Loved and hated, former PM Thaksin is erased from textbook

[Fat Haggis]

History is about highlighting the good and the bad so that it doesn't get repeated!!

[mikemac]

This is just a removal of a 'ghost' from the closet. Ghosts come back to haunt, you know!

I hope so. Come back and haunt all he likes. But to become a ghost he must first leave "this life".

Bring it on !

[soundman]

Inflammatory post and subsequent replies removed from view.

No need to get hysterical.

[mikemac]

What about the part with him being found guilty for the land deal. Was that erase from the history books also? I guess it never happen and he should be a free man to return to Thailand.

I don't like the idea of him being erased from the text books one little bit. He should be carved into Thai history and the absolute truth told about him.

The cons outnumber the pros about 100-1 and it would be a good lesson for Thai school children to learn. A fine example of a criminally insane despot if there ever was one.

[Jingthing]

There will never be a civil war in Thailand,there is too much outside and inside money invested.As regards the foreign media,yes they would love it.It would be a great story to boost their advertising income generated by the people who happen to read whatever media.That's what media is all about.Just read the big news on a daily basis and see how quick it dies.They are like vampires,constantly in search of new blood.The stories on here are a good example.

I felt it coming before. Many others did too. We can agree to disagree on whether the threat was real or not. To me, it was real. There didn't seem to be any clear resolution. Many people predicted the Thai style way to prevent that was another coup. So did I. That's where Thailand is now. I am not Thai and yes I am indeed BUTTING OUT.

[love1012]

What about the part with him being found guilty for the land deal. Was that erase from the history books also? I guess it never happen and he should be a free man to return to Thailand.

.................or that part where he killed 2000 in his drug war, or the rigged elections and hired black shirts and the selling of Shincorp to Singapore after passing laws to stop anyon e else doing it? Was it all a big mango shaped dream?

[jayboy]

What about the part with him being found guilty for the land deal. Was that erase from the history books also? I guess it never happen and he should be a free man to return to Thailand.

I don't like the idea of him being erased from the text books one little bit. He should be carved into Thai history and the absolute truth told about him.

The cons outnumber the pros about 100-1 and it would be a good lesson for Thai school children to learn. A fine example of a criminally insane despot if there ever was one.

But you speak of the absolute truth when serious study of history does not admit this concept.In the case of Thaksin there is already a very good account by Acharn Pasuk and Chris Baker.This will in due course be superseded by updated scholarship.

One thing we can be sure about however is that future histories will not be silent on Thaksin nor will they contain the absurdities ranted by

semi educated and wholly ignorant foreign mediocrities.We can of course enjoy the latter on this forum however .

[Fat Haggis]

How did you feel it was coming? I travelled pretty much all over Thailand during the protests and the atmospherics in pretty much every single place I went to didn't feel like it was about to go tits up.. I've spent the last 10 years in Iraq, and there the atmospherics were there, the sectarian attacks ALL OVER the country, the countless bodies piling up, were all combat indicators the shyt was about to get serious.

I never felt that the same "spidey senses" tingling anywhere, even in Bangkok, the majority of people were uneffected by the protests, the country certainly wasn't living in fear from what I personally witnessed. There was no massing of military hardware which is also a good combat indicator that things are about to get shitty, there was no mass deployements of troops to the red shirt areas to have an immediate crack down, even post coup, the military presence in and around Korat has been minimal, if you fear of a civil war, you saturate areas with troops, so you can deal with it quickly and contain it. There was nothing, not even any Armour depoyed to protect Key Installations, which is all part of Civil unrest planning by any Military, airports and sea ports etc.

There was more Checkpoints around some areas of Bangkok, mostly around the protest sites, but life was as normal in the rest of the country the same as it was the year before..

I'm not dismissing your fears that it was about to go bonkers, but there was no signs from the military that it was, not even with their own Intelligence community, was there potential for increased violence, sure there was, but civil war, where one side is going at it hammer and tongs, nah it didn't wash with me, it was more jingoism on many UDD leaders by making these claims there would be a civil war, exactly who would be the adversaries in this civil war anyway? he RTA against the Red shirts, or the RTA against everyone? Reds against the yellows.. ?? How would each side know who was who? You think they'd be openly wearing some form of uniform? .

