Army reform is essential and overdue
After 18 "successful" military coups over the past eight decades, it would be unwise at best to relegate the last one into the dustbin of Thai history.
Today, six years after the September 19, 2006 coup, no respectable public figures would dare rule out a future military adventure.
Six years on, no generals have been prosecuted for the 2006 coup. None of the coup makers and very few of the coup supporters has publicly expressed any sense of contrition.
Many of those who supported the coup continue to cling to the notion of a "good coup" as a quick fix for Thailand's political ills, not realising that the coup itself is part of those political ills.
As a matter of fact, these people later criticised the September 19 coup makers for not being "decisive" or competent enough in uprooting the influence of Thaksin Shinawatra, the megalomaniac prime minister ousted by the coup and later convicted of corruption under circumstances compromised by the junta-appointed Asset Examination Committee.
Six years on, many coup supporters continue to long for yet another "perfect coup" supposedly to clean up corruption and dirty politics once and for all - but what about corruption and undue influence within the Army itself?
This underlies the belief that those perceived as "good people" can do no wrong and don't need to be scrutinised or submit to the same rules as the rest. Thus staging a coup, which is unconstitutional, is "acceptable" and even "preferable" to these people because the coup makers are supposedly a bunch of good fellows.
At the same time, such a problematic ethos enables coup supporters to justify the illegal nullification of the millions of votes of the majority of the electorate who supported Thaksin, because they argue that since he is bad and these people kept voting for him, they must either be bad or foolish, or both.
Six years on, there exists no reform of the Army that would make it a truly disciplined and professional force under civilian rule, divorced from political interference. Instead, Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha continues to comment on politics at a whim while journalists ask him every now and then if there will be yet another coup.
The Army continues to own two of the six free-television stations, 60 per cent of the radio airwaves, and significant shares in TMB Bank (formerly Thai Military Bank) with little questioning or resistance from society at large. One wonders how many armies in supposedly democratic societies wield such power and influence.
Also, the Army's role in the bloody 2010 crackdown continues to escape penalty. Even the Truth for Reconciliation Commission of Thailand, which was created by then-premier Abhisit Vejjajiva, admitted that access to Army personnel for questioning over its role in the crackdown - which led to more than 90 deaths and 2,000 injuries on both sides, but mostly red shirts - had been restricted.
Given such circumstances, reform of the Army is imperative and long overdue. Thailand needs a sustained campaign to reform the Army. The pro-coup mentality must be widely debated and confronted.
Only a comprehensive reform of the Army, and widespread opposition and condemnation of the "quick-fix" mentality of the so-called "good people" that created more problems than it solved, can put an end to the status of Thailand as a permanent hostage to the military.
The status of Thailand as one of the most coup-addicted nations on Earth is not something to be proud of and Thai society has only itself to blame.
Quiet as it may be for the time being, one coup supporter recently told this writer that in the next coup, the Army would not only raid TV stations, but would shut down Internet access as well, as more and more critical political debate and networking were taking place online.
Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Army-reform-is-essential-and-overdue-30190682.html
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yes - this is one of the
yes - this is one of the roots of all evil in Thailand
The status of Thailand as one
Not all of society, or even most of it. Just the minority with the guns or financing the ones with the guns. Thailand has always been ruled by aliens, whether from India proper or their Brahmanic derived local successors, and now by international, neoliberal capital, dominated by the Sino-Thai - ironically those who, in true neocon fashion, bill themselves as tru-Thai, attempting to beat to the punch those who would point out their obvious alien outlook and origin.
The majority of Thais just have to suck it up and peacefully to seize power - an overwhelming majority can always do that if they organize, if they simply commit to doing 'whatever it takes'.
Splitting the Royal Thai Army, the Royal Thai Police ... all of the Royal Thai Government ... into 77 pieces each under elected, constituent civilian control is the straight forward solution.
