News Forum - Thai democracy at risk following Pheu Thai’s exclusion of MFP in coalition

[cowslip]

21 minutes ago, Thaidup said:

You do know that Thailand is the only country in Asia never to have been colonized, Has fought approx 1000 years of wars to be established, from the days of Siam, They are proud strong and capable people.

why do people keep rolling out this meaningless cliche?

Thailand was invaded loads of times and the only reason they weren't colonised in the 19th C was because the French and British (and other western powers) wanted it that way. Thailand was forced to give away their own colonies and change all sorts of stuff because the western powers told them t to, they were colonised in everything but name.

...and how does this affect the fact they are not a democracy?

[Thaidup]

2 hours ago, cowslip said:

how can something that doesn't exist in Thailand be "at risk"?

The Kingdom Of Thailand, one word stands out.

[Thaidup]

2 minutes ago, cowslip said:

why do people keep rolling out this meaningless cliche?

Thailand was invaded loads of times and the only reason they weren't colonised in the 19th C was because the French and British (and other western powers) wanted it that way. Thailand was forced to give away their own colonies and change all sorts of stuff because the western powers told them t to, they were colonised in everything but name.

...and how does this affect the fact they are not a democracy?

Oh so they were colonized, sorry to be wrong>

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/countries-never-colonized

[Thaidup]

19 minutes ago, cowslip said:

and how does this affect the fact they are not a democracy?

In the countries name, "The Kingdom of Thailand".

As with the USA is a "Constitutional Republic".

even, Australia is a "The Commonwealth of Australia".

infact, a representative of the Queen of England sacked a democratically elected head of state of Australia in the 1970's.

[Thaidup]

[cowslip]

9 hours ago, Thaidup said:

Oh so they were colonized, sorry to be wrong>

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/countries-never-colonized

the fact that you can't read my post says heaps more about you than the topic 

[Khunmark]

13 hours ago, Thaidup said:

You do know that Thailand is the only country in Asia never to have been colonized, Has fought approx 1000 years of wars to be established, from the days of Siam, They are proud strong and capable people.

Actually that is a bit of a misrepresentation of history. It’s not like Thailand stared down the colonising forces of Britain and France. It was Rama V’s acquiescence to the demands of the British that prevented Thailand from becoming another Burma. He understood that the Thai defence forces would be no match for the British and made a pragmatic decision accordingly.

[cowslip]

1 hour ago, Khunmark said:

Actually that is a bit of a misrepresentation of history. It’s not like Thailand stared down the colonising forces of Britain and France. It was Rama V’s acquiescence to the demands of the British that prevented Thailand from becoming another Burma. He understood that the Thai defence forces would be no match for the British and made a pragmatic decision accordingly.

Asolutely - in the 19th C and in recent years Thailand has been majorly influenced by. Japan, and the USA.

"Colonise" as a narrow concept it may not have been but in everything but the word itself - yes ....

[cowslip]

19 hours ago, Thaidup said:

Oh so they were colonized, sorry to be wrong>

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/countries-never-colonized

"they weren't colonised in the 19th C" - you don't a[ppear to read very well.

Your knowledge of Thai history is appalling - th king was imposed upon Thailand by the USA....and when first appointed (after his brother's mysterious death" was regarded with total distain by the leaders who BTW narrowly avoided trials for ar crimes but were let off by the USA.

[Thaidup]

On 8/7/2023 at 5:03 PM, Khunmark said:

Actually that is a bit of a misrepresentation of history. It’s not like Thailand stared down the colonising forces of Britain and France. It was Rama V’s acquiescence to the demands of the British that prevented Thailand from becoming another Burma. He understood that the Thai defence forces would be no match for the British and made a pragmatic decision accordingly.

Yes, but not a word stated was a lie., It is up to people to "do your own research",

[Thaidup]

On 8/7/2023 at 6:14 PM, cowslip said:

Asolutely - in the 19th C and in recent years Thailand has been majorly influenced by. Japan, and the USA.

"Colonise" as a narrow concept it may not have been but in everything but the word itself - yes ....

One may also have a view that Thailand was playing "Hi Lo" with them all.

[cowslip]

16 minutes ago, Thaidup said:

Yes, but not a word stated was a lie., It is up to people to "do your own research",

well you obviously have done none

[Thaidup]

Regardless of how anyone tries to misinterpret the fact, the fact is that Thailand was never colonized, Burma Laos, Vietnam and India, all the surrounding countries had a foreign government with representatives in official office.

[Thaidup]

5 minutes ago, cowslip said:

well you obviously have done none

Hey< If I was living in Canada, right now I would be posting positive posts about the Canadian government too.

[Thaidup]

On 8/7/2023 at 4:00 AM, cowslip said:

why do people keep rolling out this meaningless cliche?

Thailand was invaded loads of times and the only reason they weren't colonised in the 19th C was because the French and British (and other western powers) wanted it that way. Thailand was forced to give away their own colonies and change all sorts of stuff because the western powers told them t to, they were colonised in everything but name.

