I refer to the Strait Times Editorial, “Thailand stumbles again”, May 10th with regard to the on-going political conflict in Thailand.
I wholly concur with the said piece, especially on that part that clearly stipulated that:
Ms Yingluck's removal is but a scene in a play whose denouement is unknown. Thailand's political impasse dramatises the limitations of democracy as a political stage when the actors cannot agree on their roles. Thaksin demonstrated convincingly the hold of his charismatic populism on the agrarian poor and the urban working class. Arrayed against the numerical superiority of these groups is the institutional power of the entrenched Bangkok elite, old money, the royalist establishment, and the urban middle class. These groups would have sought a compromise in a working democracy. But that has proved impossible in the embittered political climate of Thailand, leading to the paralysis evident today. The more than six months of unrest that preceded the court ruling are a part of the eight-year struggle for the political soul of the country, a contestation which does not appear to have a definitive conclusion, let alone an imminent one.
Comment:
The author of the said article has clearly shown what is the problem of Thai society and that is: the limitation of their democracy by virtue of the fact that some of the political actors, personalities and social classes of the whole divide cannot agree and cannot accept their social, political and economic roles.
On one side are the monarchists, the national bourgeoisie, the middle class rich, the businessmen, the Bangkok elite, etc.
While on the other side are the poor farmer from the North and Northeast, the poor people of Bangkok and the working class or Thailand’s own proletariat.
The former controls the economy of the country; the stupid military, the bastard courts, the idiotic election commission and they have the blessings of the good for nothing king of nothing and his so-called “royal” parasitic family.
While the latter enjoys the number and the power that they derived through their unity and solidarity!
The problem of Thailand is that their bourgeoisie cannot accept a leader and a party that supports the aspiration and champion the needs of the poor and its working classes.
Since 2001, all the Yellowist have done has been to disrupt the duly constituted authorities that won a legitimate election, that is because of their extreme hatred and shall I say, jealousy of Thaksin and his political associates.
This vicious cycle must stop!
The paralysis that is now being experience by Thailand can no longer be settled or answered by any democratic means by virtue of the fact that their bourgeoisie will never ever respect the will of the majority of the Thai people by reason of their class interest.
It is on this great sense that I disagree with one Red Shirt leader, Kwanchai Pripana when he told AFP (“Thai 'Red Shirts' rally to defend wounded government”, May 10th) that:
"We are ready to fight… We will not use violence but we will use the power of the masses to fight for democracy."
I applaud them for their resolve, I salute them for their enthusiasm to the continuing struggle, to fight for what is right and to remain firm in their conviction, but I am sorry to tell them that the very democracy that they are fighting for is the same ‘democracy’ that is being bastardize to the core and being prostituted to the maximum by the powers that be, Bangkok elite and their nefarious various evil cohorts.
Therefore, it does not matter even if they, the Red Shirts, shall win (which is a certain and a given) the next election to be held this coming July, because those bastard Yellowists will only destabilize once again (this is also certain and a given) the duly elected government and tries to seize power from the said government through force and violence.
That is because they know and they are certain that they, the bastard Yellowists will never win in a democratic and legitimate election. They do have the money, but they do not have the numbers. They want power, but they are powerless!
Why?
Because the power lies in the hands of the people, in the hands of the Red Shirts themselves!
Who are they?
The Red Shirts in my view are not what those stupid Yellowists always tagged as merely Thaksin’s supporters. They are not only the agrarian poor from the North and the Northeastern part of the country or the urban working class, because they represent the very people of Thailand, they are its proletariat.
Let us quote from the report of Rachel Harvey (“The staying power of Thailand’s red shirts”, BBC Report, April 24, 2010) that accurately depicts the true nature and composition of the Red Shirts:
“On several evenings, on my way home, I've shared a train carriage with some of those same protesters.
“I remember one woman, who was wearing the uniform of the office worker - smart skirt, high heels and make-up - but in her open shoulder bag, a neatly folded red T-shirt revealed her true allegiance.
“That has been a striking feature of the red-shirt movement - the variety of people it has attracted.
“For months, the government and much of the media portrayed the red-shirts as simple country folk, deluded in their loyalty to Thaksin Shinawatra, the former prime minister, who had been accused of corruption.
“One newspaper cartoon depicted the demonstrators as water buffalo - a highly derogatory comparison implying rural ignorance.
“But the thing about water buffalo, as any South East Asian farmer will tell you, is that they have huge amounts of stamina.
“So it's proved with the red-shirts.”
The Red Shirts are the people themselves and the Yellowists are the enemies of the people by virtue of the inescapable fact and the undeniable truth that they cannot accept nor respect the will of the people.
Now, Thailand is again repeating the cycle of political imbroglio and fiasco.
To restate, this conflict will not be settle by any democratic means, except by arms and force.
My humble suggestion to the Thai people, the Red Shirts is to go all the way in their struggle. They should not stop at nothing. If it means civil war, then so be it!
Now is the time for the Thai poor to settle the score against the Thai rich and their entire class entourage.
The time for election is over, it is already dead and gone; now is the time for an insurrection that must lead ultimately to a full-blown revolution!
Let it be! Let it come! So be it!
How about the bastard ‘king’?
I do not know about the Thai people’s mindset. They are the one who will eventually decide everything, but nonetheless to quote from the immortal words of Maximilien de Robespierre during the heights of the French Revolution:
“The king must die so that the country can live.”
Down with the Yellowists! Kill ‘em all!!!
LONG LIVE THE RED SHIRTS!
