Killed 55 years ago, Thailand’s Che Guevara finally honored by his university

[webfact]

Jit Poumisak has been described as a Marxist historian, activist, author, philologist, poet, songwriter, and communist revolutionary.

 

A shocking act of violence shattered the atmosphere in Chulalongkorn University’s auditorium 68 years ago.

 

Jit Poumisak, then a third-year Arts student and editor of CU’s “University” periodical, was addressing a crowd of 3,000 students when he was grabbed by three angry Engineering seniors and flung to the ground two meters below.

 

Jit was on stage defending himself after the periodical’s edition marking Chulalongkorn Day on Oct 23, 1953, was suspended over articles perceived by some as Marxist.

 

A form of punishment

 

The three senior students who attacked Jit were apparently following a practice of punishment used among CU students called “yoan naam” or throwing into the water. Except in Jit’s case, they threw him on the hard ground. The injuries suffered in the attack left Jit in hospital for many days.

 

Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/killed-55-years-ago-thailands-che-guevara-finally-honored-by-his-university/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2021-11-10

 

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[TooMuchTime]

Being a marxist is not something to be proud about.  Would never want to be compared to che guevara.

[ThailandRyan]

Reading the headline it sounded like they were indicating Che Guevara was from Thailand, which is far from reality.  What the title of the OP should have read was "Thailand's self proclaimed version of Che Guevara finally Honored".  

Edited November 10, 2021 by ThailandRyan

[The Hammer2021]

A middle class spoilt brat and rapist Che was an embarrassment to the Cuban revolutionary leadership and was cast out. Just by a chance

 

Edited November 10, 2021 by The Hammer2021

[KhaoNiaw]

8 minutes ago, The Hammer2021 said:

A middle class spoilt brat and rapist Che was an embarrassment to the Cuban revolutionary leadership and was cast out. Just by a chance

 

Oh, I get it. People are reacting to the headline with Che. Unfortunate that the headline means people won't bother looking into an interesting Thai figure whose influence may still be felt in the current pro-democracy movement. 

[jollyhangmon]

8 minutes ago, KhaoNiaw said:

Oh, I get it. People are reacting to the headline with Che. Unfortunate that the headline means people won't bother looking into an interesting Thai figure whose influence may still be felt in the current pro-democracy movement. 

 

... indeed, Pavlovian reflex apparently, 555.

 

[Artisi]

11 minutes ago, KhaoNiaw said:

Oh, I get it. People are reacting to the headline with Che. Unfortunate that the headline means people won't bother looking into an interesting Thai figure whose influence may still be felt in the current pro-democracy movement. 

Typical - - read the headline, put brain in neutral and then become an instant expert on the subject under discussion. 

[ThailandRyan]

15 minutes ago, KhaoNiaw said:

Oh, I get it. People are reacting to the headline with Che. Unfortunate that the headline means people won't bother looking into an interesting Thai figure whose influence may still be felt in the current pro-democracy movement. 

Ergo, why my comment on the OP title being not truly correct and others read it as fact.

[WhiteBuffaloATM]

Clearly all Marxists are inhumane oppressors. high minded but misguided. some using Marxism only to finish the end game : Power. Stalin prime example. we see from history where Marxism leads. hundreds of millions murdered in its name.this guy was on course to be Thailands Pol Pot for sure, just never got the chance fortunately. so yes in simple terms all Marxists are murderers either in fact or in their philosophical twisted minds…….

[sanuk711]

The guy sold a lot of T-Shirts.......everyone seemed to be wearing one in the 60s....................................

[John Drake]

1 hour ago, KhaoNiaw said:

Please explain. He was certainly an excellent linguist and historian. As he was never in any position of power, why would you consider him a tyrant and I've also not heard him accused of murder. Care to provide some evidence? 

You mean this Jit guy? According to the OP link: 

Quote

In 1965, a 35-year-old Jit joined the Communist Party of Thailand in the jungles of Northeast’s Sakon Nakhon province. 

And at least according to Wiki, the CPT was Maoist 

Quote

Between 1961 and 1965, insurgents carried out 17 political assassinations. They avoided full scale guerrilla warfare until the summer of 1965, when militants began engaging Thai security forces. A total of 13 clashes were recorded during that period.^[4] The second half of 1965 was marked by a further 25 violent incidents,^[4] and starting in November 1965, CPT insurgents began undertaking more elaborate operations, including an ambush on a Thai police patrol outside Mukdahan, at that time in Nakhon Phanom Province.^[9]

 ^{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_insurgency_in_Thailand}

So it would appear he was at least complicit in assassinations and killings.

[onthedarkside]

A post has been removed per the poster's request, along with several ensuing replies.

 

[KhunLA]

1 hour ago, KhaoNiaw said:

Oh, I get it. People are reacting to the headline with Che. Unfortunate that the headline means people won't bother looking into an interesting Thai figure whose influence may still be felt in the current pro-democracy movement. 

Guilty as charge .... my bad.  Apologies if any family, friends, fans saw my post, which I've asked to be deleted.

