DOCSLIB.ORG

The Military and Democratic Backsliding in Thailand Panuwat

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Military and Democratic Backsliding in Thailand Panuwat The Military and Democratic Backsliding in Thailand Panuwat Panduprasert Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Leeds School of Politics and International Studies January 2019 2 Declaration The candidate confirms that the work submitted is his/her own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. © 2019 The University of Leeds and Panuwat Panduprasert 3 Acknowledgements I would like to express my deepest gratitude to a number of people who have provided me with support and encouragement throughout this PhD journey. Many thanks to my supervisors Prof Duncan McCargo and Dr Adam Tyson for their kindness, encouragement and thoughtful feedback throughout our time together at the University of Leeds. I also would like to thank POLIS staff members Matthew Wilkinson and Martin Pelan for helping me with personal problems and other practical issues. I also thank my parents, my colleagues at Chiang Mai University, Thailand, and Chanidapa Piyawawattanakul for their constant support in financial and personal matters. Thanks also to all informants for providing highly valuable information during my fieldwork. A number of friends and colleagues helped me gain access to many of those informants, and for this reason I owe them a great deal of gratitude as well. Lastly, this thesis would not have been made possible without the scholarship from Thailand’s Office of the Higher Education Commission which I received in 2014. 4 Abstract This thesis aims to analyse the political role of Thailand’s military in relation to the country’s democratic backsliding in the twenty-first century. It has long been well known that the military is a key actor in Thai politics. The two most recent military coups, in September 2006 and May 2014, added to the long list of military coups that Thailand has seen since the end of the absolute monarchy era in 1932. Before 2006, however, there was a 15-year period during which the military was virtually absent from politics and electoral democracy appeared to take hold. As successive civilian governments won and lost power in parliamentary elections rather than through non-electoral means, Thailand at the time was evidently heading towards democratic consolidation, cementing its place as part of the global ‘Third Wave’ of countries adopting democracy and rejecting authoritarian rule. The 2006 coup was thus a sudden and largely unexpected event, putting a stop to the previous democratic trajectory while marking a return of the military to forefront of the domestic political scene. Drawing on first-hand empirical data, the thesis looks at how the military has manipulated politics and contributed to the weakening of Thailand’s democratic prospects. The thesis provides a detailed analysis of the role of the military that focuses on the period from 2006 to the present, a period spanning five elected governments and two military-appointed ones. 5 Table of Contents Chapter 1 Introduction 8 Chapter 2 Concepts and Context 25 Chapter 3 Thailand’s 2006 Military Coup 54 Chapter 4 The Military after the 2006 Coup 98 Chapter 5 The Military during the Abhisit Government 127 Chapter 6 The 2014 Coup and Anti-Democratic Politics 151 Chapter 7 Conclusion 183 Bibliography 186 6 List of Acronyms AFAPS Armed Forces Academy Preparatory School ASC Asset Scrutiny Committee BJT Bhum Jai Thai CDC Constitution Drafting Committee CNS Council for National Security CRES Center for the Resolution of Emergency Situation CRMA Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy DP Democrat Party NCPO National Council for Peace and Order NLA National Legislative Assembly NRC National Reform Council PAD People’s Alliance for Democracy PDRC People’s Democratic Reform Committee PPP People Power Party PT Pheu Thai PTP Pheu Thai Party RTA Royal Thai Army RTAF Royal Thai Air Force RTN Royal Thai Navy TRT Thai Rak Thai UDD United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship 7 List of Tables Table 1.1 List of Interviewees 21 A note on convention Throughout this thesis, Thai names are cited and alphabetised by given name (the first name) because Thai people are commonly known by their first name. For example, Prajak Kongkirati will be referred to as Prajak in the main text, and his full name will be listed in the bibliography. A note on transliteration All Thai words are transcribed into English using Leeds University Romanisation system, except Thai proper names which I adopt the form the person or organisation