My First Encounter With The "warrior"

[junglist]

Frightening to think of the killing weapons potentially at his disposal.

I can totally see him committing genocide and loving it!

It not genocide he would just kill the buffalos.

[animatic]

We know how Gunny Hartman ended up too!

Good point animatic, but what would "Gunny" think of Seh Daeng's comportment as a Major General?

Not much for sure.

In Nam he likely would have fragged him in frustration....

[mca]

It does beg the question of the standards set by the Army Promotions Board.

"What do you think of young Khattiya Sawasdipol? Seems well balanced and reasonable to me. A man that's going places."

When it comes to my birthplace I'm not a flag waving "We're the best country in the world" person by any stretch of the imagination but when I see a higher ranking officer being interviewed in Afghanistan or wherever I can't help but feel a sense of pride when compared to the human rights abusing amateurish buffoons with braids on their shoulders that Thailand can muster.

Edited February 5, 2010 by mca

[granuaile]

If 10 editors couldn't shred the man, it speaks to the fact that he is alot smarter than people give him credit for.

Call him a diabolical genius, call him wiley, call him cunning, but it seems to me he had some fun with a bunch of self proclaimed Bangkok "intellectuals" and left them in his dust. Even if this was meant as a backhanded hatchet job, it unfortunately makes him out to be an endearing likeable fellow. Thing is, I don't think I would want to be his friend, let alone his enemy.

From that interview I would call him none of those. He seems very much in need of medical treatment... and certainly should not be in any position of authority....

[SpoliaOpima]

If 10 editors couldn't shred the man, it speaks to the fact that he is alot smarter than people give him credit for.

Call him a diabolical genius, call him wiley, call him cunning, but it seems to me he had some fun with a bunch of self proclaimed Bangkok "intellectuals" and left them in his dust. Even if this was meant as a backhanded hatchet job, it unfortunately makes him out to be an endearing likeable fellow. Thing is, I don't think I would want to be his friend, let alone his enemy.

Endearing and likable to you, perhaps, but then your avatar speaks to that bias. I find his comments thoroughly irresponsible and indicative of a need for a mental health specialist.

[ivowatson]

He certainly sounds like a colourful character. This is what Thai politics need, more colourful characters. Samak was the last colourful Thai politician, reminded me of Australia's Paul Keating!

Abbisit is sooooooo boring.

Yeah, what fun it would be to have those colorful characters in Thai politics. Never mind they have blood on their hands, we'll just concentrate on the 'colorful' part of their personalities.

[RKASA]

I don't know him or even care to know much about him, but it would seem he knew going in that they wanted to cut him to pieces. What they got was nothing worth reporting and they did anyway. Seems they may end up the fools. What he really did was disrespect their notion of being reporters in the first place and he does have something of a point there. Reminds me of some of the interviews done by Larry Flint, only later does one realize the point in it. Mad, maybe not.

[hammered]

I don't know him or even care to know much about him, but it would seem he knew going in that they wanted to cut him to pieces. What they got was nothing worth reporting and they did anyway. Seems they may end up the fools. What he really did was disrespect their notion of being reporters in the first place and he does have something of a point there. Reminds me of some of the interviews done by Larry Flint, only later does one realize the point in it. Mad, maybe not.

Or maybe they are just trying to show what they cannot openly print and what anybody involved in Thai politics will openly tell you about the guy. I would suggest asking someone who moves in such circles if you want enlightenment on this gentleman. It isnt exactly a secret.

[Garry9999]

It does beg the question of the standards set by the Army Promotions Board.

Obviously you don't understand how promotion in the Thai army works.

[dranor]

I don't know him or even care to know much about him, but it would seem he knew going in that they wanted to cut him to pieces. What they got was nothing worth reporting and they did anyway. Seems they may end up the fools.

He's at the forefront of much of the ongoing turmoil. It'd be wise to get to know about him. His own website is a good starter and much like that website, what the reporters revealed was just how disturbed he is.

I could imagine that, like others of his ilk having a distorted self-image and over-inflated ego, he went into the interview anticipating that he would show them up and by the end of the interview they would be lining up to want to join his cause.

The interview is very much worth reporting as it reveals what's going on inside of his head, dark and dangerous as it is.

Seh Daeng is his own worst enemy and the journalists shined a light on that for those that may be unfamiliar with him.

Edited February 5, 2010 by dranor

[mca]

It does beg the question of the standards set by the Army Promotions Board.

Obviously you don't understand how promotion in the Thai army works.

Sadly I do. It was an off the cuff comment.

[steveromagnino]

If 10 editors couldn't shred the man, it speaks to the fact that he is alot smarter than people give him credit for.

Call him a diabolical genius, call him wiley, call him cunning, but it seems to me he had some fun with a bunch of self proclaimed Bangkok "intellectuals" and left them in his dust. Even if this was meant as a backhanded hatchet job, it unfortunately makes him out to be an endearing likeable fellow. Thing is, I don't think I would want to be his friend, let alone his enemy.

