CONFLICTS BETWEEN RELIGION AND DEMOCRACY PART VI

CONFLICTS BETWEEN RELIGION AND DEMOCRACY PART VI

(THAILAND/RELIGION/DEMOCRACY)

AND GENERAL CONCLUSIONS

Back to Thailand

Let me summarize; The Kingdom of Thailand is based on these three institutions The Monarchy, The Sangha and the Bureaucracies (both military and civilian). It is a fact that both the Monarchy and Bureaucracy have always tried to shape the Sangha and turn it into organic to suit their political ambitions and the combination of Monarchy and Sangha always come in handy at times marked by social unrests, it is de facto the strongest controlling instrument for the Elite. Some scholars also touche on these issues for the Thais; The Royal Institution, the Patriotism and the Nationalism and at best the first mentioned is the most respected at the moment where as the two latter, as far as I can judge, are instruments masterly played by political parties and with limited connection to the real problems of the Kingdom.

Another significant observation is the everlasting struggle power between the bureaucracy and the military using all powers represents total hindrance of establishing a real democracy in Thailand. As long as the question of corruption all over is never dealt with once and for all by appropriate manners Thailand will never prosper. The Thais in general terms accept corruption as a natural part of the daily life and their admiration for persons, who steal money from them, is proportional with the amounts of corruption. The front runner is the police.

I will abstain from writing about this first stone of the most important institution The Monarchy. It is not considered to be proper and anyway correct information is not available in Thailand. Any true comment or fact is forbidden published so one needs to go abroad to establish the whole story about the richest Monarchy in the world with more than 8 billion $ in assets and a yearly tax free income in the high end plus the fact that all expenses for the royal household seems to be paid from The Ministry of Finance. The total amount is more than 7 billion THB per year according to information published by The Ministry of Finance. This fact is actually unknown to the average Thai, who believes that The Monarchy is self supporting.

However it is for an amateur historian like me extremely interesting to study the many faces and models of Thai Kings formed by sources from outside of the Kingdom. Again Thailand has hardly its own identity almost everything is copied or imported from abroad, but Thais reluctantly admit this of course that is understandable.

I have previously written about The Sangha, but wish to remind the readers of one important factor only, The Sangha is officially considered as an instrument for ideological indoctrination. Most of the Sangha acts have been state-initiated and enforced demanding that the views of the Supreme Patriarch reflect the political landscape. However the wish from the State to control the Sangha changed during the 1990ties (with the increased development of commercialism and consumerism). Changes in the socio-economic those are necessary to become a modern state and an active member of the global world. As a result the “Thai Buddhism” has now many faces. Another negative development since 1990ties is the participations of monks in conspicuous consumption and commercial activities. In Thai it is called Phuttha Phanit.

Very sadly an increasing amount of monks and monasteries are deeply involved in dishonest business and some monks promoted as super TV stars selling commercial products that are 100 % fraud. So where is the future of the Thai Buddhism?  In which direction is it heading? I can understand that the young generation is not interested in Buddhism and all the fairy tales that have no connection to reality. You teach the new generations science and want them to believe in the serious purpose of the monks at the same time some monks in general terms are not worthy to represent the Buddhism? The well known Monk Santikaro Bhikku wrote an article in “Asia Week” (1999) where he explains that money greed from the monks are eating up the true values of Sangha. To the money greed you can add temples embezzlements, drugs and sex scandals (15 % of the monks are drug addicts).

No wonder that the management of the Sangha Institution is looking for ways how to reinstate the pride, respect and authority of Sangha. My comment: They are facing a task close to the impossible unless they realize that the world is now active in the 21^st century. Read more under the heading Buddhism below. Buddhists traditionally consider monastic life to provide the environment most conducive to advancing toward enlightenment, and the Sangha is responsible for maintaining, translating, advancing, and spreading the teachings of the Buddha. So is the corrupt elite and government officials living in accordance with the teachings of Buddha?

REMARKS on the Bureaucracy

That actually is just a prolonged arm of the previous Absolute Monarchy.

When producing essays/articles about Thailand one faces a problem that is very similar, but 100 % identical to same in Singapore. When Dr. Lee transformed the previous part of The British Empire into a Republic he had a tremendous power, which never made him corrupt but it went straight to his head. Any opposition was swept away from the scene and anybody who did not agree with him or his policies faced problems from losing job to be thrown in jail. No mercy at all was his motto. He made a deal with his people. You give me your soul and I guarantee prosperity. A Faustian sort of deal I guess. Result; even the labor force is well educated almost all bilingual and well trained/mannered. The list of positive results is long but all good things in life come at a price; Civil rights are close to none existing, the press is loud mouthpiece for the Singaporean government, any foreign newspaper or magazine critical of the Republic are banned and even articles from writes abroad can be censured. The government is paranoia and therefore is reinforcing the social cohesion.