[BangkokReady]

Quote

Killed 55 years ago, Thailand’s Che Guevara finally honored by his university

If he is genuinely the Thai version of Che Guevara, he should not be being honored at all.

 

I hope it's just the typically complete misunderstanding of basic facts and he wasn't actually the Thai Che Guevara.

[BangkokReady]

2 hours ago, KhaoNiaw said:

Oh, I get it. People are reacting to the headline with Che. Unfortunate that the headline means people won't bother looking into an interesting Thai figure whose influence may still be felt in the current pro-democracy movement. 

Blame the author, not the reader.  If someone sees the headline "Killed 55 years ago, Thailand’s [murderous tyrannical terrorist figure] finally honored by his university", it's not entirely their fault if they believe it.

[KhaoNiaw]

2 hours ago, John Drake said:

You mean this Jit guy? According to the OP link: 

And at least according to Wiki, the CPT was Maoist 

So it would appear he was at least complicit in assassinations and killings.

So you actually know nothing about him then. CPT included people with all kinds of ideologies and could be the only option for people opposed to and persecuted by military dictatorship. There are people in prominent positions in Thai society and politics today who were in the jungles with the CPT. It's an interesting chapter of Thai history.

 

58 minutes ago, BangkokReady said:

If he is genuinely the Thai version of Che Guevara, he should not be being honored at all.

 

I hope it's just the typically complete misunderstanding of basic facts and he wasn't actually the Thai Che Guevara.

It is a poor headline, as can be seen from the replies here. I don't remember hearing the comparison used until relatively recently.  

[BritManToo]

4 hours ago, TooMuchTime said:

Being a marxist is not something to be proud about.  Would never want to be compared to che guevara.

Karl Marx was a great man, much maligned by the right wing media and the ignorant.

I am proud to be a Marxist ......

I would absolutely marry a Baroness, live off her money, and impregnate her female servants.

 

Given the chance!

Edited November 10, 2021 by BritManToo

[VocalNeal]

3 hours ago, The Hammer2021 said:

A middle class spoilt brat and rapist Che

One needs money to be a Marxist or even a socialist.

[JeffersLos]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

three angry Engineering seniors and flung to the ground two meters below.

Could they not have engineered something a bit more impressive. 

 

Something with wheels and pulleys and feathers or something.

[Chad3000]

47 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

One needs money to be a Marxist or even a socialist.

Typical limousine liberal. Fancy upbringing, professional parents of European stock. Himself a fake doctor of sorts and Rolex enthusiast.

 

Che died for his own sins not mine.

 

Edited November 10, 2021 by onthedarkside
trolling comment removed

[VocalNeal]

Even Karl Marx wasn't poor.

[Liverpool Lou]

4 hours ago, The Hammer2021 said:

A middle class spoilt brat and rapist Che was an embarrassment to the Cuban revolutionary leadership and was cast out. Just by a chance

 

...and murderer.

[Liverpool Lou]

4 hours ago, KhaoNiaw said:

Oh, I get it. People are reacting to the headline with Che. Unfortunate that the headline means people won't bother looking into an interesting Thai figure whose influence may still be felt in the current pro-democracy movement. 

You didn't notice that there's a link with a substantial bio of the Marxist/communist?

[Chad3000]

29 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

Even Karl Marx wasn't poor.

Actually, he was. A bit if a misfit.

[billd766]

7 hours ago, TooMuchTime said:

Being a marxist is not something to be proud about.  Would never want to be compared to che guevara.

Of course it is. It was his belief at the time and he had every right to express it.

 

YOU may not want to be compared to Che Guevara nowadays, but this was 55 years ago when the world was  different place.

 

The USA was fighting "Communism" in Vietnam using conventional and chemical weapons. They were bombing both North and South Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos as well.

 

Che Guevara was actually born in Argentine and was involved in the Cuban revolution to take control of Cuba from the corrupt U.S.-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Che_Guevara

 

Edited November 10, 2021 by billd766
Bad spelling

[billd766]

6 hours ago, The Hammer2021 said:

A middle class spoilt brat and rapist Che was an embarrassment to the Cuban revolutionary leadership and was cast out. Just by a chance

 

Try reading this.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Che_Guevara

[billd766]

2 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

...and murderer.

And the Thai junta running the country at the time were such nice and friendly people who would never harm any living thing.

 

Sarcasm mode off, for those who didn't understand.

[dinsdale]

Ernesto Rafael Guevara de la Serna. Not Che. Not sure about the link here though. Being a Marxist doesn't automatically mean you're a revolutionay. It's a political point of view.

Edited November 10, 2021 by dinsdale

[zzaa09]

7 hours ago, KhaoNiaw said:

Oh, I get it. People are reacting to the headline with Che. Unfortunate that the headline means people won't bother looking into an interesting Thai figure whose influence may still be felt in the current pro-democracy movement. 

Wouldn't expect much to change - from keen observations most here are woefully ignorant and find little interest in Thai history. 

[PETERTHEEATER]

6 hours ago, sanuk711 said:

The guy sold a lot of T-Shirts.......everyone seemed to be wearing one in the 60s....................................

Mine bears the legend 'Somchai Guevara'....????