Author: uglytruththailand

Giles Ji Ungpakorn

In an attempt to prove itself to be even more repressive and “manly” Prayut’s vile military junta is playing the nationalistic and racist card.

Hundreds of thousands of workers from Cambodia and Burma are being persecuted and driven out of the country. As usual the junta claims they are “cracking down” on “illegal” workers. But the Thai ruling class has long used a hypocritical and repressive policy towards workers from neighbouring countries.

On the one hand, important sections of the Thai economy are reliant on cheap unskilled labour. This demand is met by migrant workers from Cambodia and Burma who do the dirty, dangerous and low paid jobs in sweatshops, agriculture and fisheries. Migrant workers also work in the catering industry and as domestic workers. Thai workers, who have developed more skills and are better educated, are no longer prepared to endure such poor working conditions. They work in higher paid, higher skilled jobs. Some Thai workers also become migrants themselves, working in Taiwan, Korea or the middle-east.

There is no question that the Thai economy and Thai capitalists need migrant workers from Cambodia and Burma and to throw them all out on a permanent basis would create an economic crisis. But the junta are just playing with peoples’ lives to make them nationalist and racist scape-goats. Soon they will return because they are desperate for work and the employers are desperate for labour.

Intermittent crack downs on “illegal” workers, together with cruel and pretend schemes to “register” foreign workers legally, is a long used tactic to keep migrant workers in a constant state of fear and illegality. The registration process is too difficult and costly for most migrants. This helps to keep down wages, prevents the formation of trade unions and also acts as an obstacle to unity between Thai and migrant workers. This is especially important in factories which employ a core permanent workforce of Thai workers alongside casual contract migrant workers.

Police and gangsters also benefit because they can demand bribes and vicious employers can often deny full payment of wages.

While playing this racist card against migrants in a pathetic attempt to win domestic support, the junta is also trying to promote a nationalist film about King Naresuan who led a victorious battle against the Burmese during the Ayuttaya period. Naresuan is portrayed as a “Thai nationalist hero” who defeated the Burmese King while riding an elephant. Free tickets to the cinema have been given out as part of the junta’s “happiness programme”. What next? Perhaps they’ll give the population free tickets to boxing matches or even gladiator fights to the death, Roman style! You can see how the military despise ordinary people. But this will never be enough to make the army popular.

The Naresuan story is just pure fiction anyway. No such thing as the Thai nation existed in the Ayuttaya period, Naresuan’s father collaborated with the Burmese kings as part of an internal power struggle, and most ordinary surfs who were forced to fight in various wars loathed and hated their exploitative masters who lived off their backs and stole their daughters.

It seems to have escaped the junta that Taksin’s popularity was based on real policies like the universal health care scheme, job creation and modernisation of infrastructure. Free tickets to the cinema and vicious racist gimmicks don’t come anywhere near to matching this.

Filed under: Thai politics Tagged: Giles Ji Ungpakorn, Military junta, Nationalism, Racism, Thai politics

Numnual  Yapparat

The junta is working overtime to rebuild Thailand by turning the clock back to a yesterday world. In doing so, they are intensifying a conservative ideology and values of “Thainess”. An example of the absurd propaganda, which has been launched in the previous week, is the “Happiness Project” where grotesque women soldiers in uniform sing songs to “cheer up” the public. They also provided free meals, hair-cuts, snacks and sweets. I cannot help thinking that the sweets must have a terribly poisonous taste. The junta is forcing people to be happy and giving out sweets as though we are all “children”.

Recently, the junta boss Prayut even composed a song to return happiness back to Thai citizens. Was the song nice? The right answer in this case would be “absolutely awe-inspiring”.  Otherwise you might be invited to the army camp.

Prayut fought back against the three fingers symbol, used by anti-coup protesters, by lecturing us that the Hunger Games symbol was not compatible with Thai culture.

The military junta are also trying to add more values of “Thainess” to the day to day work of civil servants. The office of the Permanent Secretary to the Prime Minister has issued an order that all letters address to H.E. Generalissimo Prayut must start with “I grovel at your feet, your excellency” (กราบเรียน)and the letter must end with the phrase “With Great Respect”.

