Thailand's Le Majeste Laws and the Red/Yellow Conflict...泰国民政乱...タイ国の暴動...

The Thai Coup overthrowing Thaksin Shinawat, in 2006, was what triggered the series of unrest occuring in Thailand in the recent years. I never really paid attention then although i was alittle concerned given that I loved Thailand, its culture, and as a tourist destination.

However, recent years of unrest and especially what is occuring now has peaked my interest. Even the previous taking over of Bangkok's international airports only elicited a response at the craziness of the Thai protests but it didn't motivate me to read or investigate further into the causes or details of the protests, reasons as to why ppl were protesting or getting the color codes correct. However, the recent protest for the past weeks led me to want to understand what the Thais were all protesting about and why the protests seemed neverending.

This is what i found out and the following is my personal opinion of the whole issue (please note this is merely my own personal opinion, from a neighbouring countrie's citizen's perspective, so its going to be subjective, but at least its going to be more impartial given that I have nothing at stake or personal interests in the politics of thailand):

From what I gather, in a quick summary for those like me whom are confused as to the chain of events and the differing sides, here's a quick rundown:

In 2001 Thaksin got elected in democratic elections to become the Prime Minister of Thailand. He served out his term and was re-elected, the ONLY thai PM ever to have served out his full term and get re-elected again for a second term, indicating his immense popularity to the people of Thailand. However, in 2006, the military in a coup overthrew him and brought him into exile overseas. He is currently in Cambodia, serving as an executive policy adviser to the Cambodian govt and leads the opposition from there.

Thaksin was and is extremely popular with the rural poor of Thailand, especially in the populous but poor North-East region of Thailand called Isaan. In addition, he is also supported by a large margin by the urban poor and lower classes of Bangkok and other Thai cities as well.

He was however not very popular with the middle and upper classes of Bangkok residents as well as other middle-upper class elites of Thailand, whom accused him of gross corruption and mishandling and siphoning state funds and investment deals to benefit his and his relative's wealth. The current unrest started, CRUCIALLY, with the yellow-shirt protesters (hereafter 'yellows') whom started wearing yellow shirts and rallying to bring down Thaksin. In 2006, the army which has always had strong ties to the Thai monarchy and Bangkok upper class elites brought down Thaksin thru a coup. They then governed the country promising democratic elections later down the line. The Courts dissolved Thaksin's party, called the 'Thai Ruk Thai' party and banned over 100 politicians from Thaksin's camp from joining politics for 5 years. However, another new party was set up with former unbanned politicians and supporters of Thaksin to contest in the new elections to be held in late 2007. In the 2007 elections, Thaksin's new party won the elections once again by a significant margin, thus forming the new govt.

Importantly, this means that Thaksin's party had won democratic elections THREE times to become govt. As a side note, the military also unilaterally changed the 1997 Constitution of Thailand and came up with their own 2007 version, and with heavy propaganda and publicity, it was accepted in a referendum in 2007 as well. However, the yellows were obviously not satisfied with the democratic election results once again bringing Thaksin's camp back into power for the third time. So they protested once again sometime in 2008, even going as far as occupying government house, occupying Bangkok's two international airports, and demanding that the new govt be dissolved as well. Finally, a Constitutional Court ruling brought down the leader Samak, because of accepting fees for accepting a cooking show appearance. He was replaced by another person within the ruling party (which is pro-Thaksin just as a reminder). The Court once again brought him down on another apparent breach. This led the way for the second Thaksin party to be removed from power and for the current Thai party, the yellow Democrats Party, with Abhisek as Prime Minister, to come into power. This led to the rise of the red-shirt protesters (hereafter referred to as 'Reds) and they have been protesting ever since and currently are involved in anti-govt protests and want new elections called.

My Opinion & Analysis:

My first line would be to state where my position and sympathies lie with, despite not being Thai and having no vested interest in whom eventually governs the country.