So there are some similarities to Thailand, but again we need to make segregation. In this context I refer to Max Weber a scholar of modern sociology, who is considered as one of the best within his field. His theory about methodology is famous, rational means to rational ends, and one important factor is how to estimate or ensure the effect of means. OK I know Durkheim did same, so leave that discussion for a better time.

In order to get to Rational Ends the government will use Rational Means. But how to define the value of each mean is the good part of the equation. In Thailand the major means are a pack of lies, manipulations and to avoid any kind of proper education. No wonder the poor Thais are easy targets for scrupulous politicians.

Considering that the Bureaucracies of Thailand are the backbones of her body to keep her standing, it is very difficult to create a professional government apparatus that can separate personal interest from the ones of the Kingdom. Max Weber studied this and called it “instrumental rationality” which I find a very diplomatic expression. Not too long ago civil servants in Thailand were considered hands of the Monarchy and the change in 1932 did only have limited effect until 1993 where Chinese businessmen removed the generals (hands of the Crown), from the absolute power but only 16 + years have passed, the democratic baby Thai Beauty is yet not able to stand on her own legs and why not?

I can establish these 4 reasons (arguments):

1. The overlooked fact about the situation of the Monarchy. It was so to say “reconstructed” by the present King during the second half of the last century. HMK ascended the throne in 1946 after a period of the throne acting as a symbol only, but did stay in Switzerland until 1951. Upon his return The Bureaucracy launched a PR campaign in order to restore the Monarchy as the centre of Thai politics under military control. The marketing campaign comprised of royal visits all over Thailand plus the establishing of radio and later TV daily coverage of the royal family’s activities. Thailand was at that time under the dictatorship of Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat. He was the one who introduced the law of lèse-majesty as a tool to manipulate political opponents. Why? Because he transformed the law into a matter of threats to the national security if anybody critized the Monarchy. HMK’s role matured and much later Thailand’s motto Nation, Religion and Monarchy was added these words; and democracy with the King as the Head of the State. At present the admiration for HMK is without limits and for good reasons. The King has limited power according to the Constitution, but is an icon of the Thai nationality and identity. The respect for him along with his moral authority has been used when the situation approached a state of anarchy.
2. In the 1980ties and 1990ties the Kingdom was marked by consumerism and political corruption. This was reflected in the Buddhism as this to a very high degree became commercialized. During those years we witnessed an increasing amount of scandals among the monks; sex, drugs and financials even among prominent monks. The examples are many. In 2000 the Abbot of the Thammakai Monastery had a Rolls Royce as his vehicle and he removed 35 million THB from the bank account of donations into his own pocket. At the same time monks started to sell amulets that was said to hold magic power, holy water and so on, all fakes of course but the daily sales could amount to 100.000 THB and during weekend even 1 million. Who took the money? Many temples are today turned into a circus a la Las Vegas only focusing on daily income and with big neon signs informing visitors about which casino to visit.

The Buddhism is slowly but surely losing ground and is in need of adjustments. Any criminal can today be accepted as a monk but has no clue about the true Buddhism but is still “respected” due to his robe. It is no secret that the State (read Bureaucracy) has tried implement discipline and a uniform system to control the Sangha. This of course has represented a huge field for disputes. However many Thais try to keep the Sangha in conservative status it cannot escape modernization that is impossible.

The Sangha fights the negative development of materialistic and social development, where the greed for money and power plus consumerism is a hard battle to face. May I add that the rich elite who have gotten unusual rich based on corruption is a cause of destroying the original ascetic ideals of Sangha. And why do Abbots need to have a new Mercedes, Audi or BMW in his garage plus a luxurious villa?

1. Another central point is the “import” of Western products the most significant Knowledge. But it will be fairer to add the influence of the immigration of Chinese. Who has moved this country forward? The Thais? No. Looking at the history of the Monarchy many initiatives were taken to gain knowledge from western countries how to modernize a nation to the benefit of her citizens.

But under the Absolute Monarchy Period the imported progressive factors contributing to the development of at that time Siam were controlled by the Kings and they kept the profit and control. Knowledge was 100 % linked to the royal power and even when deemed necessary the history of Thailand was rewritten and manipulated never admitting to any failures of Thais even if they had made them. It was at that time introduced to the Thais that any problem in Thailand is the fault of the Farangs while the Kingdom at the same time takes advantage of their investments and knowhow. The relationship between Farangs and the Kingdom has always been, and still is, ambivalent. On one side admiration and the other side repulsion.

