Finally, Thailand calling again for a change ;-)

Recovery I?

Thats the question... since last year November I very suddenly aand rapidly left Holland, it was because I needed Kiks signature on papers which would give us an extra year tto wait on the sale of my house and prevented me to force selling the house on an action.
Though this year has been a rollorcoaster, thank God it looks like we will arrive relative safely though at the end of it... last week I have been able to sell my house, at least it still needs it written confirmation.........sso, the outlook looks good, BUT due to our 2008 experience, "it aint finished till the fat lady sings", as the say in the USA ;-)

Recovery II?

Simultaniously, while leaving in a hurry, I received a phonecall from my hospital that I had a serious liver problem which needed immiidiat attention, making me totally forget commitments I had to cancell, etc because of my sudden departure back for Thailand.
When I arrived in THailand I immidiatly went to hospital here for second opinion and to agree on treatment, as well as contacting my health inssurance about it. A very hectic week, 2 weeks followed.

As I wrote before, both went okay in the end, but what a hectic 2 weeks those have been!

Now, allmost a year later, the house in Delft seems to be sold and my health seems to be back on track again... end of October I will finish my pretty nasty treatment wwith side effects I hope never to have to experience again, because they hit on my mental state of mind and general well being in a way which was pretty hard to deal with. Not only for myself, but also for the those around me!
If the treatment has been succesfull, only lab test willl be able to tell, and while back in Holland again early november, that will be checked, as well as again early spring 2011..... we can only keep our fingers crossed.

It would mean that sping 2011 will see the finish of a very difficult period, health wise as wel as financially.
Lets say we keep our fingers crossed ;-) !!!

The Backstage

Call me crazy, but while all of the above was taking place, partly because I had to keep myself foccused on the positive, I started to create The Backstage, a two in one concept. See http://backstagethailand.blogspot.com for all about that!

Sofar things do not look too badly BUT I got myself a hell of a work cut out with trying to please two different 'markets' as we say here. The Thai, when going out, have a somewhat different pattern as the foreigners here ..... The Thai in general do not order a drink, they order complete bottles, of whiskey! They like to sing karoke and most disturbing they expect to be able to go on till they want to go home.... meaning you think you thought to close at 2 am, but in the end your staff can go to bed not before 9/10 am, allreay we had twice that it was noon again.
LOL, and then my staff has to be fresh and ready again when we open up again at 6 pm!

BUT the combination of trying to cater to two different groups is paying off same time aand if things continue then I think I might have actually a formula that works and also is able to occupy its own niche in the Patong market for going out, enjoyment, etc.
BUT do not think big, think relative small ... because The Backstage has to earn it to grow... same time its also more wise from the financial/economic point of view ;-)

Birthday and weddingday comming up!

In a couple of weeks, my 52d birthday will be upon me, as well as a day later Kik and my 2d wedding aniversary. Also we will be preparing for the wedding here of a Delft friend of mine with his Thai girlfriend/fiancee (Ton & Bow). Hence because all of this and because another friend of Delft comming to Phuket to be present at the wedding of Ton & Bow, is also celebrating his birthday on the 7th, we decided to trow a hopefully great party at The Backastage, with the theme: "Birthdays & Weddings"
in other words, celebrating life and romance/life long commitments ;-)

Its comforting to know that some of the people I celebrated my first birthday in Delft with, in 2006, will be here with me to celebrate again, and that brings a smile back to my face, I assure you... that is a true gift looking forward to receive ;-) A birthday with a little bit of my home country present!!


O, and in case you wonder about typing mistakes, or otherwise, I decided to post this without checking every word... so oyu read it as I typed it first time round without me correcting it afterwards again ;-)

On the occasion of....

The 5th of August!

Next to the fact that on this day Queen Beatrix sister was born, troughout my youth noticeable by the flags which people were hanging out to celebrate the birthday of a royal.
When we were little we allways used to say: he Mum, get up, hapy birthday, and they did it again this year .. the whole neighbourhood, city is putting out their flags to celebrate your birthday!

Yes, the 5th of August also happened to be my mothers birthday... and she was around well before Prinses Irene
(who's name means "bringing peace", which sadly she was unable to bring, it was 1939 after all, a year later The Netherlands were occupied by the Germans, or should I now say Nazi's?, World War II in full and devastating swing).
She was 17 at the time, and would have celebrated her 88th birthday today, if she would not have been recalled from life 3 years and allmost 7 months ago!

Its weird, in a way, as I wrote earlier today also on facebook, that you do not miss it when you have it, you miss it when you have lost it!
Now that might be valid for a lot of things, BUT normally a mothers love in unconditional. The kind of love only mothers seem to be able to have and can give.
Its the hugs I miss, the phonecalls, the saterday morning coffee sessions ... simply knowing she is there, a phonecall away, a short drive away... allways under reach .... and you know nothing better as that's normal... your whole life it has been that way.
And then BANG, by natural causes, a total recall from life for her.
No more phonecalls, no more coffee, no more babbling together, no more complaining (she was good in that as well)... simply no more unconditional love!
And you only realize this all when it is simply too late. What I hear from others who have become member of this natural club of late-in-life-orphans, its the same for everybody. How good you try to prepare for it, you can not.

The pain it leaves you with is one which you have to give its own space in your heart without letting it negatively cloud the rest of your life.

I try to celebrate life on the 9th of January, the day of her passing, and somewhat also on the 5th of August, the day of her birth, now 88 years ago.

Becaus of her, and my father ofcourse, I exsist and though not everything in life goes as smoothly as one hopes when one starts to think about it when one is young... with all the setbacks and good fortune which I had to go trough, due to my own doing, or by others, or simply by fate, I would not have liked to miss out on it !
Am gratefull for it all, all the pro's as well as con's life can trow at you... and only God knows how much I allready got serfed of that and also what more might be in stall for me ....

Sometimes I will be very grumpy because of it, sometimes I will be very happy... mostly it wil be in between I think.
Simply gratefull for the experiences life trows at you!

Life is something to be optimistic about, whatever stage one finds himself in, allways one is able to make something out of it!
A lesson I half started to understand in 1995-98, when my health and personal life was in an acute and deep crisis, but more fully realised in the aftermath of my mothers passing, or total recall as I sometimes also call it.
Losing that one unconditional love one has in life, a mothers love.

These last couple of weeks...

Right: Kik & me after his first solo performance at Simons of One man one woman!

Kik goes solo at Simons Cabaret

Early this month Kik finally went on the big stage of Simon Cabaret Theater to perform his solo number "One man one woman", after a long period of hard training/excersising.
I was happy I got the chance to see his first ever solo performance... and it was great! Even taken into account my prejudice ;-)
I was in the back of the big theater, and I heard to reaction of the audiance on Kiks performance of this number: it sounded good, very good... to me.
But people in showbusiness can be very stuborn, its the same all over the world. And so, even the perfomance went extremely well, the discussions about its excecution went on... and so Kik had to adjust his costume and some of his perfromance so it was also liked and agreed on by all the bosses ;-)
O well, it caused quite a bit of stress, but now things look smoothed out and okay.

Kik talked several times about leaving Simon, but knowing he likes performing on stage very much I told him I thought it best if he stayed on. At least till my worries about how to turn stone into cash has been resolved and or when our Backstage project is finally working satisfactory.

Following Dutch politics from a distance

Being here, all the way out in Thailand, it is interesting to see the developments around the formation of the new governement..

I applaud Mark Rutte's wish to try to get a new governement in place as soon as possible so it could allready influance the budget for 2011 when presenting the new budget on the 2d tuesday of september. It was a very sensible approach, sadly not shared by the leaderships of the other parties... they didn't use this preparedness by the liberal leader to get things done as quickly as posisble, nope, they kept stuck in their wished to deal with everything in detail, keeping to their original party lines and less willing to compromise quickly so a new governement could be in place quickly.

Its typical for Dutch politics I am afraid...even when the need is great, allmost no party is prepared to work fast and to jump over its own shadows... they stick it out with their (old fashioned?) agenda's and play the pokergame in its traditional way.

I wil not be surprised if, after they finally get this new governement into place, they blame the lack of action on whomever then hold the seat of power.


Left: Mark Rutte, together with Albert van Gaalen while waiting for our weddingceremony to get started. The crisis was just developing and he allready tried to persuade the governement to take firm actions as soon as possible .. now 2 years later, still the first real measures have to be taken. People stop spending their money because they still do not know whats going to happen. This insecurity is killing slowly the kind of positive developments we so hard need, and for what?