used. 8 Chapter 1 Introduction “For democracy, civilian control—that is, control of the military by civilian officials elected by the people—is fundamental. Civilian control allows a nation to base its values, institutions, and practices on the popular will rather than on the choices of military leaders, whose outlook by definition focuses on the need for internal order and external security. The military is, by necessity, among the least democratic institutions in human experience; martial customs and procedures clash by nature with individual freedom and civil liberty, the highest values in democratic societies.” - Richard H. Kohn (1997: 141) “Pro-democracy activists frequently, and rightly, remind us of the political problems that result when the military interferes in politics. Often overlooked is the damage that interference can do to the military itself.” - James Ockey (2014: 71) This thesis aims to analyse the political role of the military in Thailand, focusing particularly on how it has been involved in the country’s ‘democratic backsliding’ throughout much of last two decades. It has long been well known that the military is a key actor in Thai politics. The two most recent military coups, in September 2006 and May 2014, added to the long list of military coups that Thailand has seen since the end of the absolute monarchy era in 1932. Before 2006, however, there was a 15-year period during which the military was virtually absent from politics and electoral democracy appeared to take hold. As successive civilian governments won and lost power in parliamentary elections rather than through non-electoral means, Thailand at the time was evidently heading towards democratic consolidation, cementing its place as part of the global ‘Third Wave’ of countries adopting democracy and rejecting authoritarian rule (Huntington 1991). The 2006 coup was thus a sudden and largely unexpected event, putting a stop to the previous democratic trajectory while marking a return of the military to forefront of the 9 domestic political scene. Though electoral politics resumed at the end of 2007, another coup in 2014 again reversed the course, this time putting the country under a repressive military government that has remained in power for nearly five years at the time of writing. Instead of realising its earlier democratic promises, Thailand now finds itself as part of another global trend: the rise of authoritarianism and the decline of democracy throughout many regions of the world (Diamond 2016). Background: Thailand’s Military and Democratic Backsliding A major turning point in Thailand’s political development took place in 2001. A general election in January of that year resulted in the emergence of a strong elected government led by telecommunications tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra (International Crisis Group 2014: 4; Ferrara 2015b: 225). Thanks in part to the widely admired 1997 constitution which favoured large parties and a strong executive, Thaksin achieved landslide electoral victories not only in 2001 but also in 2005, both times on a scale unprecedented in Thailand. His period in power was marked by an emphasis on decisive leadership, a heavy use of marketing principles borrowed from the business world, a general disdain for oppositional voices or the notion of checks and balances (McCargo and Ukrist 2005: 5), and—especially after the 2005 election—an electoral strategy geared towards voters in the mostly rural and poor regions in the north and northeast of Thailand. Though he came under growing criticisms for his authoritarian tendencies (Kasian 2006: 10), Thaksin’s political dominance in the first half of the 2000s created a sense of stability in sharp contrast to the weak, short-lived civilian governments of the 1990s (McCargo and Ukrist 2005: 11-12). In the end, Thaksin’s large parliamentary majority was unable to prevent his eventual downfall. After several months of anti-government mass protests by a movement known as the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), the military launched a coup to topple him in September 2006, driving Thaksin into self- imposed exile with the exception of a five-month period in 2008 when he returned to Thailand. The fact that the Thai military re-emerged as a major political actor during the time of a strong civilian government, rather than a weak one, contradicts pre-existing assumptions which suggest that weak civilian governments are more 10 susceptible to military intervention (Alagappa 2001: 47-48). After the 2006 coup, the military remained involved in politics in various ways. It was responsible for abolishing the 1997 constitution and replacing it with one that considerably restricted the authority of the elected government. While Thaksin continued to fight elections and govern the country from afar—his party won further elections in 2007 and 2011—the military made efforts to cripple and obstruct him. At the end of 2008 it even played a key role in assembling a parliamentary majority to create an anti- Thaksin civilian government led by Abhisit Vejjajiva. Seeing that Thaksin remained a powerful electoral force, the military staged another coup in May 2014 against the elected government of Thaksin’s sister Yingluck Shinawatra and has suspended elections since then.