Sufficiency economy pondered upon

"Sufficiency economy" can be better understood if it is seen as something quite uniquely Thai, with all its cultural nuances and non-translatable terms. It could be better understood if one is able to speak Thai and has followed its debate, discourse, promotion and implementation in the Thai language. When one tries to explain it in English, there are frustrating confusions, such as, is it an economic thought? Or is it a Buddhist philosophy? Is it the same as sustainable development or environmental sustainability? Most importantly, is it worth discussing or can it be applied anywhere else but in Thailand?

The person explaining from the Thai point of view can't explain it sufficiently, first, because of that frustrating incompatibility of the English language for explaining many Thai concepts. On top of that he/she is also challenged to apply western economic concepts to something that is more an expression of Buddhist philosophical thought than an economic thought. One speaks about the mind and its effects on the quality of life while the other speaks about quantitative monetary concepts. One calls for a middle way that considers family and community relationships and environmental responsibility, while the other is just looking for cost efficiency or the best price that expresses the right balance between supply and demand. How do you quantify the diverse levels of how each unique individual defines what is "sufficient" for him or his community? Price, demand, supply, efficiency, etc. becomes hopelessly inadequate as measurements. How does one quantify generosity or charity or a 'right' mind? Because sufficiency economy fails to answer these questions, its critics declare that it is not an economic thought nor a viable economic model.

The story of sufficiency economy developed in Thailand nearly along the same timeline as the story of how sustainability caught on as desired developmental goal recognized by the UN in 1972 at the UN Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm, popularized 15 years later with the Brundtland report (1987) and adopted as a major wold challenge at the Rio Earth Summit (1992). In Thailand, sufficiency economy was being shaped and implemented as an economic thought since the late fifties/early sixties when a young king travelled laboriously around his country initiating development projects where he could to better the lives of people in remote areas.

Despite its current popularity, sufficiency economy is not a mainstream economic model in Thailand. It is more like a supplementary prescription for the shaping of economic activities to counteract the ills of a dominantly capitalistic model. Sufficiency economy as an alternative economic thinking is one that is gaining ground one poor village by one poor village converted, as individuals who were inspired by its principals implemented and demonstrated successful local action again and again. In many cases, villages that could not feed themselves started growing their own food as an alternative to growing cash crops that had only caused them to become increasingly indebted. Instead of buying expensive fertilizers, they have expanded the supply of organic food, some even becoming successful with an export niche market.  At the same time, depleted forests are being regenerated and a future in which environmental and community awareness where values such as love, friendship, and generosity gain triumph over profit and greed are being re-enforced.

A recent article, "Sufficiency Economy" was published by PETER JANSSEN on The Manila Bulletin (http://www.mb.com/, December 27, 2010:  http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/295104/sufficiency-economy ), focused on a Thai abbot at Doi Pha Som forest temple (วัดธาตุดอยผาส้ม) in Chiang Mai, Sorayut Chayapanyo (พระสรยุทธ ชยปัญโญ), who had rebuilt an old temple, regenerated the surrounding forest, and helped villages grow out of debt. Stanford educated, but rejecting that privileged knowledge, he explains sufficiency economy as not being 'anti-capitalist' nor 'anti-Western', but as something between market economy and socialism. Sufficiency economy was shown as being meaningful in impoverished rural areas where access to the market economy was difficult. Money or greed were no longer the main locomotive of local economic activities once people learnt how to search for ways to become dependant on what they had.

This was not a new story for me. I have heard many very interesting local stories of how poverty was transformed into resourcefulness over the years adopting those principals proposed by the Thai King, proposed in his annual speech of 1972. What this story gave to me, this time, was the realization that it was the availability and strength of a localized social network or social structures, very particular to Thailand or maybe a Buddhist society, that plays an important role in nurturing the emergence of leadership or inspired action by individuals in the successful implementation of a sufficiency economic model.

Before Thailand became a modern economy with its building blocks in the late fifties/early sixties, much of its rural economy, community life or social fabric was structured around the temple. The temple was not simply a religious institution, it was also the place where education was being given, funds being raised for community development, and where the binds of society were formed and strengthened. In many cases, it was the ground where many non-monetary activities were supplementing the economic livelihood of its communities, with its festivals and fairs, funerals, alms giving and donations.

This was a social network that encouraged individuals to make a difference, usually with very small means.  As the modern economy grew, the state and modern markets took over much of the role that the temple played. Festivals are now just commercial events hosted on government grounds. They don't do much for that very personal tie that binds. As a modern Thai, I don't remind myself the value of giving each single day as my mother does, just by consistently getting up every morning to cook rice for a group of passing monks.

When I read yet another story of how one person transforms a community, it dawned on me that poverty is not converted by economic intervention, but by changing the emphasis on our values. When we review what we want of the world by starting a review of  our minds, not from the point of view of what objects or things we need, but from a point of view of what qualities in life we really need to make us contented, we can come to realize that we really don't need all those consumerist products and services the markets try to push on us. We then realize that we don't need to focus on chasing money so much when we can focus on just trying to define what makes us contented.

Climate Change Negotiations: An example of Public Diplomacy

Shah, Anup. “Reactions to Climate Change Negotiations and Action.” Global Issues, Updated: 04 Oct. 2009. Accessed: 06 Dec. 2010.

UNITAR's training program:
http://www.unitar.org/ny/environmental_negotiations

Thai cooking in Spanish

Recently inspired to find more simple solutions to making a video, finally got into editing on iMovie, and cut a DVD earlier produced into 4 minute shorts to upload to YouTube....



There's also more (cooking vdos in Spanish) to come at my YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/netnapitasakorn?feature=mhum

"Stop calling them 'developing countries'" from Gapminder

The term "Developing Countries" might have made sense once.

Today it's impossible to make a clear distinction between "developing" and "developed" countries.

In 1950, most of the so-called "developing countries" had more than 5 children per women and less than 50 years of life expectancy.

Today, in most of the world, women have less than 3 and life expectancy is over 65 years.

Any attempt to divide the countries of the world into two groups, such as "developing and developed countries" will be an over-simplification.

