Nirmal Ghosh
The Straits Times
In Ban Na Kha, locals are free with their opinions on the political turmoil in Bangkok--and none are very complimentary to the anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD).
Ban Na Kha is 16km from Thailand's northeastern town of Udon Thani. Headman Wiratyu Khulidi, 52, points to a road in front of his house and asks a rhetorical but pointed question.
"This road is as well paved as, or better than, any road in Bangkok," he says.
"I have personally overseen the one million baht budget for my village. Why is it wrong for me to like the (ruling) People Power Party when the PAD has done nothing for me?'
Also in Ban Na Kha, coconut seller Chichanok Taimuangphak, 39, belies her kindly appearance when she says: "I wish the police and the military would wipe the PAD protests out. There should be a coup to end the economic turmoil."
The political turmoil in Bangkok has spawned an 80 per cent drop in business for the village, a centre for cotton and silk trading which normally sees a steady stream of tourists. This fuels the anger of people like Chichanok.
"It's in our blood. Everyone hates the PAD," she says, pointing to her wrist for dramatic effect.
In the same village relaxing on a hammock, former headman Kanla speaks for many of the locals when he says: "What do I know? Only the chao naa (elite) know what is going on."
"But I have no idea why people support the PAD; I haven't seen all the problems they keep claiming. What is wrong with our system? What is there to fix? The only problem is them."
The view from the northeast, home to around a third of Thailand's population, is quite different from the view from the middle-class enclaves of Bangkok.
Udon Thani is among half a dozen cities dotted across the agricultural plains and rolling hills of the northeastern region known as Isan, where most speak, not the Thai of the central plains and Bangkok, but the dialects of Lao.
The region--together with much of the north--is the backbone of the mass support that former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra cultivated and parlayed into near-unassailable majorities in Parliament from 2001 until he was overthrown in a military coup in September 2006.
The view from Bangkok is coloured by the bias of the capital's middle and elite classes, grounded in the city's domination of the country and the region.
Bangkok remains a beacon for people young and old, from upcountry Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Burma, who want to make something of themselves. The city of around 10 million is an engine of the region, contributing about 70 per cent of Thailand's gross domestic product.
As the seat also of government and the powerful monarchy, Bangkok is therefore the key to controlling the entire country of 63 million.
The Bangkok-centric view, crystallised in the speeches and propaganda of the right-wing, royalist PAD, is that upcountry people are ill-educated peasants, easily bought by venal politicians and therefore with only a dim understanding of democracy.
The reality is less simple. Many locals are well informed and perceptive, not just on national issues but even regional and global issues. They watch television and read newspapers, and many have sons and daughters working in Bangkok and beyond--some even in the United States.
The conflict in Bangkok which has created what many say is the worst social division in memory, is viewed with concern in Isan, mixed with a sense of powerlessness, frustration and some anger.
Udon Thani is where a PAD rally was violently attacked by pro-government thugs in July, leaving dozens badly injured. Politically active locals say the attack was a warning to the PAD not to overstep the limits in penetrating the upcountry hinterlands that remain loyal to the ruling People Power Party (PPP), whose mentor is Thaksin.
In village after village in the northeast, locals list the schemes that have benefited them, after years of neglect from aloof central governments, including those of the Democrat Party, which has been on the opposition benches since 2001.
Among the programmes was the cheap, 30 baht-a-visit (approximately US$1) universal health-care scheme, a range of cash and micro-credit schemes that lifted locals out from the clutches of loansharks; and the 2003 crackdown on drugs.
Locals cared little about how Thaksin got things done. In 2003, one local told The Straits Times, "So what if he is corrupt? He gets the job done."
Explained Wiratyu in Ban Na Kha: "Accepting money for votes is simply our culture whenever the election comes around. But in the end, we vote only for who we like. We don't know who the politicians are, but we know that the PPP has solid policies which we have benefited from."
This toleration of corruption and abuse is cited by the PAD, with the backing of powerful sectors of Bangkok's old elite, as grounds for political reform.
But it ignores the fact that rural voters are more politically mature today, and know how to use their votes.
It is not as if there is no sympathy for the PAD. While locals in villages have little or none, those living in the city of Udon Thani seemed to be more ambivalent. One man was pro-PAD, and some others sympathised.
Offering a balanced view, Professor Prasart Phonimdaeng, 56, of the University of Khon Kaen, another nearby city, told The Straits Times: "The people don't know how to utilise democracy, so we need a new system which is not just electing people. The villagers can accept corruption and money because they don't realise the extent to which corruption hurts the country in the long run.
"But the PAD also has no idea what democracy is, because they keep repressing the rights of other people by disrupting public order.
"I want peace. But I want the PAD to follow the government like a shadow, to make sure that they do their work properly--not to destroy the government."
Additional reporting by Lee Xin En in Udon Thani
Ban Na Kha is 16km from Thailand's northeastern town of Udon Thani. Headman Wiratyu Khulidi, 52, points to a road in front of his house and asks a rhetorical but pointed question.
