta: inequality and the poverty of elite pluralism
Non-Wikipedia
http://gerbangkaltim.com/profil-awang-faroek-ishak-berkat-tetesan-genetik-sang-ayah
From BPS (data on Sintang)
https://sp2010.bps.go.id/index.php/site/tabel?tid=320&wid=6107000000&lang=id
http://sinarharapan.net/2017/03/bupati-bergama-islam-fasilitasi-pentabhisan-uskup-sintang/
Government Data
Jakarta: inequality and the poverty of elite pluralism
Critiques use of indicative references in NM pieces, uses Wikipedia and blog posts as sources….
Last orders in Bangkok
Caro Claudio,
I didn’t intend to suggest that the junta was interested in “raising taxes or extending social services”; simply destroying the livelihoods of what is being estimated at 15,000 people would surely be an odd way of going about it if they were.
As you pointed out in your article, promising to clear Bangkok’s sidewalks is standard practice for new city governors and new national administrations, but, as is the case with so many oft-promised outcomes, delivery has rarely ever taken place.
This means that at some level there is a long-standing consensus among the governing classes and a vocal part of their constituency in Bangkok that something needs to be done. As I pointed out, the non-taxed condition of these very visible businesses has given rise to a nasty ‘Respect My Taxes’ response to the ‘Respect My Vote’ call.
For me, this historical context and political push mean that it is not sufficient to refer this program solely to the junta and its “war against people who defy boundaries”. It is a long-standing BMA intention finally being acted upon in a typically crude and callous way and the responsibility for it cannot rest solely on the shoulders of the big bad junta. The Thai state has a habit of this kind of thing and the tipping point can come under just about any sort of regime, elected or not.
In a more general sense, whereas I can say that I appreciate the poetry of your comparing Bangkok curry vendors to wandering monks upsetting obsessively orderly Maoist China (!) and placing them in the context of Chatwin’s romanticized vision of the nomadic alternative, I somehow doubt it would carry much water with the people themselves.
Running a business, especially on a busy street where you have to wash dishes repeatedly without a source of running water, is not really in the same category of life experience as an Aboriginal Australian singing his way along a ley line.
Thailand’s stalled modernization, and that is what this is all related to, is not so much about the harshness of authoritarian rule (although there is that without a doubt), as it is related to the inability/unwillingness of Thai authorities to do the hard thing in either the old-fashioned “western” method of enclosure and semi-forced emigration or the modern social democratic method of retraining and welfare support in order to make Bangkok’s streets as antiseptic and orderly as streets are expected to be throughout the liberal democratic nations of the G7.
It isn’t just “soldiers” who obsess about order and control and it isn’t just authoritarian governments who do so either. How do we imagine Bangkok came to be so different from European and American cities? Surely not from an obsessive concern with order on the part of Thai soldiers.
One can only hope that once this particular phase of Thailand’s tidal swing between elected and military governments is over, the streets of Bangkok will find their way back to Thailand from their sad sterile sojourn in the Denmark of the authoritarian imagination.
Kingdom of fear (and favour)
There is a real danger in demonizing Rama X of forgetting the murders commited in the name of Bumipol, his utter right wing support of military massacre , venal corrupt accumulation of wealth and land stolen from the people and disrespect for the common people. He was evil and Rama X is a chip off the old block.
Kingdom of fear (and favour)
Thaksin lives in far less democratic, law-abiding countries than Thailand’s King. How come Thaksin is not being accused here of plotting murder ? Something does n’t stack up.
Jakarta: inequality and the poverty of elite pluralism
Yes I am interested. How should I contact you.
Last orders in Bangkok
Ah, the url: https://www.facebook.com/iUrbanThailand/photos/pcb.1312340888841693/1312339562175159/?type=3&theater
Last orders in Bangkok
This is being shared (Facebook url below) by at least a few folks using Facebook in Thailand. The comment on the share I saw was “Clean Japanese canals,” which I perhaps presumptuously take to be a, “See, this what a street should look like” comment.
Set backs, green-space, landscape buffers — these are ways that planning and zoning codes can see to the creation of open public space around urban development. Minimal set backs, such as are the norm in Bangkok even in residential neighborhoods benefit developers by allowing more area for building while depriving the public of access for circulation and sight lines. Yes, vendors clog the sidewalks, but, yes too, the space allotted for public access is clearly inadequate, and that is in the service of the moneyed classes.
Last orders in Bangkok
There’s one item missing from this discussion : bugs.
General Prayut PM Sir – where can I buy fried bugs ?
Especially my favourite : fried cockroach ?
If street vendors are gone ?
Thai beer – in which your family may have some steak – simply won’t taste as delicious as when gulped down with a good old, well-fried cockey.
Mate – Thailand is world’s best practice re. this.
Only serious competitor is Cambodia.(Vietnam a distant third).
Surely PM Sir, you do not want to be beaten by Cambodia ??!!
And in Singapore, I can n’t find a fried cockroach for the beer-swilling life of me.
On behalf of the simple cockroach Sir, I petition you to take another bite at this crunch-line issue.
Last orders in Bangkok
Don’t agree that this illegal coup détat government is not interested in raising taxes, Prayuth ran this up the VAT flagpole just a couple of weeks ago. Wrong tree up barking the.
Even so, I do agree that this has nothing to do with trying to regularise a part of the grey economy, though it may be hoped that would be a useful by-product. The government is trying to make Bangkok more appealing to the ‘higher-worth’ tourists. I would suggest they do something about the sewer system first but of course they won’t. No point in going crazy with money that could be used to buy tanks, submarines, planes and helicopters that Thailand doesn’t need and whose only purpose is to make a few inadequate general staff feel all tough and virile and stuff Misfits to a man, mental illness abounds. What a joke.
Personally I think it’s a terrific idea to boot out the street traders though. The more people this shower piss off the better. More the merrier, stoke the fires and loose the tumbrils.
Film review: By The Time It Gets Dark/ดาวคะนอง
I feel it is important that this brave film is seen by as many Thai citizens as possible. How do we view the film in its entirety, beyond the short clip, either inside or outside Thailand?
The event that took place in 1976 is relatively unknown in depth by many. It is clear that the prevalent dictatorial political culture of Thailand is very unlikely to change on its own. The culture is self-perpetuating and the only possible change can come from a profound shift in the thinking, mentality and expectations of everyday people, who together can bring about that change.
The self-serving political culture, the disregard for truth and integrity and the indoctrination of patronage can only be ended by educating ordinarily people.
In 1976 the murderous event at Thammasat University took place with the blessing of the last monarch. The wife of former Prime Minister, Sarit Thanarat, proclaimed shortly afterwards, “They got what was coming to them”. What has changed since that time, 41 years ago?
Vale Pamela Gutman
I am so sorry to hear of the loss of Pamela. She was a much respected friend of my father Dr Than Lwyn. I have only just learnt of her passing and deeply regret I let so much time pass without having contacted her after my father’s death. She read my Honours thesis and praised me to my father. I am so deeply indebted to her.