Click play on the graph in the link below to see how the world has changed since 1950.

www.bit.ly/9DwNBE

The middle income trap

The Nation on Sep. 12, published an article announcing ADB's approval of a $300mn loan to Thailand to develop its capital market. The 15 year period loan is to be used in support of the Thai government's Capital Market Development Master Plan for 2009-13 for the development of the equity market, bond market and money market in four areas: regulatory environment; market efficiency, liquidity and transparency; market infrastructure; and new products and investors. 

The government has made substantial headway in developing Thailand's capital market. Recent measures included establishing a timetable for the demutualisation of the Stock Exchange of Thailand, strengthening the surveillance and enforcement capabilities of the Securities and Exchange Commission, moves to develop the domestic bond market, and simplifying taxes on financial transactions. There has also been activities organised to improve public financial literacy.

What caught my interest was the mention of the capital market development plan's goal to help the country "transform from a middle-income to high-income economy through increased contribution of the domestic capital market to financing domestic investment and economic growth".

"The middle income trap" seems to be a recent development agenda that is being 'pushed around' at the moment. I remembered having recently read an article at Time about Malaysia's dilemma with this interesting concept. I had felt then that the writer didn't do much justice for Malaysia. However, it seems that this economic criticism is gaining some weight among policy makers. Here are a couple of related articles:

The Star, "Caught in middle income trap"

China Law Blog, "China, Malaysia, Korea And The "Middle Income Trap"

From an economist's blog, "Getting out of the middle income trap"

From a Vietnamese point of view, "Avoiding the middle-income trap: renovating industrial policy formulation in Vietnam"

From an Indian point of view, "The middle income trap" and "The challenge is to escape the middle income trap"

Of course, moving towards a higher income economy is a desired goal, but I can't help wondering. Is the simple focus on "income" levels obscuring other desired developmental goals? Like income distribution for one? Does higher income come with skewered income distribution? If it does, well, maybe it's okay to be "stuck" for a while, until those higher income countries can show us that people with lower income in their countries are receiving desired benefits of higher income, let's say... a good welfare service system for one, no?

Some recommendations of how to escape the middle income trap:

• a managed growth program with higher income, stronger currency, while maintaining a flexible foreign exchange regime and inflation control targets
• a more efficient capital market, availability of capital for sme and local firms to grow
• R&D spending
• tax reform (capital gain tax)
• investment in human resources
• developing an ability to produce and contribute to the global economy via home grown innovations

Economics aside, I think there are other socio-political issues that can cause a country to be stuck, my own list:

• political instability, stunted political development
• corruption
• a polarized society
• debt
• lack of investment in infrastructure and human capital
• energy self-sufficiency

To cap off, I found this interesting and useful guide, from You can read the Bangkok Post, by Jon Fernquest, "Avoiding the middle income trap: The challenges ahead for Thailand"

Linguistic diversity in Thailand

Recently meeting a linguistic student the other day, I surprised him by declaring that Kmer and Thai did not belong to the same family group. He thought they belonged to the same linguistic family.  I had a vague memory of a classification of the three large linguistic families of Southeast Asian languages I had read in Joachim Schiiesinger's "Ethnic Groups of Thailand: Non-Tai Speaking Peoples of Thailand" (published by White Lotus Press, 2000.)  I looked up this book as soon as I got home, just to make sure I hadn't made a rash declaration. Sure enough, page 8, a diagram, adapted from James A. Matisoff, "Linguistic Diversity and Language Contact", in John MacKinnon and Wanat Bhruksasri, eds, Highlanders of Thailand (Oxford University Press, 1983): The three linguistic superstocks of Southeast Asia:

1. Austro-Asiatic, to which belongs the languages of Munda (India), Nicobarese, Mon-Kmer (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Burma, Thailand, China, Assam), and Aslian (Malaysia).
2. Austro-Thai, to which belongs the sub-family languages called Austronesian, Tai-Kadai, and Mioa-Yao.
3. Sino-Tibetan, subdivided into Chinese and Tibeto-Burman.

Now if you're not a linguist (which I'm not, but I'm an extremely curious person), it's easy and forgivable to make a simple and common conclusion that people of same geographic region will be speaking similar and related languages. However, it turns out that Southeast Asia is one of the most diverse and linguistic regions of the world. My new linguist friend, who specialized in Spanish and is more interested in learning about prehispanic languages, of course, was not expected to know this.

How would you explain to people who don't have a clue, the minefield of linguistics? What exactly do linguists do? Well, my husband's niece who had decided to go into that field of study, is now working on the construction of a dictionary of Spanglish, of all things. I met another, who worked with a computer software company, using her speciality in Latin, putting a natural order to computer programming. Then, there's a blogger I avidly follow who doesn't write so much about linguistics as much as she writes about Thai cooking!

Wikipedia says, "linguistics is the scientific study of natural language". It also goes on to say that there are several sub-fields (ie, grammar and semantics), and sub-disciplines (ie, evolutionary liguistics, historical linguistics, sociolinguistics, neurolinguistics, language acquisition, discourse analysis, and pragmatics), and even relate fields (like phonetics). Interestingly, "outside the field, this term is commonly used to refer to people who speak many languages fluently".

So from the understanding derived from reading the above wiki article, the classification of family languages falls under historical linguistics, branching out from philology, the study of ancient texts.  Well, if you're in interested in what linguistics is all about just keep following those numerous links provided by wikipedia. I hope it will inspire you to develop a keener interest in what linguistics is about, if not to be fascinated enough to become one yourself.  Meanwhile, I'm looking at the topic heading that I put up and sees that it's saying "Linguistic diversity in Thailand"!

What then is the distinction between Austro-Asiatic and Austro-Thai? "Austro" means south, so therefore, Austro-Asiatic is basically South Asia. That is an interesting revelation, because only a small group of people are left that speak Austro-Asiatic (Munda) in India which geographically is considered South Asia. Instead, the language of the Indians are mainly of the Indo-European and Dravidian language groups. Another quirk of linguistics.

