Geography 484

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• Geography 484
• Southeast Asia
• Jim Glassman
• Lecture 13a
• November 26, 2008

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Mahathir Mohamad
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Anwar Ibrahim
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Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
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Post-crisis political conflict in Malaysia

• Mahathir vs. the IMF
• Mahathir vs. Anwar
• Mahathir vs. Badawi?

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Thai Coup, 19 September 2006

• Thai Rak Thais rise to power
• Crisis and neo-liberal restructuring
• Thai Rak Thai populism, nationalism
• Thai Rak Thai in power
• Thai Rak Thai social spending
• Thai Rak Thai authoritarianism
• Cracking down on the Left
• The war on drugs
• The war on terror
• Opposition to Thaksin
• Popular organizations state enterprise unions
• Neo-liberals (Democrat Party)
• Royalists

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Thai Rak Thai at the Polls

• 2001 gt40 248 out of 500 seats
• 2005 gt60 374 out of 500 seats
• 2006 55 snap election, annulled because of
  irregularities, with new polls to be held in late
  2006 (aborted by the September coup)

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Triggers for opposition and coup

• Growing animosity between Thaksin and royalists
• Animosity between Thaksin and military command in
  South over closing of Southern Border Provinces
  Administration Center (SBPAC)
• Break between Thaksin and Sondhi Limthongkul
• Formation of Peoples Alliance for Democracy
  (PAD)
• Labor opposition to privatization of state
  enterprises
• Thaksins tax-free sale of Shin Corporation to
  Temasek (Singapore-based company)
• Military concern about fall (annual) reshuffle
• Opposition concern about new elections

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Thaksin Shinawatra
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Sondhi Limthongkul
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Chamlong Srimuang
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Suriyasai Katasila
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King Bhumibol Adulyadej
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Royal interests

• Crown Property Bureau (CPB) US2-8 billion, most
  of this in land and stocks (Time, December 6,
  1999)
• Siam Commercial Bank (US5 billion in debt during
  crisis the only bank rescued from debt by the
  Democrat Party and left in control of its
  shareholders)
• Siam Cement (US4 billion in debt)
• Military and bureaucratic agencies
• SBPAC (Prem)

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Prem Tinsulanond
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Prem to army cadets

• Soldiers are like horses, and governments are
  jockeys but not owners. You belong to the nation
  and His Majesty the King.
• (The Nation, 15 July 2006)

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Prem to navy cadets

• In my lecture to army cadets two weeks ago, I
  told them about who owns the soldiers. This time,
  I have to make it clear again that we soldiers
  belong to the country and to the king.
• (Bangkok Post, 29 July 2006)

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Prem on Thaksin, I

• Individuals who have no ethics and morals are
  bad people who are full of greed. They may want
  to live comfortably with a lot of money. But if
  they have acquired wealth through illegal or
  unethical means, they no longer deserve to be in
  this country.
• (Bangkok Post, 29 July 2006)

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Prem on Thaksin, II

• World War II occurred because of Adolf Hitler
  and only a few syndicates who were holding on to
  power to rule the world. Our country also has
  such people.
• (Bangkok Post, 4 October 2006)

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Prems interests

• Financial connections (e.g., to CPB)
• Military connections (e.g., to SBPAC)
• Head of the royalist network?

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Sonthi Boonyaratkalin
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Sonthi and the war in the South

• Thaksin takes down the SBAPC
• Sonthi calls for a free hand
• Sonthi and the looming military reshuffle

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Surayud Chulanont
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Surayud as reformer?

• Surayud, Prem, and Sonthi
• Surayud and Black May, 1992

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Anan Panyarachun
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Anan to Oceanians

• You say that Australia is an Asian nation and
  it should be well aware of what's going on in
  other Asian countriesBut this (coup) is a case
  in point. You're not Asians yet you have an
  entirely different mentality. I would view those
  Western leaders, be they American, Australian,
  New Zealanders they are uninformed people.
  They're ignorant.