Am dissapointed that even in these great times of (economic/financial) needs, that even then Dutch party politics moves as slow as a turtle!
Allready The Netherlands haven't taken real action sofar to combat the crisis... first the previous governement decided to have a series of committees come up with the necassary amount of idears, but before any of them could be discussed or excecuted the governement fell... and so 2008 got lost, 2009 and 2010, and by the look of it this turtle approach on forming the new governement, will make them loose out on 2011 as well!
Or the new governement must make it part of their programm to create a kind of emergency budget to correct/adjust the budget made by the outgoing governement... Exceptional times need exceptional messures

Developing The Backstage


Right: The businesscard of The Backstage as we now started to use, with a handsome little map so the location can be found easily. Mainly Thai prefer it that way, just an adres doesn't work as half that well as a simple little map ;-)

We are slowly, too slowly, getting there with our Backstage. One would allmost think its same same as with Dutch politics, haha... But it looks like we will be ready to go somwhat sooner then a new Dutch governement will be formed.

For some latest news about the development of this adventure of Kik and me, one should, can, read the Backstage weblog: http://backstagethailand.blogspot.com ;-). It also shows some pictures, so one can get some impression.

It is funny though ... who ever thought I would be doing things like that a couple of years ago?
Specially while in Holland we now live trough exciting political, financial and economic times.. not me ;-)

But its quite different and to be honest, same time it opens ones mind. It becomes easier to think out of the box, as they say.
Being away for a while isn't at all that bad.... it will bring more and clearer perspective to a lot of challenges facing ;-)

A fun line-up of my statements on facebook about World Championship Soccer 2010

Rob J. Vermeer The night before: during the White Party here last night the boss of My Way, khun Bon, is waving his Orange shirtin front of me ... tonight we might well end up watching the finals on his big screen next to celebrating a birthday.
As long as nobody expects me to trow a party if we win, or a wake if we loose ;-)

19 uur geleden · Reageren · Vind ik leuk · Delen

Rob J. Vermeer yep, Thais enjoy comming up with reasons to have a party. I hope I control myself when Holland wins ... am a rather emotional and sentimental person and far away from the homeland one tends to feel these things much stronger....
19 uur geleden · Vind ik leuk ·

Rob J. Vermeer More and more friends are showing pictures of them visiting the beach on the day of the finals... but surprisingly on all of them the beach looks even more empty then it does here... and it didn't even rain here today... if 'lucky', uhum, tonight it will
18 uur geleden · Reageren · Vind ik leuk

Rob J. Vermeer How wonderfully crazy people can get in the run up to the finals... but also how a businessman keeps his word and put an organge carpet on the big marketsquare of Meerssen (home of soccercoach van Marwijk). Leon you look pretty well camouflaged ;-)

Rob J. Vermeer Contemplating a short sleep before the finals ... after all it will be 1.30 am before the championshipmatch starts, at least in in this part of the world ;-)
17 uur geleden · Reageren · Vind ik leuk

Rob J. Vermeer ‎2 hours till kick off, half an hour till midnight ... and unable to take that much needed nap. Kik down with a migraine so it will be me, me and me... and maybe some others to watch the game ;-)
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Wan Naza Get well soon Kik...
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Laten we bidden en hopen dat Giovanni van Bronckhorst zijn perfecte afscheid krijgt die hij zich wenst als Nederlands voetbal international, als Molukker en als Feijnoorder. HIJ heeft het verdient. AD, prachtig artikel!

AD AD Sportwereld - 'Man, dit wórdt me een afscheid' (496808)
www.ad.nl
'Man, dit wórdt me een afscheid' - AD Sportwereld - Die eerste keer met het Nederlands elftal op bezoek in Zuid-Afrika bij Nelson Mandela vond Giovanni van Bronckhorst al dat de man, die toen nog niet zo heel lang op vrije voeten was en zou ...
13 uur geleden · Reageren · Vind ik leuk · Delen
Jules Maaten vindt dit leuk.

Rob J. Vermeer Ontzettend jammer voor hem, ook van die gele kaart MAAR het blijft een droomafsluiting van een prachtige loopbaan als voetballer!
8 minuten geleden · Vind ik leuk ·

Rob J. Vermeer One hour tilll kick off ... will leave in a few minutes to watch the finals.. sadly without Kik, but hopefully with enough Orange supporters to have a little bit of a home feeling so far away from home ;-)
12 uur geleden · Reageren · Vind ik leuk

Rob J. Vermeer Washed away by heaviest rainfall in a long time while watching the final. Soaked wet now at home watching the battle continue, Dutch seem to collect yellow cards, scary, very scary! 5-3 in yellow cards for Holland, pfffff
10 uur geleden · Reageren · Vind ik leuk

Rob J. Vermeer Used the break to drive home on my bike.. had to cross several 'spontanious' city rivers before reaching home ....
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Milorad Nikolic So CONGRATS Rob
best team WON indeed
soo happy for spanish
they are provd now that 2 years ago on European Cup was right victory
At least it wont be messy in NL now
its quite as it was funeral
8 uur geleden · Vind ik leuk ·

Rob J. Vermeer Thai cccommentary not to follow but it lok like the referee accepts no discussions so please Wesly and the others, be carefull, keep your nerves!
10 uur geleden · Reageren · Vind ik leuk

Rob J. Vermeer Extra time! Last time I watch a final, pfffff 9 yellow cards 6-3 for Holland, a score not to be happy with ;-)
9 uur geleden · Reageren · Vind ik leuk

Rob J. Vermeer ‎2d period overtime, pfffff, still 0-0 ... I so hope the Dutch get that goal in the next 15 minutes or so ... either look strong though to be honest Spain looks slightly better.... BUT thats doesn't mean a thing if they ain't got that swing ;-)
pffff...

Rob J. Vermeer Was to be expected, a red card for Heijtinga, now 10 against 11 .. looks more gloomy now for the Dutch side....

Rob J. Vermeer Stekelenburg is really playing an excellent game here!
9 uur geleden · Reageren · Vind ik leuk
Fluchio Kelder vindt dit leuk.

Rob J. Vermeer Over and done, Spain goes home with the gold by the look of it after a beautifull Spanish goal... only a miracle can prevent it now ... was great while it lasted but not to be .. again Spain looks to win with 1-0... but what a temperament on the pitch, pffff
9 uur geleden · Reageren · Vind ik leuk

Heleen Abelsma what a shame we were so close.....
7 uur geleden · Vind ik leuk ·

Rob J. Vermeer I know, I know ..... weer een na beste van de wereld.. da's ook een hele prestatie tenslotte... een schrale troot maar ook best een vette troost ;-)

Rob J. Vermeer Spain World Champion Soccer 2010 and if you ask me they deserved it, sadly enough! The Dutch put up a fight though. Congrats for Spain and congrats for the Dutch side for an otherwise excellent tournament! ;-)
No canal tour tuesday, snif

Rob J. Vermeer Wesly Sneijder: Schande voor de sport .... terecht, maaruiteindelijk legt ie oook heel terecht de nederlaag bij henzelf, en zo hoort het a priorie ook ;-)
Als je in de spiegel kijkt reflecteer je niet alleen wat er om je heen gebeurd, maar ook jezelf!!

Sneijder: Schande voor de sport - Telegraaf.nl - Nieuws, Sport, Financiën en Showbizz [WK voetbal 20
www.telegraaf.nl
`Het is een schande voor de sport`, vond Wesley Sneijder na afloop van de verloren WK-finale tegen Spanje (0-1 na verlenging). Daarmee doelde de vedette van Oranje op drie situaties. `Iniesta moet rood hebben voor natrappen, we moesten een corner hebben en aan de goal van Spanje ging buitens...
46 minuten geleden · Reageren · Vind ik leuk · Delen

Rob J. Vermeer Helemaal eens!!