The grouping of the language family of Austro-Tai is based on a hypothesis that the Tai-Kadai and Austronesian language families of southern China and the Pacific are genealogically related. There are a number of possible cognates in the core vocabulary.  The word for rice, for example.

While what is seen on the surface is that the Thai language is THE one and only official language of Thailand, in reality a multitude of languages and dialects are spoken in Thailand. I enjoy being able to point out the differences of Isaan dialects spoken in Northeastern Thailand. Sakon Nakhon, where my family is from, has a special kind of sing song lilt (influenced by Puthai) that in my opinion makes it sound softer than for example the dialect of its neighboring province of Kalasin. Nobody will deny that the dialect of the North is different from the dialect of the Northeast, even if we can quite easily understand each other, but have a Southerner speak his dialect to me and I'm lost, but not as lost as having a Karen hilltribe speak to me.

The book, "Linguistic Diversity and National Unity", by William A. Smalley (1994), singularizes the success of Thailand's official language policy. Unlike other multi-ethnic nations, such as Myanmar and India, where official language policy has sparked bloody clashes, Thailand has maintained relative stability despite its eighty languages. 

Another notch on the belt for Thailand, it seems.

IPad moves us forward

I was skeptical, at the beginning, whether I could adapt and actually enjoy reading on a touch screen tablet...until the iPad officially hit the Mexican market. My family and I turned out to be among the first to check it out at Reforma 222's iShop. The main reason for scuttling across the city to hunt for and happily dishing out 8,000 pesos for the smallest 16G-wifi iPad, which was selling like hot cakes that first week, was justified with the thought of all the savings I would receive from not having to pay the average 20 dollars for shipping that always topped each order of books I made with Amazon. (English language bookshops being a rarity in Mexico.) The various Mexican stores that were carrying the iPads all offered the increased incentive of long-term payments, interest free, from 6-18 months. 

It's been about three weeks now and I'm still being surprised on a daily basis, by how I can adapt the iPad to helping me better enjoy the things I like.  Primarily, the adjustment to reading ebooks came pretty easily. Not only do I agree with a Macworld's writer account of "How the IPad changed my reading habits": yes, to the liberating experience of being able to control font size; yes, to the mobility of carrying several 'books' with you in one package; YES, to going back to reading comics again, and finally-yes, to a totally new way of reading magazines and news. I managed to read a novel more leisurely with the bookmark function, and the temptation to look at the final pages is somehow removed by this less physcial format. While reading Chris Kuzneki's The Lost Throne, his descriptions of fabulous places like   Meteora and Mt. Athos, had me checking them out immediately online, just a click away on the iPad.

I also discovered the pleasures of being rewarded by the creative powers of application makers. By asking google to deliver the lastest news related to the iPad, I caught Flipboard on its launching day. What a novel way of experiencing Facebook and Twitter it was! I'm actually using my Twitter account more because of Flipboard. I even like the way Wired is presented on Flipboard more than on its original, too fancy, Wired app. It's a genius of having many options put into one place. I deleted some newspaper apps that I felt were cluttering my opening screen and opted for Flipnews instead. The coolest is being able to use the iPad as a really expensive photo frame that I can switch on as I listen to music from iTunes (which never really caught up with me until now). Apart from the app Photo Frame Lite which delivers me interesting and recently loaded photos from Flickr, I can watch stream of photos shared by my social groups from Facebook, Twitter, and other Flip items I've chosen on Flipboard in its 'unopened' flip screen. Just these photo streams alone make me feel more connected with the world, and with absolutely no regrets that I didn't hesitate to buy this new tech gadget. I am offered glimpses into the beautiful lives, the so talented eyes of a larger bit of humanity than I could possibly experience personally.

The iPad is much more than an oversized iPod, and much more than a common e-reader. The apps Virtuoso, Note Goal Lite, and Etude is encouraging me to try learning how to play the piano again. I doodle on Draw Free when I'm bored. I'm expecting the acquisition of my Spanish vocabulary to speed up with Spanish Dict's word game, my grammar to improve with free spanish lessons podcasts, my ability to manage the complexity of the language by internalizing the downloaded audiobook, Don Quixote.

All in all, I can't help sympathizing with the angst of the publishing industry in their scramble to figure out how to keep in the game in a digitized world. However, at the same time, I can't help cheering all these new game changing paradigm, when I read articles about learning disabled kids and old people coming out enchanted and having a richer learning experience, all thanks to the iPad, ....and all the industrious people creating fabulous apps!

Mor Lam and Monks

Mor lam, is a northeastern Thai tradition that is slowly dying due to the influence of pop music. It would be wonderful if a new generation of Isaan youngster with talent could revive this lyrical art.

An unforgetable talent that had helped keep this artform current was Pumpuang Duangjan, R.I.P. While there are current artists like Jintara Poonlarp, Siriporn Ampaipong, and even a Dutch singer Christy Gibson, these studio-produced mor lam pales in comparison to the excitement and appreciation of a spontaneous talent shown in the live sparing of a mor lam contest or performance among the Isaan people.

I was fortunate enough to witness one such performance at a young age.  Maybe multimillion Thai pop music studio businessmen can be tipped to fund these contests in the Isaan country side, in the way that Nelson Mandela did for South African rugby, as shown in the movie, Invictus, not only to promote the goodwill of Luk Tung, a local musical genre not imported from abroad, but to give a sense of pride in cultural identity of the young, as well as to discover new natural talent.

I had always thought that this musical form is in some ways similar to modern rap, only much more traditional. It challenges its performers to dig up the best use of language and rythm on the spot. The best perform from a memory or repertoire of word play, rythm, rhyme and metaphors. It's what I would call a neobaroque form of entertainment because the musical accompaniment is simple and repetitive yet intuitive and spontaneous. It's a whole performance that engages and pulls in its viewers or in this case audience and listeners.

So what does mor lam performances have to do with monks?