Let me state this correct example, in 1912 the King Wachirawuth (Rama VI) invited European Royals to his coronation ceremony. This lasted two weeks and was close to emptying the royal coffins for cash. However later in 1915 he condemned the Farangs and called them low class persons with immoral behavior and ridiculed the Thais who had adopted the Western lifestyle. Double standard accepted and used today as well.

1. Finally Thailand has a problem with the army and the police. It is a well known fact that any officer who violates the laws he is employed and paid for to adhere to will go free. They generally treat the citizens as third class persons and expect them to Wai and crawl on the knees as a sign of respect. However in order to be fair I need to separate between Army and The Royal Thai Police. I have written enough about the army so just these remarks related to the police. This article is written late July 2010. Right now the question about a Police Reform is a heated issue. The Thai Police Force has some major defects, what a nice word for a bunch of corrupt persons. These 3 issues are the criminal investigation system, which seems to be exercised based an outdated methods and what is worse use of torture, next is corruption and 3^rd the fact that the Force has to obey the political masters and power figures more than to care about the Thai citizens. These issues are raised by the Asian Human Rights Commission and if you have some time look at the Internet and read postings from desperate Thais, who are fighting a hopeless battle with corrupt police, who supports the one, who pays the most. I doubt how you can change the mind of so many persons soon enough to meet international standards? Rule number one is, no connection between the police and the elite.

FINAL CONCLUSIONS

A stable democracy requires public commitment to democratic norms and procedures, a strong and institutionalized party system, and active pressure groups. Such conditions have yet to be fully developed in Thailand. The major part of Thailand’s history since 1932 is marked by power struggles between the military and politicians. A ‘guardian’ role continues to be advocated by the military, but that role is unlikely to enjoy as much public support as in the past. In discussing the role of the military in the democratization process in Thailand, the interesting questions therefore are: what role does the military have to play in the process of democratization, and under what circumstances will its political role change? For decades the politicians controlling the Power Bases have worn a uniform. However still today the Monarchy is behind the army (but who controls the royal police?)

One of the problems of democratization in Thailand has been that, because of a long period of bureaucratic and military domination, a democratic regime often has difficulty establishing legitimacy in relation to the traditional political culture. Economic and social changes in recent years have produced a new urban, educated middle class which subscribes to the principles of democracy; but the possibility of an effective democratic government could hardly be expected. The Chatichai government (1989-1991) gained legitimacy because it was popularly elected, but it later lost legitimacy because it could not tackle effectively the corruption in the government.

Anand’s government, which succeeded it after the 1991 coup, assumed power without legitimacy because it was appointed by the military junta. But it went on to gain public recognition as one of the most reliable, transparent and efficient governments.

The fact that all democratic regimes in Thailand have been weak and inefficient has affected their legitimacy. And if they cannot improve their performance and accountability, their popular support will be easily undermined.

Among other things, the civilian government must improve its efficiency, accountability and stability. The Thai political experience suggests that the fragility of democratic governments encourages military intervention. To change the military mind-set into a more democratic one, the civilian democratic government must prove itself strong and responsible. Democratic reforms should be carried out gradually. The military and other conservative elements are not in favor of radical changes.

Among the conservative elements are the majority of Thais. Deep down they do not have the ability to form their own model of a true democracy. They are simply not mature and even if they are in the 60ties they are still like kids who are moved and controlled by emotions rather than logics. They have no wish to face realities they prefer a life controlled by strong forces based on the reluctance to assume responsibility for their own life. If things go wrong blame the surroundings, not me I am so innocent. Coming back to Max Weber; The scrupulous politicians or the bureaucracy are in control of the population by their non critical admiration of the monarchy, and the blindfolded attachments to the Buddhism.

They are easy victims of manipulations and indoctrinations due to lack of proper education. To many the major part of their life is a struggle between the modernity and the past. And the past cannot win it is gone forever so it does not help to hope it is the vehicle that can lead to a modernized and democratic Thailand.

A major part of my views are based on studies of the social physiologist David Riesman, who in his book “The lonely Crowd” gives a clear introduction to what is called the development of the social character. All persons are subject to or victims of impacts from culture, traditions, values, social conventions and of course from rituals in the broad sense. I can strongly recommend reading his books. Due to the effects of these impacts we are all “different products” when we enter into the part of life, where school, university and political and social structures start to influence as well.