VoetbalPrimeur - Prins: "Oranje mag ontzettend trots zijn"
www.voetbalprimeur.nl
Voetbalwebsite met actueel voetbalnieuws. Met headlines, top3, opmerkelijk, aan het woord en boulevard. Ook livescore, nieuwsarchief, interviews en achtergronden, video's, statistieken en eigen forum.
31 minuten geleden · Reageren · Vind ik leuk · Delen

Rob J. Vermeer En zo is het ook nog!
En ik drink mijn favoriete koffie er geen dag minder om, Spanish Fly!!
(LOL, zo de koffie hier genoemd met Tia Maria.. je moet je menu benaming tenslotte een beetje aan de omgeving aanpassen ;-)

VoetbalPrimeur - Van Marwijk: "Toch een fantastisch toernooi"

www.voetbalprimeur.nl
Voetbalwebsite met actueel voetbalnieuws. Met headlines, top3, opmerkelijk, aan het woord en boulevard. Ook livescore, nieuwsarchief, interviews en achtergronden, video's, statistieken en eigen forum.
24 minuten geleden · Reageren · Vind ik leuk · Delen

Rob J. Vermeer So, and now I hope I'll start behaving 'normal' again and stop this soccermania for the next 2 (Euro 2012) or maybe 4 years (2014 Brasil)!
(Or Feijenoord must suddenly start doing great things again on the pitch ;-) )
20 minuten geleden · Reageren · Vind ik leuk

Want to read more, or see the pics, or whatever, also other things I say or do ;-): http://www.facebook.com/rob.j.vermeer

A short comment on the process of making a new and stable governement in The Netherlands

I started to realise that I use Facebook more and more for short comments on whats happening in my own homecountry The Netherlands, as well as elsewhere. One of these comments made me write the following:
(O, and below you find the Dutch comment as placed on Facebook as well)

The formation of a new Dutch governement is and has allways been a delicate process, though sometimes excecuted in the most blunt ways.
Its as much showing respect to the electionresult and as such the way the people have spoken, as well as a powerplay and creating the best startingposition for the next general election.
For some parties showing basic respect for other voters then their own, can be very hard or impossible, as has been shown this last week in the Dutch formation process.

To think that in the UK, with no coalition governement history, two parties like the Conservatives and the Liberal-Democrats, were able to step up to the challenge and actually got the job done in less then a week!! Not only because of the urgency, but if you have to, better get it over and done with asap, then it hurts way less then torturing ooyourself too long with it.

I know that the Dutch Liberal leader is of the same mind.
Not being prepared to let another year get lost after the outgoing governement hasn't done one relevant thing to combat the effects of the financial crisis these last 2/3 years, he was and is willing to talk with everyone as soon as possible so on basis of substance parties can decide, instead on perception.

I allways believed one has to keep his friends close, but once enemies even closer. You need to be able to truly understand once opponents if one wants to be able to turn them around in once favor.
You can only try to accomplish that by showing basic respect by entering in those talks.

Now I agree, entering talks with the PVV is a very slippery road to take, but a road one can not avoid if one wants to show that basic respect to voters, even not ones own.... how is one otherwise able to represent also those electorate which are not once own when one has finally formed a new governement. How can one be a governement of all if one has refused to at least talk with representatives of roughly 1/6 of the total electorate!!
But why is that road slippery, I hear you ask? Well, thats because the PVV is, contrary to all other parties in the Dutch parliament, a simple party: it has only one member, its leader Wilders. All others are his advisors and for him they are just that.
He is the PVV, he changes his mind, the PVV changes her mind. He decides to declare that the sky in futur will be green, then the party will say the sky is green... if the next week he willl say orange, then ..etc.. you get my drift. The PVV doen't know any party democracy.
As such there's the danger for all who enter into talks with the PVV, with Wilders that he might give in to all their demands, as long as he can take up his seats in the new governement.

Hence all these parties are scared like hell to be found at the same table as Wilders PVV. Not only their own electorate will have great difficulty accepting entering in talks with him, but also other so called democratic parties in parliament.
But are these parties truly democratic when they exclude 1.5 milion voters, refuse to take them at al serious? Is that the example we should give others who struggle with democracy?

I believe it is also short sighted! As true democratic party one should allways enter into talks and see how far one can get. And if not posible then it has been on content and not of perception. Then, depending on the way things go, one can show the general public, which is everybodies electorate, howcome it was impossible to make a coalition with the other party and that that party is clearly not prepared to rule!
To prevent such an onslaught that party might give in on all their essential points... which are, quite logical from my point of view, unacceptable for them... like etnic registration of people (by the way, such is introduced for the first time by Labor politicians, in Rotterdam I believe), basic respect for all recognised religions.

Ergo, it might be clear that I think its rather stupid (and sorry if I know offend some of the readers of my blog) to refuse talking to and with any party in Parliament which commands a relevant electoral basis and as such holds a position in that parliament. Excluding a party from further talks should ALLWAYS be based on results of talks, not on presumptions.

A teacher taught me once, a long time ago: under pressure everything gets fluid in the end .... not unimportant in a country traditionally ruled by coalition governement.
Its just a question who gets the chance to apply the most pressure on the other, who has the most substance for his points of view ;-)

On Facebook I wrote a short comment in Dutch on roughly the same subject:

Ben geen PVV fan, mild uitgedrukt, maar om na die vertoning van een krap weekje formeren of beter gezegd weigeren te praten nu te zeggen dat er voldoende recht is gedaan aan die 1,5 miljoen kiezers, mwoi: ga fietsen, zou ik zeggen! VVD/Mark was de enige die bereid was serieus te praten en het respect voor die giga uitslag van de PVV te tonen, de rest?
27 minuten geleden · · Reageren · Vind ik leuk

Rob J. Vermeer Als je niet praat, doe dat dan op inhoud... maar denk dat iedereen wegschiet om met Wilders om de tafel te gaan zitten, als de dood dat ie zoveel water bij de wijn doet dat ze met goed fatsoen niet meer onder hem uit kunnen.... dan maar botweg van meet af aan weigeren en wegduiken...echter dat is zo laf! O, en respectloos naar de kiezers.
Als je regeringsverantwoordelijkheid wil dragen dien je alle kiezers te respecteren, ook zij die niet op jouw partij heben gestemd want ook hen zal je dan moeten vertegenwoordigen als je uiteindelijk gaat regeren. En kiezers vertegenwoordigen betekend ook dat je ze beter moet proberen te begrijpen... en da's wat anders dan het met ze eens zijn!!... Met elkaar aan tafel gaan is daar een uitgelezen manier voor en tont respect voor inhoud, ok al ben je het niet met die ander eens.... je 'tegenstanders' leren kennen is de eerste stap naar het maken van 'medestanders' ;-)
O, enne dan is er natuurlijk nog het landsbelang dat gebaat is bij een snelle, onbaatzuchtige formatie op inhoud in plaats van perceptie.....

PS I appologise for al the typing errors or grammer/writing mistakes made in this contribution of mine.....As usual I had to press the "publish ariclle" button ;-)

An analysis about the why, and how to progress to a solution in Thailand

Its now more then a week ago since the Thai governement ordered the Red shirt demonstrations to be broken and ended with whatever means necessary. We know the sad results, dozens of buildings burnt to the ground and even worse, more then 80 people killed.
The last week, when the Thai were getting busy cleaning up the remnants of the crackdown, friends and people here in Holland were asking me a lot of questions about "why?", "howcome", "can it be solved?", "how safe is Thailand?", etc etc etc.

Because Thailand is a popular holliday destination, the interest in the country is big.
I sometimes think that Thai people underestimate the interest of the people in general in what happens inside their country and how things develop there. They seem often to forget that because their country is so popular and lots of people have been there, they are more shocked about events taken place in 'their' Thailand, then most other countries... specially because they allways see an amazing Thailand, a smiling Thailand, a peacefulll Thailand......
Thai society has just shown the world that they are normal human beings, with all the human behaviour we are used to see elsewhere. That a Bhuddist society doesn't mean its a non violant one, and they all live in peace and harmony.

Well, as you can read in the article I coppied in here by Satya Sagar on Countercurrents.org on 29th of May 2010, it gives some explenation. An analysis which I did not want to withhold you on the eve of my return to Kik in Thailand, to Patong on Phuket!

Above a picture, published during the crackdown in Bangkok, named "Bangkok weeps" and which was published in the Bangkok Post and expresses the emotions of all who know and maybe even have been in Bangkok!

The two pictures down below the article, are both taken from facebook friends. The first one shows the (second?)largest shopping centre of Asia going up in flames, and the one below that show Bhuddist monks bringing a fellow human being into safety in the middle of all the fighting.
The Bhuddist monks have their opinions and they are just as devided as we see in our western churches in situations like these AND, like our priests and monks in our society, they try to care for the wounded, no matter who they are from!

ENJOY READING !

