The headline of the article below piqued my interest to find out with bated breath what those "educational strengths" are (especially irrestible for one who has long experience in Thai education). More often than not, my experience in this country tells me that "international courses" mean Thai lecturers use English to teach Thai students. The primary motivation (as with evening, training, up-country courses) is to generate money for the institution.
The story begins by relating that a group of "relevant agencies" (starting) to encourage the Education Ministry to seriously strengthen the country's transnational education.
So now I began to wonder with a tinge of impatience ..... the headline implicity asserts that Thailand has strengths in transnational education... what are these strengths? In what sense are they considered strengths?
Further down the lines, you find out these consist of "medical fields; nursing; tourism; service and hospitality; food; and agricultural fields" being "accepted internationally". Is anyone aware of these facts? A professor at Siriraj Hospital Faculty of Nursing told me that they barely manage to have 2 to 3 nursing students (who receive some kind of international scholarships). These students come from Bangladesh, China, Laos, etc. on the purportedly south-south kind of "cooperation". (This is the premier Faculty of Nursing in Thailand). Tourism? Hospitality?
When I worked at Mahidol University, the number of students studying hotel management at the international college was rather conservative and consisted mainly of rich Thai kids. Food? I wonder how many international students are studying in private universities in Bangkok to be chefs? Agricultural fields??? Really? Are these not in fact "spectacular claims" that have no bases in fact? "Accepted internationally" in reference to which countries, may I ask?
Instead of being enlightened, I became more confused with the seemingly illogical thought process of the reporter. It reminded me of the incomprehensible answers I get from my students in their test papers which they directly attribute to their lack of competence in English. (i.e., had they written in Thai, their thoughts would come out clearly.)
As you read further down the quote of the Dhurakij Pundit University (DPU)'s vice president, Prof Paitoon Sinlarat - you would have thought that in desperation, Thai universities are being encouraged to attract drug addicts to come to study to Thailand with the addition of "indigenous drugs" to international programmes. Thailand may have a few liberal notions about some areas of life, but I can assure you this is not one of those that Mr. Taksin believed when he conducted his drug war while Prime Minister. And how will that strengthen international programmes? Surely, in more civilized societies a vice president of a university saying that would end up in public disfavor and ridicule! But not in Thailand. Perhaps, the news reporter misquoted or did not probe for clarification from the distinguished Prof Dr (a statement is enough whether you understand or not because it comes from a professor)? or maybe it was a matter of poor translation and editing?
My acculturated Thai self tells me not to pursue 'deeper' thoughts. Farangs must conform to Thainess not the other way around. In the same way that I believe there was no flood mismanagement, and I believe the government when it guarantees that there will be no more flood next year (2012). (http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/270327/govt-promises-flood-free-future)
------------------------------------------------------------------
Focus on Thai educational strengths, govt told
Wannapa Khaopa
The Nation December 20, 2011 1:00 am
With demand for education growing and student mobility increasing due to globalisation and internationalisation, Thailand must act now or risk lagging behind other countries in this field. Relevant agencies are starting to encourage the Education Ministry to seriously strengthen the country's transnational education (TNE).
In particular, they have urged the ministry to promote TNE by focusing on those educational fields in which the country has already gained acceptance, instead of pushing Thailand as an education hub, arguing that the latter strategy is too difficult to achieve, Sudhasinee Vajrabul, deputy secretary general of the Office of the Education Council (OEC), said yesterday. Sudhasinee was speaking after a meeting with representatives from the Commerce Ministry's Department of Trade Negotiations (DTN), the Office of Higher Education Commission, the Office of Vocational Education Commission, and universities.
They agreed that the ministry should promote Thailand as hub in the medical; nursing; tourism; service and hospitality; food; and agricultural fields. These fields were accepted internationally, so Thailand would be able to succeed more easily in promoting these specific fields, rather than relying solely on the education hub strategy, to which the overall quality of education and English language literacy in the country are important barriers, they said.
Sudhasinee said the OEC would present the proposals to Education Minister Woravat Auapinyakul for consideration next Monday(Dec26) to seriously push Thailand's TNE forward.