"This road is as well paved as, or better than, any road in Bangkok," he says.
"I have personally overseen the one million baht budget for my village. Why is it wrong for me to like the (ruling) People Power Party when the PAD has done nothing for me?'
Also in Ban Na Kha, coconut seller Chichanok Taimuangphak, 39, belies her kindly appearance when she says: "I wish the police and the military would wipe the PAD protests out. There should be a coup to end the economic turmoil."
The political turmoil in Bangkok has spawned an 80 per cent drop in business for the village, a centre for cotton and silk trading which normally sees a steady stream of tourists. This fuels the anger of people like Chichanok.
"It's in our blood. Everyone hates the PAD," she says, pointing to her wrist for dramatic effect.
In the same village relaxing on a hammock, former headman Kanla speaks for many of the locals when he says: "What do I know? Only the chao naa (elite) know what is going on."
"But I have no idea why people support the PAD; I haven't seen all the problems they keep claiming. What is wrong with our system? What is there to fix? The only problem is them."
The view from the northeast, home to around a third of Thailand's population, is quite different from the view from the middle-class enclaves of Bangkok.
Udon Thani is among half a dozen cities dotted across the agricultural plains and rolling hills of the northeastern region known as Isan, where most speak, not the Thai of the central plains and Bangkok, but the dialects of Lao.
The region--together with much of the north--is the backbone of the mass support that former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra cultivated and parlayed into near-unassailable majorities in Parliament from 2001 until he was overthrown in a military coup in September 2006.
The view from Bangkok is coloured by the bias of the capital's middle and elite classes, grounded in the city's domination of the country and the region.
Bangkok remains a beacon for people young and old, from upcountry Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Burma, who want to make something of themselves. The city of around 10 million is an engine of the region, contributing about 70 per cent of Thailand's gross domestic product.
As the seat also of government and the powerful monarchy, Bangkok is therefore the key to controlling the entire country of 63 million.
The Bangkok-centric view, crystallised in the speeches and propaganda of the right-wing, royalist PAD, is that upcountry people are ill-educated peasants, easily bought by venal politicians and therefore with only a dim understanding of democracy.
The reality is less simple. Many locals are well informed and perceptive, not just on national issues but even regional and global issues. They watch television and read newspapers, and many have sons and daughters working in Bangkok and beyond--some even in the United States.
The conflict in Bangkok which has created what many say is the worst social division in memory, is viewed with concern in Isan, mixed with a sense of powerlessness, frustration and some anger.
Udon Thani is where a PAD rally was violently attacked by pro-government thugs in July, leaving dozens badly injured. Politically active locals say the attack was a warning to the PAD not to overstep the limits in penetrating the upcountry hinterlands that remain loyal to the ruling People Power Party (PPP), whose mentor is Thaksin.
In village after village in the northeast, locals list the schemes that have benefited them, after years of neglect from aloof central governments, including those of the Democrat Party, which has been on the opposition benches since 2001.
Among the programmes was the cheap, 30 baht-a-visit (approximately US$1) universal health-care scheme, a range of cash and micro-credit schemes that lifted locals out from the clutches of loansharks; and the 2003 crackdown on drugs.
Locals cared little about how Thaksin got things done. In 2003, one local told The Straits Times, "So what if he is corrupt? He gets the job done."
Explained Wiratyu in Ban Na Kha: "Accepting money for votes is simply our culture whenever the election comes around. But in the end, we vote only for who we like. We don't know who the politicians are, but we know that the PPP has solid policies which we have benefited from."
This toleration of corruption and abuse is cited by the PAD, with the backing of powerful sectors of Bangkok's old elite, as grounds for political reform.
But it ignores the fact that rural voters are more politically mature today, and know how to use their votes.
It is not as if there is no sympathy for the PAD. While locals in villages have little or none, those living in the city of Udon Thani seemed to be more ambivalent. One man was pro-PAD, and some others sympathised.
Offering a balanced view, Professor Prasart Phonimdaeng, 56, of the University of Khon Kaen, another nearby city, told The Straits Times: "The people don't know how to utilise democracy, so we need a new system which is not just electing people. The villagers can accept corruption and money because they don't realise the extent to which corruption hurts the country in the long run.
"But the PAD also has no idea what democracy is, because they keep repressing the rights of other people by disrupting public order.
"I want peace. But I want the PAD to follow the government like a shadow, to make sure that they do their work properly--not to destroy the government."
Additional reporting by Lee Xin En in Udon Thani
4 comments:
You heard it from their own people's lips. That is deep. Go right ahead PAD and be ignorant. They think they knew their own people and King too think the same? Wrong! wrong! wrong! Wake up old man.
The PAD is right right right and right.
King Bhumibol and the supreme commander Anupong endorse them.
Go PAD go.
You're right the king Bhumibol always knows what is best for it's people that's why he support the PAD.
The PAD is the root cause of political troubles for Thailand and Cambodia.The PAD invaded Preah Vihear,and prevented a democratically elected government from functioning. How cant he PAD call itself democratic.The world is laughing at Thailand so called democracy.
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