cavanami Posted January 20, 2009 Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 This is about the same for any gov or politician. he more you try to hide something the more attractive it gets to the media. I think, for example, if Bill Clinton would have just 'fessed up, gave honest answers and said he is working the issues out with his family, the media is stopped cold. As soon as the lies start, the cover ups, the media starts digging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted January 20, 2009 Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 I don't know how they even found out about his book. It would be interesting to know. I get your point but the Thais see guys like him as the thin end of the wedge. If they ignore him more will pop up. They're making an example of him obviously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted January 20, 2009 Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 Did find the following confirms my reading: No specific name was mentioned in one short paragraph in a book 226 pages long and only three sentences are concerned. Furthermore, the charge is based on the translation of this passage into Thai, not on the original English.The reference to the monarchy is incidental, and in no way is central to the story in this work of fictionâ? What I read wandered around so much that it wasn't clear he was talking about the current monarchy. Further down the rabbit hole.. How does that fit with this quote from his own website... "His new novel "VERISIMILITUDE "is a trenchant commentary on the political and social life of contemporary Thailand. It is an uncompromising assault on the patrician values of the monarchy, the insidious infiltration of religious missionaries in the education system and the intimate relationship between American foreign policy and Thailand"s battle against Muslim insurrections in the south. Savage, ruthless and unforgiving, VERISIMILITUDE pulls away the mask of benign congeniality that Thailand has disguised itself with for decades and reveals a people who are obsessed with Western affluence and materialism and who trade their cultural integrity and personal honour for the baubles of Babylonian America." Anyone is welcome to PM me for the link....which includes a pdf. version of the book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coss Posted January 20, 2009 Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 All, putting our views on Thai Law, is to invite the missionaries in to do the wonderful job they've done in the rest of the world, the less the Thais are like the west, the better IMHO. There were times when the women of the South Pacific, went naked and offered favours as freely as water, but Western Civilisation and views on what is right, put paid to that. In Rome, I do as the Romans do.. Cheers Coss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted January 20, 2009 Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 Nicely put coss. That's roughly how I see it. Never could understand people who love Thailand and want to change it into some ersatz Western hybrid. Mind you the Thais are doing a pretty good job of that themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted January 20, 2009 Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 I've seen the offending paragraph, and it tells me the writer doesn't know shite about his subject. Any Thai could tell him where he has his "facts" wrong and tell him a great deal more. The paragraph also shows us he doesn't know the difference between nobility and royalty! (If anyone wants links to the book, I'll email them the link to www.google.com ) It doesn't matter which monarch the guy may have insulted, though he wielded a wide brush. [color:red]One simply does not insult ANY Thai monarch - past, present or future - if one lives in Thailand, and he lives in Chiangrai.[/color] What is so hard about it that writers can't understand? Do they think, "I'm a foreigner so I can do anything I want"? Disagree with the laws all you want, but you had better obey them anyway. << the insidious infiltration of religious missionaries in the education system ... >> In more than 30 years teaching here, I've somehow failed to detect the influence of missionaries in the education system. If he means the monks who teach religious subjects, they certainly are not "missionaries". In fact, the educational system began in the Buddhist temples and many schools still are on temple grounds. That's why teachers are called "archan" - the title for a monk. Ah, but what do I know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torneyboy Posted January 20, 2009 Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 Twenty books printed and ten sold ...unlucky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted January 20, 2009 Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 I've seen the offending paragraph, and it tells me the writer doesn't know shite about his subject. Any Thai could tell him where he has his "facts" wrong and tell him a great deal more. The paragraph also shows us he doesn't know the difference between nobility and royalty! (If anyone wants links to the book, I'll email them the link to www.google.com ) It doesn't matter which monarch the guy may have insulted, though he wielded a wide brush. [color:red]One simply does not insult ANY Thai monarch - past, present or future - if one lives in Thailand, and he lives in Chiangrai.[/color] What is so hard about it that writers can't understand? Do they think, "I'm a foreigner so I can do anything I want"? Disagree with the laws all you want, but you had better obey them anyway. << the insidious infiltration of religious missionaries in the education system ... >> In more than 30 years teaching here, I've somehow failed to detect the influence of missionaries in the education system. If he means the monks who teach religious subjects, they certainly are not "missionaries". In fact, the educational system began in the Buddhist temples and many schools still are on temple grounds. That's why teachers are called "archan" - the title for a monk. Ah, but what do I know. All this goes back to my question "If these guys all know the consequences, why do they do it?" 20 books published/printed? Is that correct? 10 sold? what was this guys agenda? Clearly (if these numbers are correct) it was NOT to make money and have a best seller. I have to agree with Coss, us trying to change this is the same as missionaries trying to change the heathens, and that would include US! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted January 20, 2009 Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 The guy is considered a travel writer and did have a successful book several years ago. Who knows what this one was supposed to be. He taught in Songkla a couple of years and now teaches in Chiangrai. He surely should be aware of things that could get him into trouble. So why did he do so? Why anyone would print 20 copies of a book is a puzzlement. It costs little more to do a run of 1,000 copies than to do one of 10 or 20. The expense much more is in setting the book up to print than in the actual printing costs. An unlikely possibility is that he is looking for publicity to help him become known, counting on a quick pardon from HM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lazyphil Posted January 20, 2009 Report Share Posted January 20, 2009 he did it because he's a cock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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