The week that was in Thailand news: A sense of foreboding – a personal reflection on a momentous week.

[rooster59]

The week that was in Thailand news: A sense of foreboding – a personal reflection on a momentous week.

 

 

Great and ceremonial occasions of state are often times that inspire personal reflection.

 

With my young family away during the school holidays I was left to my own devices, to view the culmination of a year of mourning as the extraordinary spectacle of the Royal Funeral unfolded on television.

 

For me, personally, the sense of sadness had subsided during the last 12 months and was now replaced with one of tangible foreboding of what may lie ahead for the country that has shaped my life and given me so much.

 

This Thursday’s elaborate ceremonies, rituals and sense of occasion had me casting my thoughts back twenty years to the funeral of Princess Diana that I had watched on a similarly solitary day while living in Thailand.

 

I had no particular affinity to the Princess, in fact my feelings for the British Royal family could have been described as ambivalent. But the ceremony at Westminster in 1997 had a profound affect and I was reduced to uncontrollable tears.

 

I think it was the impassioned pleas and comments of the Princess’s brother who spoke so eloquently from the pulpit of the great cathedral about the feelings he had for his sister and the events that had led to her untimely demise.

 

But some days after I had realized who I had really been crying for on that momentous day. It was not specifically for Diana but for my own mother who had been so cruelly robbed of life while I was still a teenager and my brother who had died the previous year leaving young children behind.

 

I had found it difficult to truly mourn these close relatives but this grand state occasion, and the heartfelt outpouring of sympathy from not just Britons but many around the world, triggered the feelings related to my own personal loss.

 

This week like many Thais and expatriates, I reflected on my life in Thailand that fully covered the second half of His Majesty Rama IX’s momentous reign.

 

For many years I was in a privileged position to speak about the king. As head of Thai at a major international school it had been incumbent on me to speak of the great man at public gatherings and assemblies. In class I had the enormous pleasure to share stories and personal reflections with enthralled young school children from many nations.

 

One such topic was His Majesty’s own story of “Thong Daeng” the street dog that he took in. The king shared his experiences in a book and cartoon version about his favorite pet that I used as a basis for part of my Thai Studies’ course. It was packed with metaphor about life and the characteristics of the Thais, a fact that was not missed on the brighter Thai and foreign pupils as it was written in both the local language and English.

 

His Majesty was a witty and sensitive man and my young students were able to appreciate more fully what it might be like to be in his exalted and often difficult position.

 

Most every Thai, whether living at home or abroad has had a relationship with their departed monarch that borders on family and the feeling of fatherhood of a nation that he inspired has been a central and rightfully dominant theme of both his life and his death.

 

But with his “ascendancy to heaven” through the remarkable funeral pyre that was so painstakingly assembled at Sanam Luang by so many dedicated artisans, came that sense of foreboding that has always nagged at my mind when contemplating Thailand’s future.

 

As His Majesty the new king lit the pyre and the first smoke swirled on the nighttime breeze I was reminded of my own metaphor for the country I have embraced and loved and attempted to understand for the best part of forty years.

 

That it is a house of cards.

 

Admittedly it’s a house of eminent beauty as the depiction of Mount Meru and its spires atop the pyre attested to. But it’s also one that lacks the mortar and stone of true stability; something that is especially true in today’s political arena.

 

I sense a feeling of dissatisfaction among the nation’s youth in particular who are yearning for change in some of the established order.

 

Those politicians – with khaki mentality in a business suit or civilians who should now be given a freer rein – would do well to listen to the voices of the Thai people and the whistling of the winds of change.

 

For while the House of Cards stood proud and beautiful for both the Thais and the world to admire this week, the door to the future will always be slightly ajar.

 

And it might only take a slight incoming breeze to set the country back.

 

While the week on Thaivisa was of course dominated by the sadness of the Royal Funeral ceremonies there were still many snippets of merriment to remind us that life goes on and why news in Thailand is so quirky.

 

I particularly enjoyed the story of the public being urged to report the police to the police regarding the setting up of illegal roadside “checkpoints” that have attracted the early tenure ire of new commissioner Chanthep.

 

Perhaps more accurately referred to as “fleece-points” these have virtually come to an end in Bangkok though the public have been asked to be vigilant and call the hotline if they suspect the law is breaking the law.

 

If the hotline was extended to other activities of the constabulary I suspect Khun Chanthep might need to get some extra operators in to answer the phones.

 

Forum comment among expats and posting on Thai social media was rife concerning the story of the motorcyclist who refused to stop at an upcountry checkpoint and was chased for half an hour through town by two cops before being kicked to the tarmac.

 

One almost had to admire the gall of the local police chief who – despite video evidence to the contrary – was able to put a positive spin on the event.

 

With so many people backing him up assuming the biker had committed a crime it appeared the chief didn’t have to waste his internet breath.

 

But I think more telling was the fact the biker agreed not to press charges while the cops themselves preferred to let the matter rest.

 

One of those Thai compromises that screams “we were both a little bit wrong” but “let’s sweep this one under the shag pile na khrap!”

 

From Pattaya came the usual wealth of stories that hit pay dirt on the “titter-o-meter”.

 

Top billing – and not really just Pattaya related as Go-Go entertainment abounds - was the story that pole dancing could soon become an Olympic sport leading to a Thai champion.

 

Forum curmudgeons were adamant that the shufflers that pass for dancers at the resort could never claim gold while the only surprise for Rooster was that Her Elegantness the Minister for Tourism and Sports did not come out and talk about Pattaya being the hub of Pole Dancing.

