[Tlc] Sondhi Limthongkul in Seattle

Sun Dec 10 17:25:14 PST 2006

Dear Mike,

    I realize that I never responded to this comment of yours. There is a need for a study of all programs that were supposed to benefit the rural poor going back to at least the 1960s with the promotion of the government savings bank and the so-called Tambon Development Program. These were almost totally ineffective in offering villagers opportunities to make decisions about how government monies should be used to improve their lives. I agree that the Kukrit government's ngoen phan program was a significant change and I take your point about the role Boonchu played. However, I also know from my own study of the successor programs in the late 1970s and early 1980s that villagers (whom I interviewed in several parts of the NE and North and in Songkhla in the south) still found these to be overly managed by the government, and especially by the district office. In other words, most programs for the rural poor up to the Thaksin government were manifestations of haut en bas rather than ones which villagers felt they had any input into. While it may be possible to find linkages at the policy level between Kukrit/Boonchu and Thaksin, from the perspective of villagers -- based on my restudy in 2005-06 of a village in Mahasarakham where I had carried out fieldwork first in 1963-64 -- it was only under the Thaksin regime that villagers really felt that they had ownership of programs under the Tambon Administrative Authority. I observed villagers deciding how loans should be made and pushing strongly on representatives of the BAAC for debt relief. This sense of ownership was the primary basis for rural support of TRT, not payments by huakhanaen.

Biff (Charles Keyes)

From: Michael Montesano 
  To: ralbritt at olemiss.edu ; Charles Keyes ; justinm at ucr.edu ; tlc at lists.ucr.edu 
  Cc: jpatrick at wu.ac.th ; Jirawat Saengthong ; mike.malley at yahoo.com ; Ben Wilkinson ; Samson Lim 
  Sent: Monday, November 20, 2006 12:57 AM
  Subject: RE: [Tlc] Sondhi Limthongkul in Seattle

  Whatever one's views of Thaksin or the putsch that has, at least for the present, ended his premiership, it is high time to put an end to these very curious "Thaksin was the only politician in my memory who did anything for the poor." lines.   In the mid-1970s, Prime Minister Khuekrit Pramot and his finance minister Bunchu Rotchanasathian introduced a raft of policies aimed at Thailand's rural poor.  In comparative perspective, the thoughtful design and frankly progressive rationale (little surprise, in view of Bunchu's very long association with the Thai left) of these policies set a standard not equaled till today.  In the event, Khuekrit and Bunchu had only a brief period in office to implement their policies.  Nevertheless, many have endured, both as specific measures (consider, for example, the Thai rural credit system) and as examples to leaders like Thaksin and his advisors.   As luck would have it, too, last year saw the publication of Nawi Rangsiwararak's excellent Bon thanon sai kanmueang khong Bunchu Rotchanasathian.  From this book one can learn much about that way that a sophisticated, committed man engaged with the problem of social inequality in Thailand in an era neglected by all too many commentators on recent events.

  Mike Montesano

  Bangkok

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  From: tlc-bounces at lists.ucr.edu [mailto:tlc-bounces at lists.ucr.edu] On Behalf Of ralbritt at olemiss.edu
  Sent: Friday, November 17, 2006 8:47 PM
  To: Charles Keyes; justinm at ucr.edu; tlc at lists.ucr.edu
  Subject: Re: [Tlc] Sondhi Limthongkul in Seattle

    Thanks very much for thi, Biff. There must be some voices that give lie to the oft-repeated charge that rural people are not sufficiently competent to exercise the vote. For all his faults, Thaksin was the only politician in my memory who did anything for the poor. More seriously, what I find is that much of what is taking place is largely a reaction to the sense of loss of power and prestige among the traditional elites (this includes intellectual elites). For example:

    A few years ago, I heard Prawasi Wasi give a talk (in English) in which he said that the problem for Thailand was that people aspired too much, that they should go back to planting their rice fields and be happy. I have held him in contempt ever since, but he is honored by the intellectuals;

    Thirayuth's comment in March is another blow to democracy: "What is worrisome is that Thaksin has mobilized the poor and gotten them involved in politics....And what is worrisome about that is that the poor vote differently from the middle class." So, he loses all credibility in my book.

    I must say that Thongchai and Giles Ungpakhorn seem to be among the few Thai intellectuals who can think clearly about the issue. They both suffer from taking rather courageous positions. I hope that we can provide them with sufficient support to continue.