"Universities in Thailand have provided international education, which is part of TNE, but it is like fashion. Some universities have opened international programmes just to promote themselves, but they are unable to generate profit. International education in Thailand is seen as second-class international education. Thus, we have to seriously provide quality programmes to lure more foreign students," Dhurakij Pundit University (DPU)'s vice president, Prof Paitoon Sinlarat, said.
He recommended the universities add something special or unique to their international programmes that students could not learn in other countries, like indigenous drugs, to make their programmes more attractive.
In addition to offering English language instruction, Paitoon urged officials to promote Thai language and Thai studies among Asean countries to increase the country's influence in the region, which is similar to what China has done. The idea was backed by many participants at the meeting.
More people in Asean - especially in Vietnam - are studying the Thai language, according to information presented at the meeting.
DTN official Ronnarong Poonpipat said Thailand should promote four areas of education to drive TNE - distance or online education; international education that brings foreign students to study in the country; international education in which foreign universities open branches or offshore campuses in Thailand; and "flying teacher" programmes.
"The Asean Economic Community is coming in the next three years... If we don't prepare for changes in education, Thailand will become a new educational market for other Other countries which have prepared an aggressive TNE strategy," Sudhasinee said.
OEC secretary-general Anek Permvongseni said he planned to host a national conference on TNE to discuss the issue more thoroughly, and a regional conference with Asean countries to learn from their experiences in promoting TNE.
"Singapore and Malaysia have aggressively promoted TNE. We should learn from them."
Agreeing that disjointed educational policies formulated by different political parties when they come to power posed a crucial obstacle, the meeting's participants agreed to look for ways to develop more seamless policies.
Showing posts with label Thai newspapers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thai newspapers. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Monday, September 1, 2008
Reliving early culture shocks
As my life in Thailand accumulates more memories as the distance between the first discomfiting culture shock of arrival and the present moment increases, I feel more confident, adept, and at home in Thai culture. Although one does not truly feel at home and experience recurring bouts of living the sentence of a perpetual outsider, it is the growing familiarity with predictable patterns and responding to those patterns in a predictably acceptable manner that make life in my adopted country a somewhat satisfying experience. This sense of predictability, despite little grasp of meaning, is the key to navigating the lived life in Thailand with relative ease. Part of the experience of exile is the acute sense of displacement that stems from a realization that by living in the interstices of a foreign culture one cannot share or completely understand the underpinning values or logic of the Thai way of life.
Of course one makes mistakes, and during those times of blunder the strangeness of life reappears with a vengeance acutely felt with deep regrets and strident questioning again about why Thailand is Thailand.
In the reporting of the on-going “civil coup” to overthrow the existing government, I felt a palpable sense of déjà vu of my experience in the first unsettling months upon arrival in the early 90s. When reading the English newspaper Bangkok Post, I was completely shocked by the incomprehensibly shallow and sometimes sheer nonsense that pass for news such as a reductionist quotation attributed to politicians, or high ranking civil servants or a description of what transpired. That sense of déjà vu returned when I read newspaper accounts of the PAD led “civil coup” to overthrow the government of Prime Minister Samak.
Here are some reports based on the Bangkok Post, August 30th, 2008 edition (the only hard copy edition that I could obtain from my wife's office) that once again pushed the limits of my credulity on the nature of Thai reality in the unfolding drama between PAD’s stubborn struggle for the moral high ground (in their continuing occupation of the Government House) and the Prime Minister, who is forced to muster all his cunning and experience so as not to lose any of his tenuous credibility in this fight between “good” versus “evil”, depending on where you stand in the political spectrum.
1. Headlines: Violence erupts – wait a minute.... the accompanying photo only shows demonstrators outside the Metropolitan Police Bureau lying prone on the ground as they tried to take cover from tear gas on Friday evening, August 29th. “Police denied firing the tear gas”. Not a single policeman is shown amidst the puff of tear gas smoke beating up the demonstrators.
