Nationality Check Deadline Leaves Burmese Migrants in Limbo
Today is the end of the deadline for foreign migrant workers to identify their nationalities to the Thai authorities. This leaves many, especially Burmese nationals, in fear because this procedure includes handing over personal details to the country they have fled from. If they do not comply with the authorities, the workers are threatened to be deported. The international news channel Al Jazeera English have recently aired this report:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bswV3k25FSM&w=600&h=360]
Prachatai, a Thai news web site, has more details and are also reporting on the efforts by Thai activists to extend the deadline. Key parts:
The Lao and Cambodian governments have agreed to send officials to conduct the nationality verification process in Thailand, but the Burmese government requires Burmese migrants to return to their country and undergo the process using one of 12 agencies endorsed by the Burmese government.
(...) Wilaiwan Saetia, Chairperson of the Thai Labour Solidarity Committee, said that there were 1.4 million Burmese among 2 million migrant workers in Thailand. So far, only 400,000 had completed the nationality verification process, and hundreds of thousands were expected to be deported after 28 Feb.
In addition to calling for an extension of the deadline, they asked the government to regulate private agencies to stop them overcharging migrant workers in the verification process, and to negotiate with the Burmese government to allow the verification process to take place in Thailand, in order to make it easier, less expensive, safer and more attractive for migrant workers.
(...) To start the process, Burmese migrant workers have to submit their personal information to the Thai authorities to be forwarded to the Burmese authorities, and they must return to Myanmar to apply for temporary passports in order to return to Thailand legally.
(From: "Burmese migrant workers ask Thai government to extend deadline for nationality verification", Prachatai, Feb 18, 2010 - Emphasis mine)
What Else? No. 1 - Zero Rupees Note Edition
"What Else?" is a regular look at all the other things that happened in Thailand, Germany, on the web and in between.
After a very long court verdict, let's look what's left of this week.
An Indian NGO called the "5th Pillar" have the high aim of fighting corruption (sounds familiar, eh?). They hope achieve this with these zero rupee bank notes (pictured above) in case some higher authority wants to make some extra money on your expense. Is this a good way to fight corruption? Is this an example applicable to Thailand? And would you get away fast enough when the cops realize the round zero(s) on the note?
Absolutely Bangkok, a Thai blog with a very distinct voice on current affairs, recently found his own site being blocked by a Thai ISP. Thankfully, it is already unblocked and he has the full story how it happened. The gist is, that nearly everyone can report to a service called Thaihotline.org, set up by the Thai ISPs, anything that could be illegal. Unfortunately, what is illegal though is in many cases not clearly defined.
American journalist Patrick Winn has written a very interesting geopolitical story about Thailand's joint military exercises with both the US and China.
Remember when the PAD (also known as the yellow shirts) have seized the two airports in Bangkok and have sieged the Government's House back in 2008? And have you also wondered if anybody has been prosecuted by now? Well, so far nothing has happened! In fact, the prosecution has postponed the indictment of the nine PAD leader for the 8th (!) time since November 2008. Why? Well, read here...
And now to our "WTF?! of the Week" where I 'honor' stories, persons or anything that makes us initially shout those three letters of confusion. This week it's about Khunying Dr. Pornthip Rojanasunand, Director of the Central Institute of Forensic Science, Ministry of Justice and probably the most famous forensic pathologist even before CSI. She is an advocate for forensic evidence, especially when the police haven't done their work again or are trying to cover their own wrongdoings. So, a recent survey by Reader's Digest Thailand has decided today that - drum roll, please - Dr. Pornthip is the most trustworthy person in Thailand! So far, so unsurprising given her good public image (and her flamboyant hair). But it is astonishing that a scientific, who believes in scientific evidence, is defending the use of the GT200, the 'bomb detector' which is now scientifically proven to be nothing but a bogus dowsing rod! To be fair though, the survey was done in October last year - way before the GT200 was on anybody's mind. But I doubt she'd be that popular if the survey would be held now. Nevertheless, the headline was worthy enough for the first ever "WTF?! of the Week"!
Finally, a brilliant piece yet again by Not The Nation, the Thai counterpart to The Onion. This article on Thai journalism bears more truth than some could handle - especially for a certain editor at The Nation: "Thai Media Warns Of Thaksin-Less Doomsday For Journalism"
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On this occasion, I'd like to thank all readers of this blog for your feedback, your comments and your retweets. It's been a great start for this blog and I hope this will only get better - there won't be a short supply of stories after all! Cheers, everybody!
Supreme Court Seize 46 Billion Baht of Thaksin's Assests
After nearly seven hours this is the verdict:
Thailand's Supreme Court has ruled that former PM Thaksin Shinawatra's family should be stripped of more than half a contested $2.3bn fortune.The court said $1.4bn (£910m) of the assets were gained illegally through conflict of interest when Mr Thaksin was prime minister.