If you think the “Happiness Project” was the ugliest form of political propaganda then you might be wrong.  At the moment the junta has started releasing several video clips to assist Thai citizens in order to conduct themselves “correctly”. There is a video which targets students. The main messages in the video suggest that they stop thinking of themselves and put The Fatherland first. When you hear the national anthem then you have to stop and stand up in order to pay respect to the ARMY who guard the country! The military has never fought a successful battle against any invaders, but it is well practiced in shooting down unarmed Thai citizens.

On Friday Kasetsart University students tried to organise an anti-coup event by picnicking and reading books but they were intimidated by the university security guards and more than 100 soldiers. Students failed this time, but they will not give up and are seeking new techniques to exercise their views.

Some university vice-chancellors in the Northeast informed police to arrest their own students because they protested against the coup. The vice-chancellor of Ramatibodi University went further by clapping his hands to warmly welcome the coup. He said, “We need to have educational reform urgently; our students should study morals and technology”. In his plan, a “good” education system should reduce academic subjects because they generate different views among people and caused the political crisis.

The Office of The Basic Education Commission has announced the new education programme to suit the military junta’s criteria. All academic documents that criticise the junta are forbidden. Teaching programmes will promote the junta’s achievements. Political activities are not allowed to take place in schools and universities. Teachers, lecturers and staffs are told to avoid taking part in political events.

Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength!!

The best way to handle these absurdities is to relentlessly defy the junta’s New Order.

Filed under: Thai politics Tagged: Anti- Coup, Happiness Project, Hunger Game, Thai politics, Thailand, Three fingers

Military Big Brother Stinks of Fascism

 Giles Ji Ungpakorn

 The military junta is waging a psychological war against pro-democracy activists. Soldiers have raided the homes of prominent red shirts, community radio broadcasters and other pro-democracy activists. Many have been arrested.

At least one woman was forced into a taxi by 4 plain-clothed police or soldiers who refused to identify themselves. Luckily she has now been freed from military detention.

Since the coup progressive academics, redshirt activists and investigative journalists have been summoned to report to army offices. Most have been temporarily detained without charge in military camps outside Bangkok before eventually being released.

None of those who have been summoned or arrested or those who have had their houses searched by armed soldiers has committed any crime. Meanwhile Sutep’s Democrat Party gang, who used violence on the streets and openly carried weapons to intimidate voters, have been allowed to go free. There are no summonses for all those academics and activists who stood against democracy. Military repression is directly only against red shirts and other pro-democracy activists.

People who have been through the process of being summoned and temporarily interned by the military have talked about their experiences. They are interrogated by many army officers who report back about peoples’ attitudes to Army HQ every day. The military has compiled files of all their activities, writings, speeches and internet posts.

Before people are released they are asked to sign a document stating that they were “well treated” and that they will refrain from any further political activities, speeches or writings. People are not given the choice of whether or not to sign because any refusal will mean facing a military court and then prison. Soldiers tell them that this is a “yellow card” warning. Any further activity will result in immediate imprisonment.

When released, many people are told that they have been assigned an army officer to monitor their behaviour. Some receive telephone calls reminding them of this.

Some detainees are “set-up” with Lèse-majesté charges and now face years in prison.

The junta is clearly trying to spread fear in society in order to destroy the democracy movement. Fear often leads to paralysis. People who have not been summoned or detained wonder when they will be next.

This is the first time since 1976 when Thais will have to wage an underground struggle against the junta. This struggle will have to be based on the mass movement, not on armed struggle. The junta isn’t a fully developed fascist regime, as in Germany or Italy, but it stinks a little of fascism.

While in a military detention camp, one experienced activist told his comrade that “we aren’t dogs that howl and whine when we get locked in a cage, we must not show the soldiers any weakness”. Many intellectuals have been brave enough to argue with their captors about the illegitimate coup.

