Kasian Tejapira is a professor of political science at Thammasat University and a prolific writer who has put out books, poems and more than 1,000 academic and newspaper articles since 1981. His key works include Toppling Thaksin; The Post-Modernisation Of Thainess; Imagined Uncommunity: The Lookjin Middle Class And Thai Official Nationalism; and The Irony Of Democratisation And The Decline Of Royal Hegemony In Thailand. All of them are often referenced in academic papers and debates on Thai society.
Every October, Kasian, 59, is also remembered as one of the three distinguished October Generation intellectuals whose critical view on major political institutions are well-known (the other two being Thongchai Winichakul and Somsak Jeamteerasakul, now in exile). He was there on Oct 6, 1976, when the violent crackdown took place. He was among the 3,000 young people who joined the now-defunct Communist Party of Thailand (CPT) after the brutal crackdown on Oct 6.
Although the events of Oct 6, 1976, and Oct 14, 1973, have already been commemorated this month, Kasian's experience as a student in the former incident and subsequently in the jungle when he joined the CPT remains relevant in our contemporary political struggle. Here's an excerpt from a conversation with the scholar.
What was your role during the Oct 6, 1976, incidents?
I'm a worker in the student movement. Thongchai was obviously a leader and Somsak was also well-known, as he was sharp-tongued and outspoken. But many students knew me as their tutor. My role was similar to Krisadang Nutcharut [a human rights lawyer and the main organiser of this year commemorations]. I was a substitute on stages when the main speakers like Thongchai and Somsak were off.
After several nights at the university, I caught a bus back home on the night of October 5. At dawn, radio news hinted at a dire situation. A friend also alerted me that things went far beyond and I could not get back inside.
So I'm not a hero.
But you're a survivor.
A dentai, a diehard survivor -- like, you should have died, but you survived inadvertently.
How did the Communist Party of Thailand influence the student movements?
Yes, the CPT infiltrated the student's movement. But there were push-and-pull factors. The students felt hopeless; the situation was so gloomy, the students felt they were crippled in their fight against the system. There's a lot of assassinations [of students and activists]. It's just a protest in a democratic society, right? But we felt like we were fighting something and could get killed. Excessive activities of authorities and the militant thugs also pushed people to the CPT side.
When Kriengkamol Laohapairoj [from the Students' Federation of Thailand] told the crowds early in October of that year, 'If one more deaths, I shall take up arms', he spoke our minds.
After Thammasat University was raided and torched by the vocational students [prior to the Oct 6 incidents], we felt hurt, as if our house had been trampled. Everyone felt we were under siege -- the siege of lawlessness.
How can we explain the brutality?
I'm trying to be objective regarding this issue. The powers-that-be didn't want to fight two conflicts. They had to free the capital from the CPT as they were facing communist guerrilla warfare in rural areas.
They chose brutality to cause us fear, to put it bluntly. But it backfired -- it ushered in revenge, and indirectly [encouraged] people to join the CPT.
Ironically, both the CPT and the elite rulers underestimated the intellectuals. Eventually, these students broke from the jungle movement because they didn't agree with the CPT approach. In reality, it was not only the CPT that shaped up our thoughts. Leftist movements around the world also influenced us, such as the Red Guards in China, the New left in Europe and America, and old leftists in Thailand, such as Jit Bhumisak and Udom Srisuwan.
How did your family deal with you?
After Oct 6, I stayed low for two months. My dad calmed down. One day in December, I told him that I would go out to buy rad ma noodles. He said, 'OK, come home quickly'. But it took me nearly five years before I came home. How could I return to study at the place where my friends got killed?
I was approached by the CPT cell. [Later] I stayed in a pocket of the Khmer Rouge stronghold. We had a commune there. I got a three-month basic military training.
How did you liaise with the Khmer Rouge?
We're not allowed direct contact. We lived separately. But at times I got to chat with them.
The KR thought Thai revolution wouldn't be achieved, as it was of and by the capitalists -- not of and by the farmers/workers, the dark-skinned people like them.
I was sort of shocked when one of them used a French encyclopaedia page to wrap tobacco. For us -- we wanted to [read it].
What exactly is your imagined goal for victory?
Quite a romantic one: we must win the revolution and come back to Sanam Luang to that tamarind tree [where students were hung to death], or run tanks into the capital.
How and what made you return?
We were told [by the left] that victory was possible, but the war was protracted, so we thought perhaps in three years we could win. But then it sounded like five years, and then longer than that. But the Khmer Rouge was under attack and we didn't have a stronghold. We knew this win would be delayed. But the extended war wasn't really a main issue; the [factor that made us leave the jungle] was conflicts within the CPT.
Also, Prime Minister Kriengsak Chomaman had moved to reach out to students.
When I left the border for a family visit, I planned to return to the jungle. But when I was back in society and felt bombarded with contradicting loads of information, when my critical article was denied publication in the commune, I delayed my return. I ultimately restored my student status and finished the study.
Talking about resistance and anti-status quo, do you see any resemblance to the Red-Shirt Movement?
Back then, PM Kriengsak began the reconciliation move, and later Chavalit Yongchaiyudh and Prem Tinsulanond followed up. They were quite successful delinking the students from the CPT.
But the Red Shirts, after the crackdown, didn't have the jungle to hide in. And we're not sure they wanted to take up arms.
For our generation, which lost in that 'project' -- we just cried over it. Once we accepted that it had ended, we [resumed] our individual lives and some of us have achieved prosperity and happiness. Look at those who succeed in business, NGOs and academia.
Some activists felt depressed that they never won in democracy struggles -- one after another.
We have to relinquish the CPT style of thinking. There's no such thing as a final war. It's only a gradual move. Human emancipation is a process.
If we think this way, we can fight on and help others fight -- win in a small way. But if you lose, don't give up. This is not a game. It's a pattern of life.
What are the circumstances regarding contemporary exiles. How is it different from in the 1970s?
In the past, exiles were young and healthy. But contemporary exiles have to begin a new life -- it's quite sympathetic. They just miss home, as the situation doesn't seem to make them want to return soon.
So there's no hope for a reconciliation, like when the state welcomed students who returned from the jungle in the 1980s?
I don't think it's happening soon, as the powers-that-be will try to acquire a strong grip of power by using force and affirming law and order to curb people, instead of relying on charisma and persuasion.
So are we still in deep military long-haul?
Some people may tolerate it and wait for the election, and some believe the transitional period will eventually pass.
I don't think we could afford to have a rigid military power forever.
We have the monarchy as a counter-pillar. The military can't have absolute power like what happened in other countries' histories. After all, the Thai military doesn't have that unity. They may have discipline and order while sharing resources and interests.
We may have to understand that the society is ruled by elite pluralism, which currently is using the military to do the job of keeping social order and stability.
That's why we hear the PM complain over and over again that 'you've asked me to do the job but you don't help me; you leave me to do a tough job alone', etc. It's a message for those elites.
Elite pluralism won't allow the military to stay dominant; it's just a matter of when and how [the military's grip will be loosened], which I also don't know.
Unfortunately, the elite maintain their hold on power to the sacrifice of the little people.
