| The Debate Over a Thai Republic |
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| Written by Dr Pavin Chachavalpongpun | |
| Sunday, 12 April 2009 | |
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Is the "R" word a taboo terminology in the Thai political vocabulary? Thailand's political temperature has been sharply rising, particularly since former premier Thaksin Shinawatra appeared on a large screen in Bangkok in a pre-recorded video message attacking General Prem Tinsulanonda and General Surayud Chulanont, both formers prime ministers and members of the Privy Council. He accused them of masterminding the September 2006 coup. The R word refers to "republic" which has lately emerged as a serious debate in Thailand as the pro-Thaksin movement has grown in numbers and strength. The red-shirted protesters claim that they are fighting for democracy which implies that their opponents are standing on the opposite of their democratic scale. Their opponents include the government of Abhisit Vejjajiva, the military, major businesses, Bangkok elites, and members of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD). Republic is a scary word in the Thai political domain. After all, Thailand had been ruled by monarchs for over 700 years since the days when it was known as Siam. True, a significant transition came in 1932 when the old absolute monarchy was transformed into a constitutional one, presumably paving the way for democracy to thrive. But it was the military that kept assaulting democracy and snatching political power. Its footprints are evident today in Thailand's failure to develop a full-fledged democracy. At the same time, the degree of reverence of the present king among the Thais has firmly intensified as the Thai state strove to make the monarchy the main pillar of the nation and its embodiment. The PAD has exploited this king-nation composition for its own political purposes, using it to accuse Thaksin and his cronies of being disloyal to the king and thus to their own nation. Driven from power in a coup and a fugitive from Thai law, Thaksin has shown no sign of giving up. Having persisted in returning to politics, and now with a bigger grievance against the Privy Council, which is known to be the eyes and ears of the king, Thaksin seems to have opened a space of possibility in an unpredictable realm of Thai politics. But is an idea of republic a part of such possibility? To be fair to Thaksin, he has used every opportunity to express his loyalty to the king even when his rivals snubbed him as a traitor. In his latest video message, Thaksin re-stressed his respect for the old establishment. His prostration before a picture of the king while in exile in Hong Kong and his government's obeisance to a sufficiency economy while in office do not suggest republican sentiment. Michael Connors argued that Thaksin has rarely looked like the bourgeois revolutionary that others have hoped him to be. Ideologically speaking, Thaksin never had a republic in mind, and his continued public declaration of loyalty to the monarchy should not be taken as a ruse. But why do many Thais believe that Thaksin has endorsed the making of a Thai republic? Giles Ungpakorn, a fugitive Thai academic currently charged with lèse-majesté, saw that the red-shirted protesters are transforming themselves into a republican movement. If this observation is true, then what the red-shirts really want is not only democracy but a democracy without the monarch as the head of state. This observation is however troublesome. Scholars and activists tend to look at the current Thai politics in a black or white scenario; one is either a royalist or an anti-monarchist. The royal institution has been consistently politicized and long abused by various political factions. Even royal symbols including portraits of the king were used to legitimise certain illegal political activities. At the crux of the crisis lies the question of Thai democracy. The royalists condemned Thaksin and his proxies for manipulating democracy to shore up their power. The red-shirted camp in return has reproached the royalists for ignoring the will of the majority and centralising power in the hands of the minority elites. The solution here is perhaps to tailor Thai democracy to fit the needs of both the masses and the power-hungry politicians. It will be a difficult, but not impossible, task. Is a Thai republic a viable option? Then the Thais must ask themselves if they can live without a national identity. How will they identify themselves with the nation that has been tightly bound with the monarchy for centuries? As the thirst for revenge continues, the military and some businesses have offered a bounty of Bt 1million (US$28,167) for Thaksin's arrest and his return to Thailand. His supporters have retaliated by staging mass rallies across the country to attempt to bring down the government and the Privy Council. The only R word that may come handy now is "reconciliation" if all political sides are really serious about putting an end to the protracted crisis. The writer is a Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. This is personal opinion. Comments
(21)
Useless ?
written by Thai Whore , October 02, 2009
We may have to wait for the couples of turn , in order to see the real democracy in Thailand ,
Votes: +0
Nowsday , The propaganda 's widely distributed through media TV,Radio,Internet. But when the time come all props seem to useless.. so when I have to talk about the democracy in thailand. I must say ..just wait for couple of turn..... report abuse
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Who's your daddy
written by Joey , May 23, 2009
What REAL evidence is there that Thailand is a 700 year old bowing and scraping "nation" of peons to monarchs? Like most geographical areas, through the last 5 or 6 centuries, it was a case of 'who's your daddy' - rather than some great tradition? (who will protect you the best from invading armies, etc - in other words, what's in your family's best interests?)
Votes: +1
Seems to me most of "Thai history" has been developed (or re-developed, re-created) in the last half of this century. Seems the author has taken the 'thailand is an ancient mystical society' route. I reckon that's a bit doubtful. report abuse
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Royalist's old plot
written by Supavit , April 24, 2009
I thinks there are 2 mains points to be consider.
Votes: +2
1. " But it was the military that kept assaulting democracy and snatching political power " is something to distort the contemporary political history from the time of Sarid to Prem's era. Cooperation between the Monachy and military was very obvious during that period. They needed to secure each other and it's not fair to blame only the military side. Another side was not "innocent", especially under Sarid regime. The 2006 coup is another event to confirm that it's not military alone to be blame in obstructing the democracy. 2. "Then the Thais must ask themselves if they can live without a national identity. How will they identify themselves with the nation that has been tightly bound with the monarchy for centuries? " The 2006 coup is the proof of royalist's fear that many rural Thai people are ready to live with their own national identity which is not the monachy. The royalist always uses the plot that monachy is national identity to maintain their high status in the society and try to eliminate every undesired movement by the unfair law, especially the lese-majeste. These 2 plots are royalist preference to explain Thai history. But they will be no longer powerful because the national ideology is being constructed in a new way and some institution is not really 'above politics'. The red-shirt rally is a historical milestone to destroy these royalist's 2 plots. report abuse
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written by commons , April 20, 2009
i think the article is biased.
