Good Reasons For Thai Elite To Accept Reality

[webfact]

BURNING ISSUE

Good reasons for elite to accept reality

By Pravit Rojanaphruk

The Nation

Almost two weeks on, many in the educated elite and the upper middle class who oppose and abhor Thaksin Shinawatra and his younger sister Yingluck and the red shirts might still be in shock at the landslide electoral victory of the Pheu Thai Party on July 3. Some might even be praying that certain "benign" interventions, be they from the Election Commission, the Army, or the so-called "invisible hand/s", may still save their day.

It is anyone's guess as to how many of these people are thinking about the new emerging reality of Thai society, however. Perhaps not many, at least judging from the post-electoral ranting about the end of the old social order.

Yes, the old social order is crumbling, giving way to a new society where voices of the poor and marginalised who constitute the majority of the Thai population are heard, most notably through general elections.

Whether the often-cited statistics that tell us that the top 20 per cent of the population owns 80 per cent of the national wealth is accurate or not, there is no denying that social, economic and political inequality is a real and pressing issue. Bangkok may be voted repeatedly over the years as one of the world's best travel destinations, but if you are poor workers in the metropolis earning a minimum wage and cannot afford to ride the subway or taxis regularly and live in poor housing conditions, then Bangkok is definitely no heaven.

What's more, the majority of the rural and urban poor must endure repeated verbal attacks, degrading words portraying them as stupid, corrupt and unfit to vote.

People in the upper echelon of Thai society can try to resist and keep the poor and exploited where they are - but this is almost certainly a recipe for greater political conflict that would make last year's April-May political unrest that led to at least 91 deaths, 2,000 injuries and arson a mild prologue of what's to come.

There exist several reasons that might persuade the conservative elite and the upper middle class to change and take part in drafting a new social contract that is more equitable, transparent and accountable for all.

First, the desire for change from

the top can be due to self-preservation, through the fear of a full-blown

civil war. Thai society will simply

tear itself apart if poor people are kept where they are: repressed, depressed, poor, without genuine freedom of expression, and without empathy from the upper and middle classes. The masses' rejection of the September 2006 military coup, their rage during the April-May protest in 2010 and their determination to vote for Thaksin's Pheu Thai Party speak volumes about their yearning for a greater political voice, bigger economic pie and social respect.

By now, the more enlightened among the elite and the middle class might have concluded that giving the masses a more equal political voice and economic share will actually be better for Thailand as a whole. This is the second rationale.

The third and last reason is the most ideal of the three. It is the recognition that the masses are human too, just like us, and each life, each vote, should be treated and valued equally.

Electoral democracy is far from perfect and yet it's the best system there is today because the majority of the people can decide whether to bring in or get rid of their representatives. Not all are convinced that those on top of the pyramid support reform, however. A well-respected judge ran into this writer on Monday and said the elite were just too entrenched. They would cook up yet another ultra-royalist fear that would resemble the events of October 6, 1976.

I can only hope he is wrong.

-- The Nation 2011-07-14

[Awohalitsiktoli]

What is the writer smoking? "Yes, the old social order is crumbling, giving way to a new society where voices of the poor and marginalised who constitute the majority of the Thai population are heard, most notably through general elections." That is total nonsense! The election had nothing to do with changing the social order or producing a new society dominated by the views of the poor/marginalized people. It is amazing how people can be suckered into believing myths that the elites vomit for them the eat.

[moe666]

I thought and the elite think they are reality.

[taff33]

Let's be honest the elite would like Thailand to go back 100 years and keep the poor and uneducated in their place,at the bottom of the of the pile,where they think they they belong.Education is a wonderfull thing,some thing the elite did not want the poor to have,yes you will have some that follow like sheep, they will be the ones with not much education,but the younger ones are having the education and they will be the ones that will change Thailand.

[SomTumTiger]

It's funny that peoplen think that PT members are NOT in the elite lol.

[Valentine]

It's funny that peoplen think that PT members are NOT in the elite lol.

Totally agree. Also previous governments under Mr T's stewardship did nothing to upgrade the education system whereby people can think & make rational decisions instead of just blindly obeying.

[TeddyFlyfisherDavis]

Funny...Sounds like the good ole' USA...The difference here is that the upper class is beating down the middle class, which is rapidly joining the ranks of the lower class. Eventually, we will have just two classes...The rich...and the poor...It's all about control people...in a nut shell.

