Opinion

Former Left-Right Alliance against Globalization and America

By Thongchai Winichakul | 28 July 2008

Almost all Thai rightists I interviewed for my recent research perceived that the threats to Thailand today are capitalism and America.  Even lifelong anti-communist ‘Phor’, an alias used for this research, who has tenaciously held the idea of national security being under threat from two strands of communism, sees that Thailand has to be cautious of the CIA interfering and agitating groups of Thai people to the point of being a threat to security.  Of course, they were well aware that the threats from capitalism and America are not one and the same as the communist threat.

Alien Thoughts

Highest Institutional Problems

By Harrison George | 25 July 2008

The increasing difficulty of staying on the right side of the lèse majesté laws can be seen in the travails of two of the leading cabal of the People’s Alliance for Democracy, a movement that up till now has tried to portray itself as firmly in the royalist camp.

Opinion

BURNING ISSUE COMMENT & ANALYSIS: Media war has no winners and leaves public confused

By Pravit Rojanaphruk , The Nation | 25 July 2008

This week's takeover of a 10pm time slot on state-run NBT channel for a pro-government political talk show on the initiative of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej was at best a gullible move by the administration.

Opinion

Time for PAD&#39;s moderates to speak out - if there are any

By Pravit Rojanaphruk , The Nation | 18 July 2008

Are there any moderates left in the anti-Thaksin Shinawatra People's Alliance for Democracy? It may be wishful thinking to expect a few, or even one, given the daily bombardment of one-sided information and news the group prescribes itself. But if there are any left they should wake up, smell the coffee and recognise that the alliance is now doing too much damage to democracy. And they should do something to rectify it, instead of keeping silent and hoping that it's enough to simply be on the supposedly "virtuous" side.

Alien Thoughts

Dissolute Politics

By Harrison George | 18 July 2008

Executives of the ruling Peoples Power Party, and of its coalition partners the Chat Thai and Matchimathippathai parties, have been red-carded by the Election Commission of Thailand.  Their parties consequently face the possibility of dissolution.

Opinion

Rule of Lords: Mechanics of murder in a Thai army camp

By Awzar Thi | 18 July 2008

The killing of Yapa Koseng in a vehicle parked at an army base in southern Thailand has attracted interest among news media and human rights groups, particularly since a doctor speaking at a postmortem inquest hearing at the end of June indicated that his fatal injuries could have been caused only by savage torture.

Alien Thoughts

Don&#8217;t know much about history

By Harrison George | 11 July 2008

It is so useful when you can bank on your country’s ignorance of its own history.

Alien Thoughts

Voting Rights and Wrongs

By Harrison George | 4 July 2008

The quinquevirate that rule the PAD have issued a call for a ‘new politics’ that will strengthen the political power of the people by removing their right to elect 70% of political office holders.

Opinion

Wa children and the undocumented story

By Saeng Tham and Ko We Kyaw | 4 July 2008

I received word from the villagers living in a village on the Thai-Burma border with Shan State.  They found five boys and girls crossing from one side into Thai territory. It looked like they were running from something. The villagers who found this group of children discovered that they were ethnic Wa.

Opinion

Suriyasai&#8217;s &#8220;New Politics of the PAD challenge&#8221; and a critique

3 July 2008

Mr. Suriyasai Katasila, coordinator of the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), wrote an article entitled “New politics” of the PAD challenge in <a href="http://www.manager.co.th/Politics/ViewNews.aspx?NewsID=9510000074892" target="_blank">Manager Online</a>, clarifying the proposed “70: 30” political system where 70 percent of officeholders are appointed while 30 percent are elected. Suree Mingwannalak has also written a Critique of Suriyasai Katasila’s “New Politics”, arguing that the PAD leadership are trying to raise the level of the struggle, but this won’t achieve it; in fact it will take the people backward.

Opinion

Thailand&#8217;s crisis: a &#8220;Carnival of Reaction&#8221;

By Giles Ji Ungpakorn, Left Turn, Thailand | 2 July 2008

The term “Carnival of Reaction” was first used by the Irish Marxist James Connolly when referring to the defeat of socialist politics in Ireland and the rise of reactionary Catholicism and reactionary Protestantism either side of the partition border.

Opinion

Whose Preah Vihear Temple is it, and what does it matter anyway?

By Sri Dao-nuea | 1 July 2008

Cambodia does.  On June 15, 1962, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that, <a href="http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/index.php?sum=284&code=ct&p1=3&p2=3&case=45&k=46&p3=5">‘the Court, by nine votes to three, finds that the temple of Preah Vihear is situated in territory under the sovereignty of Cambodia.’</a>  The Cabinet of the time made a resolution and announced that Thailand, as a member of the United Nations, accepted the ICJ ruling.

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