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Pluralistic Poverty of Phalang Pracharat
    ISSUE: 2021 No. 29 ISSN 2335-6677 RESEARCHERS AT ISEAS – YUSOF ISHAK INSTITUTE ANALYSE CURRENT EVENTS Singapore | 12 March 2021 Thailand’s Elected Junta: The Pluralistic Poverty of Phalang Pracharat Paul Chambers* Left: Deputy Prime Minister and Phalang Pracharat Party Leader General Prawit Wongsuwan Source:https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Prawit_Wongsuwan_Thailand%27s_Minister_of_D efense.jpg. Right: Prime Minister and Defense Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha Source:https://th.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B9%84%E0%B8%9F%E0%B8%A5%E0%B9%8C:Prayu th_2018_cropped.jpg. * Paul Chambers is Lecturer and Special Advisor for International Affairs, Center of ASEAN Community Studies, Naresuan University, Phitsanulok, Thailand, and, in March-May 2021, Visiting Fellow with the Thailand Studies Programme at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute. 1 ISSUE: 2021 No. 29 ISSN 2335-6677 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY • Thailand’s Phalang Pracharat Party is a “junta party” established as a proxy for the 2014-2019 junta and the military, and specifically designed to sustain the power of the generals Prawit Wongsuwan, Prayut Chan-ocha and Anupong Paochinda. • Phalang Pracharat was created by the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), and although it is extremely factionalized, having 20 cliques, it is nevertheless dominated by an Army faction headed by General Prawit Wongsuwan. • The party is financed by powerful corporations and by its intra-party faction leaders. • In 2021, Phalang Pracharat has become a model for other militaries in Southeast Asia intent on institutionalising their power. In Thailand itself, the party has become so well- entrenched that it will be a difficult task removing it from office. 2 ISSUE: 2021 No.
    [Show full text]
  • Thailand White Paper
    THE BANGKOK MASSACRES: A CALL FOR ACCOUNTABILITY ―A White Paper by Amsterdam & Peroff LLP EXECUTIVE SUMMARY For four years, the people of Thailand have been the victims of a systematic and unrelenting assault on their most fundamental right — the right to self-determination through genuine elections based on the will of the people. The assault against democracy was launched with the planning and execution of a military coup d’état in 2006. In collaboration with members of the Privy Council, Thai military generals overthrew the popularly elected, democratic government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whose Thai Rak Thai party had won three consecutive national elections in 2001, 2005 and 2006. The 2006 military coup marked the beginning of an attempt to restore the hegemony of Thailand’s old moneyed elites, military generals, high-ranking civil servants, and royal advisors (the “Establishment”) through the annihilation of an electoral force that had come to present a major, historical challenge to their power. The regime put in place by the coup hijacked the institutions of government, dissolved Thai Rak Thai and banned its leaders from political participation for five years. When the successor to Thai Rak Thai managed to win the next national election in late 2007, an ad hoc court consisting of judges hand-picked by the coup-makers dissolved that party as well, allowing Abhisit Vejjajiva’s rise to the Prime Minister’s office. Abhisit’s administration, however, has since been forced to impose an array of repressive measures to maintain its illegitimate grip and quash the democratic movement that sprung up as a reaction to the 2006 military coup as well as the 2008 “judicial coups.” Among other things, the government blocked some 50,000 web sites, shut down the opposition’s satellite television station, and incarcerated a record number of people under Thailand’s infamous lèse-majesté legislation and the equally draconian Computer Crimes Act.