NOTE: Lying prone on the ground is the worst possible method of protecting oneself against tear gas especially when there is no wind to dissipate the high concentration. The best possible way is to run away as far as possible from the cloud of smoke. According to Wikipedia, CS gas (tear gas) is generally accepted as “non-lethal”. “The chemical reacts with moisture on the skin and in the eyes causing a burning sensation and the immediate forceful and uncontrollable shutting of the eyes. Reported effects can include tears streaming from the eyes, running nose full of mucus, burning in the nose and throat areas, disorientation, dizziness and restricted breathing. In highly concentrated doses it can also induce severe coughing and vomiting. Almost all of the immediate effects wear off in a matter of minutes.”
If we read the Note inside the box “Day of Scuffles” it reads: “A total of 25 PAD supporters and one police officer were injured during clashes at the Makhawan bridge and Government House. About 20 people sustained minor injuries during the scuffle at Metropolitan headquarters ”. (bold font added)
In my opinion, even if the police fired the teargas, they had every right to disperse the big crowd who could have over run the police headquarters - see below 1a.
1a. in the back page 14, inside the box “Day of Scuffles”, we read that at 7PM “About one thousand PAD supporters rally in front of Metropolitan Police headquarters demanding police return their belongings seized during the Makkhawan bridge raids".
Why were PAD demonstrators so insistent about the return of their belongings when they were indeed blocking Makkhawan bridge for more than 90 days? Huh? This is unbelievable in the annals of demonstration behavior! The demonstrators are acting like spoiled children whose main concern is retrieval of their trivial belongings! Have they forgotten all of a sudden their avowed purpose to overthrow the government? Could it be that their seized belongings cost more than the amount claimed by rumors paid to (some) them to join the demonstrations?
2. Still in the back page 14, is a photo that is described as “Golf clubs, Molotov cocktails, pepper spray and slingshots are among items police seized from the anti-government protest site near Makkhawan bridge yesterday (photo taken by Natthiti Ampriwan). The photo shows at least 50 to 60 golf clubs. Considering that golf is a hobby for the upper middle class to the very rich, are we to conclude that PAD demonstrators are avid golfers on the side, and that perhaps the idea for toppling the Samak government was first broached in a round of golf? It would even be more incredulous to imagine that PAD specifically bought second hand golf clubs from KlongThom as defensive weapons. Or perhaps, the riot police planted these golf clubs, as riot police are also fond of playing golf during off demonstration season.
3. Still in the back page 14, the main (largest photo by Apichit Jinakul) shows a group of police, one shown with his right foot stepping on the back of the neck area of an injured demonstrator. None show carrying guns on their holsters. Two other policemen are pointing their batons on the demonstrator who appears to be bloodied. But there is no anger in their faces. Did the demonstrator charge the police? Or did the police beat up the demonstrator unprovoked? We have no way of knowing the context of this dramatic picture that suggests police brutality!
4. "The Civil Court suspended its injunction to evict the PAD from Government House, saying execution of the order might inflict further damage."
Why the wishy washy stance of the Court? In Thailand, the law can apparently be arbitrarily applied. I don’t recall any magnanimous scruples by the authorities during the 1976 Thammasat clash, 1991 put down of demonstrations in Democracy Monument, Tak Bai, and Krue Sue Mosque incidents. If the decision of the court is affected by outside pressure and therefore shifts to wiggle its way out of firm enforcement, then we may as well forget the rule of law in this country.
5. On page 2, “Electric shocks, sparks, drainage lids deter police” is another piece of incomprehensibly illogical reporting.
This refers to the story of PAD’s use of various kinds of weapons to ward off police from entering Government House.
5a. “At Gate 7 of Government House, where hundreds of police were deployed and prepared to break into the compound, PAD guards tied a long wire to the metal gate and charged it with electricity from a portable battery. When police moved closer, they charged the electricity to generate electric sparks at the gate. ‘Police were scared of the sparks and immediately backed off’, a PAD guard said proudly.
This shows that police have not been trained in disarming the simplest improvised weapon. Do they have no basic equipment like gloves, ropes to dismantle the wiring by pulling at the wire? Thai policemen have no basic understanding of principles of electricity? How much training did this contingent of riot control police receive?
5b. “PAD protesters covered a section of Phitsanulok road with tarpaulins and poured liquid detergent on it to make the surface slippery”.
And the police did not use their sense of smell to determine it was detergent? Why did the police not pull the tarpaulin off the road?