I am a RED SUPPORTER. This means I support the current anti-govt protesters, whom are mainly the rural and urban lower to poor classes of Thailand. This is as the current Democratic Party, led by Abhisek is indeed undemocratic. My main contention is that the 2006 coup SHOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED. Thailand has had many coups since 1932 and its laughable. I didn't know Thailand's democracy was such a weak one, and always looked up to them kinda when compared to Malaysia's democracy, but now after understanding Thailand's political history, I must say, Malaysia is much more stable, fair, and democratic when compared to Thailand (this is a comparison, Malaysia is nowhere near a 'real democracy', but in comparison to Thailand, at least there's been no military coups in Malaysia's history before and ppl don't get what they want just by rioting and toppling down govts).

Military coups occur so often in Thailand that one wonders why there are elections at all, it seems that whenever the military or Thailands' middle/upper class elites doesn't like somebody, they just need to get their 'well-connected' military in and topple the govt. This is what happened in 2006. Many analysts have said that Thaksin had become too popular by then. He was enormously popular with the Thai rural and urban poor population which, mind you, Thailand being still an overall third world country (despite its glitzy image of Bangkok, Pattaya, beach resorts,etc) means the majority of the population of Thailand. He enacted many populist and refreshing policies such as universal health care coverage for Thailands' millions of rural poor as well as economic benefits for Thai rural farmers. He poured in money into previously neglected areas of the rural provinces of Thailand which the elites (yellows) had not bothered to look into in decades past. Thaksin, also was said to be uncompromising and unwilling to follow the 'old elitist rules' whereby previous Prime Ministers had always been in close connection and deference to what the Thai Monarchy and Thai military wanted. He was seen as challenging the military/monarchy's status in Thai society given that no other Thai prime minister had been this popular as an individual previously and Thai's only had one idol, the Thai King and his monarchy.

By 2006, Thaksin was seen by many elite/military quarters as also challenging the status of the monarchy by becoming a Thai idol as well. Thus, he was removed undemocratically, and the military came up with its own draft Constitution which is ridiculous. They say its to curb previous corruption loopholes,etc which is PURE CRAP cos you cannot come into power undemocratically and now want to change the 'game rules'. Furthermore, it was the yellows whom started this chaos by bombarding the govt house back in 2008 and the airports and now, i hear that these very ppl are calling the reds (whom merely copied their tactics and even the very concept of color coded division started with the yellows!) terrorists and I saw in one interview, a yellow even said 'it was the first time in my life that 'i've seen this happen (refering to red taking over of Bkk's commercial district) and this is my first time being ashamed of Thailand on the world stage'. What the HELL?!!! These yellows are TRULY SHAMELESS, i tell you...the first time you're ashamed of Thailand and the first time this has happened?! I was feeling ashamed of Thailand and its ridiculous situation when the yellows were taking over the airports, clearly airports project to the world what a country represents, that would have put Thais to shame right? But nooooooo, the yellows say the current red actions are shaming the country. Then I'd like to ask these ppl the question, What about back in 2008, the yellow action of taking over the airports was not unprecedened? Was Not a shameful act at all??