The funds were frozen after Mr Thaksin's elected government was overthrown in a military coup in 2006.
The Supreme Court said "to seize all the money would be unfair since some of it was made before Thaksin became prime minister".
The court took several hours to deliver its verdict, with security forces on high alert amid government predictions of violence by Mr Thaksin's red-shirted supporters if the court decision went against him.
The judges said that Mr Thaksin shaped government mobile phone and satellite communications policy to benefit his firms.
He abused his power to benefit telecoms company Shin Corp, which he owned then, earning wealth from shares sales in the company through "inappropriate means", they ruled.
("Thailand top court seizes part of Thaksin fortune", BBC News, Feb 26, 2010)
My initial thoughts are that the court would seize Thaksin's money no matter what, it was rather a question how much will be seized. A shock decision to take everything away from him has not occurred, which would have created a much stronger reactions by the red shirts.
While the court has found that all inquiry was legal, we can not forget that the legal basis is a direct effect after the coup.
So far, it appears to be quiet in Bangkok and other places where the red shirts have gathered, TV footage show them in a rather defeated, sad mood than in an angry one. A much composed Thaksin has held a statement after the verdict, dressed in a black suit, thanking his supporters and urged them not to protest or cause any troubles.
I'm not sure if you can call a winner or a loser in this case (shades of grey exit everywhere) or if it is a decision that will make everybody happy or not. I think after today's events, the situation will cool down for quite a bit until March, when the red shirts will hold their mass rally.
Additional reading:
- Newley Purnell: Thaksin asset ruling: Images from Thailand’s Supreme Court today
- Absolutely Bangkok: Golden Verdict
- Bangkok Pundit: Thaksin on the asset seizure case
- Not The Nation: Supreme Court Judge Adds Entire Unpublished Screenplay To 900-Page Verdict (satire alert!)
What will happen on Feburary 26, 2010?
The Supreme Court will give it's verdict this Friday on whether or not, partially or entirely, to seize 76 billion baht ($2.3 billion) of frozen assets which belongs to Thaksin Shinawatra. Meanwhile, hundreds of extra security forces have been deployed in Bangkok including military personnel to support the police. The Red Shirts have also gathered, albeit not in the highest numbers, in the capital eagerly awaiting the verdict. These are the facts. Beyond that is an atmosphere of tense anticipation prior to the verdict and both sides of the spectrum have not really done their best to calm the mood down. In fact, the PM Abhisit's personal spokesperson Theptai Saenpong has spoken about "10 days of danger":
กลุ่มคนเสื้อแดง ว่า จากการวิเคราะห์สถานการณ์เห็นว่า ในช่วงเวลา 10 วันอันตราย จะเป็นเรื่องที่มีความเป็นไปได้สูง ว่าจะเกิดความรุนแรง
Thepthai as stating in reference to the red shirts and from analysis of the situation that in the 10 days of danger that it was likely that there would be violence.
("ปชป.เผย'10สถานที่เสี่ยง'รุนแรง10วันอันตราย", Kom Chad Luek, Feb 19, 2010 - link and translation via Bangkok Pundit, emphasis mine)
Frederico Ferrara, an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the National University of Singapore, was more direct about the government's stance at a recent panel discussion:
But key government figures have done their part to ratchet up fear of the Red Shirts.
"It seems like there are people on both sides who are intent on precipitating this to some extent; each has its own calculations. The government’s posture in this regard is not encouraging at all", Professor Ferrara said at the FCCT.
"The scaremongering and the demonization of the opposition that you hear every day in the papers; the mysterious grenade attacks; it seems like from the old playbook."
"This is stuff that’s been happening here for 35 years. You rile up the population that are kind of neutral, you scare them to such an extent that when something does happen, when the regime really does crack down, when perhaps the army does take over, they are seen as the ones who are restoring order and protecting the unity of the nation, not the ones who are undermining the order and the unity of the nation as they have for the last 35 years."
It is a cat and mouse game, with bluff and counter-bluff, and nobody quite knows how the chips will fall.
("Cat and Mouse in Thailand", by Nirmal Ghosh, Feb 21, 2010)
And thus the Thai media has picked up on the theme of intimidation. Newspapers have billed February 26th as "Judgment Day", as if some eagerly await something to happen.
The government meanwhile, after the Songkran riots of April 2009, are not taking any chances and have beefed up the security considerably.
The Red Shirts on the other side are determined to make a stand, but red isn't automatically red:
At the same time there appears to be many "shades of red" within the red camp. There is a faction of the "loyal" reds who are doing everything due to their love for and loyalty to Thaksin and Thaksin alone.
There are people who have become "red" because they feel the injustice that prevails in Thai society and would like to push for change in a peaceful and democratic manner.