...and how does this affect the fact they are not a democracy?

Because they have never been colonized, They had fought as a Kingdom for Siam and they are still "The Kingdom of Thailand"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchy_of_Thailand

[cowslip]

12 minutes ago, Thaidup said:

Regardless of how anyone tries to misinterpret the fact, the fact is that Thailand was never colonized, Burma Laos, Vietnam and India, all the surrounding countries had a foreign government with representatives in official office.

you haven't a clue - and are just regurgitating a cliche - but you don't even understand the discussion. try explaining why your definition of "never colonised" has any relevance to this thread. 

Edited August 8, 2023 by cowslip

[Thaidup]

2 minutes ago, cowslip said:

you haven't a clue - and are just regurgitating a cliche - but you don't even understand the discussion.

The discussion is about The political situation, about so called democracy, when the winner of the most votes out of half a dozen political parties does not have a majority of the populas vote"democratic majority" and then they try to make a coalition of other parties to lead the country, However because of the current constitutional law, the senate is not ready to vote for the leader of the party who had  less than 50% of the votes? Thats my understanding, what's yours?

[cowslip]

2 hours ago, Thaidup said:

The discussion is about The political situation, about so called democracy, when the winner of the most votes out of half a dozen political parties does not have a majority of the populas vote"democratic majority" and then they try to make a coalition of other parties to lead the country, However because of the current constitutional law, the senate is not ready to vote for the leader of the party who had  less than 50% of the votes? Thats my understanding, what's yours?

so how does "never having been colonised" cliche have any bearing on this??

[Thaidup]

3 minutes ago, cowslip said:

so how does "never having been colonised" cliche have any bearing on this??

Because having never being colonized Thailand politics is nuanced and not set to colonized countries "standards" of how to run things, Thailand will do what Thailand does, always has and always will.

[cowslip]

8 minutes ago, Thaidup said:

Because having never being colonized Thailand politics is nuanced and not set to colonized countries "standards" of how to run things, Thailand will do what Thailand does, always has and always will.

I don't think that's even a thing! How do you think Thai politics is "nuanced"???

Edited August 8, 2023 by cowslip

[Thaidup]

4 minutes ago, cowslip said:

I don't think that's even a thing!

Well that "thing" is what a lot discussion in this thread of the forum is about. Thai politics.< the thing

[Thaidup]

14 minutes ago, cowslip said:

I don't think that's even a thing! How do you think Thai politics is "nuanced"???

How long have you lived here cowslip?

[cowslip]

14 minutes ago, Thaidup said:

How long have you lived here cowslip?

you think that length of time inevitably gives you an understanding of Thai politics? I'd say you're living proof it doesn't. Try to stick to the issues - how are Thai politics "nuanced" in a way that colonisation makes it so different - I don't think that's a thing.

[Thaidup]

11 minutes ago, cowslip said:

you think that length of time inevitably gives you an understanding of Thai politics? I'd say you're living proof it doesn't. Try to stick to the issues - how are Thai politics "nuanced" in a way that colonisation makes it so different - I don't think that's a thing.

How long have you lived here cowslip? how many conversations with your Thai wife have you had re Thai politics? Remember the red pieces of cloth hanging off the gates and fences?

[Vigo]

4 hours ago, Thaidup said:

Because having never being colonized Thailand politics is nuanced and not set to colonized countries "standards" of how to run things, Thailand will do what Thailand does, always has and always will.

No need to colonize when the target capitulates and is enslaved. The Japanese needed to cross Thailand to  get to Burma, so Japan invaded Thailand. There was a brief clash, resulting in Thailand's surrender and it's face saving agreement to ally itself with Japan. During WWII, Thailand took its orders from Japan. It was a defacto vassal state, a position lower than a colony, because it had no rights or say in the Japanese dictates.   The sad aspect is that 100 or so Thais died defending against the invasion, are all but forgotten by Thailand's history books and its people.

During the period of Japanese control, Thailand was obliged to provide raw materials and more importantly, labour to the Japanese war machine. The Thai workers were not volunteers, but were typical slave labour used by the Japanese.  This was a  status worse than that of a colonization.

Yes, there can be nuances in Thai politics, but typically, it is the jackboot of brutality. The most  horrific example of this is the Thammasat massacre of 40 students and the  mass torture, and abuse of thousands of others at the the time. No nuance there.  No nuance in the yellow shirt thuggery period either.

PT's machinations are typical of his arrogant and entitled leadership. Its core group are as greedy as those it opposes. The MF group had a mandate. The MF represents the entrepreneurs, the educated, and the motivated young.  This is the demographic that powers Thailand, that generates the tax revenues, that innovates. They can afford to wait a few years more, and when they get to power, the PT power base that relied on  cash subsidies to power their vote will get a lesson in agrarian reform.