    [Show full text]
  • Thailand Singapore
    National State of Oceans and Coasts 2018: Blue Economy Growth THAILAND SINGAPORE National State of Oceans and Coasts 2018: Blue Economy Growth THAILAND National State of Oceans and Coasts 2018: Blue Economy Growth of Thailand July 2019 This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part and in any form for educational or non-profit purposes or to provide wider dissemination for public response, provided prior written permission is obtained from the PEMSEA Executive Director, acknowledgment of the source is made and no commercial usage or sale of the material occurs. PEMSEA would appreciate receiving a copy of any publication that uses this publication as a source. No use of this publication may be made for resale, any commercial purpose or any purpose other than those given above without a written agreement between PEMSEA and the requesting party. Published by Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA). Printed in Quezon City, Philippines PEMSEA and Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR, Thailand). 2019. National State of Oceans and Coasts 2018: Blue Economy Growth of Thailand. Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA), Quezon City, Philippines. 270 p. ISBN 978-971-812-056-9 The activities described in this report were made possible with the generous support from our sponsoring organizations - the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of PEMSEA Country Partners and its other participating organizations. The designation employed and the presentation do not imply expression of opinion, whatsoever on the part of PEMSEA concerning the legal status of any country or territory, or its authority or concerning the delimitation of its boundaries.
    [Show full text]
  • Mother of the Nation: Femininity, Modernity, and Class in the Image of Empress Teimei
    Mother of the Nation: Femininity, Modernity, and Class in the Image of Empress Teimei By ©2016 Alison Miller Submitted to the graduate degree program in the History of Art and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ________________________________ Chairperson Dr. Maki Kaneko ________________________________ Dr. Sherry Fowler ________________________________ Dr. David Cateforis ________________________________ Dr. John Pultz ________________________________ Dr. Akiko Takeyama Date Defended: April 15, 2016 The Dissertation Committee for Alison Miller certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Mother of the Nation: Femininity, Modernity, and Class in the Image of Empress Teimei ________________________________ Chairperson Dr. Maki Kaneko Date approved: April 15, 2016 ii Abstract This dissertation examines the political significance of the image of the Japanese Empress Teimei (1884-1951) with a focus on issues of gender and class. During the first three decades of the twentieth century, Japanese society underwent significant changes in a short amount of time. After the intense modernizations of the late nineteenth century, the start of the twentieth century witnessed an increase in overseas militarism, turbulent domestic politics, an evolving middle class, and the expansion of roles for women to play outside the home. As such, the early decades of the twentieth century in Japan were a crucial period for the formation of modern ideas about femininity and womanhood. Before, during, and after the rule of her husband Emperor Taishō (1879-1926; r. 1912-1926), Empress Teimei held a highly public role, and was frequently seen in a variety of visual media.
    [Show full text]
  • New Challenges and Opportunities for Innovation Peter Piot, London
    Professor Peter Piot’ Biography Baron Peter Piot KCMG MD PhD is the Director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and the Handa Professor of Global Health. He was the founding Executive Director of UNAIDS and Under Secretary-General of the United Nations (1995-2008). A clinician and microbiologist by training, he co-discovered the Ebola virus in Zaire in 1976, and subsequently led pioneering research on HIV/AIDS, women’s health and infectious diseases in Africa. He has held academic positions at the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp; the University of Nairobi; the University of Washington, Seattle; Imperial College London, and the College de France, Paris, and was a Senior Fellow at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He is a member of the US National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Medicine of France, and the Royal Academy of Medicine of his native Belgium, and is a fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences and the Royal College of Physicians. He is a past president of the International AIDS Society and of the King Baudouin Foundation. In 1995 he was made a baron by King Albert II of Belgium, and in 2016 was awarded an honorary knighthood KCMG. Professor Piot has received numerous awards for his research and service, including the Canada Gairdner Global Health Award (2015), the Robert Koch Gold Medal (2015), the Prince Mahidol Award for Public Health (2014), and the Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize for Medical Research (2013), the F.Calderone Medal (2003), and was named a 2014 TIME Person of the Year (The Ebola Fighters).