Votes: -2
i'll give u just _one_ example: "The royalists condemned Thaksin and his proxies for manipulating democracy to shore up their power." "the royalists" did that? nobody else? & if we talk ab "condemnation", there's nothing else to condemn? extra-judicial killings, wide spread corruption (by not thailand ranks 2nd after indonesia), etc u're a scientist? is this paper peer -reviewed? i also think it's quite weird to see that the divergent, rational opinions here are down-graded. that makes me wonder... if u've been hosting some "trolls" ,) report abuse
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Wet dream
written by Sirikit , April 18, 2009
To have a Thai republic is a wet dream for Thaksin and his red shirt. The more likely outcome will be the country will be divided up by fuedatories from the Royal councillors and Warlords.
Votes: -1
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We never know
written by Rodent , April 16, 2009
Yes the King might or might not meddle in politic, under those wall nobody knows what happen. The down side to Thai politic is that, while the PAD is asking for the government to have transparency but they never ask the palace to have the same transparency.
Votes: +3
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Could the country survive without a monarchy? ............. DEFINITELY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
written by thai , April 15, 2009
We Thais are sick of:
Votes: +13
the elites, the double-standards, the military, the lies and half truths; the hypocrisy, the tampering with the media, the "sakdina", the hierarchy and unspoken caste system' the unfairness, the great divide between the rich and the poor' the meddling with politics from the elites' the democrats who say one thing but do another, the intimidation that comes with "being different"', the frowning upon and singling you out when you ask questions, the "phu yai" nonsense that you must kowtow to, the ridiculous so-called democracy that we have - it's not a democracy at all! etc......... All these are very blatant in Thai society. Until all this is correccted, the resentment will grow. report abuse
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wow power leveling
written by wow power leveling , April 15, 2009
Gold key link for( http://www.wowgold-powerleveling.com/ )the law by(http://www.wowpowerleveling.me/)all
Votes: +0
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Next Royal in line
written by Lhamo Dondhup , April 14, 2009
It is an open secret that the next in line to the throne is a phillander and a big bully. Under this circumstances and the increasing demands of the country bumpkins, the days of Royal institution set up to benefit Royalist elites are numbered.
Votes: +0
The Royalists should take the opportunity of current turmoil to turn the Royal institution into a Mediaval Serfdom (which until the 1960 has precedence under Buddhism) that can forever perpetuates their rules. report abuse
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It's karma
written by saddened neighbor , April 14, 2009
The notion that Thai monarchy does not meddle in the politics is laughable. Everybody knows that the queen publicly supported PAD (yellow shirts) last year.
Votes: +5
If Thailand is not ready to turn republic, then at the very least the lese majeste law must be abolished. report abuse
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Time for the king to go
written by bhumipol , April 14, 2009
China was an absolute monarchy for 5,000 years, until the people opted for a republic 98 years ago. If China is still a monarchy today, it would be a real basket case, worse than Somalia now. So the Thais will be better off with a republic.
Votes: +4
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Re: Democracy?, Lowly rated comment [Show]
Re: Democracy?
written by The Inquirer , April 13, 2009
Thailand is not ready for democracy. What is happening right now is far from democracy, it is mere chaos. Are these the type of people you expect to rule in a democratic Thailand? Why don't they just pursue their interests in parliament rather than create a parliament of the streets?
Votes: -5
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HM King Bhumipol Adulyadej is not meddling in politics., Lowly rated comment [Show]
The answer is YES
written by azerty , April 13, 2009
Of course Thailand can be a democracy. Human being is very adaptable.
Votes: +3
If, ten years ago, you had asked to a Nepalese if his country could survive without King, He would have replied "Not at all" end he probably would have knock your nose. Today Nepal is a democracy. The point in Thailand is that the Chakri's dynasty is dead : the Crown prince is hated and moron and a very bad guy and the lovely Sirindorn does not have any child. So: another dynasty? Thaksin as a king? The monarchy will die just because there is no acceptable King in stock. report abuse
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written by -*- , April 13, 2009
this civil war is between proletariat vs bourgeoisie + aristocracy.
Votes: +2
this civil war is between liberal democracy vs conservative feudalism. some stupid only things they do by money. report abuse
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Screw You Pricks :, Lowly rated comment [Show]
God Bless The Thais
written by Your Chinese Buddy in Southern Neighbour , April 13, 2009
The Thai monarch used to be an enlightened, benevolent character, much more sober & kind-hearted than our string of corrupt, womanising, un-Islamic king & sultans of our idiotic homeland Malaysia. Still, the monarchy, as a state institution, is outdated & thus needs to be reformed or done away with sooner or later. Thais are lovable people & Buddhism is a very tolerant & non violent religion. It is unimaginable that Thailand can decend to such chaos, conflict & mutual hatred among its own people. We hope & pray that, whatever that may come about after this sad episode, Thailand will once again rise up to take its leadership role in Asean.
Votes: +2
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Is it more important than sending kids to school and hoping them to have a better future, BETTER LIFE.
Maybe this is against the "self-sufficient" policy invented by someone who I am not so much fond of.
"Thai Republic" Yeah.. No doubt on that and Sooner is better! Regardless of how much ones like or hate
this idea. The same thing has happened countless times before with other countries.
As the rules of nature, Thailand is no exception. This is not a matter of if, but only the matter of when.