[Peace-discuss] Fwd: [New post] Verbal Solidarity Is Not Enough

Sun Feb 11 16:39:57 UTC 2018

A message from Thailand:

New post on Uglytruth-Thailand
        [http://s0.wp.com/i/emails/blavatar.png]
[http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/b94c98491e599510a5ec039e64af3261?s=50&d=identicon&r=G]<https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fuglytruththailand.wordpress.com%2Fauthor%2Fuglytruththailand%2F&data=02%7C01%7C%7Ca144ad798a154ca3525c08d57115b91d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636539260467076265&sdata=Vdk7eSZzICpicawu5kc5JgJSaT31TrRyw5B5rTs1pwg%3D&reserved=0>
Verbal Solidarity Is Not Enough<https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fuglytruththailand.wordpress.com%2F2018%2F02%2F11%2Fverbal-solidarity-is-not-enough%2F&data=02%7C01%7C%7Ca144ad798a154ca3525c08d57115b91d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636539260467076265&sdata=RvWnPhF2z2Z29DGK19zJ9CovndatqwipRl7gyv9pc2w%3D&reserved=0>
by uglytruththailand<https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fuglytruththailand.wordpress.com%2Fauthor%2Fuglytruththailand%2F&data=02%7C01%7C%7Ca144ad798a154ca3525c08d57115b91d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636539260467076265&sdata=Vdk7eSZzICpicawu5kc5JgJSaT31TrRyw5B5rTs1pwg%3D&reserved=0>

Giles Ji Ungpakorn

[https://uglytruththailand.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/s__23994374-e1517487923673.jpg?w=300]<https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fuglytruththailand.files.wordpress.com%2F2018%2F02%2Fs__23994374-e1517487923673.jpg&data=02%7C01%7C%7Ca144ad798a154ca3525c08d57115b91d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636539260467076265&sdata=p70TRedboBvsKWzki2MclTs%2FnRbUpf0D8MPzXMdUOPc%3D&reserved=0>

As many young activists who have come out against the military dictatorship now face imprisonment or even lèse-majesté charges, it is worth building an understanding of the potential power of social movements and the importance of politics in leading the struggles of these movements. If we do not do this, the activists will languish in jail and Thai society will not be freed from the influence of the military.

[https://uglytruththailand.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/750x422_790330_1517054855.jpg?w=300]<https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fuglytruththailand.files.wordpress.com%2F2018%2F02%2F750x422_790330_1517054855.jpg&data=02%7C01%7C%7Ca144ad798a154ca3525c08d57115b91d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636539260467076265&sdata=D0cdRzhIrZYJWGrCjWrCJWXm7QnNtisCOYvWwHsUcFQ%3D&reserved=0>

It is not enough to praise these young activists and wish them well, as many have quite rightly done. If we remain as mere spectators, viewing some symbolic defiance of the junta by the students or NGO activists, the dictatorship can never be overthrown. It is not merely about pushing the junta to call elections or demanding civil rights in an abstract manner. The whole authoritarian structure of Thai politics, which the military dictatorships have been building needs to be dismantled. This means we must pay attention to “power” and political leadership.

[27798264_353664365041999_7619343842983816625_o]

The latest protest at the Democracy Monument yesterday was a good start, but much more needs to be done to build an organised movement. Rungsima Rome, one of the leaders, was right when he said yesterday that just observing the protest via the internet is not enough. People need to come out and join the protests.

But merely making a call for action does not automatically result in a mass uprising against the military either. Hard work on the ground is necessary in building strong social movements. It may seem too easy for someone in exile like me to state this, but it nevertheless remains true.

We need to learn from the lessons of the 14th October 1973 uprising against the dictatorship, when half a million students and working people came out on to the streets of Bangkok and faced down tanks and guns and beat the military. That uprising was sparked by the arrests of pro-democracy activists. Of course we can all hope that this happens again. But there are some crucial differences between the situation in 1973 and 2018.

One of the most important lessons from the 14th October 1973 uprising was that it did not just arise out of thin air. Students and workers in those days had mass organisations and the anger at the military repression fed into those mass organisations and resulted in half a million people being pulled on to the streets. Added to this was the political influence of the Communist Party in building a clear and unified critique of society, even though the party played little role in organising the uprising itself and made serious mistakes 3 years later.

What we urgently need is mass organisation. The Red Shirts were a mass movement, but the Taksin allied UDD leadership has placed the Red Shirt Movement in cold storage. This has destroyed the movement.

It is up to all of us to step up to the challenge and rebuild a democracy movement which is independent of politicians like Taksin.

The absence of a Left political party has also created difficulties. If we look around Thai society we see that the so-called NGO-led “Peoples Movement” is blinded by its post-communist adherence to single-issues. Many even supported the junta in the past. The 14th October 1973 uprising linked discontent with social and economic issues in with the struggle against the military. That was why it was so powerful.

The military junta is busy designing an authoritarian political system similar to that which we see in Burma. This aims to extend the dark shadow of the military into the future, even if elections are eventually held.

Today the challenge for us all, but also for the active students and NGOs, is whether we can all help to rebuild a mass movement for democracy which weaves together all the pressing issues of society and is linked to a newly organised political party built from below.