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Sufficiency economy

• The King on the sufficiency economy
• The sufficiency economy and the royalist project
• The sufficiency economy as neo-liberalism?

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King Bhumibol on sufficiency economy

• Being a tiger is not important. What is
  important is to have enough to eat and to live
  and to have an economy which provides enough to
  eat and live. Having enough to eat and live means
  supporting oneself to have enough for oneself
• I have said before that this sufficiency does
  not mean that each household has to produce its
  own food, weave its own cloth. That is too much.
  But within a village or district, there must be a
  certain amount of self-sufficiency. Anything
  which can be produced beyond local need can be
  sold, but maybe not sold too far away, to
  minimize transport costs

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Bhumibol on sufficiency (cont.)

• If we can change back to a self-sufficient
  economy, not completely, even not as much as
  half, perhaps just a quarter, we can survive
• But people who like the modern economy may not
  agree. Its like walking backward into a khlong
  canal. We have to live carefully and we have to
  go back to do things which are not complicated
  and which do not use elaborate, expensive
  equipment. We need to move backwards in order to
  move forwards. If we dont act like this, the
  solution to this crisis will be difficult.
• (cited in Pasuk and Baker, Thailands Crisis, p.
  193)

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Narong Petprasert on the sufficiency economy

• Thailand no longer an agricultural society
• Capitalism not compatible with sufficiency
  concept
• Workers need higher wages, not more economic
  restraint

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M. R. Pridiyathorn Devakula
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M. R. Pridiyathorn on the sufficiency economy

• A sufficiency economy is not self-sufficiency.
  It is a philosophy, rather than a theory. But the
  philosophy can be applied at every level of the
  economy. Households should avoid overspending,
  businesses should avoid overexpansion and the
  government should concentrate on protecting
  national resources.
• (Bangkok Post, October 4, 2006)

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M. R. Pridiyathorn on sufficiency economy and
liberalization

• If we had market liberalisation without a
  policy of sufficiency, growth would be boosted
  too fast beyond our limits. And this could lead
  to a crisis similar to what happened in 1997,
  when we grew too fast with insufficient savings.
• (The Nation, 6 October 2006)

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Kosit Panpiemras
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Kosit on sufficiency economy

• If you understand the philosophy well, youll
  know it does not go against globalisation.
  Instead, it enables us to better cope with
  external and internal shocks and live more
  comfortablyThen growth will not be as fragile as
  in the past. Market mechanisms will function well
  if all related parties are accountable and
  ethical and adhere to good governanceUnder the
  new concept, the roles of grass-roots people,
  market mechanisms and the government in driving
  economic growth will be balanced.
• (Bangkok Post, 25 October 2006)

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Priyanut Piboolsravut (CPB)

• With the philosophy, people must be prudent
  with their plans. In addition they must have high
  immunity to a downturn. The sufficiency
  philosophy may be the most suitable framework for
  the countrys development. Actually, most Thais
  still have a rural mentality. Only a handful are
  capable of catching up with globalisation
  trends.
• (Bangkok Post, 30 October 2006)

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Abhisit Vejjajiva
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Abhisit on sufficiency economy

• Mr Abhisit criticized the government's policies
  which relied on pumping state budget into
  development schemes which were driving the people
  into debt. Many of the government's populist
  policies, including the village fund, have been
  criticized by academics for encouraging people to
  spend more, instead of using the money wisely to
  build a solid economic base at the local level.
  The government should set goals for sustainable
  development schemes to promote the proper use of
  natural resources, fair competition and avoidance
  of conflicts, said Mr Abhisit. The government
  must heed the self-sufficiency idea by
  undertaking policies that help control human
  greed, he added.
• (Bangkok Post, 17 June 2006)

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Royalist hegemony in Thailand

• Popular organizations and the sufficiency economy
• Thai elites and the use of lese majeste

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The coup as a Cold War legacy?

• The declining position of the monarchy after 1932
• The Cold War and the resurrection of the monarchy
• Thai elites and the use of royal power
• The future of the monarchy

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