5c. “Rumours about a police crackdown on the PAD had spread every day. Other protesters collected old sewage shaft lids left inside government compounds to use as shield against police batons or rubber bullets”.
A sewage shaft lid probably weighs approximately 10 kilograms (22 lbs). With a nifty trick of knots from a relatively big diameter rope, the lid can be transformed into a makeshift shield indeed. But how long can an Asian sized body carry a 22 lbs shield, much less, use it effectively to parry a baton charge without being hindered by its sheer weight?
5d. “Police reported that various kinds of weapons – machetes, bullets, golf clubs, iron bars, and batons – were found at the PAD’s demonstration sites. They could not confirm if the weapons belonged to PAD. Even if they did, the PAD protesters would not be troubled by their loss, as they believe they can always find other ingenuous ways to protect themselves.”
Did these weapons materialize (Star Trek style) in the PAD’s demonstrations sites? If the police planted them surely that would have been quite an effort not only in terms of collecting these weapons, but also carrying them to the sites. I find the logic totally incomprehensible. If the Americans found WMD in Iraq, would they stupidly dither and say there was no proof that the WMD were Saddam’s?
6. Foreign Minister Tej Bunnag’s damage control. On page 12 “the week in Review” Tej Bunnag in explaining to the international community the invasions of the PAD starting on August 22nd till their seizure of the Government House: “What happened definitely affected Thailand’s tourism and economy, but we would like other countries to understand that this situation is part of the progress on democratic growth in Thailand. We will have to wait and see what will happen next”, Mr. Tej said”.
Progress on democratic growth in Thailand? A civil coup is progress??? Immediately below “the week in Review” is a half page block article “In Print” by Kamol Hengkietisak “PAD’s aggressive move condemned” ends his report on PAD’s tactics: by quoting Matichon ‘The PAD’s long demonstration – more than 90 days now – may have weakened its members and made them want to finish the game early. But the uncivilized use of force not only alienates the general public, it makes it hard for the PAD leaders to find a graceful way out.’ What’s more, concluded Matichon, the misstep cheapens the PAD image to that of an ordinary violent mob.
Can the actions of a violent mob be considered 'progress'?
7. Page 3, at the bottom: “Protesters say police attack proves PM can’t be trusted”
“Mr. Anont, who has no right hand…. Asked police not to use force, but was pushed to the ground. When he fell, police trampled on him and hit him in the head with batons, said Mr. Anont, who comes from Yala.”
"Napat Pitiworawong, 42, said she pleaded with police not to dismantle the PAD stage, but was pushed to the ground and beaten. She covered the back of her neck with her hands while police beat her on the back. They did not care that they were hurting women. They also used pepper spray that burned me and me me choke for a long time. Police saw the demonstrators as criminals, but this violent act makes the demonstrators angry and now they hate the police and the government” she said.
If you are supposedly fighting for a cause with ahimsa, then you must be ready to receive the blows from the police batons and the blood flowing from your cracked skulls as your badge of courage and moral superiority. You were already warned that the stage has been blocking the road for 90 days. A people who want to be treated kindly by the police after they have disobeyed the rule of law and flaunt that disobedience for 90 days or more, are not practicing ahimsa but opportunistic provocation, pure and simple.
The kid gloves (super lenient) approach by the government was extended even further on Sept 1, when Pol Col Jongrak Chuthanon, deputy police commissioner-general ordered metropolitan police to carry only shields and refrain from carrying batons or any other arms when dealing with protesters. This act has stretch disbelef beyond all bounds. Yes, this may help reduce tensions, but how can police carry out their role if they have nothing to defend themselves? This is another amazing first in the annals of demonstration history, unarmed police trying to control a potentially serious riot situation.
Be that as it may, an alien reading the news and following the continuing saga here in Thailand will be hard put to comprehend the nature of Thai behavior and the logic of recent events that can be described as an array of incomprehensible displays of stupidity, arrogance, incompetence, obstinacy, heavy manipulation, unbelievable leniency by the authorities, undemocratic and childish behavior of certain groups who claim to represent the majority of Thais, arbitrary application of the rule of law by wishy washy courts and confusing media reporting. Orwell's mouth would have opened in approval by the word construction of the Thai media.