I would also like to draw your attention to NOMOS, which is an old Greek definition of the total set of laws, traditions, habits and conventions that are the driving force of any society. It will be just a little outside the scope of my narrative, but NOMOS is worth studying if you really want to know, why Am I as I am and why is a Farang a Farang, two different worlds so far apart and yet so close, just we learn to understand each other and why are we not all the same. It takes some time I agree to that. I have spent a major part of my life trying to establish the facts, but still learning!

Thailand has a very low educational standard in general terms; the teachers badly educated, low learning efficiency, lack of discipline and ignoring the needs for the hungry new generation to learn. Thailand cannot afford to have a mediocre educational system it is shortsighted and very dangerous for the development of the country. Another critical factor is the psychological impacts from media and TV. The latter has become the most powerful psychological instrument of our time. The poor standard of many Thai soap operas are keeping viewers in an iron fist mainly showing them fantasies and lies and the viewers do not realize that they are victims of indoctrination. The modern word is Infotainment. Focus on being entertained rather than to learn. These two factors as mentioned should be a subject of worries for the Thais, who want a better Kingdome with a bright future and maybe now start to wonder, why The King never smiles.

The following statements have been published by well respected Thais as well as foreign commentators:

In the facile political taxonomy we use to categorize nations, Thailand is considered a democracy. Yet the country remains, if not a banana republic, a juicy, messy mango republic. Over the past four years, two political blocs, loosely divided in terms of class and geography, have swapped control of government with whirlwind velocity, using ever more creative protest tactics and distortions of democratic institutions to vanquish their opponents.

Quite apart from the king’s extremely fragile health, the palace has made it clear since the 2006 coup that it sides with anti-Thaksin forces. When the anti-Thaksin yellow shirts occupied Bangkok’s international airport in November and December 2008, they did so under an explicit royal banner with all of the protections that such palace endorsement implies. By contrast, the prospect of royal intervention to save the red shirts from the wrath of the military is now remote. In fact, some are starting to wonder out loud if Thailand’s monarchy is now, in fact, part of the problem rather than part of the solution.

Decades of national faith invested in an unelected monarch as the ultimate source of authority and salvation in times of crisis has stunted the development of robust democratic institutions. Thailand has put too many eggs into the royal basket and now lacks the institutional wherewithal to constructively resolve political divisions.  There is considerable truth to the old joke that Thailand is the world’s longest lasting fledgling democracy, and that truth owes much to the fact that the symbolic power of the monarch has overshadowed opportunities for elected politicians to manage national affairs.

When the shooting and burning in Bangkok finally subsides Thailand is going to have to rebuild faith in its basic democratic institutions. Cultivating a more respectful attitude to the political choices of its many rural inhabitants would be a good place to start.

Thailand’s political landscape, as brutal as it is apparent today, has been remolded by various factors, internal or external. This could either solidify or further weaken the country’s democracy. All parties concerned need to find a new consensus on the acceptable definition of a democracy and they must respect it once it is found.

The Thais are always looking for persons to blame when things go wrong instead of trying to understand what went wrong and why and then fix the problems. They are always running away from problems and expect others to solve them. They tend to ask Foreigners this question; “You do not understand” What about the Thais trying to get enough knowledge about the roots or causes of problems and then solve them? What has happened to personal responsibility? Or moral values and ethical rules of how to bring up the generations? Gone with the wind? Not too long ago this question was asked; what do you do for your country? This has been replaced by two words; GIVE ME!

Often I do not understand the Thais and maybe it’s because I am a Farang. Foreigners never know what’s going on in Thailand. Even when we think we know, we really don’t. In fact the surer we are that we know the score, the deeper is our ignorance. Why? Because this is Thailand and this country is like a murky stew. There will always be ingredients shimmering beneath the surface that foreigners will never know about. It’s a good thing too sometimes ignorance can be bliss.

ABOUT THAI SOAP OPERAS by BOONRAK BOONYAKETMALA (I know it is a bit old)

With other core value-forming institutions such as religion, education and family apparently weakening for one reason or another, mass communications _ especially television, which is the most domesticated, widespread, free and accessible _ has steadily stolen the limelight as the tutor of the populace’s hearts and minds, old and young. Notwithstanding the television industry’s claim that soaps are strictly for fun, it can be established that the values promoted by them closely reflect the values of heavy television consumers _ values that did not exist prior to their exposure to soaps.