    [Show full text]
  • Major Developments in Thailand's Political Crisis
    Major developments in Thailand’s political crisis More unrest and policy paralysis are likely as Thailand prepares for early elections. The country has suffered five years of political turbulence and sporadic street violence after former premier Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted in a 2006 coup. Thaksin currently commands a powerful opposition movement, standing in the way of current prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva. SET index GDP growth – % chg y/y 1200 15 1000 10 I 800 H O 5 D B PQ C G E F 600 J 0 N M 400 KL -5 A 200 -10 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2001 2008 cont... A January 6 J September Thaksin Shinawatra’s Thais Love Thais (Thai Rak Thai) party wins Samak found guilty of violating constitution by hosting TV cooking 248 of 500 seats in parliamentary election. shows while in office and had to quit. Somchai Wongsawat, Thaksin’s brother-in-law at the time, is elected prime minister by 2005 parliament. B February 6 K October 21 Thailand voters hand Thaksin Shinawatra a second term with The Supreme Court sentences Thaksin to two years in jail in expanded mandate. absentia for breaking a conflict-of-interest law. C September L November 25 Sondhi Limthongkul, a former Thaksin business associate, starts PAD protesters storm Bangkok’s main airport, halting all flights. Up the yellow-shirted People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) street to 250,000 foreign tourists are stranded. campaign to oust Thaksin. M December Constitutional Court disbands the PPP and bans Somchai from 2006 politics for five years for electoral fraud.
    [Show full text]
  • Download This PDF File
    “PM STANDS ON HIS CRIPPLED LEGITINACY“ Wandah Waenawea CONCEPTS Political legitimacy:1 The foundation of such governmental power as is exercised both with a consciousness on the government’s part that it has a right to govern and with some recognition by the governed of that right. Political power:2 Is a type of power held by a group in a society which allows administration of some or all of public resources, including labor, and wealth. There are many ways to obtain possession of such power. Demonstration:3 Is a form of nonviolent action by groups of people in favor of a political or other cause, normally consisting of walking in a march and a meeting (rally) to hear speakers. Actions such as blockades and sit-ins may also be referred to as demonstrations. A political rally or protest Red shirt: The term5inology and the symbol of protester (The government of Abbhisit Wejjajiva). 1 Sternberger, Dolf “Legitimacy” in International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (ed. D.L. Sills) Vol. 9 (p. 244) New York: Macmillan, 1968 2 I.C. MacMillan (1978) Strategy Formulation: political concepts, St Paul, MN, West Publishing; 3 Oxford English Dictionary Volume 1 | Number 1 | January-June 2013 15 Yellow shirt: The terminology and the symbol of protester (The government of Thaksin Shinawat). Political crisis:4 Is any unstable and dangerous social situation regarding economic, military, personal, political, or societal affairs, especially one involving an impending abrupt change. More loosely, it is a term meaning ‘a testing time’ or ‘emergency event. CHAPTER I A. Background Since 2008, there has been an ongoing political crisis in Thailand in form of a conflict between thePeople’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) and the People’s Power Party (PPP) governments of Prime Ministers Samak Sundaravej and Somchai Wongsawat, respectively, and later between the Democrat Party government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and the National United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD).
    [Show full text]
  • Military Brotherhood Between Thailand and Myanmar: from Ruling to Governing the Borderlands
    1 Military Brotherhood between Thailand and Myanmar: From Ruling to Governing the Borderlands Naruemon Thabchumphon, Carl Middleton, Zaw Aung, Surada Chundasutathanakul, and Fransiskus Adrian Tarmedi1, 2 Paper presented at the 4th Conference of the Asian Borderlands Research Network conference “Activated Borders: Re-openings, Ruptures and Relationships”, 8-10 December 2014 Southeast Asia Research Centre, City University of Hong Kong 1. Introduction Signaling a new phase of cooperation between Thailand and Myanmar, on 9 October 2014, Thailand’s new Prime Minister, General Prayuth Chan-o-cha took a two-day trip to Myanmar where he met with high-ranked officials in the capital Nay Pi Taw, including President Thein Sein. That this was Prime Minister Prayuth’s first overseas visit since becoming Prime Minister underscored the significance of Thailand’s relationship with Myanmar. During their meeting, Prime Minister Prayuth and President Thein Sein agreed to better regulate border areas and deepen their cooperation on border related issues, including on illicit drugs, formal and illegal migrant labor, including how to more efficiently regulate labor and make Myanmar migrant registration processes more efficient in Thailand, human trafficking, and plans to develop economic zones along border areas – for example, in Mae 3 Sot district of Tak province - to boost trade, investment and create jobs in the areas . With a stated goal of facilitating border trade, 3 pairs of adjacent provinces were named as “sister provinces” under Memorandums of Understanding between Myanmar and Thailand signed by the respective Provincial governors during the trip.4 Sharing more than 2000 kilometer of border, both leaders reportedly understood these issues as “partnership matters for security and development” (Bangkok Post, 2014).