I just recently read the history of Phra Ajaan Mun Bhuridatta Thera (1870-1949), the most venerable founder of Thailand's famous forest monk tradition. Here's what http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ says,

The unusual style of Phra Ajaan Mun's sermons may be explained in part by the fact that in the days before his ordination he was skilled in a popular form of informal village entertainment called maw lam. Maw lam is a contest in extemporaneous rhyming, usually reproducing the war between the sexes, in which the battle of wits can become quite fierce. Much use is made of word play: riddles, puns, innuendoes, metaphors, and simple playing with the sounds of words. The sense of language that Ajaan Mun developed in maw lam he carried over into his teachings after becoming a monk. Often he would teach his students in extemporaneous puns and rhymes. This sort of word play he even applied to the Pali language, ...

The best of buddhist teachings comes from oral traditions, in the forms of rhetorics, whether in the Tibetan debating or in this case the teachings of humble monks of Isaan origins, that towers above the more conventional Thervada style of Thailand's center. The language of mor lam and the language of forest monk tradition is Lao, which is (central Thais would probably love to deny) the true origin of the Thai language. Acharn Mun and other forest tradition monks had so internalized the teaching of the Buddha, which they had learnt in Pali, but it was practice and practice (of meditation) that allowed them to master the knowledge and thereby able to transmit in simple yet enlightening forms (in Lao) to their students and the common people. 

An interesting note to leave, pondering on oral tradition, links to languages, and preservations of cultures.

Acharn Mun passed away in 1940 at Wat Pa Suthawat, Sakon Nakhon. A small museum was built in his honor where there is an exhibit of his personal belongings and a brief account of his life.

Wax image of Pra Acharn Mun Bhuridatto, 

at Wat Pa Suthawat, Sakon Nakhon

Noteworthy places to visit recommended by a noteworthy blog

To take note of some places I would like to visit in Thailand.  Musuem Siam, and BMA Local Museum of Yannawa District, both have special memories for me, both recommended by a blog I like, My Unseen Thailand.

Thai ceramics: an ancient, yet living tradition

Living under the shadow of a greater neighbor such as China has its disadvantages as recounted in my previous post relating the Haw Wars.  It also has many advantages. One boon was the boosting of a prosperous international trade in ceramics in the 13-14th century Sukhothai.

King Mengrai of Chiang Mai, King Ramkamhaeng of Sukhothai, and the Kingdom of Lopburi all sent several diplomatic missions to Chinese courts. Some Chinese potters were probably brought back to Thailand during 13th century as a result of these friendly and profitable visits.  Later around late 14th century, the ban on exports of early Ming Dynasty most likely encouraged frustrated Chinese potters to relocate to several pottery cities around Southeast Asia.

The famous Sangkhalok ceramics of Si Satchanalai flowered around the 14th century. These beautiful green glazed celandon and fish painted stoneware ruled the seas for some 300 years before blue and white porcelain from China took over international Eastern maritime markets. Recent discoveries of numerous shipwrecks, such as the Turiang shipwreck discovered by Sten Sjostrand in the South China Sea, have provided more detailed information about Sukhothai ceramic production than historical records could have provided.

Hundreds of ancient kilns have also been archeologically excavated in several locations all over Thailand.  Most of them were centered around Si Satchanalai, Sukhothai, Suphanburi, and Tak. The Chao Praya  River system obviously had been a key artery of distribution.  Eventually it seemed that the deterioration of river access to Si Satchanalai could have been a major cause for the decline of ceramic trade from Si Satchanalai and subsequent geopolitics shifted the center of power from Sukhothai to Ayudhya, where other products of trade gradually gained more importance over ceramics.

Southeast Asia has an old tradition of pottery that dates back even before the times of Sukhothai.  There were ancient Mon, Kmer, and Vietnamese 8-11th century traditions.  Pots have been excavated from burials dating 6,00BC to 4,000BC. Buried red earthenware were so abundant in Ban Chiang that thousands of years later, a teenager kicks up its shards leading to the discovery of an extensive Bronze Age pottery production.  

Looking around present day common life in Thailand, you'll find evidence abound that such pottery traditions continue to be an important element of Thai culture. From fine high cultured, five-coloured  Benjarong porcelain and imitations of antiqued ceramics sold to tourists and collectors, to commercial modern dining wares for exports and day to day items of household use such as, Ratchaburi dragon water jars, ubiquitous red-tiled roofs and sculptured terra cotta motifs in temples.  

For those who have such as a pottery craze as I do, a tour of just pottery sites in Thailand alone can easily fill up any touring plans.  A day trip out of Bangkok to Ratchaburi is as good a place to start as a river trip down the Chao Praya river to Ko Kret.

There are 42 factories of dragon jar makers in Ratchaburi, all of them descended from early 20th century Chinese pot makers who were brought in to make to pots during the World War when imports of these important jars were not allowed.  You can find a description of how these dragon jars are made in this page of Sea East Asia Pottery.

One can also visit production villages that had evolved out of old pottery communities. Dan Kwian, in Nakorn Rajasima (Korat), about  three hours out of Bangkok is a good detour on a trip to the Pimai Kmer style archeological site.

If you plan a trip up North towards Chiang Mai, drop by to support the Muang Kung Pottery Village.

However, if you have to save your plans of travel for sometime in the future, don't despair. You can just visit online this exquisitely produced Shaw collection website, where you will be able find descriptions of dated ceramic traditions, as well as rare pictures of ancient kilns that dot the geography of Thailand.  You can use the map provided to mark out places you must try to visit when you eventually make it to Thailand.

Admiring the variety and genius of ceramic traditions around the world, old and new, never fails to touch me with the ebb and flow, the persistence of humanity's creative spirit to shape, out of so humble a material such as earth, to produce such venerable objects as these enduring pots and jars... that, even after several hundreds of years buried under sea salt... can still shine their lustrous beauty.

Don't miss checking out the extensively, resourceful Maritime Asia website for detailed information about Sukhothai and Si Satchanalai pottery.

The Haw Wars, 1865-1890 (สงครามปราบฮ่อ)

Around the time that Louis Napoleon Bonaparte's regime was ending in France, the Taiping rebellion having failed in China, King Mongkut (Rama IV)had just gained an acceptance for Siam as a rightful nation in world diplomacy. Between the years 1865 and 1890, the Thai Kingdom's northern parts which was then bordering with the French protectorate Tonkin, were being raided by Chinese rebels that had fled southwards after their defeat in Nanking and other rebellions.