For more on Thai Social Movements, see this paper from 2015: http://bit.ly/2aDzest<https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F2aDzest&data=02%7C01%7C%7Ca144ad798a154ca3525c08d57115b91d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636539260467076265&sdata=Bbjmxi4myh%2FtGYSxweo%2BiEfRftbbHZCClulvkaudGis%3D&reserved=0>

uglytruththailand<https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fuglytruththailand.wordpress.com%2Fauthor%2Fuglytruththailand%2F&data=02%7C01%7C%7Ca144ad798a154ca3525c08d57115b91d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636539260467076265&sdata=Vdk7eSZzICpicawu5kc5JgJSaT31TrRyw5B5rTs1pwg%3D&reserved=0> | February 11, 2018 at 6:07 am | Tags: Giles Ji Ungpakorn<https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fuglytruththailand.wordpress.com%2Ftag%2Fgiles-ji-ungpakorn%2F&data=02%7C01%7C%7Ca144ad798a154ca3525c08d57115b91d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636539260467076265&sdata=e%2BhZeLMG5%2FxWmLvrKejBbe6YHQe7Pjgru96K236hmpY%3D&reserved=0>, Military junta<https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fuglytruththailand.wordpress.com%2Ftag%2Fmilitary-junta%2F&data=02%7C01%7C%7Ca144ad798a154ca3525c08d57115b91d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636539260467232526&sdata=ZJ0oXkHPXuYarUrISpwyUHWUHu42LCn5HUTIDhQmeYg%3D&reserved=0>, Political prisoners<https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fuglytruththailand.wordpress.com%2Ftag%2Fpolitical-prisoners%2F&data=02%7C01%7C%7Ca144ad798a154ca3525c08d57115b91d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636539260467232526&sdata=4v8Xeg71BgvKCK98FhZvC48D2i4n%2FgeeE8HzU6keHwc%3D&reserved=0>, social movements<https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fuglytruththailand.wordpress.com%2Ftag%2Fsocial-movements%2F&data=02%7C01%7C%7Ca144ad798a154ca3525c08d57115b91d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636539260467232526&sdata=jVqxm8Stvr2XP6T36vWs1HvavtlGvRbLL8CiuZobjZw%3D&reserved=0>, struggle for democracy<https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fuglytruththailand.wordpress.com%2Ftag%2Fstruggle-for-democracy%2F&data=02%7C01%7C%7Ca144ad798a154ca3525c08d57115b91d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636539260467232526&sdata=iHQzKN5VkwRVhi9yDHZxClvbdC9lNSjpuQrpJDjjSHY%3D&reserved=0>, Thai politics<https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fuglytruththailand.wordpress.com%2Fcategory%2Fthai-politics%2F&data=02%7C01%7C%7Ca144ad798a154ca3525c08d57115b91d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636539260467232526&sdata=OiPEloEA0ok83J4UHoy%2BUGeojHsTaRM7sIM2n6gtYek%3D&reserved=0> | Categories: Thai politics<https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fuglytruththailand.wordpress.com%2Fcategory%2Fthai-politics%2F&data=02%7C01%7C%7Ca144ad798a154ca3525c08d57115b91d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636539260467232526&sdata=OiPEloEA0ok83J4UHoy%2BUGeojHsTaRM7sIM2n6gtYek%3D&reserved=0> | URL: https://wp.me/p4bxj7-xq<https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwp.me%2Fp4bxj7-xq&data=02%7C01%7C%7Ca144ad798a154ca3525c08d57115b91d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636539260467232526&sdata=n6CgrBQpZZ693dcBRmzfxgwiyEhAGfhzNcIV7wDSjTQ%3D&reserved=0>

Unsubscribe<https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsubscribe.wordpress.com%2F%3Fkey%3Def4520420bfe3a98a43fbf8a90484a5b%26email%3Dkarenaram%2540hotmail.com%26b%3DDLCh7-J1%252BGx%253DJ%253FRoYxjn0jzHUysHPJ.CHqsbUd%253DW3ZSN1BqOBJ&data=02%7C01%7C%7Ca144ad798a154ca3525c08d57115b91d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636539260467232526&sdata=0gp7hDGQshH6JSLwAL5m%2FeiG4q0pUFOUy%2BViG1rSNUg%3D&reserved=0> to no longer receive posts from Uglytruth-Thailand.
Change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions<https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsubscribe.wordpress.com%2F%3Fkey%3Def4520420bfe3a98a43fbf8a90484a5b%26email%3Dkarenaram%2540hotmail.com&data=02%7C01%7C%7Ca144ad798a154ca3525c08d57115b91d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636539260467232526&sdata=zjmvlPE4CGECevx2XBqpHnY5Lzd8jqUHQv2OEovBe2o%3D&reserved=0>.

Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser:
https://uglytruththailand.wordpress.com/2018/02/11/verbal-solidarity-is-not-enough/<https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fuglytruththailand.wordpress.com%2F2018%2F02%2F11%2Fverbal-solidarity-is-not-enough%2F&data=02%7C01%7C%7Ca144ad798a154ca3525c08d57115b91d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636539260467232526&sdata=Kt1JpF%2F6YjyADGirmKuJ7yA6%2BnMIvARClWMSTgOFp30%3D&reserved=0>

Thanks for flying with [https://s0.wp.com/i/emails/blavatar-default.png]  WordPress.com<https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwordpress.com&data=02%7C01%7C%7Ca144ad798a154ca3525c08d57115b91d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636539260467232526&sdata=1Unp5FtOXHLNye%2F9xDyKRSX5Idk2eNJbC6pHznSKNN4%3D&reserved=0>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace-discuss/attachments/20180211/dc52bbad/attachment-0001.html>