Like I said, there already was is a civil war within Thailand that's been ongoing for 10 years, with thousands dead, I don't see much of a success down there, what makes you even think that the RTA would have been better prepared to take on red Hordes decending from Issan, with total destruction on their minds?? Maybe the RTA knew it was nothing more than Juttaporn and co talking pish, but to avoid more potential flashpoints with the next bout of elections it was smarter to smack down both sides, and let things simmer down?

[mikemac]

What about the part with him being found guilty for the land deal. Was that erase from the history books also? I guess it never happen and he should be a free man to return to Thailand.

I don't like the idea of him being erased from the text books one little bit. He should be carved into Thai history and the absolute truth told about him.

The cons outnumber the pros about 100-1 and it would be a good lesson for Thai school children to learn. A fine example of a criminally insane despot if there ever was one.

But you speak of the absolute truth when serious study of history does not admit this concept.In the case of Thaksin there is already a very good account by Acharn Pasuk and Chris Baker.This will in due course be superseded by updated scholarship.

One thing we can be sure about however is that future histories will not be silent on Thaksin nor will they contain the absurdities ranted by

semi educated and wholly ignorant foreign mediocrities.We can of course enjoy the latter on this forum however .

.................................."semi educated and wholly ignorant foreign mediocrities"...................................

It takes one to know one !

[ramrod711]

One step closer to the abyss.

Still it's not selective - Thaksin may be being cut out of history but so is much of the army's past - kids are not taught about the military's only victories of the 20th Century, the air and ground attacks on Thais, mostly in the North and North East in the 60s, 70s and 80s.

Please don't forget, or erase from your memory the Thaksin directed slaughter of muslims at Tak Bai. As long as we are talking about the army and Thaksin.

[fstarbkk]

Does anyone else remember the writer of this little journalistic jewel, Mr. Thomas Fuller, as the New York Times' resident Thaksinista?

He has brought us so may enlightening articles to the greater glory of T.S. over the years. Glad he snatched up a tidbit of news to lament yet another horrible injustice done to his one and only Thai hero and to the cause of true democracy.

Anyway, even if it's true, the deletion of Thaksin's name will not alter the course of Thai history or society. Everyone knows that the current generation of Thai students will not retain, or even absorb, any written information that exceeds the space provided on their smart phone screen.

[chainarong]

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I myself hate Thaksin and his political party but history should not be distorted, people need to know the truth . It was the failure and corruption of all the Politicians from all camps , the PheuThai, The Democrats, Banharn, Newin, Chavalit, etc and a failure of the education system that lead thailand to be in a shameful state of being without democracy and being ruled by a military junta and a few elites.

Just omitting the name Thaksin is not the way .

I fear of what the future holds for Thailand.

I think you are right , only narrow minded, in ward looking people would think of this

[Fat Haggis]

I wish I could delete some things from my past, like a couple of ex wifes and some poor judgement calls with finances !!

How will they get round the coup that replaced him, as in the nameless former PM, will they simply erase that part of History too? So for the purposes of education the PM at the time was called what? (apart from millions of expletives!!) or was there no PM ?

[thailiketoo]

If you ignore the past you're doomed to repeat it....Geez! what are they afraid of?

This is just ridiculous..Once again in true fashion ...Those in charge would rather sweep the mess under the rug and pretend it isn't there...I don't agree with the things Thaksin did, but why hide it?..Look at it straight in the eye and learn from it and accept that you won't let it happen again.

The only way it won't happen is if they change the constitution to reflect that the minority vote wins the election.

[bangkokfrog]

Let's talk about conveniently changing Thai history. I always laugh when I read comments like "Thaksin was the first politician in Thailand to focus on the needs of voters outside Bangkok". Where did he get his ideas? An earlier and much more admirable Prime Minister whose achievements also seem to have been written out of the history books beat him by 25 years.

Kukrit Pramoj, who upset the military by winding down U.S. bases in Thailand and re-establishing diplomatic ties with China after the Vietnam War, launched a successful program called the Tambon Council Fund which injected an amazing (in those days) 2.5 billion baht into rural development in less than a year. The theme of the program was "The Thai Farmer: Linchpin of National Development". He also introduced a rice price guarantee program. This was in 1975.

Thaksin was able to learn (copy) from history... it is sad that today's children may miss out.