    [Show full text]
  • The Ongoing Insurgency in Southern Thailand: Trends in Violence, Counterinsurgency Operations, and the Impact of National Politics by Zachary Abuza
    STRATEGIC PERSPECTIVES 6 The Ongoing Insurgency in Southern Thailand: Trends in Violence, Counterinsurgency Operations, and the Impact of National Politics by Zachary Abuza Center for Strategic Research Institute for National Strategic Studies National Defense University Institute for National Strategic Studies National Defense University The Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) is National Defense University’s (NDU’s) dedicated research arm. INSS includes the Center for Strategic Research, Center for Technology and National Security Policy, Center for Complex Operations, and Center for Strategic Conferencing. The military and civilian analysts and staff who comprise INSS and its subcomponents execute their mission by conducting research and analysis, and publishing, and participating in conferences, policy support, and outreach. The mission of INSS is to conduct strategic studies for the Secretary of Defense, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Unified Combatant Commands in support of the academic programs at NDU and to perform outreach to other U.S. Government agencies and the broader national security community. Cover: Thai and U.S. Army Soldiers participate in Cobra Gold 2006, a combined annual joint training exercise involving the United States, Thailand, Japan, Singapore, and Indonesia. Photo by Efren Lopez, U.S. Air Force The Ongoing Insurgency in Southern Thailand: Trends in Violence, Counterinsurgency Operations, and the Impact of National Politics The Ongoing Insurgency in Southern Thailand: Trends in Violence, Counterinsurgency Operations, and the Impact of National Politics By Zachary Abuza Institute for National Strategic Studies Strategic Perspectives, No. 6 Series Editors: C. Nicholas Rostow and Phillip C. Saunders National Defense University Press Washington, D.C.
    [Show full text]
  • The Democracy Monument: Ideology, Identity, and Power Manifested in Built Forms อนสาวรุ ยี ประชาธ์ ปไตยิ : อดมการณุ ์ เอกลกษณั ์ และอำนาจ สอผ่ื านงานสถาป่ ตยกรรมั
    The Democracy Monument: Ideology, Identity, and Power Manifested in Built Forms อนสาวรุ ยี ประชาธ์ ปไตยิ : อดมการณุ ์ เอกลกษณั ์ และอำนาจ สอผ่ื านงานสถาป่ ตยกรรมั Assistant Professor Koompong Noobanjong, Ph.D. ผชู้ วยศาสตราจารย่ ์ ดร. คมพงศุ้ ์ หนบรรจงู Faculty of Industrial Education, King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology, Ladkrabang คณะครุศาสตร์อุตสาหกรรม สถาบันเทคโนโลยีพระจอมเกล้าเจ้าคุณทหารลาดกระบัง Abstract This research article examines the methods of power mediation in the design of the Democracy Monument in Bangkok, Thailand. It examines its underlying concept and mechanisms for conveying political power and social practice, along with the national and cultural identity that operates under an ideological framework. The study consists of two major parts. First, it investigates the monument as a political form of architecture: a symbolic device for the state to manifest, legitimize, and maintain power. The focus then shifts to an architectural form of politics: the ways in which ordinary citizens re-appropriated the Democracy Monument through semantic subversions to perform their social and political activities as well as to form their modern identities. Via the discourse theory, the analytical and critical discussions further reveal complexity, incongruity, and contradiction of meanings in the design of the monument in addition to paradoxical relationships with its setting, Rajadamnoen Avenue, which resulted from changes in the country’s socio-political situations. บทคดยั อ่ งานวิจัยชิ้นนี้ศึกษากระบวนการสื่อผ่านอำนาจอนุสาวรีย์ประชาธิปไตย
