Ammart and prai family values

COMMENTARY

Published: 29/05/2011 at 03:07 AM
Newspaper section: News

People often ask me, ''Will there be violence after the general elections?'' My honest answer is, ''I don't know.'' After all, I'm not a fortune-teller. I can only paint different scenarios that may or may not occur, and those scenarios only come from one man's perspective.

But there is violence right now. The latest incident was the gun attack on the home of a canvasser for the Democrat Party. The first incident that seems directly related to the July general election was the shooting of former Pheu Thai MP Pracha Prasopdee on May 10.

However, there was recently a much more low-key act of violence that makes for quite a story.

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About the author

: Writer: Voranai Vanijaka; Position: Political and Social Commentator

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mycrofth
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Discussion 16 : 30/05/2011 at 01:54 PM16
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It's one of the mysteries of democracy that in the end, whatever the outcome of elections, the universal "ammart" end up ruling the universal"prai" - who make up up no less than 60 of the population everywhere. Seriously, I don't know of any country where it's the other way round - have a look at the US, Australia, Sweden, even Latvia.
People (some of them believing they're "elite") who are not familiar with this fact cling to strategies like questioning the prai's "ripeness for democracy" and, if challenged, use military pacification tactics. Stupid, bloody,redundant.
I remember I saw T-shirts with "PRAI" on the back April/Mai last year - worn by card-carrying members of a movement openly led by a multi-billionaire... thats's a modern strategy: get the support of the underlings that nothing changes at the top.
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fma
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Discussion 15 : 30/05/2011 at 12:32 PM15
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D12: ".. they'll blow on motorcycles, pick-up trucks, gambling, whiskey and mia noi..."
Maybe they will, - together with food, clothes, a new TV etc.

Hopefully the trend will continue and be refined trough trial and error in future elections.
It certainly beats the alternative - military control, behind the scenes or on stage, until the country explodes.
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Aussie John
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Discussion 14 : 30/05/2011 at 06:32 AM14
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Until Thailand's revered 'patronage system' with the Ammart at the helm is made redundant Thailand's political and social ills will continue. It is the rigidity and corrupt nature of this archaic system that thwarts democratic progress and allows those at the top to use it with 'impunity'.
This system has evolved to promote inequality between the so called classes, purely based on wealth and influence.As long as Thais venerate money and power above everything else the 'patronage system' will continue to divide the nation.
Thailand needs a new vision, a new alternative for its impressionable youth, one that is truly democratic and that allows all citizens, no matter the amount of wealth and influence to have a REAL VOICE as well as real justice, when those that assume superiority think they can take advantage of their so called hi so position and behave with 'impunity'.
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dao
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Discussion 13 : 30/05/2011 at 01:29 AM13
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The whole class issue wasnt even a topic until Thaksin made it one to win support for his warped power struggle .It seems to be conveniently left out that he is from the group he claims to against .
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OldThaiHand
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Discussion 12 : 29/05/2011 at 10:08 PM12
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Very nice job.

At the end of the day, when the dust settles, nothing will have changed no matter which poster child wins the race.

The status quo will remain. The rich will still be rich and the poor will still be poor. If PT wins, the poor might get a few more satang in their pockets, which they'll blow on motorcycles, pick-up trucks, gambling, whiskey and mia noi.

But, it's not like the wooden carts are going to be trundling down the street towards the guillotine, filled with the ammart shorn of their titles, jewels and dignity and being pelted with rotten durian.

The prai will still wai, bow and scrape and the ammart will control what matters - money and power!
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wynner
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Discussion 11 : 29/05/2011 at 09:46 PM11
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There are no amart or prai only those who think there are amart and prai. We are all the same blood and red color meat on the inside.
All that separates us is what we think.
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Asian Hand
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Discussion 10 : 29/05/2011 at 04:16 PM10
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D1, the prai never struck back because jail time would be in the offing.
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tommylee
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Discussion 9 : 29/05/2011 at 02:44 PM9
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Could D7 kindly elaborate on who Thaksin’s foreign sponsors are and, maybe also, why they are sponsoring him?
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tommylee
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Discussion 8 : 29/05/2011 at 02:22 PM8
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Thanks to Khun Voranai Vanijaka for providing us with his weekly insightful, enjoyable commentaries on the Thai mind and soul. This week’s piece explains Thai ethics, “ammart and prai family values” and concludes that “These values are the ties that bind, making these elements of the ammart and the prai one and the same.” It might be interesting, though, to consider and compare in what esteem these common “family values” are being held, and how representatives of one class actually treat representatives of the other class: with fairness, respect, decency? Same, same? Or same, same, but different?
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wakeup
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Discussion 7 : 29/05/2011 at 01:25 PM7
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The entire Peua Thai leadership are elitist "Amart" as well. Thaksin was born into a rich family and married into a richer family. This has nothing to do about class - it is simply what is being used to con ignorant people into supporting Thaksin's cause. There's going to be violence again if Thaksin doesn't get his way - that isn't the "people's" decision, that is Thaksin and his foreign sponsors' decision.
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