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Re: Protests update
Civil Discourse and Civil Society: The dysfunctional culture of Thai academia
It is a strange irony that in Thailand a small group of people can take over the country at gun point, yet no one can turn round and tell them to f*ck off without somehow occupying the moral low ground.
Many times, after making тАШstrongтАЩ statements about the junta, or about social and political issues in general, I have been told by Thai colleagues, typically academics, that it is inappropriate for me, as an `educatorтАЩ, to use harsh language to express my opinions. DoesnтАЩt it set a bad example to my students? ShouldnтАЩt I, as an educator, `educateтАЩ people instead of always criticizing? 1
As an academic, speaking to other academics, I considered this a curious response тАУ at first. In a single instance, encountering such knee jerk conservatism, not to mention fundamental lack of understanding of an academicтАЩs raison dтАЩetre, could be easily dismissed. Only gradually, but with an increasing sense of disbelief and horror, did I begin to realize that such attitudes, far from being rare in a Thai university environment, are almost uniformly held by those responsible for `educatingтАЩ the nationтАЩs youth.
But, before going any further, let me introduce myself. I am a physical scientist, working as a lecturer and researcher at a Thai university. I am not a political scientist, a specialist in educational theory, in Southeast Asian studies, Thai studies, or any other branch of the social sciences. In my daily working life I am concerned more with waves and particles, fields and forces, and the paradoxes of simultaneously dead-and-alive cats which plague modern quantum theory, than with the complex and infuriatingly nuanced interactions of human society. Yet I am a part of that society. I was born with both a heart and a brain. Through a combination of innate capacity and training I acquired the ability, and hence the responsibility, to think critically and to judge. Such, in my world, are the aims of education. I moved to Thailand about 18 months ago, and my world changed drastically.
Through my work, I was shocked to encounter foreign academics, familiar with the Thai university system, that all but refused to refer to Thai academics as qualified, preferring instead the term `credentialedтАЩ. In short, I was shocked to find that the possession of bachelorтАЩs, masterтАЩs or even Ph.D. certificates from Thai institutions are not seen as guarantees of basic competence at an international level, comparable with their nominal equivalents elsewhere in the world (including other developing countries). This is true to a lesser degree in the physical vis-├а-vis the social sciences but is still a widespread problem...... (read more)......
http://kyotoreview.org/yav/dysfunctional-thai-academia/
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Re: Protests update
Govt Officials Permit Anti-Activist Protest in Loei Province
June 30, 2015
LOEI тАФ Dozens of people gathered in northeastern Thailand this morning for an unexpected rally denouncing the student activists who were arrested in Bangkok last Friday for "inciting unrest" with a peaceful pro-democracy demonstration.
Officials allowed today's rally outside of Loei City Hall to go forward, highlighting the uneven application of the junta's ban on political gatherings, which has been consistently invoked to snuff out anti-coup protests but rarely used to silence supporters of the military government.
The demonstration was led by a local administrator, Sombat Tonkam, who said the crowd of nearly 100 protesters hailed from six villages in Khao Luang subdistrict..... (read more).....
http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.ph ... 6§ion=
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Re: Protests update
The law is the law: PM
ANAPAT DEEECHUAY,
KASAMAKORN CHANWANPEN
THE NATION July 1, 2015
PRAYUT STANDS FIRM ON JAILING OF STUDENTS IN WAKE OF CRITICISM FROM EU, UN
PRIME Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha stood firm in the face of growing condemnation from the European Union (EU) delegation in Bangkok and the regional United Nations (UN) rights body of the detention of 14 anti-coup students.
"The law is the lawтАж" Prayut said, referring to the students who were arrested on Friday for allegedly committing sedition and disobeying the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO)'s ban on political gatherings of five or more people.
"If there is a law and it's applied against one but not applied against others, will more people come out [to the street to protests]?" Prayut asked..... (read more)....
http://linkis.com/nationmultimedia.com/7Lr9s
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Re: Protests update
When one considers there's daily corruption at all levels - from simple police shake-downs to the number of overseas criminals and (worse) fugitives from international justice who swan around Pattaya and elsewhere, with a blind eye turned by the authorities in return for tea money..... a statement such as "the law is the law" seems just a little out of place.
All "allegedly", of course.