Then there were even suggestions back in 2008 by some, not all, yellows that the current election system should be changed such that a good proportion of seats would not be elected thru elections but instead 'chosen' by 'a group of professions and sectors of society'..sounds to me to be what the currently undemocratic Hong Kong system is like. This is as the yellows, being mainly rich and middle-class elites residing in Bangkok and other main cities, know VERY WELL they cannot win an election fair and square in a country like Thailand, where the MAJORITY of Thais are still urban and rural poors despite the great economic strides made by Thailand in the past few decades, and thus by carving out a sizeable percentage of seats in parliament to be 'chosen by professions' it was clear they would be able to possibly win the elections given that the power connections meant that rural and urban poors would very unlikely be in most of these professions, presumably chosen from elitist backgrounds such as solicitors, judges, authors, businessmen, whom are all mainly yellow supporters. And the yellows claim to be the true guardians of 'democracy'....having used rallies and violent tactics and the military to topple 3 successive election results which elected Thaksin or pro-Thaksin parties to govt. It seems that the yellows just don't like election results when it doesn't go their way. One leader was even quoted in 2008 protests that 'they'll protest until the pro-Thaksin govt was toppled and they will not accept any further election results if it results in another pro-Thaksin govt in power'...wow, how democratic, that's like saying in the US, the Democrats have won power but get toppled by the Republican-backed military and Democrat party gets dissolved and all its members banned from politics and they regroup and form a new party called The New Democrats and once again win elections and Republican supporters rally and take over airports in New York and San Francisco demanding that the New Democrats come down and they won't accept any election results which put the Democrats, whatever form or shade, back into power..or in Australia, if one said we'll protest and accept any party except the Labour Party in govt'....sounds ridiculous right? Basically, the yellows don't respect elections, they just want to have it their way...and when they can't do it thru elections, they do it thru coups by the military or taking over international airports in thailand..remember, every time the pro-Thaksin party comes into power including the period when thaksin ruled was BY ELECTIONS.

Since the military coup, the yellows have only come into power with Abhisek BY COUPS AND COURT RULINGS. NOT ELECTIONS. It is clear that the majority of thais, whom also happen to be mainly urban/rural poor, are reds and support thaksin. That is what a democracy is. It is what the simple majority wants. And it is not what a sizeable urban powerful and socially and economically powerful elite want.

The biggest argument of the yellows is that Thaksin was corrupt and that currently, the yellow Democrat Party govt are giving the same benefits or even more benefits to the rural poor BUT HOLD ON for a sec. That's just like saying I am elected as Managing Director of a Corporation by the majority, then a group of elites topple me by force and unilaterally and replace me with their own MD and he COPIES or improves on the ideas and policies which I developed and say hey, whats the difference? Its NOT FAIR. You cannot simply come into power with military force (the yellows) and then COPY Thaksin's extremely popular policies and ideas and claim them as your own. Even the corruption charges at the root of anti-thaksin arguments is a poor argument for coups and banning pro-thaksin parties. Just recently, the independent Thailand Electoral Commission has ruled that the yellow Democrat party has also been corrupt in gaining campaigning funds and misuse of electoral funds... i mean hello! Every party and leader in Thailand has arguably been corrupt...but none of them, it seems, did more or cared more for the rural and urban poor or poured money into the rural provinces as much as Thaksin did.

So, basically, everyone was corrupt and did nothing for the rural poor, knowing that they can be ignored, but thaksin was alleged corrupt BUT he ALSO provided much for the previously neglected rural poor of Thailand, giving them a voice and economic benefits. So saying he/his party shouldn't be in power because of corruption is simply disingenious when all previous govt had also been corrupt to varying degrees AND neglected or ignored Thailand's vast rural population. The current Democrat Party has also been proven to be corrupt by the independent Elections Commission of Thailand and there is no guarantee it wouldn't become as corrupt as Thaksin allegedly was in the future.

So, my question is, how can you replace a democratically elected govt with an elitist-backed one whom simply copies Thaksin's policies and is corrupt itself?! Furthermore, the current party was the result of a military coup plus two court decisions, not a democratic election. They have no right to be there.

Le Majeste Laws of Thailand:

This is an even more sensitive topic which could possibly land me in jail were I in Thailand or entered Thailand. However, given that this is the web, with anonymity (my nickname bears no resemblance to my real name so there's no way they could possibly identify me via this blog, and furthermore, thai authorities wouldn't even know my current passport (cos my bckground is so varied) or even my gender to identify me.