A really new Thai Constitution - one which decentralizes not just the administration of the South but all of all of Thailand's provinces - and keeps recall, referendum, and initiative in the hand of the people at all times as well - is just what the doctor ordered.
The cure for the infectious, often fatal, disease he carries with him, like typhoid Mary, wherever he goes.
Well finally someone with
Well finally someone with sense.
Although for any change to happen, the people need first proper education.
Without, people will just be fooled around.
Looking at other coup prone
Looking at other coup prone nations of the past: Spain stopped having them, Turkey stopped having them, Indonesia stopped having them. In all of these cases it was the popular support for stable democratic government that made the military see that coups were a source of instability and agree to stay out of politics. So the consolation is that eventually Thailand will get there too in the end.
the high icons dissolve
the high icons dissolve slowly - then disappear coups
Not sure I see anything new
Not sure I see anything new or groundbreaking in Pravit's analysis. Of course the coups shouldn't be forgotten and of course the army should be brought under civilian control.
That's why there was a big pile of corpses on the streets of Bangkok in April/May 2010.
What's also interesting is that Pravit recently joined in attacking someone who'd been threatened by the army.
Pravit knows exactly who I'm talking about and knows he can't defend himself against that accusation.
And believe me, if Pravit's own personal position is threatened he'd use any dirty, nasty trick he could to maintain it.
Spooner, When you make
Spooner,
When you make serious accusation against myself or anyone, please make sure you substantiate it with evidence for all to see. I'm sure there's enough space and tolerance for your vicious lies on prachatai.com.
Pravit Rojanaphruk
Pravit, As you well know it's
Pravit,
As you well know it's not an accusation but a representation of the facts.
You supported people making death threats against someone who is also being threatened by the Army.
Given the newspaper you work for this comes as no surprise. And given that your boss, Thanong K, has been snooping around my friends in Bangkok in an attempt to find out more about me and the person being threatened by the Army, your continued failure to address your support for people making death threats is cause for concern.
I also wonder if you had any hand in Thanong's recent behaviour - have you been informing? Personally I wouldn't put it past you.
As for substantiation - I'll put it all up in my own good time, not at your demand. As you know full well, it will destroy your reputation, which, actually, is something I want to avoid.
But your continual refusal to retract and apologise is beginning to leave me with little alternative.
Best wishes
Andrew
Well, not to climb on any
Well, not to climb on any bandwagons or anything, and I have no relationship to Andrew Spooner (don't even know the guy, never met him, never spoken to him), but I have to say that most of Pravit's offerings seem shallow, condescending, and really not very intellectual. Just an opinion.
I am not usually impressed by attempts at liberalism from people who not only work for fascists and seem happy to do so, but whose previous commentaries appear to contribute very little to any rational debate. Some of them do state the perfectly bloody obvious though, which may cut the mustard in Thailand but which doesn't in better educated company. Even though Thai scholars are not well regarded anywhere outside of Thailand, I would have thought Pravit would pull out additional stops to impress what is obviously a largely foreign audience at Prachatai.
I'm not going to comment on any alleged 'attacks' or any alleged support for miserable idiots ranting or making threats against people on the internet, suffice it to say that one is often judged (or at least assessed) by the company one keeps and the people one supports. In both of these respects, Pravit seems to be wanting.
Khun Pravit: a word of advise if I may make so bold. The best way to avoid being thought a fool or a charlatan is not to behave like a fool or a charlatan. If you are capable of writing anything of substance, then I suggest you should do it. Don't imagine you can rest on Thai laurels, because they're frankly not worth very much. Thais may be impressed by someone with a partly foreign education, but people with a real education are less easily so.
And a suggestion to Andrew Spooner: No point trying to explain quantum mechanics to a tree, the tree doesn't have the wherewithall to understand. Wrestle with pigs if you must but don't be surprised when all you get is dirty and all you achieve is to annoy the pigs.
Just an opinion.
Annie
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The more people I meet, the more I like my dog.