Perhaps, in our own struggle to make sense of this dire situation that will have long lasting effects on the “progress of democracy” in Thailand we should always remind ourselves that behind all this stupendous absurdity is the constant threat of real violence, a blood thirst of unsatisfiable proportions based on simmering resentments, unresolved injustices and fear of an uncertain future as the country’s most important symbols and institutions are found wanting in defining its role in leading a "modern" Thailand into the 21st century. These recent events are not disconnected to the way Thailand has "plugged in" to the glorious promises of wealth and prosperity in the era of globalization. They are in fact a direct result of the contradictions of capitalist growth, traditional authority and growing democratic sentiments. Those who feel threatened by the loss of control, influence, and power are not wont to let go.
The point of no return perhaps has already been crossed. Thailand may have to go through another violent period so that anachronistic structures may be cleansed. Whatever will unfold in the coming days unfortunately may not necessarily be helping the cause of democratic progress in Thailand because of the divisive angry mood, the spatial polarization in loyalties, the muddled issues, and the strong conservative impulse to retain traditional aspects of authority and ways of resolving conflict. May the Buddha quench all the anger in men’s hearts so that everyone can find a way out of this impasse.
Of course one makes mistakes, and during those times of blunder the strangeness of life reappears with a vengeance acutely felt with deep regrets and strident questioning again about why Thailand is Thailand.
In the reporting of the on-going “civil coup” to overthrow the existing government, I felt a palpable sense of déjà vu of my experience in the first unsettling months upon arrival in the early 90s. When reading the English newspaper Bangkok Post, I was completely shocked by the incomprehensibly shallow and sometimes sheer nonsense that pass for news such as a reductionist quotation attributed to politicians, or high ranking civil servants or a description of what transpired. That sense of déjà vu returned when I read newspaper accounts of the PAD led “civil coup” to overthrow the government of Prime Minister Samak.
Here are some reports based on the Bangkok Post, August 30th, 2008 edition (the only hard copy edition that I could obtain from my wife's office) that once again pushed the limits of my credulity on the nature of Thai reality in the unfolding drama between PAD’s stubborn struggle for the moral high ground (in their continuing occupation of the Government House) and the Prime Minister, who is forced to muster all his cunning and experience so as not to lose any of his tenuous credibility in this fight between “good” versus “evil”, depending on where you stand in the political spectrum.
1. Headlines: Violence erupts – wait a minute.... the accompanying photo only shows demonstrators outside the Metropolitan Police Bureau lying prone on the ground as they tried to take cover from tear gas on Friday evening, August 29th. “Police denied firing the tear gas”. Not a single policeman is shown amidst the puff of tear gas smoke beating up the demonstrators.
NOTE: Lying prone on the ground is the worst possible method of protecting oneself against tear gas especially when there is no wind to dissipate the high concentration. The best possible way is to run away as far as possible from the cloud of smoke. According to Wikipedia, CS gas (tear gas) is generally accepted as “non-lethal”. “The chemical reacts with moisture on the skin and in the eyes causing a burning sensation and the immediate forceful and uncontrollable shutting of the eyes. Reported effects can include tears streaming from the eyes, running nose full of mucus, burning in the nose and throat areas, disorientation, dizziness and restricted breathing. In highly concentrated doses it can also induce severe coughing and vomiting. Almost all of the immediate effects wear off in a matter of minutes.”
If we read the Note inside the box “Day of Scuffles” it reads: “A total of 25 PAD supporters and one police officer were injured during clashes at the Makhawan bridge and Government House. About 20 people sustained minor injuries during the scuffle at Metropolitan headquarters ”. (bold font added)
In my opinion, even if the police fired the teargas, they had every right to disperse the big crowd who could have over run the police headquarters - see below 1a.
1a. in the back page 14, inside the box “Day of Scuffles”, we read that at 7PM “About one thousand PAD supporters rally in front of Metropolitan Police headquarters demanding police return their belongings seized during the Makkhawan bridge raids".
