Live rounds fired

Military pointing shotgun as protesters push against troops. April 10 on Makawan Bridge.

Empowered by massive media censorship, Abhisit’s government has been spreading the bold lie that troops were not shooting live rounds and trying to paint the troops as innocent victims of rampaging red shirt protesters. 

This lie has been told by former-academic-turned-government-revisionist, Panitan Wattanayagorn and by

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban who said: "he had issued orders for soldiers to be equipped only with shields, batons and tear gas. "They were unarmed, so some of them were killed," he said.

And this lie is being perpetuated by Thailand’s controlled and complicit media. 

As a witness to the carnage on the streets in Bangkok on Saturday, it is simply staggering to hear the government making such bold lies. 

Thousands of rounds of live ammunition were littering the streets. While I collected a few spent shells that rolled up to my feet still hot from being fired, a number of protesters had collected live rounds. Here is a photo of a protester holding one of them: 

All are marked with the RTA – Royal Thai Army – acronym.

That the troops were firing overhead for the majority of the time is certain. The only photographs I have of troops aiming at protesters are with shotguns (above). I collected one spent shotgun shell – contents unknown obviously – and one large rubber bullet that is the circumference of a shotgun shell.

While the spent and live shells are evidence of how bold the distortion of facts is by the government, the video evidence of troops firing and the violent injuries that killed protesters is indisputable.

This footage from France 24 is clear.

What is also clear is that 16 protesters died and many of those died from violent injuries consistent with bullet wounds.

If Thailand had a proper, free media, they should expose the lies that their government is telling them. 

Ugly lese majeste

A Banksy portrait of the Queen of England.

The ugly appearance of lese majeste/Computer Crimes Act is back and freedom of speech and the press is again under attack.

Chiranuch Premchaiporn, at the liberal Prachatai online news site, was arrested and charged for not censoring user comments fast enough.

As the above picture illustrates, constitutional monarchies like Great Britain have evolved (pun intended) to a point where freedom of speech can coexist with a monarchy.

Yet in Thailand, citizens and foreigners are subject to draconian laws that can send people to jail for not standing up during the royal propaganda played at movie theaters, for expressing political opinion, posting online comments, and in the case of Chiranuch Premchaiporn, for simply not self-censoring free speech fast enough.

Not only is Thailand's lese majeste law an international disgrace, but in perspective of personal freedoms, it is also barbaric.

That anyone can face an astounding 50-year sentence for exercising one of the most basic human rights is astounding.

Political Prisoners Thailand suggests to "watch this case carefully and urges all interested and concerned parties to write to the Thai embassies and consulates in their areas."

I think we also need to push organizations like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International to take Thailand to task for violating basic human rights.

We should also consider discouraging tourists from visiting Thailand. If Burma's tourism industry is subject to such an embargo, Thailand's continued attacks on human rights warrants similar treatment.

Dont forget, its not just lese majeste which Thailand transgresses on human rights. Thailand is a habitual and abuser of human rights as demonstrated by a number of issues like the Rohingyas being towed out to sea to die or the simple fact that not a single member of the security forces have been been prosecuted for gross human rights violations in the deep south.

And finally, this should serve as an example that Prime Minister Abhisit is simply a liar who should not be trusted.

I remember a triumphant Abhisit last year boldly claiming that "justice" would be the way to measure the success of his government.

By any measure, his government has been a complete failure and it is specifically the failure of justice, as demonstrated by the continued use of lese majeste and the computer crimes act, that shows just how hollow his rhetoric has been all along.

ไชโย! (Chai yo)

Two polities, one ungovernable state

The Bangkok Post is reporting some simply bizarre protest numbers that the Ministry of Interior (MoI) is trying to flog.

46,377 in total with "23,569 red-shirts were from the Northeast, 11,127 from the North, 4,190 from the central region, 3,667 from the East, 2,990 from the West and 834 from the South."

While wildly low, they are also unbelievably detailed to the exact number and location.

While I would put my own first-hand estimate at 200,000+, I think the important thing to remember is that the MoI is probably not floating such imaginatively low numbers for the foreign media or for those who can literally see how absurd their estimate is, but they are likely using their apocryphal numbers for the blissfully ignorant Bangkok middle class.

Watching Thai television this evening, it is remarkable that while the streets are teeming with anti-government protesters, Thai TV is filled with soap operas and game shows.

The news and political talk shows are nearly void of images from the protest and completely void of representatives of the red shirts or dialog on issues fueling red shirt grievances.