Annie Couldn't have put it
Annie
Couldn't have put it better myself.
And I'll take your last paragraph into account.
However, I am justified in feeling deeply aggrieved by Pravit's support of people who made death threats to my family. He did this knowing full well it had occurred as I'd previously sent him evidence of this. To then deny he's received this evidence is yet more proof he is a dishonest fraud.
I am certain whenever he is questioned by others about this matter he lies even more. It seems to come naturally to him. But he will know that it can only be a matter of time before others realise his deceit.
Andrew
BEYOND LIES AND LYING In a
BEYOND LIES AND LYING
In a land incapable of - and actually inculcated into not - applying basic rules of truth, hypocrisy does not exist.
Stranger still is that the unaware hypocrite is so willing and able to cite others for a negative human characteristic he believes himself and his culture incapable of possessing.
Indeed. As was famously said:
Indeed.
As was famously said: "What doesn't kill you makes you stranger"
Of course that probably applies more in some cultures than others.
The question is not should
The question is not should the army be reformed - it's what are the reforms that are needed. To my mind, the most important would be the abolition of conscription.
First of all, it's completely capricious - a lottery - so it can't engender the unity of a true citizens' army such as the Israeli or Swiss armies. Conscription, if it exists should be universal. Even when the high and mighty such as Abhisit forget to organize themselves enough to avoid it, they get cushy jobs like lecturing for a few days a year. Those who go through high school and university who are so much more likely to be relatively affluent avoid it through going on a camp and putting a uniform on occasionally. So the bulk of conscriptees must come from the poorer sections of society
Secondly, the conscripted soldiers give the officers (and most likely the career soldiers too) a sense of control and power feeding their vanities and also providing them with personal servants, household staff, security guards, drivers, demolition gangs (e.g. Chuwit park), the threat of muscle in business negotiations etc. This puffed-up vanity no doubt drives their desire to dabble in politics and demonstrate their wisdom there. If there was no conscription, they'd have their work cut out trying to create a professional army that young people would volunteer to join.They'd be less likely to do things like buying dowsing rod bomb detectors because the idea that the army was corrupt and heedless of the lives of its soldiers would not boost the number of volunteers.
Thirdly, conscripts are used politically by being told or encouraged to vote in certain ways. Two of my students who discharged their conscription obligation by being in the high school and university cadets told me that they and many of their peers were given the chance to avoid parading in the hot sun and asked instead to trawl the web for supposed lese majeste items. They were given templates of anti-lese majeste opinions that they were expected to post in reply. This was also reported on in the Bangkok Post a few years back.
I've never heard any debate on this question in Thailand but to me it seems like the flow on effects of ending or phasing out conscription would be all to the good.
I notice in PPT this morning,
I notice in PPT this morning, is an article concerning the use of ammunition during the red 'riots', what someboring Monarchist drones are fond of referring to as the 'burning of Bangkok' in 2010.
Evidently, the army now says that it expended 191,949 rounds of ammunition, which is fair enough, we should encourage good book-keeping in one of the worlds most corrupt armies.
But PPT does not make the rather obvious next point, that the army discharged 191,949 rounds of ammunition and remarkably, claims not to have actually hit anyone.. A point which our beloved pet intellectual academic Pravit also seems to have missed in the present cutting-edge academic discussion paper.
Now there are really some skeptical folk out there who may be grateful that the army wasn't in fact firing at the Laos army, or the Cambodian army, or (God forbid) the Burmese army, because with this level of incompetence, the Thais would have had their asses soundly kicked. Again.
But really, isn't this appalling level of incompetence another reason why the whole shoddy structure should be pulled down? After all, historically, it can be shown that the Thai army only exists to protect the Thai people against the Thai people.
And to enrich the army generals of course, including the faggot-general, the coup leaders, and those who gleefully ordered live rounds to be fired at Thai people, all of whom really ought to face a firing squad for sedition and/or treason.