Why were PAD demonstrators so insistent about the return of their belongings when they were indeed blocking Makkhawan bridge for more than 90 days? Huh? This is unbelievable in the annals of demonstration behavior! The demonstrators are acting like spoiled children whose main concern is retrieval of their trivial belongings! Have they forgotten all of a sudden their avowed purpose to overthrow the government? Could it be that their seized belongings cost more than the amount claimed by rumors paid to (some) them to join the demonstrations?
2. Still in the back page 14, is a photo that is described as “Golf clubs, Molotov cocktails, pepper spray and slingshots are among items police seized from the anti-government protest site near Makkhawan bridge yesterday (photo taken by Natthiti Ampriwan). The photo shows at least 50 to 60 golf clubs. Considering that golf is a hobby for the upper middle class to the very rich, are we to conclude that PAD demonstrators are avid golfers on the side, and that perhaps the idea for toppling the Samak government was first broached in a round of golf? It would even be more incredulous to imagine that PAD specifically bought second hand golf clubs from KlongThom as defensive weapons. Or perhaps, the riot police planted these golf clubs, as riot police are also fond of playing golf during off demonstration season.
3. Still in the back page 14, the main (largest photo by Apichit Jinakul) shows a group of police, one shown with his right foot stepping on the back of the neck area of an injured demonstrator. None show carrying guns on their holsters. Two other policemen are pointing their batons on the demonstrator who appears to be bloodied. But there is no anger in their faces. Did the demonstrator charge the police? Or did the police beat up the demonstrator unprovoked? We have no way of knowing the context of this dramatic picture that suggests police brutality!
4. "The Civil Court suspended its injunction to evict the PAD from Government House, saying execution of the order might inflict further damage."
Why the wishy washy stance of the Court? In Thailand, the law can apparently be arbitrarily applied. I don’t recall any magnanimous scruples by the authorities during the 1976 Thammasat clash, 1991 put down of demonstrations in Democracy Monument, Tak Bai, and Krue Sue Mosque incidents. If the decision of the court is affected by outside pressure and therefore shifts to wiggle its way out of firm enforcement, then we may as well forget the rule of law in this country.
5. On page 2, “Electric shocks, sparks, drainage lids deter police” is another piece of incomprehensibly illogical reporting.
This refers to the story of PAD’s use of various kinds of weapons to ward off police from entering Government House.
5a. “At Gate 7 of Government House, where hundreds of police were deployed and prepared to break into the compound, PAD guards tied a long wire to the metal gate and charged it with electricity from a portable battery. When police moved closer, they charged the electricity to generate electric sparks at the gate. ‘Police were scared of the sparks and immediately backed off’, a PAD guard said proudly.
This shows that police have not been trained in disarming the simplest improvised weapon. Do they have no basic equipment like gloves, ropes to dismantle the wiring by pulling at the wire? Thai policemen have no basic understanding of principles of electricity? How much training did this contingent of riot control police receive?
5b. “PAD protesters covered a section of Phitsanulok road with tarpaulins and poured liquid detergent on it to make the surface slippery”.
And the police did not use their sense of smell to determine it was detergent? Why did the police not pull the tarpaulin off the road?
5c. “Rumours about a police crackdown on the PAD had spread every day. Other protesters collected old sewage shaft lids left inside government compounds to use as shield against police batons or rubber bullets”.
A sewage shaft lid probably weighs approximately 10 kilograms (22 lbs). With a nifty trick of knots from a relatively big diameter rope, the lid can be transformed into a makeshift shield indeed. But how long can an Asian sized body carry a 22 lbs shield, much less, use it effectively to parry a baton charge without being hindered by its sheer weight?
5d. “Police reported that various kinds of weapons – machetes, bullets, golf clubs, iron bars, and batons – were found at the PAD’s demonstration sites. They could not confirm if the weapons belonged to PAD. Even if they did, the PAD protesters would not be troubled by their loss, as they believe they can always find other ingenuous ways to protect themselves.”
Did these weapons materialize (Star Trek style) in the PAD’s demonstrations sites? If the police planted them surely that would have been quite an effort not only in terms of collecting these weapons, but also carrying them to the sites. I find the logic totally incomprehensible. If the Americans found WMD in Iraq, would they stupidly dither and say there was no proof that the WMD were Saddam’s?