Rama IV

Armed, organized and trained but outlawed warriors banded together under different leaderships who distinguished their different groups by using colored flags. There were red, black, yellow and stripped groups of flagged bandits roaming the country side. The Black Flag group, led by Lui Yongfu was the most legitimate of the colored flags and fought for both the Viet and Chinese rulers against the French.

The Yellow Flags, led by Huang Chongying, were modeled after, but rivalled the Black Flags, failed to gain legitimacy and were pursued by both Qing and Vietnamese armies, as well as their original contenders, the Black Flags.  They were broken and on the run, raiding, looting, and harassing defenseless towns.

Many of those rebels roaming the countryside in the South of China towards the ending of the 19th century were Muslim Chinese, known as Hui in China and Panthay to the Burmese, while in Siam and Laos they were known as Haw.  

By 1872, bandit groups had drifted across the frontier of Laos and were occupying a large part of Laos which was then a tributary state of Thailand. In 1873, the Red Flags sacked Dien Bien Phu (a place where, at that time, French opium dens were making fortunes), and the Stripped Flags gained control of the Plain of Jars and the area of the Phuan (Xieng Khouang).

Several unsuccessful attempts to subdue the rebels were pressed upon by Viet, Laos and Thai kings.  A prince of Phuan was killed in one attempt and a Thai Praya was shot at in another. Each time that the Siamese army retreated, the rebels came back to raid towns. The rebels had equipped themselves with modern repeating rifles and Birminghan-manufactured ammunition and were skilled in guerilla warfare.

The Thai army was mostly made up of untrained men recruited from the North and Northeastern farmlands.  The commanders sent by King Chulalongkorn were unfamiliar with the terrain and logistics.  In one campaign, supplies were lost to the rebels, in another campaign an outpost was lost because its captain fell ill with malaria.  The Thai army's offensive to subdue the Haw bandits took so many years because it was also difficult to fight during rainy seasons.  Without success in one year, the army would have to regroup again the next year to push for another offensive.

In the end, the Thai army was supplied and trained with foreign weapons to match the fighting power of the Haw rebels. A British surveyor, James McCarthy, under hire by the Thai king to map Thai terrain during that period, was an observer of the Haw Wars.  He had noted that on one occasion some of those weapons carried by Thai recruits weren't even loaded!

A successful strategy was finally planned and the Thai army moved in a more coordinated offense, and managed to squeeze the perimeters of the bandits into a smaller territory. After some key towns the Yellow Flags had taken were freed, the Haw bandits were pushed out of the Northeastern borders of Siam and Laos back into China. 

The observation of this particular historical moment is very interesting for me personally due to an unquenchable curiosity to know more about a hometown and family that I hadn't grown up with.  In answer to my constant pestering questions about the past,  my Mom once recounted to me that the Promasakha Na Sakon Nakhon family was related to ours, the Singhakul family (a story that I will tell later in another blogpost).

Sakon Nakhon is a province in the Northeast of Thailand, about two hours from the Mekhong River border with Laos.  When I unearthed, in the scantily recorded history of this town, an interesting record of how the name Promasakha Na Sakon Nakhon was given to a highly esteemed governor of the Muang, relating his role for recruiting and leading people in support of the offensive against the Haw bandits, the Haw Wars became for me an important reference point to find out more about events that had shaped the times of my mother's grandparents.

Since I am now able to use the internet to access sources in English and increasingly more in Thai, I am seeing a clearer picture of how a sleepy town on the edge of empires is, in fact, not as insignificant as one had perceived. Several connections to many other important world events could be drawn from this single event.

The little details recounted by McCarthy of repeating rifles and Birmingham manufactured ammunition opened my eyes to how British imperial ambitions, whether intentional or not, were entwined in that moment.  The name "Haw", before just a name of an ethnic group, led me to discover that they were the same as Hui, Muslim Chinese who were, at that moment in history, leading a serious rebellion against the Qing dynasty.  Those rebels weren't just mindless raiders, they were pretty likely sent to that specific area. Whether as part of mercenaries simply following a campaign to harass French powers in the area, or as part of the Panthay Rebellion's leader's plan to occupy as much area as possible in readiness for his planned move into Burma, I will have to investigate further.

The lengthy campaign against the Haw also revealed in finer details the growing pains and mistakes of then a still evolving administration of the fourth, fifth, and sixth reign of the Chakri dynasty, learning, modernizing bit by bit, on the ground, less than 150 years ago.

The picture of elephants standing in formation with the Thai army above recalled to mind a funny anecdote of how King Rama V had once offered to send elephants to aid the US during its Civil War.

A revelation more relevant to the present, was the idea invoked of how, in actuality, not so far away China is, from the frontiers of Thailand. Our modern maps show that the space between the center of Thailand and the heart of China is quite immense, but if in the 19th century, all that space was takable by rebels, refugees moving over land, in a matter of months, fighting prolonged for decades, the illusion of that safe distance seems rather foolish indeed.  If anything such as a serious political unrest were to happen in that great land up North, Thailand would be receiving the brunt of an unimaginable deluge of refugees. We've never really overcome problems generated by refugee situations of the Vietnam wars, and even now, we are having increasing difficulties managing illegal immigrants in a million or two, escaping the oppression of the Burmese Junta. 

The different colored flags was also an odd reflection on the yellow and red colored political polarization happening currently in Thailand.

Recommended further reading:

Islam and Commerce in Old Yunnan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haw_wars
สงครามปราบฮ่อ
Surveying and exploring in Siam, by James McCarthy

The winding road to Rachaprasong

Just wanted to note Philip J. Cunningham' excellent post on how it's not just simply red vs. yellow, government vs, people, or whatever.  It's much, much more complex.

Please read in Phillip's own words at "The Long Winding Red Road to Ratchaprasong and Thailand’s Future" on his blog Frontier International.

