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@Anonymous 04:08pm:

That reminds me of an argument in theology.

The role of a (biological) father is to prepare the child for the day when the father is no longer around. The successful father is he who teaches his son to be independent and strong and to stand on his own eventually.

The argument concludes that, even if there is a (supernatural) father, we ought to act as if there is not one because that is characteristic of a mature person and mature society.

@Shivek,
Your comment shows me that you have a lot more to learn in order to understand the word loyalty and how Thais feel about our King. I do not blame you, you are not as lucky as we are to be born under his humble ruling. You can say whatever you want, it just does not mean anything to us. This is our land, our history, and our culture so please shut up.

@Srithanochai,
why is it that you see things only in Red or Yellow? Expressing loyalty and deep appreciation to our King does not necessary mean you need to take side with PAD. I don’t like PAD and hate RED, but I love my King wholeheartedly. Is that wrong? Have you ever read or study what the King have been doing to our country for the past 60 something years? I feel ashamed to share my Thai Citizenship with a person like you.

@ Anonymous on 5/18/2010 04:08pm
My father taught me to be independent too but that is NOT the most important thing from Thai culture point of view. We value our history, our religion, and our culture above our own independence. So please note that we are Not Blindly follow as per your accusation. On contrary, you are blinded to see our Thai way of life…..

Should be noted that Pongpat was a speaker on the PAD stage in the days leading up to coup: see his bio on Thai Wikipedia at http://th.wikipedia.org/wiki/พงษ์พัฒน์_วชิรบรรจง

And also from Wikipedia, here’s a picture of him onstage alongside show-biz buddy and PAD leader Saranyu Wongkrajang: http://th.wikipedia.org/wiki/ไฟล์:ศรัณยู.jpg

Shame, I quite like his songs, and his acting isn’t half bad either.

Sap seung jing jing. Tears in my eyes.

@CL

“Have you ever read or study what the King have been doing to our country for the past 60 something years? I feel ashamed to share my Thai Citizenship with a person like you.”

When will you ever grow up and start using your own brain? It is never too late to start with this. In this context, have you ever read Handley’s biography of the king?

This speech seems to be relevant of well-off people state of mind ?: “if you’re not Happy with Thailand (as it is now), you’re free to leave the country.”

What a pity that he doesn’t tell where should the unhappy people go…

Someone might say that these unhappy people are as Thai as this cheering assembly but this would be divisive …

‘When will you ever grow up and start using your own brain?’ – angry Srithanonchai scolds CL.

And Srithanonchai reads one Handley book and suddenly he is cocky sure he has grown a brain!

Nice touch Srithanonchai . . . awesome! deep! and bad acting.

@ Vichai N

Where exactly did Srithanonchai say that was the only book he read?

This kind of childish arguments make a real discussion impossible.

People should cherish dissent and use it to sharpen (and amend if needed) their thoughts and opinions.

By just calling everybody who attempts to be critical on these subjects a shame for his country, distorted, dumb, not understanding thailand, people are just frustrating the discussion by personnal attacks instead of factual arguments and reasoning.

It’s healthy to be skeptical and well informed and it should be welcomed as an opportunity to try to convince the other person of your view.

But you will probably find some small thing in this comment and attack me on that specifically, instead of reacting to the overal theme of the comment.

I thought the land belongs to all living things– people, animals, etc. This speech, as well as the admiration it draws from Thai people, only serves to show how narrow minded and foolish we are (yes, I’m Thai!)

PL:

“You can say whatever you want, it just does not mean anything to us. This is our land, our history, and our culture so please shut up.”

Seems that according to Pongpat Thailand is not land for every Thai, only to those Thais who “love King enough”…And those Thais who might even something ala UK, well, those are clearly not Thais, right?

@CL

First of all, I do not think that anonymity is necessary in this context as you can never be accused of lese majeste because you are a staunch monarchist and supporter of the Thai monarchy. Nothing wrong in expressing your loyalty and devotion to His Majesty, King Bhumipol Adulyadej (I know that you have set aside time to start your own development projects to improve the lives of less fortunate Thais instead of spending hours in an air-conditioned shopping mall feeding your self-sufficiency materialism). Remember that is your prerogative as a citizen of Thailand, a country where pluralistic democracy, freedom of speech and freedom of thought are guaranteed by a military constitution. So go ahead and introduce yourself.

Secondly, I have a question for you: What will happen to your identity as a Thai subject when the King passes from this world? You do know who is next in line, right? Will you give His successor the same love and respect? I pose these interrogatives because the response I get from all of my Thai friends and family is ….. pained silence.

@ Srithanochai

Thanks for your comment.