[AGareth2]

start with the children

that is how the education of a nation takes place

[dBrown]

Thailand the HUB of living in denial.

[ratcatcher]

[Old Man River]

If Thaksin and his cronies never existed, why exactly did we have the coup?

Kind of wondering th same thing. Is he now innocent because he didn't exist?

[Jingthing]

If Thaksin and his cronies never existed, why exactly did we have the coup?

Kind of wondering th same thing. Is he now innocent because he didn't exist?

A textbook is not a legal document.

[Nickymaster]

Whatever it is, Thaksin is a divisive figure. Many love him and many hate him.

Therefor he shouldn't be involved in politics. As Thaksin would say: We need real democracy. Why couldn't he bring that the last 15 years or so? The gap between rich and poor only increased. Corruption increased and education standards or at the lowest level in the whole of Asia. Farmers are still suffering. Hardly anybody can make a profit.

I have spent some time in China and I can tell you that Thailand can learn a thing or two about how to manage a country. Especially in terms of infrastructure and education. Even less corruption than in Thailand.

http://www.transparency.org/cpi2013/results

One might ask himself what is wrong with Thailand? Could it be that democracy has been abused? Maybe it is just a tool to obtain the right to do as one pleases? Surely another election will not solve Thailand's serious issues.

Edited September 16, 2014 by Nickymaster

[A1Str8]

If Thaksin and his cronies never existed, why exactly did we have the coup?

Don't be concerned. Coups won't be mentioned in history books either. Everything is peaceful around here.

[FangFerang]

Where is Djjamie and his cronies when we need them? Please tell us how this is even remotely not fascist and absurd. Please, let us all know so we can learn from your wisdom about rewriting history and its benefits....

[Elmer Gantry]

Will all references to Sponge Bob ( Thaksin ) be erased on Google and Wikpedia.Thai kids are now internet savvy.

[Lozza]

i loved this:

Schoolchildren will be trained to act as ambassadors of patriotic spirit, Mr. Winai said. He gave the hypothetical example of students reprimanding adults who fail to stand at attention during the national anthem, which is played on radio stations and on public broadcast systems at 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. daily.

“The students might go and ask, ‘Why aren’t you standing straight when the national anthem is played?’ ” he said.

The junta has issued a list of 12 values for the country, including gratitude toward parents, discipline, morality and the maintaining of “physical and mental strength against greed.” Large banners bearing the list are being posted at schools nationwide.

how embarrassing..

[Fat Haggis]

I really dislike using the terms facist, it's not a word I particularly care for, it's overused in my opinion, wrongly, it's a pretty strong word, and it instantly conjurs up nasty people, I don't believe the RTA and the current Government, even one self elected, should be called Facists either, it's definately not an ideal situation to be living under, as in Military Law/Rule, but I haven't seen one instance where a Farang has been subjected to " education camps" or even being booted out of Thailand, or worse, silenced with a double tap to the skull..

I don't know many Thai's who feel hemmed in by the Junta either, apart from the ones the media focus on, from what I have seen, life all over Thailand is the same as it was 12 months ago, even 24 months ago.

The Junta/PM/Government need time, however, they also need to be clear on what they are setting out to do as well, and follow it through, they will make bad decisions along the way, but they can't be any worse than the previous mob... or can they?

Thaksin may well be hated by 99.99999% of the population now, but he was at one stage very popular, so much so, that he became PM, denying his existence in Thai history is just plain stupid, he should be there to highlight everything that went wrong with the country.

[See the bears]

Thaksin may well be hated by 99.99999% of the population now,...

Wow, you really are out of touch!

[englishoak]

yea just erase a 10 year lesson for future kids to repeat... stupid is as stupid does.....

[heybruce]

This is not "moving on" in the spirit of reconciliation ..it's just plain silly and childish/child-like. Next they will be wanting to edit the textbooks to say that Thailand was not a Japanese colony during WW2

WW2? What was that?

A victory that ensured your freedom and freedom of speech.

Freedom of speech? Well of course they're not going to teach that in Thailand.

[Fat Haggis]

Thaksin may well be hated by 99.99999% of the population now,...

Wow, you really are out of touch!

It's sarcasm, it's what the Junta as well as many here want to hear