Jose Mario Dolor De Vega
Philosophy/Social Science lecturer
College of Liberal Arts
Social Science Department
Technological University of the Philippines
I wholly concur with the said piece, especially on that part that clearly stipulated that:
Ms Yingluck's removal is but a scene in a play whose denouement is unknown. Thailand's political impasse dramatises the limitations of democracy as a political stage when the actors cannot agree on their roles. Thaksin demonstrated convincingly the hold of his charismatic populism on the agrarian poor and the urban working class. Arrayed against the numerical superiority of these groups is the institutional power of the entrenched Bangkok elite, old money, the royalist establishment, and the urban middle class. These groups would have sought a compromise in a working democracy. But that has proved impossible in the embittered political climate of Thailand, leading to the paralysis evident today. The more than six months of unrest that preceded the court ruling are a part of the eight-year struggle for the political soul of the country, a contestation which does not appear to have a definitive conclusion, let alone an imminent one.
Comment:
The author of the said article has clearly shown what is the problem of Thai society and that is: the limitation of their democracy by virtue of the fact that some of the political actors, personalities and social classes of the whole divide cannot agree and cannot accept their social, political and economic roles.
On one side are the monarchists, the national bourgeoisie, the middle class rich, the businessmen, the Bangkok elite, etc.
While on the other side are the poor farmer from the North and Northeast, the poor people of Bangkok and the working class or Thailand’s own proletariat.
The former controls the economy of the country; the stupid military, the bastard courts, the idiotic election commission and they have the blessings of the good for nothing king of nothing and his so-called “royal” parasitic family.
While the latter enjoys the number and the power that they derived through their unity and solidarity!
The problem of Thailand is that their bourgeoisie cannot accept a leader and a party that supports the aspiration and champion the needs of the poor and its working classes.
Since 2001, all the Yellowist have done has been to disrupt the duly constituted authorities that won a legitimate election, that is because of their extreme hatred and shall I say, jealousy of Thaksin and his political associates.
This vicious cycle must stop!
The paralysis that is now being experience by Thailand can no longer be settled or answered by any democratic means by virtue of the fact that their bourgeoisie will never ever respect the will of the majority of the Thai people by reason of their class interest.
It is on this great sense that I disagree with one Red Shirt leader, Kwanchai Pripana when he told AFP (“Thai 'Red Shirts' rally to defend wounded government”, May 10th) that:
"We are ready to fight… We will not use violence but we will use the power of the masses to fight for democracy."
I applaud them for their resolve, I salute them for their enthusiasm to the continuing struggle, to fight for what is right and to remain firm in their conviction, but I am sorry to tell them that the very democracy that they are fighting for is the same ‘democracy’ that is being bastardize to the core and being prostituted to the maximum by the powers that be, Bangkok elite and their nefarious various evil cohorts.
Therefore, it does not matter even if they, the Red Shirts, shall win (which is a certain and a given) the next election to be held this coming July, because those bastard Yellowists will only destabilize once again (this is also certain and a given) the duly elected government and tries to seize power from the said government through force and violence.
That is because they know and they are certain that they, the bastard Yellowists will never win in a democratic and legitimate election. They do have the money, but they do not have the numbers. They want power, but they are powerless!
Why?
Because the power lies in the hands of the people, in the hands of the Red Shirts themselves!
Who are they?
The Red Shirts in my view are not what those stupid Yellowists always tagged as merely Thaksin’s supporters. They are not only the agrarian poor from the North and the Northeastern part of the country or the urban working class, because they represent the very people of Thailand, they are its proletariat.
Let us quote from the report of Rachel Harvey (“The staying power of Thailand’s red shirts”, BBC Report, April 24, 2010) that accurately depicts the true nature and composition of the Red Shirts:
“On several evenings, on my way home, I've shared a train carriage with some of those same protesters.
“I remember one woman, who was wearing the uniform of the office worker - smart skirt, high heels and make-up - but in her open shoulder bag, a neatly folded red T-shirt revealed her true allegiance.
“That has been a striking feature of the red-shirt movement - the variety of people it has attracted.
“For months, the government and much of the media portrayed the red-shirts as simple country folk, deluded in their loyalty to Thaksin Shinawatra, the former prime minister, who had been accused of corruption.
“One newspaper cartoon depicted the demonstrators as water buffalo - a highly derogatory comparison implying rural ignorance.
“But the thing about water buffalo, as any South East Asian farmer will tell you, is that they have huge amounts of stamina.
“So it's proved with the red-shirts.”
The Red Shirts are the people themselves and the Yellowists are the enemies of the people by virtue of the inescapable fact and the undeniable truth that they cannot accept nor respect the will of the people.
Now, Thailand is again repeating the cycle of political imbroglio and fiasco.
To restate, this conflict will not be settle by any democratic means, except by arms and force.
My humble suggestion to the Thai people, the Red Shirts is to go all the way in their struggle. They should not stop at nothing. If it means civil war, then so be it!
Now is the time for the Thai poor to settle the score against the Thai rich and their entire class entourage.
The time for election is over, it is already dead and gone; now is the time for an insurrection that must lead ultimately to a full-blown revolution!
Let it be! Let it come! So be it!
How about the bastard ‘king’?
I do not know about the Thai people’s mindset. They are the one who will eventually decide everything, but nonetheless to quote from the immortal words of Maximilien de Robespierre during the heights of the French Revolution:
“The king must die so that the country can live.”
Down with the Yellowists! Kill ‘em all!!!
LONG LIVE THE RED SHIRTS!
Jose Mario Dolor De Vega
Philosophy/Social Science lecturer
College of Liberal Arts
Social Science Department
Technological University of the Philippines