This is the Le Majeste Laws of Thailand which prohibits anyone from writing or saying anything negative about the King or the Royal Family of Thailand. This means that there have been cases of ppl being thrown into jail for years for simply suggesting that the King has been ill-advised by his advisers or that his son, the apparent heir, is a playboy. (The apparent heir, has been divorced 2x and married 3 x with crown princesses ever younger in age. There was also a leaked video online of a birthday party held for his poodle whereby the prince's wife was topless parading around...not a pretty sight for the future queen with her breasts now exposed for all to see)
This also means that it is open to abuse for political means. The yellows associate themselves with being pro-Royals and paint the Reds as Anti-Royals. This is extremely dangerous as it is defaming reds as anti-loyal unpatriotic betrayers of Thailand and also can be used to arrest red supporters for any action/words deemed to be anti-royals. The position of the Thai-Monarchy is much higher than the British royalty or even the Japanese royalty in the public's eyes.

It reminds me of a time when the Japanese emperor was considered a living god and pro-militarist would accuse anti-war Japanese during WW2 of being anti-royals and traitors and jail them up. It reminds me of a time when Mao was considered a living god in China and red guards would accuse those whom did not show absolute worship of Mao during the Cultural Revolution of being anti-Mao, and traitors of their country. Different factions would also contest to prove who was the closest and real supporters of Mao and no one dared criticise Mao directly, instead placing the blame on his close advisers, The Gang of Four and Jiang Qing, placing Mao above any room for criticism. Food for thought, no?

PS: Make your own connections as I do not want to make assertions and assinuations on this very sensitive topic but if history is any lesson, the similarities are clear and apparent to anyone with their minds and eyes open.

PPS: There are now 'multi-coloured shirts' whom say they are not connected to the govt and they want the govt to clamp down on the protesters just to resume peace and order to their daily lives in Bangkok. Thats a pure joke, literally. The current govt, yellows, and multi-coloured are really all in the same pot, anti-Thaksin, and representing middle-class and elitist concerns when the majority of Thailand's people are lower-poor urban and rural residents. Its funny how they now want' peace' and no 'violence' now that their yellow govt is in power when back when the democratically-elected red govt was in power, they had no qualms about destroying Thailand's image with the exact same rallies, taking over of international airports,etc. And they're complaining of their lives being disrupted because they cannot do business and shop at the high-end shopping malls and eat at the upscale luxury hotels which the red masses have formed protest stations at?

Well, for their information, most of these red supporters have prob never even entered these shopping malls or ate at any of them before.....A case of hitting them where it hurts...haha...

PPPS: I think i'm always supporting parties which, on a socio-economic level, I never belong in..for instance, in Taiwan's politics, I've always supported the DPP instead of the KMT despite my family bckground and area where we live which all leans heavily towards the KMT and in the current case of Thailand, clearly I have less in common with the rural poor of Thailand than the middle and upper class elites of Bangkok, but I believe that goes even more to show which side is worth supporting more...

Cheating Men & The Women Beside Them...出轨与在他旁边的女人......浮気した男と彼のそばにいる女...

I am so sick and tired of cheating men and the women who stand besides them. Think John Edwards and Elizabeth Edwards in the political world, Tiger Woods and Elin in the sports world, Sandra Bullock and Jesse James in the entertainment world, and that's just the famous ones we all know about. God knows what happens in the lives of ordinary people as well which is not sniffed out and reported by media these days. And in case you think it's just America, guess again, cos there was a recent high-profile case of a Taiwanese legislator caught on camera cheating on his wife with another socialite at some high-class restaurant in Taipei and Singapore's most well-known director Jack Neo was also recently busted for having a 2 year affair with a model half his age as well as other victims whom have come out to say they were repeatedly offered roles in exchange for sex with the director or were constantly sexually harassed by the well-known director Jack Neo. It seems that there is no sphere or occupation where men won't cheat, and cheat with women many years younger than themselves or their wifes!

It's disheartening really. And i really CAN'T stand these women whom stand beside their men and say they're willing to forgive them. And I can't stand these women whom continue to publicly support their men even with all the humiliation they face. Why in the world would you still want the man? I mean, you often find that its the men whom are the most guilty but yet gets to choose whether THEY would like to continue the marriage with their wife after getting busted and not the other way round. So undignified. Many of the women then choose to forgive their husbands only to find out in the end that their husbands have fallen in love with the younger woman and still decides to continue the relationship even AFTER the bust up. Look at Elizabeth Edwards as an example. She forgave her husband and even continued to campaign for him during his presidential run despite knowing about his affair and AFTER the media relevations. It was not until it was determined that John Edwards had fathered a child with the other woman was she forced into a divorce.

