Ambassador Kristie Kenney: Her Slip is Showing

Current US Ambassador to Thailand, Kristie Kenney, has made quite a reputation for herself as being someone whose main concern is making her job easy by “kissing up” to the leaders of her assigned country and for saying to hell with democracy and human rights.   

In August of last year, Philippine foreign minister, Albert del Rosario, slammed the former ambassador to his country, Kristie Kenney, as a "dismal failure" in an angry reaction to a secret cable published by anti-secrecy website Wikileaks.  According to the Wikileaks documents, Kenney criticized the Philippines’ revered democracy heroine, the late president Corazon Aquino, as being a weak, tarnished leader who did not do enough to fight corruption. 

"She (Kenney) was a dismal failure in helping the Filipinos defend our democracy. It would seem that she preferred to be favorably looked upon by the (Philippine presidential) palace," del Rosario said.  These comments about Kenney referred to Kenney’s apparent desire to curry favor with the Phillippine president of the time, Gloria Arroyo, who has been accused of vote fraud and massive corruption during her nearly 10 years in power.

Being a “dismal failure for democracy,” supporting corrupt individuals in power, and in “currying favor with those at the palace” are experiences which look great on a resume if you’re applying to be the US Ambassador to Thailand.

And Kenney has performed her job well, especially with regards to currying favor with the Palace. This can be seen in her many tweets like in August when she wrote that she was excited about going to the Palace to sign the Queen’s Happy Birthday Book or in December when she tweeted that the celebration of the Thai King's 84th birthday was her "most memorable event of 2011." Then there was the meeting her at her residence where she told a small group of newspaper editors, "We love your king."

It’s too bad the Ambassador doesn’t “love” our citizens or even the basic of human rights such as “freedom of expression.”

“The mission of the United States Embassy is to advance the interests of the United States, and to serve and protect US citizens in Thailand.” At least that’s what it says on the embassy’s website but that’s not what Ambassador Kristie has shown with regards to imprisoned American citizen Joe Gordon. To my knowledge, the Ambassador has never personally visited Joe in prison, nor has she signed his Happy Birthday Book.

For those who don’t know who Joe Gordon is, he is a Thai born US citizen and he was arrested for the bogus crime of lese majeste in Thailand on May 24, 2011. The DSI claimed that while he was in the US he was the owner of a blog which offered a Thai translation of a book banned in Thailand.  For months Joe maintained his innocence but was imprisoned anyway and denied bail. Not only was a complete travesty of justice but it was a potential embarrassing incident for both Thailand and the US.

Based upon the Ambassador’s MO, I would not be surprised that some deal was struck between the US Embassy and the Thai government to better make this embarrassing incident go away.  The embassy helps convince Joe that his best option is for him to plead guilty and seek a royal pardon.  Everybody wins… or do they?

Joe did finally agree to plead guilty. He was convicted on December 8, 2011 without a trial – because a guilty plea only requires sentencing – and was given 2.5 years in jail, and he publicly stated that he hoped for a royal pardon.

Now it is reported that the prosecutor has been granted another month to appeal Joe’s case. That means that the prosecutor will have had 3 months in which to appeal against Joe’s “light sentence” for allegedly translating a perfectly legal book in the US, where Joe is a citizen and resident.  Of course, the real reason for the appeal is to prevent Joe from getting that royal pardon.  A pardon cannot be given while a case is still open and, according to Joe’s lawyer, Anon Nampha, the prosecutor can ask the court to extend the period for appeal indefinitely.

Joe has been completely double crossed thanks to Ambassador Kenney and her stooges at the US embassy.  

Our US ambassador to Thailand seems determined to go down in history as the person who put the "ass" in "ambassador" although she would want everyone to believe she “advances the interests of the United States and to serves and protects US citizens in Thailand.” Unfortunately for Ambassador Kenney, her “slip” is showing.

FREE JOE GORDON!

Pheu Thai’s Plan for Maintaining Power: Ignore the Will of the People

With the shellacking of the military’s political party (Democrats) in the July 2010 election, the Pheu Thai Party, with their mandate from the people, should be able to easily advance a “progressive” pro-democracy agenda.  However, an electoral mandate in Thailand evidently doesn’t count for anything.  Despite all the evidence that the Thai people reject a non-civilian controlled military and the lese majeste laws as they are currently being enforced, the status quo of elitist repressive rule remains.