    RBA

    > On November 14, 2006, Khun Sondhi Limthongkul spoke on
    > the campus of the University of Washington in Seattle
    > about the Thai political situation. His visit was arranged
    > by Thai students at the University. An audience of
    > approximately 350 people attended the event; most were
    > Thai by origin who live in the Seattle area, although some
    > came from as far away as Vancouver, British Columbia.
    > There was also a scattering of non-Thai in the audience,
    > including the former US Ambassador to Thailand, Darryl
    > Johnson, who is currently a lecturer at the Jackson School
    > of International Studies at the University of Washington.
    > Khun Sondhi first spoke in English for about 45
    > minutes and then took questions from the audience for
    > another 20 minutes. He then turned the microphone over to
    > Khun Karun Saingam, a former MP and former senator from
    > Buriram. Khun Karun spoke in Thai for about 45 minutes.
    > After a break, Khun Sondhi then spoke and answered
    > questions in Thai for another hour.
    > A few Thai students, led by Khun Anusorn Unno, a PhD
    > candidate in anthropology at the University of Washington,
    > distributed a handout in both Thai and English, entitled
    > "9 Myths about the September 19, 2006, Coup." Although a
    > brief dispute arose because the organizers demanded that
    > the protestors not have their signs in the foyer outside
    > the lecture hall which had been booked for the event, this
    > was resolved when the protestors moved outside the front
    > door of the hall. A photo of Khun Sondhi, Khun Karun, and
    > Khun Anusorn appeared with the story published the next
    > day in the online edition of the Thai newspaper The
    > Manager. (For this story, see
    > http://www.manager.co.th/Politics/ViewNews.aspx?NewsID=9490000141271).
    > Khun Sondhi said that while he was not happy with the
    > coup, he was very happy it had happened. He reiterated the
    > reasons he has presented many times before about why
    > former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra had so abused
    > power that only a coup could remove him. He said that if
    > the coup had not happened on September 19th there would
    > have been bloodshed the following day in a confrontation
    > between those attending a rally to protest his continuing
    > in office and Thaksin's supporters.
    > He argued that there cannot be electoral democracy in
    > Thailand such as is found in the West because most people
    > outside the middle class lack sufficient knowledge to
    > understand how power can be abused. The rural people only
    > vote, he claimed, for those who pay them either directly
    > through party organizers (hua khanaen) or indirectly
    > through the populist programs. He compared the populist
    > programs of Thaksin to those of Peron in Argentina. Khun
    > Sondhi said that in the future he himself will work only
    > with the middle class who have sufficient education to
    > truly understand how populist politicians can abuse power.
    > He added that while the middle class is found primarily in
    > Bangkok, it is also represented in the urban areas of each
    > province.
    > Khun Sondhi said that politicians of all parties in
    > Thailand are characterized by kilet, a Buddhist term that
    > in Thai means greed for power, wealth and fulfillment of
    > sexual passion. He was quite dismissive of a written
    > constitution as the basis for governance in Thailand. He
    > said that only if the people have a spirit of democracy
    > can democracy truly exist. Without a constitution, the
    > only institution that can assure good governance is the
    > monarchy. He said that 'royal prerogative'
    > (phraratchamnat) is deeply respected and embodies the
    > spirit of the nation.
    > The audience was generally very receptive to Khun
    > Sondhi's interpretations.
    > My own assessment is not so positive. I am aware that
    > I am not a Thai, but I have been involved in studying Thai
    > society, particularly in rural areas, for many decades. I
    > find very disturbing Khun Sondhi's assumption that rural
    > people are ignorant and are not capable of making good
    > political choices unless they are 'bought'. I have found
    > just the opposite. Rural people today are not the peasants
    > of yesteryear and it is a myth that they are ignorant
    > (ngo). Villagers today are very much aware that unless
    > political leaders are chosen who will respond to their
    > needs for government services such as healthcare,
    > education and government-sponsored loan funds they will
    > continue to be very disadvantaged in Thailand's capitalist
    > economy. Khun Sondhi's position seems to me to contribute
    > to the growing class division of Thai society. I also
    > found his dismissal of a written constitutional basis of
    > governance and emphasis on 'royal prerogative' to, in
    > effect, turn back the clock on the governing of Thailand
    > to the sys tem that existed prior to the revolution of
    > 1932. 
    > I am happy, nonetheless, that Seattle and the
    > University of Washington should have been put on the map
    > of Thai politics through Khun Sondhi's visit.
    > 
    > Charles (Biff) Keyes
    > 
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