 

We were thus spared the anticipated claim that such activity would bring in an extra 2.5 billion baht in tourism revenue. Perhaps she was mindful of last year’s abortive anti-sex crusade and thought it better to concentrate on February’s Bangkok Marathon, as a more established sport.

 

Top video of the week – and one shared throughout the world – was also sporting in nature coming from a decisive Thai football match. It featured the wild celebration of a hapless goalkeeper after an opponent’s penalty crashed against the crossbar.

 

Unfortunately for the goalie he was forced to scramble back in horror as the spin took the penalty kick back into the goal that he had left unguarded.

 

When Rooster first viewed this hilarious clip I was unsure it was Thailand – until someone in the crowd was heard to utter the Thai words usually reserved for anger and such occasions, and I translate…..“water monitor!”.

 

Finally, my sense of foreboding was not just restricted to the feelings engendered at the events of Sanam Luang.

 

Frankly it was more a sense of here we go again as His Generalness almost offhandedly commented that some areas would have to be sacrificed to the floods for the greater good.

 

Such comments were made by another administration, one he has sought to demonize, before the devastating floods that especially hit the outer areas to the north of Bangkok in 2011.

 

At that time Rooster was one of the lucky ones living twelve floors up and enjoying two months off on full pay after my school was inundated.

 

But my ex-wife lived in fear of snakes and opportunistic criminals, refusing to leave her two story Pathum Thani house near the Chao Praya that was partly submerged under ten feet of filthy water from October to December.

 

The foreboding was in the quiet and storm free weather we enjoyed in the latter half of this week in my part of northern Bangkok.

 

It was just like that in 2011 when the water came gurgling up the drains.

 

 

Rooster

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2017-10-28

[darksidedog]

Interesting week and very nicely written article summing it up.

Possibly the only thing of mention it missed was the "Is there beer? Yes? No? Maybe? Should be, wait and see."

Given other events this week truly tough to cover them all.

I thought the goalie penalty clip and the police chief crap about the kicking off bike incident, particularly funny. "Fleecing Points" is also something else I shall add to my vocabulary. Thank you for that.

[nausea]

15 hours ago, rooster59 said:

But some days after I had realized who I had really been crying for on that momentous day.

My own mother died last year, so the past year of mourning has served a dual purpose for me; strangely enough her favourite colour was yellow.

[anon789561]

nice article, cheers. sorry to hear about your mum and bro

[tigermoth]

Great and sensible article for a change instead of the constant Thai bashing. Yes, there is a sense of forboding now with Thais and expats alike. If the nation ever wanted an excuse to stand up and be counted as a true democracy now is it and one of the first things is to ban the military from involvement in politics, (and cows might fly.)

[Cadbury]

An excellent article. When Rooster talks of reporting of "the law breaking the law" I am reminded of a story way back in 2014; the year that was when the military took control. It was then that the junta proudly declared it was going to fix everything bad created by the Shina's. 

For starters it was going to fix some of these things:

 

1. Fix the police bribe problem by giving them reward money if they (the police) refused to accept bribes from the public.

2. Clean up Thailand's image as a haven for vice.

3. Clamp down on taxi gangs at airports by ordering more police checks.

4. Curb bad behaviour among Buddhist monks to protect the image of religion.

5. Ridding of a "bribes for jobs" culture.

 

Well that was in 2014. Now where are we in 2017? In exactly the same place except that police are probably not being rewarded for not carrying out extortion (accepting bribes). 

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-thailand-corruption/thai-traffic-cops-offered-cash-to-turn-down-bribes-idUSKCN0HY0VF20141009

 

 

 

 

[Krataiboy]

Thanks you for a beautifully composed perceptive insight into the cremation of the late and clearly beloved King and the new era it has ushered in. Unfortunately, many of us who made new lives here - in my own case stretching back over two decades - cannot help but share your misgivings. 

 

If I were a religious man, I would be praying.

[TKDfella]

Yes, an article that a thinking person can appreciate. I read an another article this morning which basically said the same thing about Thailand's future. There are so many famous quotes that come to mind unfortunately most of them have western origin and I fear many Thais don't know them or wouldn't appreciate them. Paraphrasing a couple might go like this;

Having knowledge on how to fix something is not enough, application is required...or surrender to adaptation. Willingness to do something is not enough only action will bring results.

Thinking life won't be easier is not enough, build to be stronger.

But during a couple of conversations this week I was reminded (a few times) of a well known Thai proverb; หนีสือปะจรเข้, Ni seua pa jorakhe, Escape from the tiger and meet the crocodile. The English equivalent is, of course, Out of the frying pan into the fire. So I began to wonder that while there may be a desire for change will that be translated into reality? I have my doubts. I was told that the present regime is seen as some kind of 'mountain' and again I was verbally reminded of a kind of rebuttal to a Chinese proverb; 'He who wants to remove a mountain starts by removing stones' and the response to that is (the English equivalent) 'He who gathers stones gets bruised fingers'.

But I am an expat and I appreciate that Thai people will do what they think is appropriate for their country...no matter what the proverbs teach.

[bazza73]

Thailand is a house of cards, no question. The best a farang can do is keep a low profile, and stay out of the way.

[seminomadic]

"I sense a feeling of dissatisfaction among the nation’s youth in particular who are yearning for change in some of the established order."

 

Uhhmm.................................. really?

 

Do you want to offer any substantiation for this 'sense', even if anecdotal?

[beautifulthailand99]

You were free to be ambivalent about Princess Di - says it all really.

Edited November 3, 2017 by beautifulthailand99

[Aussie69]

One of your best pieces of writing Rooster.