Thailand: Two Elites And A Proletariat

By Satya Sagar

29 May, 2010
Countercurrents.org

The two month long street protests in Bangkok by thousands of ‘red shirt’ opponents of the Abhisit Vejajiva government demanding fresh elections and the violence that followed has been described as the worst conflict Thailand has ever faced in its modern history. It left in its wake at least 88 dead, hundreds injured and close to US$2 billion worth of property destroyed, the toll being much worse in all aspects than previous political violence of October 1976 and May 1992.

Much of the loss of life and damage came in mid-May when the army brutally cracked down on the protestors using trained snipers and war weapons to take on street protestors armed mostly with slingshots, burning tyres and Molotov cocktails. Angry, retreating protestors in turn set fire to over two dozen buildings in Bangkok including Central World, the second largest shopping mall in South East Asia.

How all this came about, in what seemed to be one of Asia’s most stable countries, is a long and complex tale. There are already many versions, each one coloured by the prejudices of those who tell it.

As an outsider, who has spent over a decade reporting out of Thailand, my version is fairly straightforward- a well entrenched but ageing King is vying for power with an ambitious and charismatic capitalist and the paradoxical result is a rebirth of the country’s long dormant left movement. The real question to ask now is whether the new baby will be healthy or stillborn?

The Three Camps

The Thai story essentially involves three political and social camps- the traditional elite, the emerging new elite and the rural/urban poor.

The first camp is represented by the long reigning but aged King Bhumibol Adulyadej and consists of the military, the bureaucracy, the banking oligarchs and Bangkok-centric political parties like the Democrat Party of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejajiva. Close allies of the United States during the Cold War, they have been in power for much of the last century and don’t want anyone to challenge the cosy political, economic and cultural arrangements they have worked out over the years.

Facing them off, for the past decade or so, is a coalition of business, regional and rural interest groups led by the corrupt but also clever and charismatic telecom tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra. Swept into power in the 2001 general elections his dream – before he was ousted in September 2006 by a military coup- was to build a modern capitalist Thailand with a strong welfare state like Singapore or Malaysia. He, of course, was to perpetually play the role of Lee Kuan Yew or Mahatir Mohammad.

As far as faith in democratic institutions or processes goes, both the traditional and the new elite would ideally preferring to rule without any accountability or challenge from rivals. Neither of them – one representing feudal and the other corporate interests- really has any love for democracy or what it entails.

The royalists, who have dominated Thailand for many decades now, have regularly backed or utilised military coups to get their way- there being nothing less than 20 coups in the last 77 years. While occasionally there has been divergence between the monarchy and the military mostly the two have cosily waltzed together, keeping all rivals off the dance floor with a mix of native guile and naked force.

Even in the ongoing crisis for example the Thai traditional elite have shown their contempt for democratic norms. In 2005 when Thaksin got re-elected in a landslide victory they first got their ‘yellow shirt’ supporters to organise raucous street protests against his government and then openly backed a military coup against him the following year. The royalist supporters in the Thai media and civil society even perversely justified the coup against a popularly elected Prime Minister as being a ‘democratic’ one, glossing over the fact that the Thai military itself was certainly not a paragon of clean governance or democratic values.

Not content with all this, when Thaksin’s parties won the 2007 general election once again the King’s men pressurised the judiciary and other institutions to keep his nominees out of power, under one pretext or the other. ‘Yellow shirt’ pro-royalist mobs who vandalized key institutions in Bangkok and in late 2008 even closed down the Bangkok international airport did not face any prosecution.

In their Thaksin-phobia the monarchists ended up demolishing Thailand’s fledgling democracy, like someone setting fire to their own house to get rid of an intruding thief. Even after all the recent violence in Bangkok the traditional elite does not seem to have learnt any lessons and continues on with its violation of all democratic principles- an approach that surely spells disaster for Thailand.

Thaksin, on his part, despite being elected ‘democratically’ with overwhelming majorities in three successive national polls since 2001, used power in a disturbingly authoritarian manner during his reign. He tried to muzzle media critical of him, carried out a bogus ‘war on drugs’ that took the lives of over 2500 people in extra-judicial killings and bent rules to suit his business and family interests. In other words, though he has certainly been wronged by his more established rivals Thaksin is no real democrat either.

Another characteristic both the traditional and new Thai elite share in common is the fact that, despite all their protestations of ‘concern for the poor’, both have a lot of undeserved wealth to protect. For example the King of Thailand was ranked by Forbes magazine in 2008 as being the richest monarch in the world and worth over US$37 billion. Thaksin Shinawatra, on the other hand, became the richest businessman in Thailand in less than a decade during the late eighties by cornering television, mobile and satellite broadcasting monopolies and for him getting back to power is the key to maintaining these ill-gotten riches.

The third camp involved in the Thai political dynamic- the rural and urban poor- mostly hail from the much-neglected North and Northeast Thailand and are the only ones who have a stake in establishing democratic institutions and processes. The consistent demand among the red shirts protesting in Bangkok recently for example was for holding fresh elections, respecting democratic norms and restoration of the country’s 1997 Constitution, which gave wide ranging powers to citizens to hold their rulers accountable.

Three processes

The three camps described above are participants in three parallel processes, which are at work in Thai society, each adding to the tensions in its own way.
The first process involves intense rivalry between different business lobbies, with most Thai political parties being fronts for one lobby or the other. For a decade since the mid-1980s, Thailand was one of the fastest growing economies in the world and at that time the competition was for lucrative government concessions and contracts- like the monopolies Thaksin managed to get hold of using political connections.

In 1997 however, when the Asian economic crisis saw the fortunes of many completely wiped out, the race was to organise state-sponsored bailouts for failed businesses. Even in the current Thai crisis, behind the scenes, there are powerful business lobbies at work, adding to suspicions about the true motivations of politicians espousing either ‘democracy’ or ‘national security’

The second process at work in Thailand- the growing aspirations as also a class consciousness of ordinary Thais - is also due to economic growth within the last three decades. Since the mid-eighties the country has witnessed a tripling of the average real per capita income. In this period there have also been dramatic changes in the kind of work that most Thais are doing. Compared to a generation ago when agriculture was the livelihood for two-thirds of households now less than two-fifths are engaged in the profession. The surplus labour over the years has been typically absorbed in the growing service and industrial sectors resulting in better cash incomes but also higher expectations among ordinary Thais of a better share of national wealth.

The biggest losers of the 1997 Asian economic crisis were people from the north-east of Thailand, an agriculturally poor area with low social indicators and traditionally the source of Thailand’s cheap labour for its tourism and industrial sectors. A very large number of the rural migrant labour working in Bangkok – an estimated 3 million of them- lost livelihoods, savings and real incomes.

In turn, it was also these same folks who benefited most from Thaksin’s populist social welfare initiatives like the universal health care scheme, cheap credit to farmers and investment in rural enterprises, all of which he initiated during his first term in power. A study by the Thailand Development Research Institute credits Thaksin’s ’30 baht’ health insurance scheme with lifting at least a million people above the poverty line. And according to the UNDP’s Human Development Report on Thailand for 2009, national poverty fell from 21 to 8.5 percent between 2000 and 2007- the same period when Thaksin was Prime Minister.

However in the current Thai turmoil, the anger of these red shirts wearing rural folk is not just because they are worried about discontinuation of the economic benefits that Thaksin showered on them. It is equally and even more so because they feel the traditional Thai elite has treated their political choices with contempt and them personally like idiots.

There has always been historic resentment among Thailand’s north-easterners over the Thai elite in Bangkok looking down upon them culturally and now they have taken Thaksin’s ouster from power in 2006 through a military coup as a direct attack on themselves.

What next for Thailand?

While for the time being things have quietened down in Bangkok and other parts of Thailand and the leadership of the red shirts surrendered to the authorities, by no means has the conflict really ended. There is a strong sense everywhere that in the days and months to come the red versus yellow battle will continue and could even lead to a full-fledged civil war.

There are simply too many unresolved issues in the country for peace and normalcy to return so easily. To begin with is the issue of holding fresh elections and also under what conditions.

The Democrat Party of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejajiva is not capable of winning a national election all by its own and so will try to cling on to power for as long as possible. Given the continued popularity of Thaksin and numerical superiority of his followers the Puea Thai Party he backs is sure to win despite many of their leaders being banned from politics or being under arrest.