A different auteur: Apichartpong Weerasethakul

Congratulations to Thai film director, Apichartpong Weerasethakul, for winning the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival 2010 for his film "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Life".

I remember that as I was watching one of Apichart's film, "Tropical Malady" at TIFF, after it had won the Cannes' Jury Price in 2004, in the dark trying to understand what he had wanted to say with his movie, I'd noticed quite a number of viewers who'd just simply given up and walked out. Of course, they were under the pressure of a film festival where one only wanted to see as many films that attracted one as time could permit. I toughed out quite a number of cringes and perplexities... to be surprisingly rewarded by a few really subliminal forest and country scenes. I was transported across time and space to moments in my own past when I, myself had commuted with Thailand's many beautiful nature scenes. One memorable beautifully shot scene of a huge tree swaying in the moonlight had made the whole movie worth watching. I left the cinema that night wondering if a viewer who had never been in such an atmosphere before would have felt something similar to what I'd felt. The story he was trying to tell itself, though, made no sense at all. Apichart's skill was not in narrative.

A year later, I made an even greater effort to understand Apichart's films by watching "Syndromes and a Century" and even bought a DVD one of his first movies, "Mysterious Object at Noon", from Bay Street VDO, one of Toronto's blessing for those who are intrigued by different kinds of film. 

Apichart is skilled at evoking memories of a time past.  His movies aren't about contemporary Thailand, but he portrays a Thailand that informs many of our present moments in such an intriguing way that you end his movies asking questions about your own perceptions of those times, or even asking about your perception about perception. 

I think what the jury at Cannes this year voted for was a "yes"; the world of cinema is ready for  surrealism from a Thai point of view.  Apichart's win and the timing of his win was as surreal as his movies. Under the fall of volcanic ashes, his themes of death and dying, belief in reincarnation, belief in a world where other forces besides human's co-existed amongst us, were like a sad mystical echo for those lives lost in the streets of Bangkok.  His memories expressed in Uncle Boonmee's story came from another time in Thailand's history when ideals also fell under conventional forces of repression. Ideals that were eventually proven false but still its loss painfully felt for those who had experienced it. I suppose this is an artist's way of putting out that big question, "Why?"

I hope to see more of Apichart's work. Even if I will be left full of questions, and his work is likely not going to so well-accepted in Thailand. I hope it is the inspiration needed for many more younger generation Thai filmmakers to have the courage, drive and commitment to one's conviction to come out and do something different, and bring more of Thai cinema to international attention.

PS.  For those who would like to read an extensive account of Apichart's win at Cannes, please read Wise Kwai's Thai Film Journal.

Himmapan Forest-3: The world of the Nagas

Nagas, morphing rain-giving majestic serpents, are probably one of the most revered mythical creatures in Thailand.  I was born on a Saturday and my protective Buddha figurine is that of the Buddha sitting on and under the protective shade of the 7-headed Naga, Muchalinda.

Wat Pho

In Buddhist stories about the life of the Buddha, it was told that not long after the Buddha had gained enlightenment, he travelled through many towns and villages to teach the people about his path towards enlightenment.  On the outskirts of one village, he settled into deep meditation under a tree for seven days, oblivious of the heavy storm that was raging about him during that time.  Muchalinda, the King of the Nagas, called Phya Nak by the Thai people of the North, Northeast Thailand and Laos, protected the meditating Buddha by morphing his body into a big shade over and around him.  When the Buddha came out of meditation, Phya Nak transformed himself into a human form to bow before the Buddha and returned to his crystal palace in joy.

In another Buddhist story, the Buddha went to teach the angels and gods in celestial heavens, his descent was aided by seven jeweled rainbow steps laid by the gods between the bodies of two nagas.

Naga sculptures can be found in many Thai, Northern or Laotian temples, at entrances, adorning stairways, or on rooftops, as gaurdians of these sacred places, or as a metaphor for the rainbow bridge that connects the human world with heaven. 

Prasat Hin Pimai

The original dwelling place of the Nagas is in the mythical forest of Himmapan, a place where the most beloved Buddhist tales took place. 

In King Lithai's Traibhumikatha, a description of the Naga and their dwelling place is given:

"After a kalpa is brought to an end by the great fire, a new earth is born.  Nothing is the way it was before.  The land had been flattened and is then a glittering white, as beautiful as a sheet of pure silver. Beautiful green grass grew.  The entire land radiates glory and splendor.  Everywhere is beautiful.

There are several lakes that are generally covered with five kinds of exquisite lotuses. There are trees with beautiful trunks untouched by insects or disease. They bear fruit and flowers that are a wonder and delight to behold. There are tough mountain vines, some with red floweres, some with yellow flowers. The whole place is a glorious spectacle as if someone had carefully planned it. This is the homeland of the Nagas.  It is their native dwelling place. Here there are crystal mansions, silver mansions and gold mansions beautiful beyond description. However, there are also some areas where nothing could live.  They are hollow and empty.

Under the Himmapan range, there is a cavity of some 200 yoth wide. It is the city of the Nagas where there are seven kind of gems: gold, silver, lapis lazuri, crystal, agate, ruby and cornelian. It is as beautiful as Traitrimsha, the abode of Lord Indra. Several large lakes are found where the Nagas live and play. The water is beautifully clear and smooth, like a large piece of glass polished a number of times. In fording places, Nagas bathe and play, large fishes gliding along together snapping at smaller fishes. Patches of water-lettuce and five kinds of lotus bloom spectacularly. The flowers of the sacred lotus are as large as a cart wheel. When the water ripples, these blooms sway back and forth looking delightfully pretty, as if they had been consciously arranged.

There is one kind of Naga that dwells in the ocean. When the female of this Naga is well advanced in preganancy, she thinks to herself: "What if the newborn were delivered in mid-ocean? The ocean churns and foams violently; great sea birds agitate the waters; the winds from the wings of the Garuda beat the waves into foam."  Thus reasoning, the pregnant Naga dives deep and long and emerges where one of the five great rivers run into the ocean.  The Naga then swims up river until she reaches the great Himmapan forest.  In this forest there are golden caves beyond the reach of the Garudas. 