And there is the "hardcore" militant red ready to unleash violence on its enemies, whether out of personal vendetta or the belief that only force will bring the necessary change.
Strategically, the reds will press on to demonstrate that Thais live under a "double standard" system where the elite and aristocrats, the so-called amartya, with military backing and the Democrat Party as a political front, continue to exploit and take advantage of the majority of people.
("Talking Points Before Final Showdown", by Suranand Vejjajiva, Bangkok Post, Feb 19, 2010)
Regardless of the outcome, this will not be largest turnout by reds, as they announced their mass rally with "millions of supporters" will take place on March 12, 2010.
I will not address many key issues here as there have been examined better by others like where Thaksin's money comes from, if there is a legal precedent and what the some (secretly) hope to achieve with a full seizure. I also will not discuss the possible outcome(s) of the verdict.
Nevertheless, it is apparent that this is a landmark case in Thailand and the anticipation on this Friday shows that it more than just about the money and Thaksin - the country is still very divided and still very far from the much proposed national reconciliation. We will have to wait and see where Thailand is heading at the end of the day.
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To keep up with the latest on this topic, I recommend to follow these people on Twitter: @Newley, @bangkokpundit, @TAN_Network, @tulsathit (of course I might have forgot a few dozen). I also, time difference permitting, probably will give my take via Twitter (@Saksith) later.
"Thailand: Warring Colours" - A Beginner's Guide to the Thai Political Crisis
In December 2009 Al Jazeera English have aired a 45-minute long documentary "Thailand: Warring Colours" about the ongoing political crisis. I think it does a good job summarizing the key moments and issues that are plaguing the country for years. Some newsmakers like Prime Minister Abhisit Vejajiva and well, you-know-who are being interviewed as well as activists from both colors and many other voices. This is a beginner's guide for understanding the current political situation. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2Gmt7dvOWs&w=600&h=360]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZLLSE-VFe4&w=600&h=360]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JmCjwZQHJk&w=600&h=360]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b24xix2bxaI&w=600&h=360]
For a comparison, here's my take summarizing the issue back in September 2009 on the third anniversary of the military coup of 2006 in a webcast when I was working with Asia News Network.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgOBRHum800&w=600&h=360]
How Thaksin Got Into Germany
Thailand's former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been at a lot of places. Be it in Cambodia (twice), Uganda, Montenegro, Dubai, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea and many more - the man has allocated a lot of mileage. And for good reason. Since he was toppled in a military coup in 2006, he made a brief return to Thailand in 2008 before he and his (now-divorced) wife Pojaman jumped bail (they did not come back after they attended the Olympic opening ceremony in Beijing. Who let them leave the country in the first place?) after a court sentenced them to three years in prison because Thaksin abused his power to help his then-wife to buy public land. They returned to London, where the Shinawatras have already fled to after the 2006 coup, but soon after the British authorities have revoked his UK visa. What then followed was the involuntarily world tour for a new asylum to the aforementioned places (and many more), somewhat reminiscent of a former children television game show.
One of the places he went to was Germany in late 2008. Half a year later the Munich-based daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung reported how and why Thaksin was able to fly into Germany and even got a residence permit. Since the original article is in German, I translated and emphasized the key parts.
(...) The probably most known and presumably richest fugitive refugee in Asia, who has more than half a dozen of criminal cases against him, was on that December 29 in Oxfordstrasse No. 19 in Bonn - in the municipal alien department. He applied for a residence permit for the duration of one year.
Previously he was at the [resident‘s] registration office and has enrolled an address in Bad Godesberg as his residence. Billionaire Thaksin was able to account for his own livelihood, not a welfare case then, and also had insurance. The person in charge also took a look in the central register for foreigners but found nothing [suspicious].
All foreigners in Germany have to report to the local authorities. This is handled by municipal authorities unlike other countries. Also, Bad Godesberg is the location of the former private residence of the Royal Thai Embassy when Bonn was capital of West Germany.
The approval procedure was eased because of the company of the former head of the criminal investigation department [Kriminalpolizei (Kripo) an agency within state police authorities] Gerd Steffen as well as a distinguished lawyer. In addition was a mysterious man, who introduced himself by the name Richard Nelson. The person in charge understood that he [Nelson] was working for the Federal Intelligence Service [Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), the foreign intelligence agency], but he must have misheard. The agent would never said that, who is in fact named Werner Mauss and once a universal weapon of the German [intelligence] agencies. In the end, Thaksin was granted a permit.
The curios encounter in office [Amt] 33-6 has caused a stir behind the [political] scenes in Berlin, Düsseldorf [state capital of Nord Rhine-Westphalia] and Bangkok. The Federal Foreign Office [Auswärtiges Amt], which learned late of the procedure, was furious and saw the relationships with Thailand in danger; the Chancellor‘s Office [Bundeskanzleramt] and the Nord Rhine-Westphalia State Ministry of the Interior were informed.
