Monday, May 24, 2010

Red, Yellow, and Roots of Thai Turmoil

Angkor Wat bas-relief: Notice two types of troops in the Khmer Army, the Khmers on the left carrying shields, disciplined and keeping in rank. The ‘Syem’, either referring to their dark skin or possibly Siamese, were mercenaries stand in front of the main Khmer army. Probably as cannon fodder to wear down the opposition. Notice their generally ill-disciplined manner and long, unkempt hair. These troops, the Khmer army, march towards a battle against the Cham, who came from what is now Vietnam. (Source: The Southeast Asian Archaelogy Newsblog)

Monday, May 24, 2010
Op-Ed by MP

THE current political turmoil in Thailand is only the latest fission in a long suppressed socio-historical tension that can be traced back to the conception and evolution of the 'Siamese' dynasty as distinct from its closest cousin and rival that broke away to form the separate Kingdom of Laos. Some scholars assert that Siamese - a derivative of the word ‘Siem’ as in ‘Siem Reap’ in Khmer is a pejorative term meaning 'swarthy' (having a dark skin). Whether there is veracity to this assertion, successive Thai historians and nationalists have felt offended enough by the use as well as the implied or embedded connotations of the term to have demanded its replacement by the more acceptable adjective 'Thai' - meaning ‘free’ or freemen - in formal usage, which is in turn, a rendition of the ethnographic pronoun of T'ai, a reference to that linguistic group that would have once enclosed the forebears of the modern day peoples of Laos and 'Siam' as well as clusters of ethnic T'ai descends to be found still in Southern China today under the same bracket.

Inscriptions at Angkor also mentioned 'Siem Kuk' - Siamese war slaves or prisoners - and this fact has done little since to assuage the slighted sentiment of the Thai elite. Nevertheless, as a family grouping, they were, perhaps, as varied and eclectic as the Khmer-Mon linguistic entity. Note also the striking similarities between the Laotian and Thai languages - to unaccustomed ears both peoples could almost be mistaken for speaking the same tongue. Be that as it may, ambition, rivalry, historical animosity between the two ruling Houses, aided by (mostly, partial Thai scholars) have much to do with the way generations of Thais have distanced themselves from what they have been led to look down upon as sub-civilised, inferior races that now make up the main plank of the rural poor of Isan or the North-East - the stronghold of the so-called Red Shirts.

In the main, and at a risk of oversimplifying, Thailand’s political unrest can be viewed from two broad, but closely interlinked perspectives: 1) the historical perspective and, 2) the socio-economic perspective.

1) From the first perspective, Thai society can be seen as characterised by racial ethnic divisions and tensions that are the de facto legacy of Siamese aggrandisement and imperialism from the moment the first Thai state emerged and Thai civilisation created in supersession of the great Khmer civilisation that made possible that creation. By themselves ethnic patterns and distinctions are not necessarily sufficient ingredients for such a violent fracture – this may require other forces to give them cohesion or potency – yet they remain enduring, unwedded, or more accurately, unassimilated outlines illustrating the far from settled business of empire building as a historical process itself. In other words, Thai society, despite having enjoyed marked material progress in the modern era compared to the economic limbo that most of her neighbours have been in, is far from a melting pot success that successive Thai dynasties would have yearned for. The social neglect of the former provinces of Laos and Cambodia, or the subjects of the former Khmer Empire has been more a product of lack of interest on the part of Thai rulers than Thai or Siamese racism or deliberate ethnic discrimination per se. Although racial/ethnic sentiment can drive public policies, such prejudice should not be attributed to an overall ethnic majority, but to - at most - a handful of autocratic opportunists, who claim to represent that majority. This situation is precisely the case with Thailand’s semi-democratic, feudalistic stage in political economic development, which leads to the discussion of the second perspective.

2) Traditionally, analysts have identified the ‘Three Ms’ of Thai Monarchy, Military and Monks as the forces that bind together Thai society. While this model of explanation may facilitates our understanding somewhat and to an extent, I do feel it is rather superfluous a model, and may even mislead us into thinking that the Sangha or the Clergy who certainly have moral, ceremonial influence over lay community are in a position to translate that influence into effective political action, or that the Military is an autonomous institution only occasionally rolling the tanks onto the streets of Bangkok to enforce democratic mandate or referee political disputes.