The Pheu Thai led government is not fully in charge of Thailand. Yingluck and her Deputy Ministers serve at the discretion of the Thai Military. Political issues such as the appointment of the Army Chief and the content/enforcement of the lese majeste laws are dictated by the military. Failure of this elected government to comply with military mandates will mean immediate removal via coup.

Therefore, don’t expect General Prayuth to be removed from duty or that there will be any relief from the draconian lese majeste law enforcement. The only way Pheu Thai can remain in power is that they continue to ignore the will of the people.

This is not democracy! Of course the Thai military does not want a democracy. Their power is derived from a faux monarchy system - propped up by them.

By the way, just what is the Thai Democratic Party’s plan for attaining power?

The same plan it’s always been—murder, lie, cheat and steal.

Lèse Majesté and the Thai Inquisition

"Well, I didn't expect a kind of Spanish Inquisition," the mild-mannered Englishman grumbles at a woman's questioning--and then the door opens and in rush Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, and Terry Jones, wearing blood-red cardinal's robes and waxed mustaches and golden crosses. "Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!" Palin announces with ominous self-satisfaction, eyes bright beneath a broad-brimmed hat, as the Monty Python sketch continues, only to get caught up in the difficulties of enumerating the things one does expect from the Spanish Inquisition. ("Our chief weapon is surprise--surprise and fear. Fear and surprise. Our two weapons are fear and surprise. And ruthless efficiency. Our three weapons are fear and surprise and ruthless efficiency, and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope. Our four--no! Amongst our weaponry are such elements as fear and--I'll come in again.") The joke, of course, is that the Spanish Inquisition as a byword for cruel tyranny looks absurd in a modern setting.

But it is no joke.  The Spanish Inquisition is far from being a medieval relic. The inquisitors haven’t vanished. They’ve just changed countries and one of their “weaponry.”  Now, instead of an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope, it is an almost fanatical devotion to the Thai Monarchy.

Yes, the Inquisition is an institution currently thriving in Thailand with regards to lèse majesté. Its fanaticism, its implicit totalitarianism (with inquisitors investigating every crevice of its victims’ lives), and its sheer bureaucratic brutality makes it central to who the Thai royalists are and what they are currently doing. The number of prosecutions under the world's strictest lèse majesté laws has risen sharply, as have jail terms, since the 2006 military coup.

Earlier this week at the notorious Bangkok Criminal Court (where much of the Thai autos-da-fé are held) Thai political activist, Surachai Danwattananusorn, was initially handed a 15-year term after finding him guilty on three counts of publicly insulting the monarchy. The sentence was halved to seven-and-a-half years in prison because he pleaded guilty. According to Surachai's wife Pranee, he has health problems including high blood pressure, diabetes, blockage of blood vessels in the heart and inflammation of the prostate, so he wanted to confess in order to seek a royal pardon. 

Surachai Danwattananusorn

"He led the public to believe that the monarchy was the cause of Thailand's political conflict," the judge said. "This is considered an extreme offence, inciting hatred."

Of course, the judge is none other than Thai Grand Inquisitress Chanathip Muanpawong.  She is the same judge who last year convicted Grandpa SMS, Amphon Tangnopphakul to 20 years in prison for allegedly sending four text messages and Daranee Charnchoengsilpakul (Da Torpedo) to 15 years after a secret trial for alleged lèse majesté.

       Amphon Tangnopphakul                                   Daranee Charnchoengsilpakul    

Judge Chanathip is also presiding in the ongoing trial of Chiranuch Premchaiporn, the Director of Thai news website Prachatai, for not removing third party comments criticizing the monarchy from her website quickly enough.  

Chiranuch Premchaiporn

The Grand Inquisitress Chanathip stated during that trial on 31 May, 2010:

“It is not necessary for the defendant to have many dates for witnesses. You do not have to worry. I can already make a verdict on this case based upon the information given by the public prosecutor.”

Chanathip and the other Thai judges have forebears in Torquemada and the men in the red hats of the Spanish Inquisition. They routinely deny bail to those who are charged with lese majeste. It is a form of torture in order to coerce a confession.  Torturers always do their work without regret, and out of necessity, certain that the existence of their country or their church or their king or their values depend on it. We know the cruelest of fanatics by their exceptionally clear consciences.

The rate of conviction among those charged with lèse majesté is 94% (according to Thai historian David Streckfuss).  The Thai inquisitors have no qualms about condemning poor and powerless people to long prison sentences as heretics because they dare to defy the orthodoxy of the political elite. 

Just like in sixteenth century Spain, there are not daily autos-da-fé in twenty-first century Thailand. But that should not alter our horror that they do happen and that they are so effectively institutionalized. Their purpose is to frighten and terrorize; the mark of their success is that they do not need to happen every day.