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Re: Protests update
I particularly liked France's action granting political asylum to a number of Thai exiles
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Re: Protests update
BURNING ISSUE
It's an insecure regime that uses twisted logic to cage students
PRAVIT ROJANAPHRUK
July 1, 2015
ANY REGIME that arrests students who gather peacefully to call for liberty and democracy must be terribly insecure.
The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) put 14 university students, representing the Neo Democracy Movement (NDM), behind the bars on Friday. These youngsters could each face up to seven years in prison for allegedly violating the NCPO's ban on gatherings of five or more people as well as apparently committing sedition.
Three days after the students were arrested, dozens of people gathered to show their support for Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha, who is also NCPO chief, offering him flowers and urging him to stay in power for another three years.
Clearly, the NCPO ban on gatherings does not apply to those who openly show their satisfaction with military rule.
Now the fight is not just against military dictatorship, but also against hypocrisy and twisted logic.
Consider the following:..... (read more).....
http://linkis.com/nationmultimedia.com/51Uy0
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Re: Protests update
Thai Junta Leader 'Uncomfortable' With Jailing of Student Activists
July 1, 2015
BANGKOK тАФ Thailand's military leader said he is personally troubled by the arrests and imprisonment of fourteen pro-democracy activists, but insisted that the investigation must go on.
"I am looking for a measure to open up dialogue and put an end to this matter," Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha said this morning, five days after the 14 activists were arrested in Bangkok for a peaceful demonstration against his military government. "I have to admit that I feel uncomfortable at the use of the laws against these students."
"But at the same time," he continued, "we have to look at it from another angle, we have to look at the behavior and expression of these people. Are these actions of innocent children? Are politicians behind them? We have to prove it. We are investigating it right now."..... (read more).....
http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.ph ... section=11
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Re: Protests update
PM brands free care as 'too costly'
2 Jul 2015
NEWSPAPER SECTION: NEWS | WRITER: PATSARA JIKKHAM
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has branded the universal healthcare scheme a "costly populist" policy which helped deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra win the 2001 election.
The health scheme benefits about 47 million people - two-thirds of the population.
Commenting on the conflict between the National Health Security Office (NHSO) and the Public Health Ministry, Gen Prayut said Wednesday that Thailand is not financially ready for such a multi-billion-baht health insurance project...... (read more)....
http://bangkokpost.com/news/politics/60 ... too-costly
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Re: Protests update
Thai public TV might face fine over program on 14 embattled anti-junta activists
Submitted by editor2 on Wed, 01/07/2015
The Thai Public Broadcasting Service (Thai PBS), a public media outlet supported by the state, might face 50,000 Baht fine from the Thai authorities for broadcasting a program about the backgrounds of the 14 embattled anti-junta student activist.
According the Nation Breaking News, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission of Thailand (NBCT) summoned the executive board members of the Thai PBS over a TV news program called тАЬBefore becoming a New Democracy Group: Looking Back to the Movements of the 14 Student from Dao Din and in front of BangkokтАЩs Art and Culture CenterтАЭ, which was broadcasted on June 28, for a discussion.
The TV program presented the backgrounds of the 14 embattled anti-junta activists most of whom are students, such as the Dao Din Group from the northeastern Khon Kaen Province, who has long been engaged in activities against a gold mine in Loei Province together with the locals.
The program pointed out that the 14 anti-junta activists were also engaged in activities against the Amnesty Bill, a bill aimed to give impunity to people involved in the 2010 political violence and Thaksin Shinnawatra a controversial ex-Prime Minister, proposed under the last elected government under Yingluck Shinawatra, the former PM before the coup dтАЩ├йtat...... (read more)....
http://linkis.com/www.prachatai.com/en/2FBqa
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Re: Protests update
Ease tensions, experts urge
Pravit Rojanaphruk,
Piyaporn Wongruang,
Kasamakorn Chanwanpen
The Nation July 2, 2015
NCPO, anti-coup students told to engage in dialogue before matters get out of hand
The escalation of political confrontation between the military junta and the 14 detained anti-coup students and their supporters should be quickly toned down before it is too late, concerned scholars said yesterday.
The call came as Mahidol University peace expert Gothom Arya volunteered to talk to the government in order to avoid the situation getting out of control.
"There's a need to have someone to talk to both sides. I can go and talk to the military," Gothom said yesterday.
Gothom suggested that his colleague Ekaphan Pinthawanij, also a peace and human-rights expert at Mahidol, could talk to the detained students, as many of them know and trust him..... (read more)....
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politic ... 63575.html