Secondly there is the contentious issue of whether or not to restore the 1997 Constitution, arguably the most democratic in much of Asia and one that was forged through widespread public consultation in the country. The Democrat Party and its backers among the Thai elite want the new Constitution imposed by the military coup of 2006 to continue as they feel this is advantageous to them.

Then there is the question of the monarchy and its role in Thailand. The current King Bhumibol Adulyadej has been around for over six decades but is now extremely sick. His death is likely to set off a bitter war for succession and even the royalists fear now that after the current king there may be no one to replace him in a viable manner. In the meanwhile there is also a not-so-subtle undercurrent of republicanism emerging within the red shirt movement. Though they have not said anything against the monarch directly, the red shirts have openly attacked some of the King’s closest aides like Privy Councillor general Prem Tinsulananda of being behind the 2006 coup against Thaksin.

The lack of political representation of marginalized sections of Thai society like farmers, workers, urban poor also continues to be a big problem. Anyone surveying the spectrum of political parties in Thailand currently can easily see that every one of them is a front for one business lobby or the other and generally right of centre.

Thaksin Shinawatra has- for reasons of his own- given voice to the pent up demands of Thailand’s rural and urban poor and stoked a class consciousness which now has takenthem beyond his personal business and political ambitions.

There is still much work to be done and if the red shirt movement does not crystallize under one banner soon, with a clear set of long-term political and economic demands the consequences would be disastrous. The disgruntled red shirt followers could dissipate their energies into various acts of vandalism and even terrorism thus reducing both Thailand and their own hopes into a bloody, chaotic mess.

On the other hand if this ‘red’ trend consolidates it could easily become the basis of an independent left movement that is both anti-monarchist and anti-capitalist at the same time. In a country with a long history of suppression of anything left-wing – including garden variety social democrats and normal trade unions- a new left party or coalition under competent leadership could in one stroke transform Thai society forever.

Satya Sagar is a journalist, writer, videomaker based in New Delhi. He can be contacted at sagarnama@gmail.com

To survive, the Thai elite has to learn to bend like bamboo as well!

Its a very old struggle and every country allmost in the world have had to get trough such a struggle! The emancipation of the rural/lower classes. In some countries this is accompanied with lots of violance, in others with much less... but there the elite bend with the flow of things in time and as a consequence they stayed on top same time. Were they resisted too long, they were replaced in the end by a new elite.

Thailand, thanks, among others, to the King, managed to hold on to their relative 'old' ways... but internet, satelite television etc now available for the poor as much as the rich, helped the likes of Thaksin (also part of that same elite) to use the available force!
BUT as history shows just as often as well, Thaksin cs are just a vehical. He showed them their power, and now NOBODY will be able to take it back from them anymore.
The elite/yellow shirts preach they fight Thaksin while they know they fight for themselfs holding on to their old fashioned power. Power and wealth they can not imagine they would have to share with the likes they look down on.
Such is the weakness of an elite who sat on its position for too long without having shown enough flexibility and compasion withthe lower classes and instead tried to squeeze them even more.

Hypocracy never brought lasting victories. It would have saved and can still safe lot of life if they would realise to bend with the blowing winds.
The attitude they expected from the lower classes is now something they need to show themselfs!!!

But to my dismay and I believe of many many others as well, I do not expect them to do so.
They will, in the end, be their own biggest treath and might plunge Thailand into much more trouble.

History repeats itself over and over again....
Sadly Thai society is giving itself a harsh wake up call ....

So for one I hope they would stop focussing everything on Thaksin, the guy is politically dead... and we all know that what is dead will not come to life again...
They should very very quickly, if not too late allready, focus instead on the futur, their futur and only way of their survival by learning to bend, like bamboo, and accept the emancipation of the lower classes once and for all.

The lower classes will not forget what happens now, they will learn again as well, but not the lessons they now seem to try to teach in the streets of Bangkok with ordering the military to do what they do and have them shoot with sharp ammunition!
The Prime MInister of Thailand is finally convinced/presssured(?) by the yellow shirts ergo the elite to withdraw his roadmap they never liked and finally go for the confrontation with the Red shirts.

This whole powerstruggle has sofar cost an incrediblle amount of money, economic growth, international trust, reputation, collaps of tourism, thousands of wounded and not to mention at least 50 dead!!!

That burden will be on the shoulders of the present governement of the country, on the shoulders of the Thai elite!
One can only hope, when one says this, that they would actually care.........

So sad that I actually felt like writing these words.... so sad!

Not amused... stuck in seperation, grrr!

Left: Wish he could actually stand right now in front of my frontdoor, knowing being together brings so much more comfort..... (wondering if Kik has these pictures haha)


Not happy at all, I am!
It is now more then 2 weeks ago that I reported my creditcards stolen and requested replacement. Late yesterday afternoon my bank informed me that it might take another 10-14 days before they might arrive at my doorstep here in Delft!
Unbelievable that it takes so long for Euirocard Mastercard and Amrican Express to replace lost creditcards.... I allways thought they prided in themselfs that they were quick/fast in such matters where ever you are in the world.
Well, it seems like they take their sweet time and you get stuck in the middle.
It is so much more difficult to book flights for instance via internet without a creditcard, to continue abonnements on services available on the internet, etc.... which, in my situation were all up for renewal these weeks, LOL What luck huh?

Most problematic is, at least for me, how to get back to Kik on Phuket.... can not leave without my creditcards, thats for sure,.... if alone to be able to feel safe while travelling and to be able to take care if the need arrises.
After the ashclouds have kepty me away from Holland for a good week and prevented me to use the ticket I bought in Thailand, now I seem to be stuck in Holland for one or two weeks longer.... because of crditcard replacement problems, grrrrr.

Well, not that I have nothing to do while here.... enough to keep myself occupied and distracted.... BUT everybody will agree with me that its not the same as being together with your partner,and dog Didi.

So, while 'stuck' in Delft, at least my favorite place to be when stuck seperated from my husband, I can be found a lot of the time at home clearing and cleaning, haha, doing administration etc.
Still discover that I have a hard time trowing stuff away, even after so many months of NOT having it around.... feel stupid about it, but what can one do???

Well, one thing for sure: not knowing when I can return to my husband, grrr still, I now find myself here in Delft and forcing myself to deal with just all those lousy chores.
Told Kik the other day that I should have brought our housekeeper with me, haha, to deal with all that! LOL
Decadent huh? ;-) O well, one enjoys some of the perks one holds when living partially abroad haha
and one can onlt dream of taking some of it home to Holland for a short while haha

Okay, enough chitchat for now, till soon ;-)

WOWWWWW : 272252042010 A new generation for my family with the arrival of Levi Daniel!!!

From left to right: Jeroen (happy & proud father), Levi Daniel, Bibi (glowing mother)




Last night, the 27th of April, at 22.52 hours the first (ofcourse we hope he will not be the last) of a new generation in our family arrived.
When I came to the hospital to welcome him personally, and to congratulate my nephem and Bibi with their wonderfull son, the litle guy allready showed how to use his young voice.
MMmmm, what a futur might he have with such a clear and demanding voice. Levi is a smartlooking little fellow and have the feeling he wil be his own man when the time comes. But also a social guy.... his parents will see to that I strongly believe ;-)

Levi was born on a tuesday, same day of the week as me :-)) His daycolour is pink, which in THailand stands for good health and long life. I can only hope & pray that he will not only get that, but that he will receive and give wisdom to the people around him and for himself during his life!

Well, the 27th of April is in my country also the birthday of our futur king. A day when the whole country hang out the national flag to show their appreciation for him and his family... their colour is Orange;-)

When I phoned Kik to tell hiwm the news early this morning, he was clearly sleeping but when I told him the news he was immidiatly excited. He immidiatly wanted to know his full name, time of birth etc. so he could ask his Bhuddist master about the futur of levi.
Will be very curious about that, because sofar on the occasions kik consulted his Bhuddist master, he was pretty accurate in his advice and widom.


Levi teaching his parents, specially his mother ofcourse, that he was not finished with his dinner and wanted more from Mum! ;-)

Grandmother in waiting....... ;-)

Left: My sister wwwith the Bhudda I gave her on behalf of Kik, who sadly coul not join me here in Holland.