It is also widely believed that the world’s longest reigning monarch today is an absolute Autocrat who wields decisive power in Thai politics conforming political outcomes to his personal wishes and agenda. My hunch is that while the King is certainly one of the wealthiest man in the world today, his overall political influence is more apparent than real. As in most developing, modernising economies – and more so in established post-industrial economies – a whole new powerbase of industrial economic elites in combination are the real powerhouses behind Thai political institutions. They may be Siamese, Sino-Thai, Sino-Khmer or whatever in origin, but they are the exclusive 2 percent of the entire population who command between them 80-90 percent of Thailand’s economic wealth. The economic status of the King alone allows us to place him legitimately among that 2 percent, and by way of deduction, we can also add Thaksin Shinawatra – the man who inspires and finances the Red Shirts’ mutiny – to that list.

Thaksin may not be the philanthropist that he wants his followers to think he is, but his definition of life’s success is in line with a family motto of ruthlessly and relentlessly strengthening and expanding infinitely his personal empire and that was what drove him into Thai politics in the first place. So instead of viewing the long neglected rural poor of Thailand as a burden and handicap for his administration, he proactively set about positively altering their economic conditions, banking on their reciprocated loyalty and political allegiance as fair rewards for his sacrifice and fruits of his labour. Where the Monarchy is content to let its traditional popular image be exploited in return for being allowed to conserve and add to its vast wealth through Crown Properties and other royal privileges, and where many of his rivals understood and accepted the rules and limits of patronage building, Mr Thaksin appeared to have trampled upon those sacred, unspoken vows, and inevitably aroused consternation and provoked ire among the Thai elite by effectively making a complete mockery of their carefully propped up White Elephant that is the Thai Monarchy.

This, in a nutshell, represents my view of the current Thai unrest. It is not meant nor pretended to be authoritative in any way, but a joiner to on-going public debate. I also hope my Thai friends find some positives in this amateur reflection and recognise that I have endeavoured to be as constructive and polite as the subject matter allows. I could prolong the discussion further by suggesting what needs to be done, but I think the Thai people know that already – perhaps better and more firmly than I do – that the Will of the people is something paramount and thus irresistible and is bound to prevail in the end, even if it takes longer than one would desire.

MP

41 comments:

Anonymous said...

Stop masturbating online, work hard on your farms and genocide museums, earn money on your own soil. Don't come and beg in Bangkok, my fellow Khamen

Anonymous said...

And right now Angkor What is the public restroom for tourists to pee on, Khmers have tried hard to make-up the history. Please go back to your Khmer Rouge school of torture.

Hun Sen said...

King Bhumibol and his people must remember theirs roots, once upon time Siamese were slaves of Cambodian.

Anonymous said...

thai/siams are definitely rude and disrespectful from all my encounters with them. I wouldn't be surprised if they all exterminated eachother.

Anonymous said...

Ram 1, the ancestor of this king bhumibol was a murderer who killed king taksin to jump on the throne. in today term, he would ne hanged high and dry. so this time king taksin descendant, Thaksin, is coming back to take revenge.

Anonymous said...

Ahaha...you Siam Lady Boi always crying and run for help when trouble comes to you. We know that Siamese boi loves dick in their ass all the time. Your dirty ass Siam people always try to steal shit from our country and claim it as yours. So ship your ass back to Southern China...you fucken thieves.

Anonymous said...

siamese people, remember this:
During the mongolian invasion, you fled your native NanChoi and came south. The Khmers fed you and gave you work and shelter. In the end you BIT THE HANDS THAT FED YOU.
Next time you have trouble with Isan people, and that time is near, don't run to Cambodia for help.

Anonymous said...

Khmer race is the dumbest people on Earth, I have no wonder why Cambodia has become a little piece shit of land. it is to see them on the world map though, suckers

Anonymous said...

Thais are the thug ignorant racist stupidest piece of shit people in SE Asia. Jaiyo Khmer!

Anonymous said...

The fuckin Siames country fucking full of gays and faggots people. GO back to where your ancestors came from scums ass. Khmer should helps Isan people to fight ah Siames and get our lost land back from the thieves Siames.

Anonymous said...

!:24 PM
By what? Your begga army in Bangkok, your flip-flop soldiers or your one- eye general. OMG, it makes me laugh so hard.

Anonymous said...

one eye king shit bhumibol. stupid asshole king of murderers

Anonymous said...

thai prime minister abhishit is gay! he's looks more like an unexperienced youngster who'll get his faggot ass kicked out of office shortly.