I have never read your recommended book. It is not because I did not have a chance to obtain a copy but rather because I choose to refuse the skeptical accusations that a foreigner had on my King.

I am very fortunate to have the unique privileges to have spent my life growing up in the circle of individuals who serviced the King directly. So the bottom line is I know my King is a very good person and nothing can deter me otherwise.

My question to you though, is this. Suppose hypothetically there is a complete stranger coming to your home to tell you that based on his extensive researches, your father is a really evil person and everything you seem to know about him is incorrect! Would you listen to this stranger? If the answer is yes, would you also believe all the information on his research? If not, then have you conduct your own research to validate his factual accusations?

Anyway, fyi, I would never listen to this stranger’s bullshit from the first place because no stranger will know my father better than I do.

I hope I answer your curiosity about my grown up and also my brain. If you have anything else please do not hesitate to let me know.

Long Live the King

@ Mr. Food For Thought

Yes I do not want to use my name here but at least CL is initial of my full name. Unless you are Mr.”Food” with a last name “For Thought” then you really are not in the best situation to ask me to reveal my name.

How did you know that I did set time to help the less fortunate Thais? Thanks for the notice. I am seriously still doing projects to help these people now and will continue to do because it is my life mission. Have you ever done this before?

Also can you please enlighten me on which country in the world have a complete freedom of speech? The last time I checked, the laws and regulations in the US still prohibit the public from labeling their GMO foods correctly.

Lastly, who will the King successor does not matter to me now.

bp: end of argument between u too. This thread is for comments on the post. If u want to talk about other issues, exchange e-mails

I watched the speech in horror and revulsion. I’m an American ex-pat and I always hated it when some idiot said “America, love it or leave!” This is essentially the same crap, but it incendiary at this moment in time, like standing up in a crowded theatre and yelling “Fire!” It felt like I was watching a lynch mob being formed. But I watched the speech last night, May 17th, so it must have been rebroadcast for special “patriotic” effect.

Same old shit, like shouting in the theatre that Pridi killed…

And the funny thing is, it work!
This proof that Thais dont know their history.

@CL

I guess that one cannot do much if a person decides to be, and even worse: to remain, ignorant in the presence of a wealth of information out there.

It is as “tiz” above noted, “By just calling everybody who attempts to be critical on these subjects a shame for his country, distorted, dumb, not understanding thailand, people are just frustrating the discussion by personnal attacks instead of factual arguments and reasoning.”

Indeed, the key issue is PLURALISM. I don’t mind if somebody parrots the official ideology, although I really wished that person would open up his mind. But one should not assume that people who do not share one’s views are Thais of a somehow lower degree of humanity, or at least “Thainess.” In the words of Prawase Wasi: “In a pluralistic society, people think differently. There are people who worship the monarchy and those who don’t—it is natural. The key is how to channel the differences towards creative collaboration and output.”

Maybe, you could take an example from your foreign minister, Kasit Piromya, who said, “We should be brave enough to go through all of this and even talk about the taboo subject of the monarchy. … I think we have to talk about the institution of the monarchy, how would it have to reform itself to the modern globalized world.”

…and again, all UDD members and people who empathise with any of their grievances are branded as hating the country’s “father”. It’s a brilliant way to invalidate any and all of the UDD’s goals. So much for intelligent, rational dialogue. (Well, I suppose that chance diminished as soon as the situation degenerated into violence.)

*sigh*

I don’t agree with Thai people competing with each other in terms of loyalty. Pongpat is just an opportunist who took advantage of the situation, as you have mentioned – he’s now all over the mass media and social networking sites.

I accidentally watched this on TV while checking the Internet for news on the situation in Bangkok, and I felt sick in my stomach, especially when he delivered his concluding paragraph. Well, nobody ever said that best supporting actors must have any political consciousness… But worse was the reaction of the audience. Were they all yellow zombies, or what?

Just another cheap smear, pathetic.

“We are all same colour” (here in this room full of …)translates to heavily stained yellow in his case I guess. “Get out of here” is neither a practical nor sane suggestion. Better let dad decide that one.

My father taught me that it was important to grow up and become an independent person capable of making my own decisions and owning my own life . He wanted me to move on from the family nest and be my own person. Maybe this is a cultural thing that explains why some follow blindly.

As with Hollywood, one is playing with fire to invoke political rhetoric during an entertainment awards ceremony–by definition an exclusive, privileged affair.

That statement, made in that setting, allows the protesters to frame their argument in easy-to-understand Marxist terms.

2012 Fashion ideas cc…

The Constitution gives every American the inalienable right to make a damn fool of himself….

2012 Fashion ideas b…

Events in the past may be roughly divided into those which probably never happened and those which do not matter….

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