We must overcome the fear and strike back in this war for democracy. The way to overcome fear, or at least to manage it and avoid paralysis, is for people to meet quietly together every day in small groups so that they can analyse the situation and discuss strategy and tactics. These groups need to carefully link up with other groups. Actions against the junta will necessarily be “symbolic” in the early stages, but more powerful activities like strikes, protests and civil disobedience need to be planned. This will be a long drawn out struggle, but the enemies of the people are a minority and they do not have a future; they can only hark back to the past.

Filed under: Thai politics Tagged: a coup d’état, detentions, military, Thai politics

Trade Unionists Denounce the Coup d’état

Numnual  Yapparat

The role of trade unions in Thai politics has been misrepresented by the right-wing union bureaucrats from the state enterprises, such as the government savings bank, electricity generation, water, railways and Thai Airways. In previous months, some of these bureaucrats and their followers, stood side by side with Sutep’s mob to overthrow the elected government. They are well-known for being conservative trade unionists as well as kowtowing to the army. Yet, the majority of employees in the state enterprises do not share their views.

Today, some progressive trade unions have issued a statement to denounce the coup d’état and the right-wing unionists who support the coup. They call themselves the “Anti-Coup Workers Group”

“Turnleft Thailand” had a chance to interview one of the “Anti-Coup Workers Group” activists from the factory belt on the outskirts of Bangkok. 

How will workers be affected by the coup?

The most obvious thing is that workers cannot exercise their rights freely under the imposition of martial law. This is the period for negotiating mid-year bonuses. Many will not dare to come out to fight for better working conditions. Normally workers will put pressure on employers by protesting in front of factories while negotiations are taking place. This is banned under military rule.

How can workers cope with the dictatorship?

Basically, we try to protest against the coup by every means possible, such as wearing anti-coup t-shirts, circulating news in Facebook, issuing statements against the coup and distributing these statements secretly in factories or by placing leaflets in shopping mall toilets close to factory areas. These activities cannot be done openly and take time. We are trying to spread these activities to other provinces too.  We are scared like other people and do not want to get arrested, but we have no choice but to fight back. 

What are the future tasks for workers? How can workers’ struggles become a part of fighting for democracy?

There is no question that in the future we shall have to join the general struggle for democracy in society in order to strengthen it. We also will be contacting our international union affiliations to gain solidarity for our demands about democracy and elections.

Our demands are shown in the statement below. 

Do the rank and file union members care about the coup?

Rank and file union members understand democracy better than some of their leaders who gave food and water to soldiers. Impressively, the rank and file workers came out to berate, as well as threaten, the union leaders that they will not pay union fees and not engage with union activities if the leaders carry on like this. Some workers even demanded that their leaders help them to take part in anti-coup activities.

Statement

By

The Anti-Coup Workers Group

We are the “Anti-Coup Workers Group” from industrial areas on the outskirts of Bangkok. We want to state our opposition to this coup d’état. The army stepped on our hearts and crushed the wishes of the majority of democratic Thai citizens. The coup destroyed our freedom of speech and the basic right to exercise our political views. Under normal circumstance, workers’ rights are already limited in order to favour the employers. Under the dictatorship our situation will go from bad to worse.

In previous history, workers have always had an important role in the fight against the dictatorship. In the past, after previous coups, military governments have issued new laws that severely limit workers’ rights.

We were very ashamed when we saw some sections of the trade union movement engaging with the anti-democratic thugs which sought to overthrow the elected government.

The Anti-Coup Workers Group demands….

• The immediate cancellation of martial law
• An end to the coup
• Power to be returned to the people
• The unconditional release of all arrested people
• No amnesty bill to white wash the military’s crimes

Filed under: Thai politics Tagged: Against coup Thailand, Thai politics, Trade Unionists

Total silence from the Human Rights Commission and NGOs

as hundreds of pro-democracy academics and activists arrested

Giles Ji Ungpakorn

As hundreds of pro-democracy academics and activists are arrested by the Thai military junta, it is obvious to anyone with half a brain that this is a coup to destroy the redshirts and the democracy movement as a whole. Yellow shirts and anti-democratic mobsters who used violence to wreck the elections have been allowed to go free and have been photographing themselves in army uniforms as part of their celebrations.