Anonymous said...

Siamese, is the stupidest race on the earth as their king ask his wife to be topless so all the people can watch her naked. Nake to their servants to see on the birthday of his dog.

Haha very civilised king

Sacrava said...

Good analysis MP.
Keep up your good works.
Cheers,

Anonymous said...

Hey Siem,

See the following link. OMG Sorry it must be blocked by your stupid democraZy country!

http://mirror.wikileaks.info/wiki/leak/thailand-crown-prince-dog-birthday/index.html

Hun Sen said...

It is time for Siamese to respect their former master, savior of their race.

Anonymous said...

FUCK ALL YOU GAY TAI PEOPLE ON THIS BLOG.............FUCK TAILAND...YOU GUYS ARE ALL GAY..YOU FUCKING PUSSY ASS TAIS.........TAILAND BELONGS TO THE KINGDOM OF CAMBODIA............YOU TAI PEOPLE ARE OUR SLAVES

Anonymous said...

siams/thais should thank their prince for preserving their fake mimmicry culture. what kind of person in their right mind would throw a birthday party for their dog and have their hooker girl naked especially if they were a prince?

Anonymous said...

http://mirror.wikileaks.info/wiki/leak/thailand-crown-prince-dog-birthday/index.html

what an idiot on earth of the siam royal family. dog's cock sucker!!!

Anonymous said...

Lovely educated responses here especially by the khamen.
I went to thailand with my khmer girlfriend and the thais were all very friendly to her.
Thailand is a modern and advanced nation,cambodia is....the opposite.

Anonymous said...

I though Thailand is a protiute capial of the world? even tai queen is one of them? a got video of her if any tai want to see

Anonymous said...

Mr latham....you are a bangkok TAI...nothing is modern and advance in ISSAN...you fucking yellowshirt tai..you look down on the poor so shut the fuck up and go post your bushitt 2cents somewhere else....hows that for a lovely response you fucking siem.....remember where you came from ah siem..,,,NANCHAO PROVINCE, CHINA....THAILAND BELONGS TO THE KINGDOM OF CAMBODIA..................AND BANGKOK IS ADVANCED WITH GUYS THAT LOOK LIKE GIRLS.....AND YOU KNOW IT!!!!! DOESNT MY RESPONSE MAKES YOUR PUSSY SOAR ?

Anonymous said...

To the siems, are you that civilized? You should teach your boys to behave as A REAL MAN not a LADY..Yeah, when you asked foreigners what will you do in BANGCOCK? they will answer fucking Siem whores and Ladyboys..
Ok the fucking Siems, keep your civilization ..we don't need that..we have ours..

Beggars in Bangcock are all Khmers? ..Are you blind or what?..Didn't u see your Siems there also?...What sick me the most is when the damn Siem beggars said they are Khmers..So fuck off Siem whores!!!

Anonymous said...

Bang Cock on Fire

Anonymous said...

To all fellow Khmers,

I am no big fan Thais either, but the crude remarks on this blog about Thais are not helping.

Every time there is an article about Thai and Cambodian history I can be sure to read some of the rudest comments from fellow Cambodians in this blog, without fail.

These crude and rude remarks only confirm the perception that Cambodians are low class people.

Calling Thai a thief for stealing Khmer land only acknowledge that Khmer was weak at that point in history for Thai to be able to take land from the empire. Greece was once also a vast empire, but look at the size of its map now. That is also true for the Roman Empire, and Ottoman-Turks etc. This is the fact of history. No empire has been able to maintain the size of its territory it once held at the height of the empire's military might. There will always be another empire rise up and subdue it. Khmer Empire is no exception.

Cambodians cannot turn back the clock on lost territory. Pol Pot tried to do that in Kamp.Krom and failed miserably. What territory is gone is gone, just move on. Be thankful for what terrory we still have now, and be a good steward of that land.

We Cambodian must keep our nationalistic fervor in check, and avoid demeaning others, Yuon or Thai. Nationalist zeal, without restrain can be a liability and can be a detriment to progress, just ask Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.

God's blessings on Cambodia

Anonymous said...

Hey mrklatham,

Your comment: "Thailand is a modern and advanced nation"

You are referring to sex industry right?

I can't walk on Sukumvit St. on broad daylight without receiving offers from one of the ladies, or ladyman,I can't tell, standing on the street. If this is what you mean by "modern and advance" then I can't dispute you.