My sister Cuny came unexpected to my home in Delft because she came with my nephew Kasper to the west of the country to wait for the birth of her first grandchild... but unintentionally she arrived way to early, so they left Leiden and drove down to Delft, to be with me and wait at my home for news. Advantage: short driving distance to Leiden hospital;-)
While writing this, also Simon decended on Delft and the 3 of them are now waiting....waiting and waiting.
Bibi was, last time we heard, on her way again to hospital and expectations are now that the baby wil be born tonight, the 27th of April, and not anylonger tomorrow, the 28th. That day sounded special to me, and my sister also liked it more, because (for me!) Kik and his older brother Kukai were born on the 28th, and Kiks oldest (and only) niece was born last September also on the 28th ;-)
But its not to be, if the latest reports are correct, and the baby will have the same birthday as our futur King, who turned 43 today!
By the way, thinking of that day I remember very clearly when his birth was announced... the whole country went crazy because it was the first time in 120+ years that a prince was born in our royal family and that after a god 10/125 years we would have a King again...... now we know he will be an intermission between queens, because his oldest daughter and as such futur ruling Queen, will take over from him when he steps down. But well, he first must become King before we can talk about handing the crown down to his daughter again ;-)
But 43 years ago, in the evening, the Dutch went crazy with the arrival of our futur king,

Must say, my sister showed much of the behaviour I recognised and remebered from my mother at the time of the birth of Jeroen, the father in waiting. I told her that and made her think back to the day of Jeroens birth, 31th of October 1980.
And she was struck by my memorie that also my mother was send away because she arrived too early at the hospital, like she and Kasper now........... only 1980 was a time when we still didn't know mobile phones so in that time my mother had no choice then to go back home, a good hours drive.... My sister was more lucky, she could take her mobile, give me a call and quickly she had a location nearby to wait and same time we would have a chance to get together again since we said goodbye to eachother in january on Phuket!
Hugs and who knows soon enough you might hear/read more ;-)

Reading my first original Dutch newspaper of friday in airportlounge, De Telegraaf .. they do not iron the newspapers here, haha, so now black hands.

And the bathroon, where one can wash ones hands, is not in or near the Lounge but some walk outsite.... how unpractical, but then again, one can fly relative cheap businessclass with China Airlines and not only gets one enough kilograms to carry with you on the plane (30+ instead of just 20) but one also gets a chance on a decent/serious sleep.
I needed the kilograms, and the sleep, so I hope I can tell tomorrow it was all worth it ;-)

Realy curious about these lounges belonging to the more known carriers, but sadly they are still too expensive for me compared with the reasons/needs I have to choose this level of airtravel.

Well, why sitting here and reading "De Telegraaf", the biggest morning newspaper of The Netherlands I am, again surprised by the speed with which one reads ones first original newspaper in ones own language since roughly 6 months.
Not impressed by the news as well.. ofcourse the report about the vagueness of the Christen Democrats stands on taxreduction of interest paid on mortgageloans. That Belgium is once again blowing itself up as a result of their langauage struggle between the different language groups (french-dutch), and that Katja delivered a daughter in this troubles world of ours. O, and ofcourse a wasp plague seems to be imminent... maning please scramble to your local pharmacy or supermarket and by your stock of repelents, hurrrry to your do-it-yourself business around the corner to buy "hordeuren" (no idear how to translate "hor" into english, strange because my Phuket home is full with those things) or material to make them yourself.
Probably at the end of summer, when you have hardly seen more mosquitos and or wasps as previous years, you wonder what all the fuss was about ;-)

But the most surprising news before getting on the plane, for me that is, was to read that Mark Rutte is going for the PM position. Am somewhat dissapointed though can understand it ofcourse... specialy when being invited for a PM candidates debate with Cohen (Socialist), Balkenende (Christen Democrat) and Wilders (far right) for RTL Television.
I believe it wrong to put your name forward in this fase of a campaign while it limits your options , nobody expects it from you, but same time ofcourse media (and opponents)like to pressure you in declaring yourself so you become a much more easy target for attack.
And it can reduce the chance that that question becomes realistic, for a change, and God only knows how we liberals long for that.... so can understand the temptations with these questions ;-)
Lucky Mark made a last remark that it ofcourse also depended if it would be wise or not for the leader of the Liberals to lead the parliamentary group in the Lower House, or to be as such in the cabinet.
Hapy with this escape... because I strongly believe when the situation arrises, it takes a damn strong caracter as Liberal Leader to choose the leadership in the Lower House above becomming the first liberal PM in almost a century.
It is also important as leader to make sure you form the strongest group of liberal ministers and possible liberal PM as posible with the best parliamentary coverage as possble, and keep yourself in the backgroud, at least for a while....
But then again, such an attitude neds a damn strong caracter, and to be honest, who could withstand the chance of becomming the first liberal PM in allmost a century? Specially if you are a historybuff... like Mrk, like me.... not at all sure if I would be able to follow my own advice, let alone if I can expect such from Mark.

I do hope he gets trown in just that dilemma, after the elctions!!!


Oeps, my plane is boarding, so I have to stop writing.
will publsih this now as my last entry of today from Thailand.
if all goes as well as is to be expected, I write again when back in good old Holland!!

Hugs!!

"As father fades, his children fight"

Is the title of an article published in The Economist on the 18th of march this year.
This article was never published in Thailand and as such doesn't excist here... simple because that issue wasn't distributed here in Thailand... to prevent being banned/censured.

Even mentioning it here, while still in Thailand, makes it uncertain for me if it can remain here or will be totally blocked by Thai internetfilters.
As a politically very aware person like me, thats something which I experienced for the last time when with Jules Maaten, Maarten van Poelgeest and others at the World Youth Conference in Moscow in 1985, which, by the way confirmed my choice for the dutch liberals. But same time a very unpleasant experience to be censured, your words being taken out of contest by the local english newspaper/website, etc. simply because they support the other collor here, yellow.
Well, am Orange, allways have been, and very lucky same time it is also a mix of red and yellow... but thats a distinction they have a hard time following here ;-)

Because I refered the previous article, I thought it good if you also read this much earlier published article in The Economist.

Enjoy, Enlighten!!

PS You have to search for the article yourself, I can not get the link mentioned in my entry here, its simply filtered out, so have to still wait with that till I am back in Holland, sad but true!! rjv

Wise words on present day problems of Thailand, worth reading!! From Bangkok Post!

No need to add much because it sums up in a very good and blanced way what I have been talking and writing about myself these last weeks, here and on the Phukett Gazett forum.... my words being based on what I saw myself, heard thei talk about and explain to me, as well as I heard from the experiences of families in Kiks hometown and from his own family and himself.
Recognising them in the words of Dr. Pavia, fellow of the Institue of Southeast Asian Studies, made me decide to share them with you... specially because, ofcourse, he says it sooo much better then I could have, with more fact and less gut feeling then my own words sofar ;-)

Opinion » Opinion
SOCIETY

From the chaos may emerge a new Thai identity
Published: 19/04/2010 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News

The fatal face-off between the red shirts and security forces in which at least 24 people were killed and more than 800 injured is the latest evidence that Thailand's "glory" days have come to an end. The position of power, long dominated by the Bangkok elite, is on the verge of collapsing.

The bloodbath on the Bangkok streets conveyed a firm message to the established institutions that their days of monopolising state power are over. Some local media are reluctant to use the term "civil war" to describe the ongoing brutal confrontations. Whatever one wants to call it, the conflict, with its deep roots in ideological polarisation, is on its way to generating political changes.

Already the violence that has erupted in the course of countless political battles has redefined the essence of the Thai nation. State-crafted national identity is under threat. Apparently, many Thais are in the process of finding a new meaning to being Thai.

Traditionally, Thailand has been a country proud of its perfection. It is the only country in Southeast Asia that successfully escaped colonialism, it is often claimed. The success, as past Thai leaders saw it, was made possible because of the trait of unity imbued in every Thai. This attribute also made some people feel that Thailand is supposedly more superior to its neighbours. This is how many Thai people perceived themselves. It is this same perception exploited by the state as it tried to construct a national identity.

In many ways, Thailand did have "glory" days. Over the past few decades, Thailand, despite being ruled by numerous despotic regimes, has enjoyed a certain level of political stability. The Thai two-faced strategy, being rebranded more appealingly as a shrewd bending-with-the-wind diplomacy, allowed the country to survive various kinds of threat. Political stability was buttressed by long years of impressive economic growth. There is no doubt Thailand is far ahead of its once war-torn neighbours.