How will Thailand lose its inquisitional tendency? The truth seems to be that an actual democracy might help, but the idea of decency matters most. Unfortunately, decency is one thing lacking in Chanathip and the other hyper-royalist Thai judges in power. Like Torquemada, she will become infamous for her zealous campaign of lèse majesté and her name will become synonymous with the horror, bigotry, and cruel fanaticism that this Thai lèse majesté comprises.

“Torquemada - do not beg him for mercy. Torquemada - do not ask him for forgiveness. Let's face it - you can't Torquemada anything!”  The same goes with Chanathip Muanpawong.  I can envision her singing on the way to a Thai auto-da-fé…

“The Inquisition, what a show
The Inquisition, here we go
We know you're wishing
That we'd go away
But the Inquisition's here and it's here to stay!”

“You better change your point of views today
'Cause the Inquisition's here and it's here to stay!”

Abolish Thai Lèse Majesté laws!  
Free Political Prisoners!

Royalist Attack Using New Strategy: Boredom

Prachatai reports that Dr Tul Sitthisomwong, ultra-royalist buffoon, was a speaker at an event held by the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand on February 16th. There, the leader of royalist multi-colored shirt group (which consists of about 30 people), explained his opposition against proposed amendments to the lese majeste law or Article 112 of the Criminal Code. He also managed to bore all who attended at a level even God has ever seen.


See for yourselves...

TORTURE IS WRONG!

TUL-TURE IS WORSE!

A Refuge for a Thai Scoundrel

Chaiwat Sinsuwong, a core leader of the nationalist Thai Patriot Network (TPN) has been very busy lately.  In his never ending effort to expand the borders of Thailand by taking over land belonging to Cambodia, on January 12th, Chaiwat filed a petition with the Central Administrative Court in Thailand to stop the government from withdrawing Thai troops from the disputed areas around the Preah Vihear temple.  Chaiwat was essentially seeking an order keeping the Yingluck Shinawatra administration from following a ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last year to demilitarize the disputed area. Chaiwat accused Prime Minister Yingluck of failing to perform her duties to protect Thailand’s sovereignty, and of intervening in the army’s military affairs.

Chaiwat Sinsuwong

Then, last week, Chaiwat led a mob called “Thais with Patriotic Heart” to the entrance of Thammasat University to protest a group of seven law lecturers who call themselves “Nitirat” or “Law for the People.” Nitirat is proposing measures to put a stop to military dictatorship and make Thailand’s lese majeste law less prone to abuse. 

Once at Thammasat University, Chaiwat’s mob burned an effigy of Worachet Pakeerat, the most prominent member of the Nitirat group. 

 This “demonstration” was obviously an attempt to bully and intimidate the members of Nitirat.  Here’s another picture of this mob at their protest calling America a “bully.”

I don’t know what part of their dispute with Nitirat has to do with America but since they want to bring us into it, I’ll be more than happy to oblige them. 

It is very appropriate that Chaiwat uses the term “patriots” to describe the mobs he leads:  The Thai Patriot Network and Thais with Patriotic Heart. I am reminded of the saying by one of America’s founding fathers, Samuel Johnson, who said "Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel."

Here’s a little known secret:  Samuel Johnson isn’t entirely correct. Like most "sayings," there is an underlying inference that somehow just uttering the words makes it true. There have, of course, been scoundrels who have used patriotism to justify acts of political persecution or to vilify others by calling opponents unpatriotic.  Throughout history, there have been periods where xenophobia and jingoism have been incorporated into a notion of patriotic fervor. These are periods where true scoundrels have run towards, but could never hide within the confines of patriotism for long.

There have been famous scoundrels who have done terrible things in the name of patriotism, but patriotism was not their last refuge. People like Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein brought destruction and ruination to their countries in misguided notions of superiority and national destiny, including plans to expand their countries’ borders at the expense of other nations.  

Scoundrels:  Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein

More of products of their times than great leaders, Hitler's and Hussein’s patriotism was not their last refuge; it was their first refuge. Their last refuges were literally “holes” in the ground; Hitler's was in a bunker in Berlin and Hussein’s was a spider hole in a farmhouse near his hometown of Tikrit.  

I would personally like to suggest an appropriate "hole" for Chaiwat’s last refuge.  Here’s a picture of it.

I’m sure there is room for others from the “Thai Scoundrel Network” and the “Thais with Scoundrel Heart”