And i also take issue with ppl whom blame the women. What total rubbish. Don't EVER SAY that an affair is two people's responsibility. WRONG. It is ALWAYS THE CHEATER'S FAULT. NEVER THE OTHER SPOUSE'S FAULT. I love all the 'excuses' people come up with when men cheat. Oh the wife is too strong. She always 'bosses' her husband around. She's also responsible. The wife didn't take care of her image,looks,etc (err, cos she's been busy cooking, cleaning, looking after the kids the last 15 yrs whilst the husband watches the telly and takes them out occasionally?) ..what nonsense. Men will cheat in all kinds of circumstances. Look at Elin, Tiger's wife. She looks the perfect wife in terms of Western conventional beauty image. She's not even in her 30s, merely 20s, blond long hair, good face and thin body, but YET Tiger Woods cheated, not one or two but with possibly over 10 women. Look in Asia, with Vivian Chow...she was barely just 40 when her husband had an affair with a university/college girl and she looks stunning not just for her age but actually passes for just 30. She is also well-known for her feminine good-girl personality and so obviously being beautiful and having a feminine personality doesn't stop your husband from cheating. And the reason why i say it's NEVER right or understandable or two people's fault when someone cheats is becos the action cannot be mitigated by the fault of one. Therefore, even if the wife is unreasonable, looks sloppy and ugly and unappealing, smelly, has turned into a hot-tempered woman whom also insults her husband in public at every chance, it's STILL NOT her fault when her man cheats. It is purely 100% his fault. I REPEAT THAT.

Bcos, the solution to the above is not to cheat but to talk it out, work on it, go for counselling,etc..that's what couples should do. Not cheat.

Cos Saying a man whom cheats on his wife whom has some faults too, and that's ok, is like saying its ok for Tim to beat up Adam because Adam insulted his mother or its ok for Jack to kill Rob because Rob always disrespects him or that its Jill's fault as well when Joe rapes her for her ill-temper or that Janet has to take responsiblity as well for Jim stealing all her money and burning down her house because she is always insulting him to his friends and ill treats him for many years. Get it? One is simply disproportionate to the other. If you have problems, work it out with your other spouse. If you haven't tried, or fail after many yrs, then get a separation. Get a divorce. Not cheat.

I have no issues when a man divorces or separates from his wife and finds another (younger woman--ok maybe i'd still be like shallow you..but at least i'd respect him alot more than cheating) after the separation. But just don't try to be selfish and still want your social status, image, and your family and kids AND the other woman all at the same time.

And the worse thing is when all these men cheat and go for the younger women, not just 2,3,4,5,6 years younger, but they go for at least 7 yrs and younger and often up to girls half their age (basically almost their daughter's age) and call it finding 'true love'. Yes, these women/girls haven't cooked and cleaned, and provided free sex for years to these men which their wives have done, and once they find a younger fresher girl, out goes the wife whom spent decades toiling with them when they were poorer and unsuccessful and just starting out.

I mean some men even cheat on their wives when they're having cancer (!) re: Elizabeth Edwards, Jack Neo's first wife apparently... seriously heartless bastards...and i cannot fathom how men like these can go all the way up and climb the social ladder to become potential Presidential Nominees of the USA, Singapore's most famous director,etc..it seems that some would argue, its not relevant whether a man cheats or how he treats his wife as long as professionally he does well in his job. I'd strongly disagree. When it comes to promotions and climbing up the social ladder, of cos, its HIGHLY RELEVANT. This kind of 'impartial assessment' of people is seriously ridiculous. It is what caused armies to rape with impunity in past wars cos 'its ok or not detrimental to his social/job standing if he rapes' as long as he performs well in battles. It's what has covertly tolerated all the rape/abuse scandals which Australian football leagues have come to be associated with in recent yrs as its kinda 'all good' as long as they continue to win scores and victories for the team. It only becomes seriously not ok when they start losing games.