These soaps reflect the duality of Thai society. On the one hand, there is a traditional group of soaps, normally the territory of Channel 7, which are symptomatic of old values such as the centrality of virginity, monogamy, pure romance, personal sacrifice and devotion to the well-being of family and society at large. Targeted to the masses, both in rural and urban areas, such soaps reinforce the best of old, passing values, and therefore relatively heart-warming, though many of their components are outdated by the times.

On the other hand, during the last decade or so, a new genre of soaps has emerged on television, a field pioneered by Channel 3. The storylines often focus on a morally decent and professionally competent female lead who encounters unbelievably fierce fights staged by other female characters, usually to win over a rich, successful, handsome, though somewhat naive man (along with, of course, his money and wealth) by resorting to the dirtiest tricks _ anything from systematic lying to outright murder _ normally used by only the most evil people.  Often, but not always, the devilish female characters are dangerously beautiful, mentally cruel and sexually promiscuous, whose deviant behavior is cheered on by relatives and friends. Sometimes, the female lead is not a virtuous woman, meant to be touched only by the male lead. That is a refreshing ingredient to warm the hearts of middle- and upper-class viewers, female and male alike, each for its own reason.

The controversial War of Angels has combined elements of the two genres, resulting in an extreme conflict of values from the old and modern worlds. Notably, the female lead is an old-fashioned woman falling in love with a decent man who is in the middle of a divorce from a wicked wife. But a single man, portrayed as the meanest womanizer on Earth, rapes her, resulting in pregnancy. She is left with shame and guilt, and made to believe she brought it on herself.

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I started with Durkheim so I will close my article with his views on ANOMIE, the lack of norms. The Kingdom of Thailand has a huge amount of citizens, who are without individual ambition but are victims of indoctrinations from influential sources, all mentioned in my article. Durkheim describes what happens to a society where the greed for consumerism, power, money and high expectations of the positive effects from the industrial revolution. The modern Thailand seems lost and does not realize that not all ways laid down in the past, will not lead to the future expected and promised by the Elite and the other significant icons.

ANOMIE occurs when a society lacks of social ethics and when corrupt political elite ensures it always wins even when it ignores the laws and justice of the society it is supposed to protect and earn. The graveness of the situation escalates when a corrupt police force supports the party paying the highest price ignoring the duty to protect the citizens by upholding law and order according to the Constitution.

Thailand is today heavily marked by political and cultural corruption and precisely targeted manipulation and brainwashing by the controlling Elites regardless of nature.

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Ole Casthoej

Chonburi 1st August 2010

The production of this complete series has taken a long time. I have used authentic sources in the form of books, articles all available at bookstores in Thailand. Major sources for my mini-studies have been:

Max Web; The Methodology of the Social Science

Emile Durkheim; Rules of the Sociological Method

Henrik Jensen; Weber and Durkheim

Maurizio Peleggi; Thailand The Worldly Kingdom

John Funston; Divided over Thaksin

Pasuk Phongpaichit; Corruption and Democracy in Thailand

Thanapol Chadchaidee; Prominent Thai Political Thinkers

Pasuk Phongpaichit/Chris Baker; Thai Capital

Pasuk Phongpaichit/Chris Baker; THAKSIN

Pavin Chachavalpongpun; Reinventing Thailand/Thaksin and his Foreign Policy

Mirca Eliade; The History of Religious Ideas

Paul M. Handley; The King never smiles/banned in Thailand

Chris Baker; A History of Thailand

Alvin Toffler; Third Wave and Future Schock

P.A. Payutto: The Pali Canon

Pra Dhammavisuddikavi*); A Buddhist way of mental training

Samme; A constitution for living

*) A.ka. Payutto

Khantipalo Bhikkhu; Buddhism explained

Insight Medication Center; The way out of suffering

Plus unaccounted number of articles from Thai magazines and newspapers.

Suchit Bunbongkarn

Somboon Suksamra

The Western University of Australia; Articles on Social Research

My remarks: Some of the above books about Buddhism designate a high degree of indoctrination and often conflict with internationally well known scholars of Buddhism. Some of the books lack academic approach and seem to be meant for persons, who cannot think for themselves. I have deep respect for the philosophy behind the Buddhism but not always for the disparity of monks, or badly educated men disguised as monks, completely lacking the control of this important instrument that plays a significant role in the kingdom of Thailand. Many monks see the world through the prism of Buddhism so they wear masks, but all masks have cracks not one is perfect. When the gaps show you can see some lacks of understanding the reality of the many aspects and I feel that many monks do not realize they are being used by paranoid politicians or members of the elite as dogmatic instruments. Broader visions are needed but only come with proper education that spans outside the prism as mentioned.

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