There has been total silence from National Human Rights Commission and the mainstream academics, both about the coup and about these gross abuses of human rights.

I have surveyed the various declarations published on the “Prachatai” web newspaper since the coup and we can see a clear pattern.

     While brave activists defy the junta by taking part in flash mobs and some mass protests in Bangkok and other cities, a number of organisations have made declarations which unconditionally condemn the coup. These organisations include The Assembly for the Defence of Democracy, The Assembly of the Poor, The 24^th June Democracy Group (set up by Somyot), The 4 Regions Slum Dwellers, The Common People’s Party, The Group of 91 academics and students from the deep south, The Students Federation of Isarn, P-Move & YPD, The Community Network for Reform in Society and Politics, The Non-Violent activists around Kotom Araya and the Volunteer Graduates for the Defence of Democracy. Other groups, including left wing groups and street activists have not issued declarations but have opposed the coup by their actions.

A second group of people have criticised the coup, but have justified it at the same time. They argue that “both sides of the political divide” were responsible for the crisis and must make amends. In practical terms this implies that those who won elections and those who wanted to protect the democratic process were “as guilty” as those who used violence on the streets to wreck elections or used their illegitimate roles in the courts to frustrate democracy. This is a mealy-mouthed way of trying to look democratic while supporting the coup. This is the position of the National NGO Coordinating Committee and also 11 NGO figures from organisations such as FTA watch, Bio Thai, Women & Men Progressive Movement Foundation, Friends of the People, The Consumers Association and The Foundation for Labour and Employment Promotion. They call for a return to democracy at the “earliest opportunity”, something which General Prayut would easily agree, because no time frame is demanded. Also the National NGO Coordinating Committee seems to be more concerned to stop the junta from proposing any large scale infrastructure projects than to care about abuses of democratic rights.

A third group of people accept the coup and try to give the junta advice. This includes the Thailand Development Research Institute, Political Science academics from Thammasart and the Society to Prevent Global Warming.

After the 2006 coup a number most NGOs accepted the coup and took part in the junta’s sham “reform” committees. Some “NGO academics” even sat in the junta’s appointed parliament.

For the last decade Thai NGOs have ceased to be advocates or activists for freedom and democracy and have treated the majority of citizens with contempt. To read more detail about this, go to: “Why have most Thai NGOs sided with the conservative royalists against democracy and the poor” at http://www.scribd.com/doc/221530131/Why-have-most-Thai-NGOs-chosen-to-side-with-the-conservative-royalists-against-democracy-and-the-poor

The true activists for freedom and democracy can be found in the flash mobs and street demonstrations, in the junta’s jails, or among the red shirts. However, the UDD red shirt leadership and the top politicians from Pua Thai Party, including Yingluk, have thrown in the towel. The UDD leaders are calling for calm and they have been trying to demobilise the movement since Yingluk’s election in 2011. Pictures of Yingluk obediently going to report to the junta are in stark contrast with the actions of those who have refused to report to this illegitimate body. Chaturon Chaisang, a former Minister of Education, was arrested at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club and is now facing a military court and two years in jail. Others are trying to cross the border to seek asylum. The UDD leaders could easily have done something like this in an attempt to lead the fight for democracy from abroad or while in hiding. But they have failed. New leadership must now come from grass roots activists.

Filed under: blog, Thai politics Tagged: Coup d’état, National Human Rights Commission of Thailand, NGOs, Thai politics

Bangkok resists the coup.

The 3 finger salute of the Thai anti-coup flash mobs today in Bangkok… It is probably adapted from Hunger Games (!) and some interpret it to mean Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.

 

 

Filed under: Thai politics Tagged: Equality, Flash mob, Fraternity, Liberty, Thailand, The 3 finger salute of the Thai anti-coup flash mobs