Anonymous said...

Hey guys, go check out the Siam's princess(Princess Srirasmi) on the internet. The prince picked her out from a topless bar. Lucky whore. And then whore went topless on her dog's birthday.hahhahahha What a disgrace!

Anonymous said...

Khmer Trakaulrungreurng, Aussie

11.42am you can go and join your gayland, whore princes,thats what she represents. Tailand the land of whores. Dont worry its your turn now you will be perished. You looked down for many years yet you are a buddhist nation too. You are disrespecting what we worship, our Angkor Wat. Shouldn't you be worshiping also after all you are a nation that respects Buddhism. You will be melted down just like the salt in the sun for your karma. Mark my words!!!!! And for your fucking information you did support the KR regime too. Thats why you killed many of our intellectuals, musicians and classical dancers because you wanted to destroy us and prove to the world that you are the creator of your culture but it didn't work did it? Now it is a Boomerang effects for you. You are feeling it now and it is only the beginning..!!!!

Anonymous said...

Hey all the Thai bloggers,

Do you know who killed the King's brother ????? What's your history tell you ????

Do you have the freedom of speach to comment on that ????

Do you suprise that there are poor people in Thailand ?????

Anonymous said...

NO ABisit No Red shirt !!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Abhi-Shit and his bigger Boss(The Yellow shirt Single eye) had strongly confident that by creating this conflict infact could increase hatred sentiment toward Khmer nation from Siamese & Thais people to help them to conquer more Khmer land before he pass away(the single eye). Their action had taken was suppose to be a magic bullet for them, 2) He must paid poors Khmer to shoot the red shirts protesters, as per reason abow, 3) They will taking Khmer'sGOVT to account of involment their internal affair and extending more time on the border conflict because they don't have any more raesoble reason to talk about the progress, anotherhand they don't want to solve this conflict on the negociation table they really want to avoid the the condition impose by Khmer's GOVT.
Contrarely they are doing more damage to their own nation, more then they have expected .

Down to Siamese

Anonymous said...

Syam Kuk are not Siamese, they wear skirt and they have long hair. Watch Thai movie, Siamese soldier dress like Chinese soldiers and nothing like these Syam Kuk.

Anonymous said...

yes Tialand very educated even thier queen brave enought to film naked for millions of people around the world to see.This video will go down to history for Tia.

Anonymous said...

The Siem do not like to hear the word "Siem" which the Khmers call them, because Siamese is the connotation to barbarism of the very people.

Anonymous said...

Bangkok was Beung Kok in Khmer.

We should learn to protect our territory...

Anonymous said...

Puok siem moat p'aem trapok chu!

Chomnaek ae puok xmer chluah khnea doch ch'kae!

Anonymous said...

ah!,10:01am,what the fuck are you talking about man????,being clear your fucking words you dummy ass!!.If you don`t know how to write in ENGLISH!,do not get your ass inside this forum,you prick!!.

Anonymous said...

4:58pm, unlike in western civilization, people in west are taught to give proper credit to the greek and roman civilization which western society is based on; however, with siem thief, they always tried to discredit or distort or erase khmer true history by fabricating fake ones for themselves to serve their interest only. we khmer want siem and the enemies of khmer people to properly credit khmer influence, khmer civilization, khmer empire, khmer history, etc, properly; that's all. yes, give proper credit to khmer civilization, not try to fabricate fake history like what siem pad thugs are doing all along, really! the same with khmer krom region, just give proper credit to khmer origin, khmer beginning, etc..., instead of trying to distort true history, etc!!!! that's all!

Anonymous said...

Excellent point, 3:28 am! Thanks.

Vietnamese scholars have similarly tried to cast doubt on the identity of the Khmers in terms of their influence and existence prior to the arrival of the Vietnamese in what is now Kampuchea Krom and the Mekong Delta by airing the notion that the predecessors of the Vietnamese people in that region is not clear!

This ridiculous claim is made despite concrete historical evidence and artifacts unearthed at the ancient sites of places like Oc-Eo (O Keo), the important deep-sea city that supported Nokor Phnom (Funan in Chinese rendition).

Nationalism is one thing, but intellectual dishonesty is quite a different matter altogether.

Anonymous said...

don't worry, these khmer enemies will never able to erase khmer true history in the region they stole from us. there are tons of history books that noted that fact of khmer history already. we just have to study it and teach it on to our younger generation, the world, and ourself, etc...