Militärregierung kauft heimlich ein U-Boot

We all live in a regime submarine
What did Donald Trump say when he was a hotshot Republican candidate in January 2016? „I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.“

It was outrageous. People were shocked, stunned, repulsed. Among the offensive things he’s kept spewing over the past year, this one is near the top.

And yet deep down, back then, observers knew what he said was true. The people who supported Mr Trump for his policy or for what he was supposed to stand for would continue to support him regardless of how horrible, how scandalous, how shocking his remarks or actions were. They despised „the other side“ so much that they’d swallow anything, the blatant arrogance and incompetency, the alternative truths and the mechanism of lies, and now the fire and brimstone from the pulpit of the Orange President.

We should watch and learn here in Thailand. So let’s try this scenario: „We could purchase three submarines from China and spend 36 billion baht of taxpayers‘ money. We could approve the deal in a secret meeting without telling the press and the taxpayers, citing national security. And once they found out anyway, we’d just tell them, ‚You don’t need to know everything.'“

This actually happened this week, and it was shocking. Among the series of astonishments conjured by the military over the past three years, this one ranks near the top — of course, it wasn’t as outrageous as Mr Trump’s symbolic 5th Avenue murder, but the total disregard of accountability, the dictatorial overconfidence, is a page from the same playbook.

Deep down, observers know Deputy Premier Prawit Wongsuwon said that without worrying about consequences: Mr Trump wasn’t afraid of losing voters; the military needn’t be afraid of losing supporters, regardless of how controversial its remarks or actions are.

The clandestine sub deal has upset a lot of people, sure, including some of the regime’s cheerleaders and the „good people of Thailand who hate corruption“. But maybe it’s not enough, nothing is ever enough, because we despise „the other side“ more, we hate „politicians“ so much that we’d swallow anything — the submarines, the pay rise, the nepotism, the incompetency, the exclusion from the world of democracy, the alternative reality and fake peace, the fire and brimstone from the pulpit of Dear Leader.

At least Mr Trump had come through a tough election, and has a limited term. Us, three years and counting, and we can look forward to two decades (at least) of full or semi-military rule, according to the 20-year strategy bill. That in itself is shocking. But again, regime supporters don’t mind — I don’t think they’d mind if someone got shot in the middle of Ratchadamri Road, metaphorically or literally.

Partisan politics is part of democracy building, but we’ve come to the point when partisanship overwrites reason, law, common sense, and human rights. To be fair, it was the same with Thaksin Shinawatra fans at one point — the shocking remarks, bloated arrogance, the disregard for human rights especially in the far South, the blanket amnesty bill, and then the way he seemed to ditch his supporters when the fight was to his disadvantage, all this left them unfazed. That Thaksin was ousted unlawfully was a waste of a chance to defeat him and prove him wrong because, like Mr Trump, he had a limited term. Our impatience cost him a lot, but it cost us plenty too.

Partisanship ideally should come from reason and judgement. It’s inevitable — and we all are in this together — that it also comes from emotion, experience, preference, folly, prejudice, hatred, sometimes crystallised into an ideology or worldview, sometimes not. But it doesn’t matter, really. You can support Mr Trump’s allegorical murder or a government’s secret weapon procurement as long as the country operates within the bounds of a system that allows all impulses to play out fairly while accommodating conflicting worldviews, with political, legal and civic mechanisms providing checks and balances. The US is under that system. We are not.

Die-hard military supporters — and there are still so many — seem to dismiss the value of such a system. „You don’t need to know everything“ is contempt for accountability, and yet it doesn’t sound that harsh to the cheerleaders who have spoiled the regime with their unconditional backing. Choosing a dictatorship, at one time, was understandable. But that choice also represents your worldview — your desire and belief in how the world should be governed and how humans should live their lives in the 21st century. That worldview, as time goes by, is getting more skewed and twisted. The subs in muddy waters only worsen it all.

Kong Rithdee is Life Editor, Bangkok Post.

Thailand hat schon viele inkompetente Regierungen gehabt.
Gewählte und selbsternannte.
Auch diese Militärdiktatur wird zuende gehen.
Aber ihre Inkompetenz und Untätigkeit wird noch lange
negative Auswirkungen auf Thailands Zukunft haben.
Man will auf jeden Fall verhindern dass die nächste gewählte
Regierung irgendetwas „besser“ machen könnte.

Es wurde einmal von der Moderation zugesagt, bei updateBerichten, gaebe es immer einen Hinweis auf den Vorlaeufer!
Wird natuerlich nicht gemacht. Das naehrt aber dann die Vermutung, Updates werden nur gemacht, um etwas zuzumuellen!
Hier mein letzter Beitrag zu dem Thema und damit auch die Verknuepfung zum Vorlaeufer.

emi_rambus: STIN: Mein Gott, was stellst du dich so bloed???Die haben solche “MiaNoi Sender drin! Batterie kommt von der Bordversorgung!

wir schreiben von GPS und du schreibst von Mia Noi Sendern, was immer das sein soll.
Bei Panzern wird es schon von der Bord-Versorgung kommen. Es gibt aber mittlerweile Geräte, die schaffen 5 Wochen, bei 4 Stunden-Check,
als stand alone Geräte.

Im Bloedstellen bist du echt die Nr1!
Was glaubst du, wieviel von diesen minisendern, die auf ANRUF reagieren, man in einem UBoot oder Panzer einbauen kann. Der antwortet dann mit der punktgenauen Koordinate! BUMMS!

STIN: Dazu: vielen Dank – natürlich. Mach weiter so – wir müssen ja auch von was leben 🙂

Das war immer mein Erfolg als Lehrkraft: Zum Denken anregen und selbst die Antwort finden lassen.
Weiter ueben, irgendwann habt ihr auch eigene Ideen! 555555555555555555555555

Doch echt! Geht eigentlich recht einfach!!! …. ihr muesst euch nur die richtigen Fragen selbst stellen ! 😉

STIN: Wird ausgesagt, die UBoote sollten im Golf eingesetzt werden um dort etwa 15.000 Handelsschiffe zu schuetzen.

lt. Experten können die dort aber nicht tauchen, zu seicht.

DAS kommt ausserdem noch dazu! Aber hier geht es darum, man will das erste UBoot gar nicht im Golf einsetzen sondern in der Andaman. Und mit teuersten Raketen (780.000$ US/ Schuss), … wen genau sollen sie denn DA schuetzen? Die 15.000 Handelsschiffe von TH sind doch alle im Golf! Geht es da um Dawei oder die Eroel-/Gas-Pipeline?
DAS scheint ja auch mal gerade etwas eilig zu sein!?

STIN: Dazu passt auch das nicht:

In 2011, it wanted to buy six German-made second-hand submarines at a cost of 7.7 billion baht, but the plan was shot down by the Yingluck Shinawatra government.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/1237830/submarine-buy-wins-secret-nod

DAS waere gerademal 1,3mrdTB pro UBoot. Was soll denn da teuer dran sein!

vll Druck aus China. Thaksin ist ja ein Chinese und China-Freund. Der hat seine Schwester auch befohlen,
die Tablets aus China zu beziehen, hat da dann dort viel Geld damit verdient. Vermutlich liefen die über seine eigene Firma.

Du meinst YL hat eine UBoot-Firma??
Was hat das damit zu tun, die deutschen UBoote haetten nur 1,3 MrdTB gekostet? Dafuer kann man ZEHN statt der teuren chinesischen kaufen!!

  emi_rambus(Quote)  (Reply)