Slightly off track, it sure is funny how being an 'intellectual' has in the last 10 years come to imply a person that is too educated for their own good and not a man of the people, and unfit to lead. The idea that someone would have a good education abroad, speak english with an english accent...that somehow now makes the person worse to govern than some uneducated thug born and raised in luxury in the provinces.... it is an odd indictment on the power of the media which is not unique to Thailand, but certainly an interesting aspect to the PR war being fought..... logically even though every corporate, every judge, every doctor usually does a better job as a result of education, somehow performing a job like leading a country it is better to have someone who is not one of those 'intellectuals'.

And in reply to Geriatrickid, I'm not yanking this quote out from you and misinterpreting it; I realise you're pointing out how these journos failed to rip him to shreds; not sure whether they are actually BKK "intellectuals" by any measure given the large number of journalists who are actually from outside of BKK and come to work in BKK just like everyone else; certainly it seems like a Yassar Arafat interview doesn't it - two people both talking just not in relation to eachother.

As for 10 people unable to shred the man, unless we see the footage well we will never know how smart the guy is - I have my own theories just as I can probably with some confidence comment on the cleverness of Thaksin, his kids and so on - without giving them some sort of test we don't know. It's not a bad bet though; odds are say 10 to 1 Thaksin won't come back; Daeng is banking on the long shot in which case he might go right to the top. Otherwise....well he probably earns more this way than any other.

I have little doubt that P Daeng is a total nutjob, he is likely paid by Thaksin to do this (just as Jakapop et al all received cash for their work with the red shirts) but the question is I suppose for Thaksin whether this guy will end up screwing him over like other paid staff/'friends' in the past have done (Samak, Newin, Banharn, Sanoh, Sonthi) - Samak was arrogant but at least somewhat coherent; Chavalit is possibly senile; this guy is definitely on another planet and not just from this newmedia style story, he's a nutter butter.

I say let's give him to Cambodia. He'd make a great Minister of Defense over there, they'd love him. Maybe he can be a special adviser.

[animatic]

I don't know him or even care to know much about him, but it would seem he knew going in that they wanted to cut him to pieces. What they got was nothing worth reporting and they did anyway. Seems they may end up the fools. What he really did was disrespect their notion of being reporters in the first place and he does have something of a point there. Reminds me of some of the interviews done by Larry Flint, only later does one realize the point in it. Mad, maybe not.

Or maybe they are just trying to show what they cannot openly print and what anybody involved in Thai politics will openly tell you about the guy. I would suggest asking someone who moves in such circles if you want enlightenment on this gentleman. It isnt exactly a secret.

Yes this hits the mark...

He opened his mouth and erased all doubts about himself.

Rank + time served = Promotion

Army Promotions Board / Standards = Oxymoron.

.

[animatic]

If you do an interview and the subject can't even answer the questions,

but just goes off on tangents or canned lines,

how can you catch them an rip them to shreds?

They asked the questions, the nutter barely answered any,

but he did successfully show himself all too clearly,

it may be awhile before he realizes this has happened.

But he is ripped to at least bite sized pieces,

but he has a big mouth and can swallow them all.

[lannarebirth]

A good example of what author Pira Sudham calls the "crippled mind" that is the main product of the Thai education system.

Edited February 5, 2010 by lannarebirth

[h90]

I don't know him or even care to know much about him, but it would seem he knew going in that they wanted to cut him to pieces. What they got was nothing worth reporting and they did anyway. Seems they may end up the fools. What he really did was disrespect their notion of being reporters in the first place and he does have something of a point there. Reminds me of some of the interviews done by Larry Flint, only later does one realize the point in it. Mad, maybe not.

Or maybe they are just trying to show what they cannot openly print and what anybody involved in Thai politics will openly tell you about the guy. I would suggest asking someone who moves in such circles if you want enlightenment on this gentleman. It isnt exactly a secret.

Yes this hits the mark...

He opened his mouth and erased all doubts about himself.

Rank + time served = Promotion

Army Promotions Board / Standards = Oxymoron.

.

I thought the promotion comes with a small fee you have to pay....

[SpoliaOpima]

The idea that someone would have a good education abroad, speak english with an english accent...that somehow now makes the person worse to govern than some uneducated thug born and raised in luxury in the provinces.... it is an odd indictment on the power of the media which is not unique to Thailand, but certainly an interesting aspect to the PR war being fought..... logically even though every corporate, every judge, every doctor usually does a better job as a result of education, somehow performing a job like leading a country it is better to have someone who is not one of those 'intellectuals'.

This underscores a current global theme in general, in which the diffusion of information, opinion and influence drifts steadily towards a lack of expertise in many cases. This century is already starting to rewrite the meaning of what we used to call dialogue and opinion leaders, which at least offered a sort of guide and focus to public discussions on all types of issues, from serious to mundane. The trend shares characteristics with anarchy, which is basically a refusal to grant control to any "established" power. It's abated by the Internet's rewriting of information control and "publishing." It's like being in a crowd where there are shouting people; the shouting overwhelms you, even when it represents only one percent of what's actually taking place in the crowd.

A friend of mine sums it up as "hillbillies vs civilisation" and, as you say, it's not restricted to Thailand.

Edited February 7, 2010 by SpoliaOpima