She delivers her young in one of these caves and remains to nurture him until he grows strong. When he is ready she takes him to a place where the water is only knee deep to teach him how to swim first in circles. After it is clear to her that he can swim well, she takes him back and forth across one of the great rivers. When he can cross the river with due swiftness, she induces a heavy rainfall which floods the Himmapan forest until it looks like an ocean. She then creates a spired mansion of gold, ornamented with the seven gems that gleam in glorious splendor. This palatial mansion is rich with decoration and good food.  It is as magical as those that are the dwelling of the devatas. The mother Naga places her child in the spired mansion and floats it down the river to the mouth, and out into the deep ocean where they dive to dwell under in the ocean bed.

There are two different kinds of Naga: the water-born and the land-born. The latter can change their form only when they are on land, they cannot do so in water. The water-born Naga can transform themselves in the water, but not on land. Neither kind can change its form in its place of birth, its death or where it sleeps. Nor can they do so when they assemble, nor when they are sloughing off their skins. The Nagas have the power to transform themselves only in places other than those just mentioned.  When they so wish, they can take forms as angelic as the devatas, their females as graceful as the female inhabitants of the celestial heavens. When the Naga seeks its prey, it will take the form in which it can most easily hunt its victim. In such a form they roam the land in search of food.  Sometimes they appear as common water snakes, sometimes as the Sai, or the Krasa, cobras, vipers, and sometimes as forest beasts. It is thus so because the Naga properly belongs to the Animal Kingdom."

Himmapan Forest-2: A description from King Lithai's Traibhumikatha

King Lithai, fifth of the Kings of the Pra Ruang Dynasty, was ruler of Si Satchanalai, twin city Sukhotai, the first Thai kingdom.  He succeeded his father, King Lelithai, as the fifth monarch of Sukhothai Kingdom in 1347 and reigned until 1368.  His reign was peaceful, and he was a great patron of religion. He was the first Thai monarch who was ordained as a Buddhist monk, yet he supported studies of both Brahmanism and Buddhism alike.  In 1357, he sent royal envoys to Ceylon for the Buddha's relics which were later kept in a great stupa in Nakhon Chum, as town near the present Kam Phaeng Phet.  In 1361, he invited a great patriarch, Pra Maha Swami from Ceylon to preach Buddhism in his kingdom.

As a young prince, he had studied under two royal sages called Upasena and Atharaya.  When he was ordained as a monk, his named teachers were, Maha Thera Muneewong, Anomthassi, Thamma Pala, Maha Thera Sitthattha, Phuthaphong, Panyanantha, and Phutthakhosajaraya.

King Lithai was inspired by the teachings of Buddhism and wanted to encourage his people to  learn  more about Buddhism, and therefore composed one of the first Thai literary works, "The Traibhumikatha", in 1345.  Traibhumikatha expounds Buddhist philosophy, quoting references from over 30 Dharma scriptures, a demonstration of substantive research.  It was written in beautiful rhythmic prose rich in allusions and imagery, explaining  Buddhist cosmogony, ethics, biology, and the Buddhist faith as understood then.

The "Three Planes of Existences"  was made up of 10 books.  In the 9th "Book of Nature",  I have extracted the following description of Himmanpan Forest:

"The Himmapan mountain range is 500 yoth high, 3,000 yoth wide and has 84,000 peaks.  A gigantic jambloan tree grows at the foot of this mountain range.  This tree stands on the banks of a river named Sida Nadi, the River of Coolness.

Next to the river are six forest: Kurabha, Korabha, Mahavideha, Tapandala and Somolo.  In these forests dwell sages of the Dharma who eat only fish and animals that die naturally. Yaksa, or giants roam these forests in great numbers.  People who live in these forests have no need to till the land for a living because rice and beans grow without the need for toil and trouble.  All the fruits of this land are as sweet as honey.

There are 7 large mother lakes: Anotata, Kannamunda, Rathakara, Chaddanta, Kunala, Mandakini, and Sihapapata.  All seven lakes are of equal sizes.

Lake Anotata is encircled by five mountains: the golden mountain Sudassanakuta, the mountain of seven precious gems-Chitrakuta, the green Kalakuta, the fragant mountain-Gandhamadanakuta, and the silver mountain-Krailasa. All five mountains are of equal sizes and curve into the Lake Anontata whose clear waters are fed by the powers of nagas and devatas.   

Waters from the lake flows out at four cardinal points marked by the face of a lion, face of an elephant, face of a horse, and the face of a bull.  Each outward flow of water encircles the lake three times before they exit midways between each cardinal point.  However, the river of the south does not behave like a normal river, after flowing southwards, it is blocked by a mountain, so it shoots upwards into the air, and then falling on a three-sided stone, it forms a three sided Lake of Lotuses, out of which flows a massive river above ground as well as one below the ground until they meet an animal shaped mountain and breaks into five rivers: the Ganga, Yamana, Aciravati, Mahi, and Sarabhu.  These rivers flow through towns and cities of men and out into the ocean."

Source: From Anthology of ASEAN Literatures,"Traibhumikatha: the Story of the Three Planes of Existence" by King Lithai, published by ASEAN in 1987.

The stories of the beautiful mythical lands of Himmapan, were used in Buddhist teachings usually imparted orally at temple gatherings to encourage people to study the Dharma which were inserted in the telling of tales of Buddha's own lives or his previous lives, so that they can refine themselves to be able to see or enter this wonderful land, but also to go beyond to reach the celestial heavens.

Himmapan Forest-1

On the walls of Thai temples and at its gates, you will come across many mythical creatures of Thai mythology. Some familiar ones are the Kinnaree (half-human, half-bird), Garuda (half-bird, half-man) and Naga (transforming seven-headed snake).  

However, there exists several more: two/three/four-legged, fish-based and flying creatures, such as, the anthler Ghilen/Kirin, the lion Kraisorn, the horse Ussadorn, and the mighty Erawan elephant.

These fabulous creatures all lived in the mythical Himmapan forest.  The Himmapan forest is said to be located on a mountain range of 84,000 peaks, many conclude to correspond to the Himalayas, a geographical location where the stories originated from, an India so ancient it had influenced storytelling for religious purposes of both Hinduism and Buddhism.  