[Dellboy218]

It's funny that peoplen think that PT members are NOT in the elite lol.

Totally agree. Also previous governments under Mr T's stewardship did nothing to upgrade the education system whereby people can think & make rational decisions instead of just blindly obeying.

And as I asked someone the other day when he was celebrating the brushing away of the 'Thai elite'. ''Who introduced the Thai Elite card?'' Presumably he had one so he must have thought he was!

[scorecard]

What is the writer smoking? "Yes, the old social order is crumbling, giving way to a new society where voices of the poor and marginalised who constitute the majority of the Thai population are heard, most notably through general elections." That is total nonsense! The election had nothing to do with changing the social order or producing a new society dominated by the views of the poor/marginalized people. It is amazing how people can be suckered into believing myths that the elites vomit for them the eat.

You wrote: "...amazing how people can be suckered into believing myths that the elites vomit for them the eat..." Why are you say it's the elites?

[hellodolly]

It's funny that peoplen think that PT members are NOT in the elite lol.

Totally agree. Also previous governments under Mr T's stewardship did nothing to upgrade the education system whereby people can think & make rational decisions instead of just blindly obeying.

I also tottaly agree.

Did any one read this line

"The third and last reason is the most ideal of the three. It is the recognition that the masses are human too, just like us, and each life, each vote, should be treated and valued equally."

And wonder as I did was the elite and upper middle class paid to vote for a certain party.

[Awohalitsiktoli]

What is the writer smoking? "Yes, the old social order is crumbling, giving way to a new society where voices of the poor and marginalised who constitute the majority of the Thai population are heard, most notably through general elections." That is total nonsense! The election had nothing to do with changing the social order or producing a new society dominated by the views of the poor/marginalized people. It is amazing how people can be suckered into believing myths that the elites vomit for them the eat.

You wrote: "...amazing how people can be suckered into believing myths that the elites vomit for them the eat..." Why are you say it's the elites?

As one poster (Teddyflyfisher) said earlier, "It's all about control people...in a nut shell." It is, more specifically, about mind control. To control minds you must control the information that reaches those minds. The elites control the information machine. Hence, they spin the myths and present them to the gullible public. It happens in Thailand. It happens all over. Education, in theory, (that is, if it is the type that frees minds) can break the cycle. We are seeing that happen now in the Middle East. Do not expect the current crop of young Thais to change anything as they are devoid of thought and easily manipulated.

[whybother]

I also tottaly agree.

Did any one read this line

"The third and last reason is the most ideal of the three. It is the recognition that the masses are human too, just like us, and each life, each vote, should be treated and valued equally."

And wonder as I did was the elite and upper middle class paid to vote for a certain party.

"It is the recognition that the masses are human too, just like us,"

Is he admitting that he is part of the elite that look down on the poor ... and that anyone who reads the Nation is also the elite?

[hammered]

This is actually a good article. The last statement is truly worrying. Whatever PTP represents is irrelevent. That it has been overwhelmingly chosen by the people of the country under a set of rules set up to reduce its chances shows it should be running the country. Any other option would be seen as ludicrous by any proponent of democracy. This was a let the people decide election. They have. There are winners and losers. The losers need to accept this. And the two parties the losers bet on have been given a drubbing under rules they concocted. Timne to move on. The powerful people can come to some arrangement as to how they do business and play their games but the people decide who gets to control that game in elections

Also note the succesion of representatives of foreign governments that have been lining up to congrtulate Yingluck and how even in anti-Thaksin media these pictures have been festooning front pages.

[Crushdepth]

Let's be honest the elite would like Thailand to go back 100 years and keep the poor and uneducated in their place,at the bottom of the of the pile,where they think they they belong.Education is a wonderfull thing,some thing the elite did not want the poor to have,yes you will have some that follow like sheep, they will be the ones with not much education,but the younger ones are having the education and they will be the ones that will change Thailand.

Which elite are you referring to? The Democrat Elite or the Thaksin Elite? Maybe both?

[Suradit]

Almost two weeks on, many in the educated elite and the upper middle class who oppose and abhor Thaksin Shinawatra ...

So apparently the vocal element on Thai Visa are aligning themselves with the "educated elite and upper middle class?"