    [Show full text]
  • KT 3-6-2014 Layout 1
    SUBSCRIPTION TUESDAY, JUNE 3, 2014 SHAABAN 5, 1435 AH www.kuwaittimes.net Kuwait hopes Celebrations New Nadal shows to benefit as India gets Palestinian no sign of from China’s new state unity govt relinquishing expertise of Telangana sworn in clay crown 3Top Iran11 leader15 urges20 Max 43º Min 27º closer ties with Gulf High Tide 04:12 & 14:25 Khamenei warns Syria rebel supporters • Kuwait eyes Iran gas Low Tide 09:12 & 21:55 40 PAGES NO: 16185 150 FILS TEHRAN: Iran’s top leader called for better ties with Gulf conspiracy theories nations during a rare visit yesterday by the HH the Amir of Kuwait, intensifying a push by Tehran to mend rela- tions with the US-allied countries on the other side of the Arabian Gulf. Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah’s Environment two-day trip, which began Sunday, follows visits by Iran’s foreign minister to Kuwait and other Gulf states in education!! recent months. Moderate Iranian President Hassan Rouhani vowed to improve relations with Arab coun- tries after he came to power in August. Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters, sounded a concilia- tory note on the second day of the Kuwaiti leader’s visit. Iranian state TV quoted him as saying that regional security “depends on good relations among all coun- By Badrya Darwish tries of the region”, and that differences between them will only benefit their common enemies. He expressed hope for “a new chapter” of economic relations between Iran and Kuwait. Trade between the two stands at about $220 million, according to state television.
    [Show full text]
  • Media Framing of Military Junta's Suppression of Political Dissidents
    Media Framing of Military Junta’s Suppression of Political Dissidents Regarding the Constitutional Draft from January to August 2016 in Thailand A Research Paper presented by: Thanit Nilayodhin (462343tn) (Thailand) in partial fulfilment of the requirements for obtaining the degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN DEVELOPMENT STUDIES Major: Human Rights, Gender and Conflict Studies: Social Justice Perspectives (SJP) Specialization: Conflict and Peace Studies Members of the Examining Committee: dr. Dubravka Žarkov dr. Shyamika Jayasundara-Smits The Hague, The Netherlands November 2017 ii Contents List of Annexes v List of Acronyms vi Acknowledgement vii Abstract viii Chapter 1 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Background of the military junta's suppression: Pre-coup political conflict 1 1.3 Context of the Military Junta’s Suppression of Anti-Charter Movements 2 1.4 Context of The Nation 6 1.5 Research Questions and Objectives 8 1.6 Research Methodology 8 1.7 Justification of the Study 10 1.8 Scope of the Research 10 1.9 My Positionality towards the Topic 10 Chapter 2: Theoretical Perspectives 11 Chapter 3: Military Junta Ideology and Media Frames 3.1 Military Junta Ideology Dominating the Media Sphere 14 3.2 Four Media Frames of News Coverage 16 Chapter 4: Normal power to suppress frame 4.1 Normal Power of State Authorities 17 4.2 Dissidents as Victims of State Authorities 19 4.3 Conclusion 20 Chapter 5: Law enforcement by key government figures frame 5.1 Government Figures’ Imperative 21 5.2 Exclusion for Disguising the Junta Image 22 5.3 Conclusion 22 Chapter 6: Dissidents’ criticism of the NCPO frame 6.1 Attention Drawn to Dissidents 23 6.2 Less NCPO Suppression, More Dissidents’ Anti-Charter Image 24 6.3 Conclusion 25 Chapter 7: Keeping order frame 7.1 Government’s “Order” and “Neutrality” 26 7.2 Unclear “Order” and Absent Junta 27 iii 7.3 Conclusion 27 Chapter 8: Reflections of the Media Frames on Military Junta Ideology 8.1 The Media Frames in a Nutshell 29 8.2 Dominant Frame vs.
    [Show full text]