The Federal Foreign Office thought for the time being, the BND has acted on their own and protested heavily. Didn‘t the BND used to 'pretty up' Thaksin‘s role in confidential reports for the federal government? However, the top heads of the BND assume that an agent from a foreign agency has 'sailed in under a different flag', as insiders say. But then the officers heard the name [Richard] Nelson and knew right away what happen: [Richard] Nelson is one of many aliases the now 69-year-old private investigator Mauss used in his past assignments for authorities and agencies. In his life, he was on many assignments, of which the backgrounds remain mysterious.
(...) [Werner] Mauss, formerly known as „man without face“, has received decades ago visitors incognito at the local police headquarters in presence of the head of the criminal investigation department. (...)
According to his Wikipedia page (only in German), Werner Mauss started as a private investigator but also worked as an agent for German companies and as a contact person for German intelligence services, through which he maintained contacts to high-ranking personnel inside the Chancellor's Office. He was involved with the arrest on a left-wing terrorist Rolf Pohle in the 1970s, negotiated the release of German hostage from the Hezbollah and was also connected to the both infamous and mysterious death of German politician Uwe Barschel.
An old acquaintance of him [Nelson/Mauss] was involved in this act: the former State Secretary and former MP Rudolf Kraus of the CSU party [Christlich Soziale Union, the Bavarian Christian-conservative sister-party to the nationwide CDU]. In a letter to the municipal alien department in Bonn he notified, MPs of the CDU/CSU party absolutely want to meet Thaksin this summer 2009 in Germany and thus he [Thaksin] needed a residence permit. (...) „Thaksin is a highly interesting personality“, he continued. Did Mauss [alias Nelson] pressured him [Kraus] to write the letter? „Let‘s drop it“, said Kraus [upon further questions]. (...)
This is the most puzzling part for me. Why were these German MPs so eager to meet Thaksin? Who were these MPs? And what would have the topic of the meeting been?
On pressure by Berlin and Düsseldorf the residence permit for Thaksin has been revoked on May 28.
Let's recap here: Thaksin was able to enter Germany and had zero problems obtaining a residence permit thanks to some shadowy friends, who shielded him away from the federal government and also the Thai Embassy in Berlin (which learned from his stay through said newspaper article, but mistakenly assumed Thaksin would be still in Germany by that time as a contact has told me.)! Not only does this sound like it could have been torn from a crime novel, but also the time it took until the public would know about it is astonishing. That said, some might have noticed his stay in Germany already earlier than June 2009, because in April 2009 Thaksin himself said in an interview with the French daily Le Figaro that:
[Thaksin passed his time away from Thailand] with business in Dubai, Hong Kong, Africa and Germany - a country which has given him a residency card, he said.
The mystery of his whereabouts held on for a few more months since then, even with the Thai authorities claiming to know his silly incognito name. Sometimes Thaksin and the hunt for him really appears like that former children television game show.
So, I have a blog now...
After much thought and even more procrastination, I decided to start my personal blog. Though it might be an obsolete idea to launch a blog in the year 2010, where most internet-savvy people prefer to express their opinions bite-sized on platforms like Twitter. Even though I have been a vivid Twitter user (@Saksith) for some time there are many issues that can not be boiled down to 140 characters. This leads into the main purpose of this blog: The last few years have been tumultuous for Thailand. A military coup in 2006, a new constitution, four different Prime Ministers, two color-coded extra-parliamentary oppositions and many other different complicated and intertwined layers of issues. The one common thing overshadowing these is an apparent one: it's about the future of the Kingdom. Only how it will look like is the bone of contention of many fractions each, with their own agenda.
But what also the recent events in Thai political history have created is a different perception of politics of the Thais. The people, who were not interested in politics before, slowly realized that it has indeed an effect on them and with it comes a growing desire to turn the table in order to increase the influence on decisions that were previously only exclusive to career politicians and the 'bureaucratic elites'. One inevitable side-effect is also the increase of volume in perspectives, opinions and standpoints in sheer numbers and loudness alike.
As a Thai citizen who grew up in a different country, it is at times very difficult to comprehend or simply keep up with the developments that come and go (but mostly stay). What the recent years have also shown is really nothing is predictable at all. Nevertheless, inspired by political blogs like Bangkok Pundit and the Tumbler Blog, I hope to add my voice to the ongoing debate about the direction our country is heading and also encourage a constructive discussion. On the other hand, I'm well aware (as should you, the readers) what can and can not be said. As a consequence, the comments will be moderated and I request you to avoid any comments that can put me into trouble as the owner of this blog.
Enough for now, let gets started!