All these high profile cheatings and their wive's ultimate forgiveness ( the list is long...Jackie Chan is another one which came up whilst i was typing this) makes a poor and disturbing role model for the wider populace that its kinda ok for men to cheat..or at least if u're rich, ....cos although you may suffer a backlash from your wife, ultimately, she'll forgive you and your marriage and career will both stay intact on the whole.

And although i know its purely 100% a personal decision on the part of these very public cheater's wives whether or not to forgive their husbands, I also know that their decisions ultimately will have some kind of subconscious effect on the minds of the wider society observing the ensuing scandal unfold. Therefore, although its their personal decision, its also a public responsibility and a women's dignity issue as well. It can be 'Well, so and so forgave their husbands so maybe i should too..he's o'nly done it once' or 'Look at so and so, she kicked her husband out and took half his money..that gives me the courage to uphold my own dignity too and give my husband the boot..'

And it is with this final statement in mind that I hope Sandra Bullock gives her husband the kick out and not follow in the footsteps of Hillary Clinton (another name that popped up!), Elizabeth Edwards, Vivian Chow, apparently Elin Woods as well, and the numerous other 'women besides them' whom have effectively provided a negative role model for women and men and said that their dignity and trust can be trampled upon and that their self-worth is not worth much and can be taken and thrown aside by a man at his whim.

The Amazing Race 14...

Victor and Tammy Jih won the Amazing Race Season 14, I only got to watch it early this yr on youtube..thank goodness for youtube. I was sooo happy! It's seriously one of the best seasons of TAR..there were a diversity of contestants which i really like, i liked the fact that the final few teams comprised of black sisters, a mute and deaf son and mother team, and an Asian-American sibling lawyer team. I am so glad Chinese-Americans won!! And they were smart too..both are Harvard educated lawyers..yes, BOTH...both lawyers now...and both pretty good-looking too..the season also had alot of gay contestants, another plus point for me....besides the openly gay ones which were 3 or 4 i think, Victor Jih is seriously under my 'gaydar' suspicion..just by his voice, his sensitivity, his love for crying (he cried and got emotional on so many occasions..too many for ur average straight male)..and yea, just his voice..and i really like him (or rather his voice) hahaha..and he's smart too...

btw, another reason i love the winners (besides being Chinese-American, prob wealthy, Harvard-educated solicitors,etc) is the fact that they're also Taiwanese-Americans! I knew it from the beginning, i just had this gut feeling they could be Taiwanese-American given that almost all the wealthy, well-educated, famous Chinese-Americans are inevitably from Taiwan originally (this is due to the history and politics of Taiwan/China and America. Until 1979, America only had diplomatic relations with Taiwan and not China and thus mainlanders couldn't immigrate to America until January 1979. On the other hand, Taiwan had 20,000 quotas allocated for it which is actually the quota allocated to China every yr and only wealthy and Taiwanese pursuing higher education like their masters/phd were moving to America 1950-1979 reflecting the status and education level of many Taiwanese-Americans in American society. Mainland Chinese came later on and were invariably poorer and thus had less resources and time to climb up the social ladder. You often hear stories of Taiwanese-Americans with parents whom came as computer engineers and lab scientists working in low-paid jobs,etc whereas mainlanders tended to come on relative reunion visas or less prestigious study purposes.) .

Bck to Victor and Tammy, so i had this gut feeling given that most well-educated well-to-do Chinese-Americans inevitably have roots from Taiwan and given the fact that they were speaking Mandarin most of the time (as opposed to Cantonese which would suggest roots from Hong Kong or immigration pre-1949) i googled, and i was right! They ARE Taiwanese-Americans!! Yeahh..another reason to celebrate their victory.

Just love The Amazing Race Season 14..hehe..