Sanitsuda Ekachai's blog - Latest comments on A tiny victory against ethnic prejudice

In response to: A tiny victory against ethnic prejudice

Bill W [Visitor] — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 02:33:18 +0000

This MAGNANIMOUS GESTURE seems odd since Thais don't seem to recall where their roots are from. I guess that's what keeps xenophobia alive and well in Thailand!

In response to: A tiny victory against ethnic prejudice

sombat thavorn [Visitor] — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:42:31 +0000

It is pity that Thailand's government has long kept such a bad and unacceptable conditions for those who have stayed along the borderline for so long. It looks as if no knowledge and no understanding are rooted from their stay. And, besides, it looks as if the 'power-that-be' wants to keep all the land belonging to Thailand only to the crazy foresters and military men who always acts as if those people are not human at all.

In response to: A tiny victory against ethnic prejudice

DeepInTheForest [Visitor] — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 23:42:38 +0000

Another thought-provoking article on a relevant topic. Thanks to Khun Sanitsuda.
KenBoi, I wish I could rebut your statement that 'xenophobia is part and parcel of the modern nation-state'. Unfortunately, I am having a difficult time coming up with a counterexample. The interesting thing is that all states must deal with the fact that they are not homogeneous, and in order to avoid disintegration must learn at some point to acknowledge their diversity. You would think that this would encourage a certain tolerance of others' ethnicity, but this is such a difficult thing to achieve, perhaps because pushing that hot button is such an easy thing for politicians to do, and can usually guarantee them a following.

In response to: A tiny victory against ethnic prejudice

falang ngong [Visitor] — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 12:12:31 +0000

"Their suffering stems from the nationalistic belief that ours is the exclusive land of ethnic Thais"

i.e people whose families moved here from China over the last 70 years or so?

In response to: A tiny victory against ethnic prejudice

konpapa [Visitor] — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 17:58:35 +0000

when tried to research a couple of Thai proverbs I discovered that 6 -8 milloin were Lanna speakers 25+ millian Isaan-Lao 2 - 3 milloin Khmer, 2 + millon Malay probably about 1million hill tribes (not well reearched) and about 14% of total population ethnic chinese who are bilingual it seems that the majority of people in Thailand do not have official central Thai as their first language. Alleducation is of course in the central Thai dialect enforced from the thirties by the national socialist generals who created the racial myth of only one type of Thai national

In response to: A tiny victory against ethnic prejudice

Steve [Visitor] — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 01:37:59 +0000

I am glad to see that the Thai government realizes that multi cultural peoples in Siam is the very root of Thailands irresistable charm! Let's hope they fully embrace it as it is terrific for tourism at the very least.

In response to: A tiny victory against ethnic prejudice

SPICEMAN [Visitor] — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 10:22:59 +0000

Brian #7, the native American Indians sure have a much stronger case against the White European settlers than you. Where is the UN/UNESCO/ICJ? That's how laughable the whole thing is.

In response to: A tiny victory against ethnic prejudice

KenBoi [Visitor] — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 08:33:41 +0000

Reluctantly I have to agree with #8. The ancient Khmer kingdom was already on the slide and it allowed for the rise of what is today the modern Thai nation state. Not sure if I would agree with the arguement that the Khmer kingdom has collapsed completely but it was facing intense pressure to keep the territorial integrity of their vast empire together, as could be expected for an ancient empire that has reigned supreme in the region for a few centuries. To #7 I didn't know the kon thai were actually migrants from southern china so that is an interesting fact to know. I thought the Tai people were indigenous to the region. Anyhow xenophobia is part and parcel of the modern nation-state. The whole notion of citizenry is an absract construct especially in many of the post-colonial nation states. It is through xenophobia that a government seeks legitmacy by imparting in the majority citzenry notions that they are something special. Nothing wrong with that from where I sit but just make sure it doesn't get radicalised and we end up with another Adolf Hitler :-P