Should middle class Bangkok residents chose either their ASTV or government/military media, they might simply remain ignorant of the storm brewing in their city.

Far removed from the soring high-rises, luxury cars, and pleasantly cooled shopping malls is a political movement sown in economic and judicial inequality and the out-right theft of citizens democratic franchise.

The reds are organized, they have an established ideology, and they are growing.

The MoI's hopeful and imaginative numbers are analogous to the hopeful and imaginative idea that the whole red shirt movement is simply a bunch of bumpkins duped and paid by Thaksin.

How long Bangkok will try to sweep the reds away with the trinity of the Military, the Judiciary, and the Democrats remains anyone's guess.

Currently, there is a clearly distinguishable failure of Bangkok based elites to come to grips with the morally questionable suppression of rural voters.

And until the power-brokers in Bangkok begin to negotiate and address the grievances that the reds have, Bangkok and Thailand will remain two very different polities within one ungovernable state.

An elephant named Suwicha

Suwicha Thakor at trail, photo from Reuturs.

Over at New Mandala there is a great idea to help name a baby elephant at Sydney’s Taronga Park Zoo:

"How about we have a campaign to name the young boy Suwicha (สุวิชา), after Thai political prisoner Suwicha Thakor? Most of you will remember that Suwicha Thakor was sentenced to 10 years in prison for posting digitally altered images of the king on the internet. It is an outrageous sentence, and would have been even longer if Suwicha had not pleaded guilty."

To read more about the rational from New Mandala click here.

To read about the Suwicha Thakor at Political Prisoners Thailand in Thailand click here.

And most importantly, click here to cast your vote to name the baby elephant Suwicha.


In addition, PPT has these suggestions to protest against Thailand's appalling lèse-majesté law.

PPT urges protests against the use of these draconian laws and Suwicha’s harsh sentence:

1. Write a letter to the Prime Minister of Thailand, Abhisit Vejjajiva, Government House, Bangkok, Thailand. Fax number +66(0)29727751.

2. Write a letter of concern to the Ambassador, The Royal Thai Embassy, in your country of residence about Suwicha’s case.

3. Write to your local member of parliament and your minister for foreign affairs, drawing their attention to the lèse-majesté law in Thailand and Suwicha’s case.

4. Urge Amnesty International internationally and at your local branch to take up Suwicha’s case and others charged under the draconian laws that protect the monarchy and police cyberspace.

From the gutter to the sewer

*all photos copyright*

As outlined by Awzar Thi over at the Rule of Lords, Thailand's human rights reputation has been in serious decline.

Citing the The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), the main issues are:

• Repeated overthrow of elected governments by antidemocratic forces
• Large-scale public criminal activity not followed with investigations or prosecutions
• Internet censorship and lese majesty witch-hunt
• Threats to human rights defenders
• Refoulement, murder and impunity on the high seas

The ALRC declares that these abuses indicate a 'rise of the internal-security state and decline of human rights' since the 2006 military coup d'etet.

But I dont think blame solely rests with the junta or the ultra-nationalist forces. Yes, things are much worse now, but Thailand's human right's downward spiral began with Thaksin.

Which Thi summarizes as:

"All this [the above listed offenses] and more is being put before the current sitting of the Human Rights Council. Ironically, back in 2006 before the coup Thailand tried to get a seat on the council. It failed then not because of poor diplomacy, as it claimed, but because after five years of government under Thaksin Shinawatra its rights reputation was in the gutter. It is not in the gutter any more. Now it’s in the sewer."

I couldnt agree more, Thailand's human rights reputation was already soiled by Thaksin, and what we are seeing now is simply a bad situation getting worse and worse.

And as Thailand's international reputation sinks, anti-foreign sentiment grows.

Issues like the military's persistent torture and murder in the South, PAD's lawlessness on the Bangkok streets, the Rohingya being cast off to their death in the ocean are now being discounted as some sort of foreign conspiracy to discredit Thailand international reputation.

Like the xenophobic comments by Col Manas Kongpan - regional commander of the Internal Security Operations Command - when queried about the death of the Rohingya: "They all [news reports] come from journalists who have problems with Thailand and just want to slander us,"

So instead of cleaning up a seriously disgraced human rights record and restoring international confidence in Thailand, it is easier for narrow minded xenophobes to concoct a ridiculous conspiracy theory.

And anti-foreign statements like this simply highlight the downward spiral of Thailand's international human rights reputation that was in the gutter with Thaksin, but is in the sewer with the military.