It was the period when the political elite began to re-engineer Thailand's national identity, not only as part of identifying the Thai "self" in the face of supposedly inferior neighbours, but also strengthening the regime of the day by setting certain social rules in order to demand social obedience. Thailand became the "Land of Smiles" because Thais were seemingly happy under the benevolence of the elite in Bangkok. The Thai character, as echoed in the Thai national anthem, was strenuously promoted. "Thailand unites the flesh and blood of Thais. This is the nation that belongs to Thais in all respects ...The Thais are peace-loving", so goes the lyrics of the national anthem.

Beneath the Thai smiles, however, political domination in the hands of the Bangkok elite continued. Poor villagers in far-flung regions were told to remain subservient even when they were left in poverty and politically crippled. For many of them, being Thai was to be politically submissive. The leaders in Bangkok made decisions. The perceived uneducated khon ban nok (upcountry residents) followed them. The elite called this a "social contract". All Thais seemed to live happily in unison. Cashing in on this deceitful image, Thailand even declared to the world that they were welcome to come to "Amazing Thailand".

Throughout the Thaksin Shinawatra period, however, the billionaire prime minister shifted the political consensus. He did this with a series of populist programmes, such as cheap universal health care and ample village development funds. In a sense, he managed to put a genuine smile on people's faces, especially those in the North and Northeast regions. During his six-year administration, not only did they taste a more comfortable life, but they were also offered a chance to elect their favourite leader in a ballot box. Suddenly, their political voice became meaningful.

But their smiles seriously threatened the power interests of the Bangkok elite. Three years after the military coup, the Bangkok elite is fighting back against the khon ban nok who are now labelled as simply unintelligent and easily manipulated. The bloody confrontations during the previous weekend revealed that these villagers, in red T-shirts, are no longer subservient. They are seeking to reinvent a national identity of their own. They are eager to reject the top-down process of identity making, while campaigning for a bottom-up way of how Thais should express their nationhood.

The message of the rural residents is clear: a new Thailand with a new identity which is no longer submissive but one in which the Thais know their rights. The relentless demonstrations confirm the emergence of such a new identity which fiercely contests the traditional one created by Bangkok leaders. Occasionally, this new identity allows Thais to behave unconventionally, as seen in the Bangkok riot of April 2009 and the incident last weekend. It also reveals the unattractive truth behind certain Thai images. That is, the Thai nation no longer unites Thai blood and flesh, that this society is not homogeneous but comprises many different races, and that the people profess different political ideologies. They do not need to pretend to be same.

Thailand is now entering a new political landscape. Recent developments strongly suggest the anti-government forces are yearning to rebuild Thai society and make it more equal. While it will be impossible to remove class divisions, they just hope that the rapidly expanding membership of the "underclass" will be able to access politics without state obstruction.

How will this shape the future of Thailand? The state will have to come to terms with the shift in the people's perception of their identity. They will demand their rights and will protest more. The state will be assigned a new responsibility to ensure that their rights are protected, that their welfare is to be improved and that emerging human rights organisations be strengthened.

Thailand has long lived in a fairy tale world in which the supposed ideal of perfection effectively eclipsed the huge differences and fragmentations in society. The deadly conflict between the red shirts and the state authorities may demonstrate the ugliness of the real Thailand. But it also exposes its other side - the side that values the people's love of democracy and a more equal and just society.

Dr Pavin Chachavalpongpun is a Fellow at Singapore's Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

About the author


Writer: Pavin Chachavalpongpun
Position: Reporter

Goodbye Welcome Back in one day OR how the ashes of my plans were scattered all over...

Left: With relative optimism saying goodbye to Phuket... Phuket Iland from the air while taking off from Phuket Internatinal Airport last evening!

While taking off from Phuket last evening, I was contemplating my chances of actually making it to Amsterdam on Tuesday. I thought, expected that when they succeeded to open up the airports again that then I would have a very god chance getting back to Amsterdam on time, because I had a connfirmed seat on the tuesdaymorning flight from Istanbul to Amsterdam. My sincere strong hope was that I would just squeeze trough all this ash disaster striking out all over Europe and the rest of our planet.
Also knowing that if I would not be able to take my flight it might be a pretty long time before getting another chance!

Arriving in Bangkok, after witnessing a beautifull sunset over Thailand, also from the plane, I arrived at Suveranubumi Airport Bangkok...........First I had to collect my luggage, because at Phuket Airport they had refused to book all my luggage straight trough to Istanbul/Amsterdam.. had to check-in again in Bangkok, they told me, because no lugage was labelled trough to anywhere within the no fly zone above Europe.
Arriving with Thai Airways at Suveranubumi I first had to walk to totally the other side of the departure hall... Turkish Airlines is located totally oposite Thai Airways, max distance, haha... and that means quite a walk.
A very charming lady at the check-in desk of Turkish Airlines, was totally happy by letting me take the flight to Istanbul BUT she said, after that I had to wait.... and the situation wasn't that good right now to get stuck in Istanbul. She told me I would be far better of to wait here in Bangkok, THailand for when flights would get restored to Holland, then when I would do so in Istanbul, far beter off she said.
BUT my visa was running out last night and according to Thai law I had to leave Thailand that night. When telling her that, she went to confer with her supervisor, who then came back and told me that Thai Immigration waved all visa limitations for passengers who were booked on flights to Europe till the end of the month... so I would be totally safe if I would remain here in Thailand instead of finding myself in a possible very big mess in Istanbul. O, and Turkish Airlines wanted me to sign a waver of responsibility by the airline if I got stuck in Istanbul unable to get the connecting flight to Amsterdam.. hehe... makes decision-making even more easy huh? ;-)
With such stern advice of Turkish Airlines themselfs, I finally decided not to take the flight and wait here..... after thanking her I turned around and with the whole pile of luggage in front of me walked the whole hall back again to Thai Airways and get myself asap on the first flight back to Phuket............. all in all, arrived back home in Patong around 1 am, deadtired BUT received by a very happy Kik, and Gong, the housekeeper, that I made this wise decision.

The next morning, following the travelnews from Europe, I was more or less relieved that I had taken the right decision to cancel because flight in to Amsterdam were not yet restored and as such I would indeed have been stuck in Istanbul with no reasonable chance to get back to Amsterdam.

When contacting Turkish Airlines Bangkok, they told me in the most friendly way that I could not expect to fly back to Holland before the end of the month, and that they hoped early May would see me returned back to Holland...EARLY MAY??
wowwww,
pffff that would create a small mess, allmost or as much as when I had to suddenly rush from Holland to Thailand last november!

Have one possible 'trick' upon my sleeve though: use my Chine Airlines return ticket to Amsterdam on the 25th.. if they kept me booked on that flight that is ... have to wait and see... I try to get hold of China Airlines office in Amsterdam, but they seem pretty busy haha... so that might take a while.
I asked Turkish Airlines about validity of my ticket with them, and they told me I had a full year to use it BUT had to start using it leaving from Bangkok, so I could not turn the use of the ticket around.... hehe, ofocurse not.... tickets from here with certain airtlines are more cheap then from Europe.
Well, now it is wait and see when having been able to get hold of China Airlines if the 25th of April can gets back on the table as serious option or that I have to skip that one as well ;-)

Below: More sunsets over Thailand to follow while being 'stuck' here on Phuket, it could have been worse ;-)

Iceland derails Europe again by scattering her ashes all over ....

Above: Vulcanic ash being launched in the air, on their way to cause great consternation all over Europe by giving us a taste of pre-airtravel-times!

Oeps, and while she's at it, she also causes problems for a lot of people and businesses all over the world... but he, we all keep smiling because we can not blame anybody.....can we?????
Haha except maybe the Thai, they might say that the influx of tourist from Europe has ceased because of the Red shirts and pro Thaksin protest movement, as they did at times with the effect of the high Thai baht and the general financial situation in the world.
Ofcourse it also has another effect: The Thai raise their prices even further because of lack of tourists.......... haha, the more tourist you see in Thailand, the more they will drop (!!) their prices, the lower the amount of tourist, the higher they will raise their prices. Somewhat opposite the logic the rest of the world seems to follow, but then again, who says Thai logic is logic as well??

But more serious now!

The eruption of Icelands vulcano, and the scattering of her ashes all over the Old World, is causing the Old World some headaches. We have all been so accustomed to the relative comforts of airtravel, the speed etc. that we forgot the much more relaxing way of transporting ourselfs over Europe: Trains, boats, ships, road!

Ofcourse also the rest of the world, looking for ways to get in or out of Europe, are right now dealing with these dilemma's.