Both Hinduism and Buddhism are thousand years old religious teachings that have relied on oral memory to preserve a vast body of knowledge that was passed down thousands of years, pretty much intact. The Buddhist tales of Himmapan were recounted in the stories of Traiphum, Three Planes of Existence.

According to these entertaining yet instructive legends, Himmapan was located in the southwestern continent of Chomputaweep, one of the four continents of the 'universe'.  The center of this world/universe, which is just one in an unlimited number of other world/universes, is the sacred mountain, Sumane, which connects us to other planes. 

Each of the four continents floated on a world/universe filled with waters. The Himmapan forest was the sole connecting passageway from Chomputaweep to the center of the universe, Mt. Sumane, and was equated symbolically with the way of the Buddha. It is said that there was once a time when we could see and enter the Himmapan forest, and travel between the heavenly planes and human world was possible.  However, with the loss of high moral standards, we can no longer see this great forest nor its strange animals.

Traiphum is a Buddhist cosmogony, a system of symbols embodying esoteric knowledge that was to be later transposed into a myriad of artistic forms decorating many Buddhist temples of Thailand.  The mythical creatures of the Himmapan forests, some which were considered guardians of Buddhism or holy places, were dressings to make the Buddhist teachings colorful enough to be remembered generations after generations.

                  

You can read and browse through pictures of more Himmapan creatures at http://www.himmapan.com/index.html.  When you visit the Emerald Buddha Temple, Wat Pra Kae and the Grand Palace, look out for their sculptures and look closely at the murals to see how many you can identify.  Or when you visit the National  Museum look closely at the intricately carved wooden panels brought from ancient temples around the country. Himmapan creatures always guard entrances.  At the Temple of Dawn, Wat Arun, you will find stucco adornments of lions and ghilens.  At the Erawan Museum which carries the majestic Erawan elephants as its roof, you will find a garden imitating the Himmapan forest dotted with sculptures of Himmapan animals.

Thailand must step back from becoming a polarized society

I long for the days when I could pick up a yellow shirt or a red shirt without having to feel that if I wear one or the other, some stranger in the street is going to be making assumptions about my political standing. Yellow used to be a color of love, loyalty and friendship, the PAD totally corrupted the meaning of the color of yellow. Red used to be a color or passion, of love, of a call for attention, and now it's a color many fear and feel anger towards in Bangkok.

When you talk politics, you are expected to take sides. Common ground, moderate solutions get washed out in the emotional battle of who's right or wrong. Each side thinks only in black and white. Relationships become strained and society as a whole erodes. When we reach the point where burning buildings are pitted against lives taken out by guns and grenades, our society is on the verge of imploding.

How do we step back from the brink? Stop trying to insist on proving who's right or wrong. Let's look for the white in the black, the black in the white, like in the symbol of the Tao.

Thailand became the land of the free because we understood the concept of a buffer zone, an area designated to avoid conflict between two hostile power. Yes, it's more painful than when our ancient enemies the Burmese burned our capital to have our own people do it. However, it underscores the urgency of how important it is for us to reconcile our differences, to listen to what the other side wants.

Live reporting on May 19 Military Crackdown in Thailand

From Al Jazeera via livestation.com which offers streaming of live content from some TV stations that you can use with your iphone.



The quality of reporting of Al Jazeera on Thailand situation was excellent compared with BBC and CNN. CNN's correspondents came under attack by Thai FB users, a note written here, and further elaborated by Thai blogger here.

Something inside is broken, you're in ruins...

Ira Glass: Building blocks of storytelling

Facebook, Restaurant City, and political angst

If you know the game Restaurant City then you'd have no doubts about the connections between the two topics in the title of this blog post. If you're a player, you know how addictive it can be, especially once you've got your little restaurant to look just the way that pleases you and you're earning those virtual dollars real fast.

You're probably scratching your head about the third part, though.

For someone who connects her disparate parts on the internet... son in one city, daughter in another, herself halfway across the globe from familiar friends, family and food, Facebook gives a comforting...maybe illusionary, sense of connected identity. Two years now, in a country where they don't speak my language, where I'm still licking my wounds from having to depart some very good friends in another country. I shy away from making new friends knowing that I'm going to have to pack up and leave in a year or so. So what've I got? Facebook and Restaurant City. Pathetic, isnt' it?  Even worse....

If you're reading this blog, you may have also noticed that there was a huge gap in my blogging. Where've I been? What have I been doing? Well, depressed. Uninspired by life. Angst...caused by politics.

Who would have thought that the state of one's country political falling apart can affect one's psychological health? How complex one's sense of identity is. Group belonging, so basic a need, so unaware of its central role in our sense of well-being until it's been challenged.

These past months have been spent flicking through The Nation and Bangkok Post pages in between Facebook news feed and feeding my workers in Restaurant City. Facebook news feed was also supplying me with tweets from Suthichai Yoon which kept me up to date on developments during critical nights faster than the newspaper could. I was also able to exchange and calm some of my angst with one or two more "friends" who were more vocal about their political feelings than others. Trying to explain it away gave some comfort, but we were all pretty much helpless and had to simply watch  violence unravel itself.

At the start of 2010, it looked like things were going to move for the better, there were clear signs of economic recovery from the sub-prime financial crisis, Thaksin's Judgement Day trial was closing.    Then Abhisit's government under-estimated the aggressiveness of the Red Shirts and an attempted clear up of the protestors botched up on April 10.

He should have known better, I thought. All those M79 grenades being lobbed around Bangkok since the demonstration started should have been fair warning.

To date there are 30 dead, plus a reported 7 more since last night. How many more during this weekend's second attempt to clear up the protestors?

Why do we have to resort to military action against the people? Why are such people constantly attracted like moths to camp out for a fight where everybody loses? Why do people feel that their life is worth giving up for a twisted, outdated notion of nationhood? Isn't there a better way to fight for democracy, for equality than to tear your country apart?  

What is wrong with the Thai people?!!!!