Press Statement Professor Giles Ji Ungpakorn Regarding Lese Majeste charges

I have previsouly blogged about professor Giles Ungpakorn's book 'A Coup for the Rich' which I wrote:

"His unprecedented questioning of the monarchy is nothing short of breath-taking.

In a climate of fear where any rational questioning of the monarchy has the very real possibility of leading to a prison term it is important to have an academic brave enough to raise important issues that are essential elements to resolving Thailand’s political quagmire."

Now, of course, Giles has come up against Thailand's draconian lese majesty laws.

Which you can read about here at the BKK Post:Giles faces lese majeste charge

And below is his press release.

It is easy to see that Giles is going to bring an enormous amount of publicity to this in which his book and his ideas on the monarchy will be further disseminated. This is, of course, shows just how futile it is trying to censor freedom of expression and just how shameless and antiquated lese majesty laws are.

From Giles:

As you know, I have been summonsed to Pathumwan police station for questioning at 10.00 am on Tuesday 20th January 2009. I have been accused of Lese Majeste. The charge arises from my book “A Coup for the Rich”, published in 2007. Those found guilty of Lese Majeste face a heavy prison sentence.

1. The Lese Majeste Law in Thailand does not allow the for the proper functioning of a Democratic Constitutional Monarchy, since it restricts freedom of speech and expression and does not allow for public accountability and transparency of the institution of the Monarchy. The Thai population are encouraged to believe that we live under an “ancient system of Monarchy”, a cross between a Sakdina, Absolute and Constitutional Monarchy system.

2. The use of the Lese Majeste Law in Thailand is an attempt to prevent any discussion about one of the most important institutions. It attempts to prevent critical thought and encourage a system of “learning by rote” among the population. For example, once the Monarch has given his blessing to the “Sufficiency Economy”, we are all supposed to accept it and praise it without question. Luckily, this type of brain-washing does not work very well in Thai society, for a society which cannot openly discuss economic and political policies will remain backward and under-developed.

3. The Military often claim that they are the “defenders of the Constitutional Monarchy”, yet the Thai Military has a long history of making un-constitutional coups. These are often “legitimised” by claiming to protect the Monarchy. The 19^th September 2006 coup is a good example. Rather than defending the Monarchy as such, the military sought to legitimise themselves by referring to the Monarch. The Lese Majeste Law is thus used as a tool by the military, and other authoritarian elites, in order to protect their interests instead of preserving the Constitutional Monarchy. The promotion of an image that the Monarchy is all powerful (an un-constitutional image), is part of this self-legitimisation by the military and other forces.

4. Constitutional Monarchs in most democratic countries enjoy stability while being subjected to public scrutiny. Therefore we must conclude that the Thai Lese Majeste Laws are not in place in order to bring stability to the institution, but serve another purpose.

5. Those who charge me with Lese Majeste are doing so because I have shown a principled and unyielding opposition to military coups and dictatorships. Many other activists are facing similar charges for the same reason. We must not forget their plight. We must wage an international and national political campaign to defend democratic rights in Thailand and for the abolition of the Lese Majeste law.

My book “A Coup for the Rich”

I wrote and published this book a few months after the 19^th September 2006 military coup. The book was an attempt to write an academic analysis of the Thai political crisis from a pro-democracy point of view. While constantly criticising the Thaksin government’s gross abuses of Human Rights, I argued that the coup was totally unjustified. I argued that those who supported the coup: the military, the PAD, disgruntled businessmen, neo-liberals and conservative civil servants, were united in their contempt for the poor. They have no faith in democracy because they believe that the poor do not deserve the right to vote. They also hate Thaksin’s party because it could win elections, while they could not.

Another important theme in my book is the questioning of the perceived “fact” that the crisis was a result of a dispute between the Monarchy and Thaksin. It is this argument of mine that may have enraged the military most of all, since they wished to use Royal legitimacy for their coup. I also attempted to stimulate a discussion about whether a Constitutional Monarchy should defend the Constitution and Democracy. In another section of the book I tried to paint an historical account of the Monarchy and to argue that it is now a modern institution, not a feudal one.

I have now sold all 1000 copies of “A Coup for the Rich”, but it is available to download from my blog http://wdpress.blog.co.uk/ and from the International Socialist Tendency website in the U.K. Just after publication, the book was withdrawn from sale by Chulalongkorn University bookshop and later by Thammasart University bookshop.