Sounds like a perverted remake of A Tale of Two Cities. One can almost hear the tumbrils rolling, the shouts of "let them eat cake" as the guillotine blades are sharpened and Madame Lafarge knits up a storm.

Edited July 14, 2011 by Suradit

[parmo1]

Let's be honest the elite would like Thailand to go back 100 years and keep the poor and uneducated in their place,at the bottom of the of the pile,where they think they they belong.Education is a wonderfull thing,some thing the elite did not want the poor to have,yes you will have some that follow like sheep, they will be the ones with not much education,but the younger ones are having the education and they will be the ones that will change Thailand.

Which elite are you referring to? The Democrat Elite or the Thaksin Elite? Maybe both?

It is referring to the elite who have had kept power for many generations , they are very small in number, but want to take ALL the wealth.

The "Thaksin Elite" you refer to, comprises 70% of the people , judging by the election, they just want a little bit of wealth

[Jaivin2011]

Just hope that with this new social order, garbage publications like "Thailand Titlers" and also "Corrupt Hiso-Party.com" will dissappera from the shelves and advertisers that support this garbage publications be boycotted. The same goes for one of the English Dailies here, hopefully they fire one of their Social Editors with a certain MR title as she is corrupt to the bone and will also feature her circle of corrupt socialites.

[regfrancis]

The story ends with ''a respected judge'' told the writer that he thought the present climate looked like a repeat of 1976

here's the events as per wikepedia:

Tension between workers and factory owners became fierce, as the civil right movement became more active after 1973. Socialism and leftist ideology gained popularity among intellectuals and the working class. The political atmosphere became even more tense. Workers were found hung in Nakhon Pathom after protesting against a factory owner. A Thai version of anti-communist McCarthyism spread widely. Whoever staged a protest could be accused of being part of a communist conspiracy.

In 1976, students in Thammasat University held protests over the violent deaths of the two and staged a mock hanging of the two [?], one of whom bore a resemblance to the XXXX XXXXXX. Some newspapers the following day, including the Bangkok Post, published a version of the fraud photo, suggesting that the students had committed lese majeste. Rightist and ultra-conservative icons such as Samak Sundharavej blasted the students, instigating violent means to suppress the movement of the students, culminating in the 6 October 1976 Massacre. The army unleashed the paramilitaries, and used the resultant mob violence, in which hundreds of students were tortured and killed, to suspend the constitution and resume power. Immediately after the incident, an amnesty was issued to prevent any of those responsible for the massacre from coming to justice.

[Crushdepth]

Let's be honest the elite would like Thailand to go back 100 years and keep the poor and uneducated in their place,at the bottom of the of the pile,where they think they they belong.Education is a wonderfull thing,some thing the elite did not want the poor to have,yes you will have some that follow like sheep, they will be the ones with not much education,but the younger ones are having the education and they will be the ones that will change Thailand.

Which elite are you referring to? The Democrat Elite or the Thaksin Elite? Maybe both?

It is referring to the elite who have had kept power for many generations , they are very small in number, but want to take ALL the wealth.

The "Thaksin Elite" you refer to, comprises 70% of the people , judging by the election, they just want a little bit of wealth

The Thaksin Elite to which I refer consists solely of Thaksin + his cronies. Do you understand my question now?

[OzMick]

What is the writer smoking? "Yes, the old social order is crumbling, giving way to a new society where voices of the poor and marginalised who constitute the majority of the Thai population are heard, most notably through general elections." That is total nonsense! The election had nothing to do with changing the social order or producing a new society dominated by the views of the poor/marginalized people. It is amazing how people can be suckered into believing myths that the elites vomit for them the eat.

You wrote: "...amazing how people can be suckered into believing myths that the elites vomit for them the eat..." Why are you say it's the elites?

As one poster (Teddyflyfisher) said earlier, "It's all about control people...in a nut shell." It is, more specifically, about mind control. To control minds you must control the information that reaches those minds. The elites control the information machine. Hence, they spin the myths and present them to the gullible public. It happens in Thailand. It happens all over. Education, in theory, (that is, if it is the type that frees minds) can break the cycle. We are seeing that happen now in the Middle East. Do not expect the current crop of young Thais to change anything as they are devoid of thought and easily manipulated.

In Isaan, the media is controlled by Thaksin dollars and red-shirt ideas. They broadcast propaganda 24/7, most of it misrepresentations of the truth.