6. Foreign Minister Tej Bunnag’s damage control. On page 12 “the week in Review” Tej Bunnag in explaining to the international community the invasions of the PAD starting on August 22nd till their seizure of the Government House: “What happened definitely affected Thailand’s tourism and economy, but we would like other countries to understand that this situation is part of the progress on democratic growth in Thailand. We will have to wait and see what will happen next”, Mr. Tej said”.
Progress on democratic growth in Thailand? A civil coup is progress??? Immediately below “the week in Review” is a half page block article “In Print” by Kamol Hengkietisak “PAD’s aggressive move condemned” ends his report on PAD’s tactics: by quoting Matichon ‘The PAD’s long demonstration – more than 90 days now – may have weakened its members and made them want to finish the game early. But the uncivilized use of force not only alienates the general public, it makes it hard for the PAD leaders to find a graceful way out.’ What’s more, concluded Matichon, the misstep cheapens the PAD image to that of an ordinary violent mob.
Can the actions of a violent mob be considered 'progress'?
7. Page 3, at the bottom: “Protesters say police attack proves PM can’t be trusted”
“Mr. Anont, who has no right hand…. Asked police not to use force, but was pushed to the ground. When he fell, police trampled on him and hit him in the head with batons, said Mr. Anont, who comes from Yala.”
"Napat Pitiworawong, 42, said she pleaded with police not to dismantle the PAD stage, but was pushed to the ground and beaten. She covered the back of her neck with her hands while police beat her on the back. They did not care that they were hurting women. They also used pepper spray that burned me and me me choke for a long time. Police saw the demonstrators as criminals, but this violent act makes the demonstrators angry and now they hate the police and the government” she said.
If you are supposedly fighting for a cause with ahimsa, then you must be ready to receive the blows from the police batons and the blood flowing from your cracked skulls as your badge of courage and moral superiority. You were already warned that the stage has been blocking the road for 90 days. A people who want to be treated kindly by the police after they have disobeyed the rule of law and flaunt that disobedience for 90 days or more, are not practicing ahimsa but opportunistic provocation, pure and simple.
The kid gloves (super lenient) approach by the government was extended even further on Sept 1, when Pol Col Jongrak Chuthanon, deputy police commissioner-general ordered metropolitan police to carry only shields and refrain from carrying batons or any other arms when dealing with protesters. This act has stretch disbelef beyond all bounds. Yes, this may help reduce tensions, but how can police carry out their role if they have nothing to defend themselves? This is another amazing first in the annals of demonstration history, unarmed police trying to control a potentially serious riot situation.
Be that as it may, an alien reading the news and following the continuing saga here in Thailand will be hard put to comprehend the nature of Thai behavior and the logic of recent events that can be described as an array of incomprehensible displays of stupidity, arrogance, incompetence, obstinacy, heavy manipulation, unbelievable leniency by the authorities, undemocratic and childish behavior of certain groups who claim to represent the majority of Thais, arbitrary application of the rule of law by wishy washy courts and confusing media reporting. Orwell's mouth would have opened in approval by the word construction of the Thai media.
Perhaps, in our own struggle to make sense of this dire situation that will have long lasting effects on the “progress of democracy” in Thailand we should always remind ourselves that behind all this stupendous absurdity is the constant threat of real violence, a blood thirst of unsatisfiable proportions based on simmering resentments, unresolved injustices and fear of an uncertain future as the country’s most important symbols and institutions are found wanting in defining its role in leading a "modern" Thailand into the 21st century. These recent events are not disconnected to the way Thailand has "plugged in" to the glorious promises of wealth and prosperity in the era of globalization. They are in fact a direct result of the contradictions of capitalist growth, traditional authority and growing democratic sentiments. Those who feel threatened by the loss of control, influence, and power are not wont to let go.
The point of no return perhaps has already been crossed. Thailand may have to go through another violent period so that anachronistic structures may be cleansed. Whatever will unfold in the coming days unfortunately may not necessarily be helping the cause of democratic progress in Thailand because of the divisive angry mood, the spatial polarization in loyalties, the muddled issues, and the strong conservative impulse to retain traditional aspects of authority and ways of resolving conflict. May the Buddha quench all the anger in men’s hearts so that everyone can find a way out of this impasse.
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