Tough chance though, I am afraid, that they will en masse drop airtravel all together and return to the more old fashioned and way more destressing way of travel by train or ship... and as such make it more avordable again so people like me, who would love to travel in the old ways, could afford to do so... because if you want to travel in the old ways these days, you beter have deep pockets and all the available time

Myself right now??

Am in constant conference with myself, what to do, howfar can I change my travelplans?
Thai law says I have to leave the country before midnight 19th of April.
My plane, via Istanbul, leaves around 23.30 hours from Bangkok, to arrive and leave tuesdaymorning from Istanbul to Amsterdam.
Now the big question is, will the flight Istanbul-Amsterdam be on as sheduled or not.

If not then I am stuck in Istanbul, is that worse or in some ways more attractive then elsewhere, like here ;-)
If getting stuck in Istanbul, for how long would that be then, how quick one can rebook to a next flight?
Where to stay in Istanbul?
No doubt I could do a massive amount of sightseeing in a ciity I allways wanted to visit.... and one of the reasons I took this connection, to see if the opportunity arrises to see some of this old gate between Asia Minor and Europe?
Is this that excuse?????

Am in limbo though, funny enough.... reason: I travel alone! If Kik would be with me I would have loved to get stranded in Istanbul and would not think twice of checking anything concerning flightconnections from Istanbul to Amsterdam, would take it as it happened.
But now?
What a wush I am, haha

Any idears, please let me know ;-)

O, and in case you say: Take the Orieint Express: that beautifull romantic trainconnection doesn't exsist anymore, it now only roperates between London and Venice ;-)

Read you...maybe ;-)
hugs

PS and thanks for helping me think and decide again!! ;-)

A relaxing but nonetheless pretty warm evening ;-)

Left: Kik & I preparing our food on a sissling hot plate, deliciously prepared beforehand by Kik & Gong, our housekeeper (and behind the camera).

Kik surprised me the other night with preparing a meal for us which involved us, me, but mainly him, haha, to prepare our food on a sissling hot plate.
Stories of my father and stephmother, having such a dinner at my brothers house, jumped up and were retold with pleasure.
Big difference though is, that Kik and I surrendered to the hot/warm weather by sitting as lightly dressed as possible at the table with two fans blowing from either side of us.
Its not often that we have the chance on a quite home dinner, because normally KIk has to work every evening on stage at Simon Cabaret, and in futur we will also have The Backstage to look after, so as such this is one of our last opportunities for such a meal in a long time.
All made possible by Kik, who has taken off from work for our last days together , before I leave for Holland this comming monday.
A pleasant surprise we both enjoyed... but it was very warm indeed, pffff... and ofcourse we could have switched on the two aircons in the living/diningroom, but well......fans, using much less energy, should be sufficient....so instead we dress a little less formal haha... our small contribution to the environement ;-)
By the way we try only to use our aircons when we sleep/go to bed because a good/decent night rest is truly valuable! ;-)


Right: Me, warm, hot as it is, with a totally relaxed and happy Didi in one of her usual begging positions. Didi is a very rare breed, she truly enjoys the warmth here and seems totally immune to it (which ofcourse she is not). More and more I get the feeling she wouldn't like me bringing her back to Europe if the situation dictated such! She seems to love it here, the freedom, the warmth, even the food, but above all all the attention bestowed upon her by the Thai here ;-)

Putting the trials and tribulations aside: We celebrated Songkran 2010, in other words : Happy Thai New Year!!!

picture above: It is simply impossible to avoid an abundance of blessings with water during Songkran, and I am no exception haha


One can be busy with politics and what is happening in and around Bangkok, and the world for that matter... when it is Songkran, its Songkran. Specially Thai p[eople have a flexibility to switch from the political and real fighting in Bangkok to simply celebrating its one and only true national holliday: Songkran, THai New Year!

For me personally I didn't want to surrender to the effects of the weekly injection of interferon I received, so we were very focussed on having some sort of a good time together and with our friends here!

Though I must admit I was saddend to see so much less people (tourist) to celebrate this happy Thai event, then previous years... even much less then last year, the year/high season which was dominated by the airport occupation by the now governing yellow shirts and also saw a significant drop in tourism compared with the year before... the last year without any major troubles in Thailand, a financial global meltdown, etc.
Also sad because whatever 'we' say, our governements seem to be determined to classify Thailand as a whole when they advice their inhabitants about travel, but except for a few days in september 2008, when the yellow shirts ran a trial run on 'their' 'own' iland Phuket with closing down the airport here, everything has been as peacefull as peacefull can be, at least on the political front that is ;-)
Its one of Phukets strong points, sadly overlooked by all or allmost all foreign governemnts when they make their assesments of the situation here in Thailand.

BUT when going out on mondaynight to start the celebrations of Songkran, with one of them being the blessings and symbollic washing with water, we all intended to shift aside all the lousy things that have happened to us and simply celebrate and truly hope on a better year, not only for ourselfs but also for our neighbours, friends and familly, among, ofcourse, everybody else ;-)
God and Bhudda only knows how much Kik and I, for one, need that, haha, not to mention everybody else!

It was decided that this year we would all meet in front of My Way to celebrate Songkran there with all the Simon people, and so, that part of Paradise Soi became more unsafe and wet then it allready was by the time we arrived on the scene haha

I was also surprised personally when all of a sudden the whole Simongroup turned on me and pushed me down on a chair, and paid me tribute, honor and wishing me as a group as well as individually a very happy New Year/Songkran.... it left me somewhat flushed and terribly shy.
Me shy? I hear you think, YES! ME!

When things like this are focussed on me personally I can get very very shy indeed, not when playing a role as major or city manager or chairperson of organisation x or y, thats different, a lot different.
BUT ofcourse it was also very cool indeed to receive this small unexpected tribute. I hope it is a sign that at least I do some things right in the way I try to behave here in this country which in its ways is so much different from my own home country.
Though in other aspects.... BUT that might be a subject for another rainy day when there's otherwise nothing much to report... maybe then I might go into the differences and similarities, seen trough my eyes ofocurse, bewteen Thailand and The Netherlands ;-)

Again, all of you, a very happy Songkran and who knows, next year we celebrate together, here on Phuket, in Patong at our Backstage (see also www.backstagethailand.blogspot.com) and/or at our home here!

Songkranhugssss xxx

HAPPY SONGKRAN or Thai New Year ....but now with mixed but nonetheless strangly positive feelings!!!

Left: The show allways goes on, after the tsunami, but also after Bangkok these last days, so we all will more or less celebrate the Thai New Year as only the Thai are able to... so we all get also very wet ;-)
And yes, Kik doing an hilarious act.

Tonight, the 12th of April, the Sonkran festivities will start here in Thailand and on Phuket.
On Phuket Sonkran is celebrated just a few days, in Bangkok, if all is quite and normal in the capital, it last a full 5 days... But when you go up to for example Chiang Mai then you discover Sonkran will last 10 days.
So, in theory, and if you organised it all carefully, you can celebrate Sonkran on Phuket, then again in Bangkok, and again in the far north of Chiang Mai.
You have some crazy people who do just that haha, they can't get enough of all the water splashing and the blessings it brings.

For myself one celebration is enough... and am blessed living here with Kik in the traditionally quite province of Phuket.

"The show must go on", life must go on, you can also say! Thats the general attitude I find here around me.
When close (young) friends and co-workers (suddenly) die, when national tragedy hits, like the tsunami and now also the protest and death in Bangkok, and everything in between ... the THai seem to take it al in their stride.

But as the ruling yellow coalition is slowly discovering, the people start to wake up and are not accepting it anymore. The bullshit, the disregard for fairness and equal treatment under the law, the decent treatment of the poorer classes, the ending of a servitude to their ruling classes.

It is/was bound to happen, one day sooner or later.

Those who know me know I detest violance and can not find any excuse for it to solve problems.
I am not allways against it though because I can imagine circumstances in which one has to use violance, liking it or not.
If such a situation applied for Bangkok these last couple of days: I highly doubt that. Can't find any justification sofar on either side!
I allways say: To start the use of violance is a clear sign of weakness, and in general is the start of the end for the one who started it!

I can only hope that these comming days we will be able to honestly celebrate Sonkran
and that the deathtoll as a consequence of drunken driving and reckless behaviour on the roads due to alcoholconsumption, will stay lower then that of the Bangkok violance of these last days... though I have to doubt that!

And for the new year: Less tears, more respect, common sense and honest smills for and to everybody!!

Hugs for you all!!