[yoshiwara]

Let's be honest the elite would like Thailand to go back 100 years and keep the poor and uneducated in their place,at the bottom of the of the pile,where they think they they belong.Education is a wonderfull thing,some thing the elite did not want the poor to have,yes you will have some that follow like sheep, they will be the ones with not much education,but the younger ones are having the education and they will be the ones that will change Thailand.

Which elite are you referring to? The Democrat Elite or the Thaksin Elite? Maybe both?

It is referring to the elite who have had kept power for many generations , they are very small in number, but want to take ALL the wealth.

The "Thaksin Elite" you refer to, comprises 70% of the people , judging by the election, they just want a little bit of wealth

No the Thaksin elite is Thaksin and the north-eatern cronies. As far as I am aware Thaksin hasn't given his wealth away, though he did try to hide it through his family and the family chauffeur to avoid paying taxes to the state. It is a thorough misrepresentation to suggest that Thaksin's financial interest is anything other than the looting of Thailand. Thaksin's elite represents nothing other than a split in the ruling class. Looks like the Che T-shirt ersatz socialists understand very little at all.

[exbelg]

what stops poor farmers to gather together in their village and ask for a cheap government backed loan to become co-owners of a rice mill and thus cut out the much hated middle man that makes so much money on their backs ?

[Heng]

The old school elites prefer the split between the haves and have nots to be about 90 (for the haves) to 10 (for the unwashed). The newbies want it to be a much more palatable (to the masses) 87-13. Hardly a revolution in process.

[hellodolly]

what stops poor farmers to gather together in their village and ask for a cheap government backed loan to become co-owners of a rice mill and thus cut out the much hated middle man that makes so much money on their backs ?

You have a round about way of saying the people desperately need a education.

[whybother]

It is referring to the elite who have had kept power for many generations , they are very small in number, but want to take ALL the wealth.

The "Thaksin Elite" you refer to, comprises 70% of the people , judging by the election, they just want a little bit of wealth

Which election? The only place where 70% voted for Thaksin was in Isaan.

[lannarebirth]

what stops poor farmers to gather together in their village and ask for a cheap government backed loan to become co-owners of a rice mill and thus cut out the much hated middle man that makes so much money on their backs ?

Because the guy that owns the rice mill now will in all liklihood be the provincial Chinese Red fundraiser and vote gatherer. The reason he does that is because it's good to be the middleman when bringing in a government whose schemes favor middleman.

Edited July 14, 2011 by lannarebirth

[WhizBang]

This has nothing to do with the poor.  It's all about new money vs old money.  The PT could care less about the poor, other than getting them sufficiently worked up to protest and vote for the PT.

If the poor really want a say in the running of this country, they need to take the red shirt movement back to square one, change the color of their shirt and dump Thaksin.  Then they should form a true political movement, start their own political party, field their own (honest) candidates who can then work for the betterment of the poor and the country in general.

Then and only then, will the needs of the poor be looked after. 

[lazygourmet]

It's funny that peoplen think that PT members are NOT in the elite lol.

Elite P.T. members... 555!!!

"Nouveau Riche" at their best.... But they will never be a part of the cast that they are all dreaming to belong to...

[thunder30101]

And once again The Thai Visa Elite have spoken on their forum soapbox, having all the answers to thailands social problems as they are so thai in their hearts and care so much for the people of thailand. <deleted> are you so scared of by this goverment ??? You are not thai !!! None of you will ever know the problems of the thai people living in your gilded cages, living fat on your retirement money constantly coming on her spouting your shit about thaksin and how all of thailands problems are all his fault, you sound just like the people who want to keep things just as they are. As much as I hate the saying go home thailand will be much better off when you are long gone.

[taff33]

And once again The Thai Visa Elite have spoken on their forum soapbox, having all the answers to thailands social problems as they are so thai in their hearts and care so much for the people of thailand. <deleted> are you so scared of by this goverment ??? You are not thai !!! None of you will ever know the problems of the thai people living in your gilded cages, living fat on your retirement money constantly coming on her spouting your shit about thaksin and how all of thailands problems are all his fault, you sound just like the people who want to keep things just as they are. As much as I hate the saying go home thailand will be much better off when you are long gone.

I think you are 100% right. Is it possible that there are HISO FALLANGS