I reject totally the accusation that I have committed any crime by writing and publishing this book. I am prepared to fight any Lese Majeste charges in order to defend academic freedom, the freedom of expression and democracy in Thailand.

Since this accusation was filed by a Special Branch officer, the present Democrat Party Government should be questioned about its role in this and many other cases. The new Prime Minister has stated that he wants to see a firm crackdown on les majesty and many recent cases have been filed by the police.

Giles Ji Ungpakorn

13 January 2009

What you can do

1. Write a letter of protest/concern to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Government House, Bangkok, Thailand. Fax number +66(0)29727751

2. Write a letter of protest/concern to the Ambassador, The Royal Thai Embassy, in your country.

3. Demand that Amnesty International take up all Les Majesty cases in Thailand.

4. Demand the abolition of the les majesty law.

Vested Interests or Bad Journalism?

Its not exactly news that the press in Thailand has troubles.

Not only is the press severely curtailed by government manipulation and censorship but, a common complaint, is the obvious political bias.

The Thai press might see their role as a watch dog of public interest but the obvious question is; who owns the watch dog?

A logical answer to that question was proposed by academic Duncan McCargo who, in his book Politics and the Press in Thailand, wrote "...the Thai media is frequently the captive of various interests. Its trickiness derives not from its lack of loyalties, but from its multiple loyalties, the plurality of its obligations and the diversity of its stakeholders."

In addition, a lack of professionalism is also common in the press and, in particular, the English language press.

In what might be a combination of vested interests and sloppy work, The Nation offers its readers these contradictory side-by-side reports:


Apparently the Olympic torch relay was both 'trouble-free' as well as 'greeted with protest'.

Now, the question might be, is this simply a lack of professionalism or an attempt to placate diverse interests such as the paper's western readers and the Chinese business community?

"The following steps should NOT be taken"

Thanks to Not The Nation for the following helpful article on how to NOT bypass the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology's clumsy and ethically questionable attempts to censor the internet.

From Not The Nation:

The following steps should NOT be taken by those attempting to bypass the Ministry of Communication and Information’s blocking of websites

It is ILLEGAL to use this guide to quickly and easily access the world of free information on the internet. NTN provides this information in the public interest as a clear example of what not to do, right now.

1. DO NOT log onto to www.torproject.org
2. DO NOT download the latest package on this page: http://torproject.org/download.html.en.
3. DO NOT open the file, which will automatically install all the software you need.
4. DO NOT notice that a small icon now appears in your system tray, shaped like a small onion.
5. DO NOT right-click the onion and select “Start” from the pop-up menu.
6. DO NOT use the same menu to select “Message List” to see the Tor system slowly develop an anonymizing network.
7. Once its tells you “A circuit has been built” DO NOT then enjoy safe, censorship-free surfing to banned sites such as YouTube and MindightUniversity.
8. For even greater convenience, DO NOT download Mozilla Firefox, a superior web browser program available free at http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/ , and DO NOT then download an add-on called “Tor Button” here at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2275 that allows you to switch Tor on and off easily while browsing.
9. If you do successfully download Tor, DO NOT keep a copy of the downloaded installation file which can be easily emailed as an attachment to all your friends or distributed on a CD-ROM or flash keychain drive.
10. If the Tor download page is blocked, DO NOT seek out other similar services and software such as these: http://freenetproject.org/ or http://www.freehaven.net/ or http://marabunta.laotracara.com/english.php.
11. If these services are not available, DO NOT do a Google Search for “anonymizer” or anonymity networks” and DO NOT learn more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Anonymity_networks.

Chaturon Chaisang: Second Class Citizen

Chaturon Chaisaeng at the FCCT.

Khun Chaturon Chaisaeng, acting leader of the now dissolved Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party, greeted the assembled press at the Foreign Correspondents Club Thailand this evening with the opening remarks;

"Thank-you for allowing me to use my freedom of speech…one of the last freedoms I have left."

Although the general ban on political parties, which began after the September 19th coup d’etat, has recently been lifted, Chaturon and 110 other members of TRT have been banned by the Constitutional Court from politics for the next five years.

Yet beyond being banned from participation as a political candidate or even a member of a political party Chaturon and TRT seem to be at risk of losing their freedom of speech also.

T-ITV (formerly I-TV until the junta-installed-government decided that a television station not controlled by the military or government was a bad idea and launched questionable legal action and took over the station three months ago) was scheduled to interview Khun Chaturon for a new talk show until the office of the Prime Minister intervened.

A senior staff member with T-ITV informed me that the station was threatened by a government official who said "if they (reporters) interview someone we don’t like" the station’s staff salaries would not be paid.

Since the government take over three months ago the staff have not been paid.

The government has promised that next week the long overdue salaries would be paid but it seems that I-TV must self-censor its broadcasts if they plan to get paid and stay on air.

During Chaturon’s press conference he claimed that the coup and the recent Constitutional Tribunal’s decision are part of the same effort by the military to dismantle the enormous electoral power that TRT commands.

"One can not help thinking that it had all been planed" claimed Chaturon.

What the military establishment wanted all along was to disband the TRT and create a "weak coalition (between the) democrats and the military" claimed Chaturon.

If the junta was sincere about seeking a return to democracy then freedom of the press is essential and freedom for citizens, even those banned from political office, to speak is implicit.

Khun Chaturon is a banned political actor yet he is still an influential figure whose opinion could add to a healthy political discourse in a proper functioning democracy.

Yet, as the ongoing crisis demonstrates, Thailand is not only far from a functional democracy but also appears to be heading in the wrong direction.

Chaturon claimed that the junta was "determined to destroy us (TRT) from the beginning" and he might be right.

Many have questioned the Constitutional Tribunal’s black and white exoneration of the Democrats and the political assassination of the TRT.

Now, if the junta continues what appears to be the persecution of the TRT, they are at risk of permanently derailing a return to Thailand’s once fragile democracy.

Worse yet, by persecuting a political party with 16 million voters, the junta could create political martyrs that will certainly look to the future to exact their revenge.

Dogs Don’t Give Birth to Humans, Coups Don’t Give Birth to Democracy

Immediately after the September 19th coup d'etat a considerable number of foreign journalists and academics in Bangkok showered praise upon the new military leaders.

Thaksin’s divisive and failing policies coupled with his grotesque arrogance were too much for most and anything, even the strong arm of the military toppling a democratically elected government, was deemed preferable to his prolonged tenure.

One of the few initial, and rather vocal, voices opposing the junta was Professor Giles Ungpakorn of Chulalongkorn University.

About a week after the coup Giles gave a particularly spirited attack against the junta while it was still unfashionable to do so.

While Bangkok's residents were still lining up to have their pictures taken with the flower draped soldiers Giles was at the Foreign Correspondents Club Thailand reprimanding the assembled foreign media and pro-junta academics.

Supporters of the coup were ‘tank liberals’ he claimed and rhetorically questioned whether academics that supported the coup would “all burn their Comparative Politics books and scrap all courses on ‘democratization’ in favor of teaching military science and tank maintenance?”

Giles’ academic wrath has now been focused into valuable new book titled A Coup for the Rich – Thailand’s Political Crisis.

The book is certainly ‘hot of the press’ but it’s not exactly for sale. It seems that Thailand’s supposedly prestigious Chulalongkorn University has opted for self-censorship and the school’s bookstore will not be selling the book.

What makes the book particularly worth reading is both the fact that its banning reflects the pathetic state of press freedom in Thailand as well as its blunt and open critique of Thai politics.

Giles lashes insightful criticism on almost everyone. The military, the pu yai (upper class), and even the monarchy are fair game.

Such criticism is not just refreshing in a country where open political discussion is extremely curtailed but it is essential if Thailand is to solve the on-going political crisis.

What Giles does best though is bring a clever, spirited, and serious challenge to Thailand’s increasingly confined political space.

His unprecedented questioning of the monarchy is nothing short of breath-taking.

In a climate of fear where any rational questioning of the monarchy has the very real possibility of leading to a prison term it is important to have an academic brave enough to raise important issues that are essential elements to resolving Thailand’s political quagmire.

The book does have flaws though. Giles follows a rather strict socialist ideology that tends to lionize the poor as free from the bigoted villainy of the upper class. Unfortunately, humanity's capacity for bad behavior spans all classes so poverty doesn't automatically result in higher morals values as the book often suggests.

But such criticism is limited. Not only has Giles initiated essential political dialogue that Thailand is starving for, but he initiates dialogue with a comedic flare that is often absent in the academic world.

While scolding the international media for our lackadaisical challenge to military rule he gave a wily smile and reminded us that dogs don’t give birth to humans, should we expect coups to give birth to democracy?

_________________________________

*As far as I know the only place to buy Giles' book is still from his office in the faculty of political science at Chulalongkorn. If anyone know's another source, please leave a comment and let us know.