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‘The Head’ by Indian artist Ravinder Reddy outside the burning Central World building in Bangkok. Image taken from here.
ARTERI would like to record our profound sadness and sympathy for all our friends and the people of Bangkok who are experiencing anguish and frustration over the fighting that has continue to plunge the city into chaos.
For many of us in Malaysia, Bangkok holds a very special place in our hearts. We are disheartened that the city has been disfigured by the current crisis. Landmarks from Central World to the Siam theatre are places we are all familiar with as guests in Thailand. To see the city burn, we cannot begin to guess or measure the sorrow for those who call the City of Angels their home.
Yet, looking back at the history of contemporary art in Thailand, we are assured from its lessons that artists have played a significant role in reconstructing the cultural and intellectual life of a country at times when fear, greed and force have torn it asunder. It remains to be seen how a new generation of artists who have been chided by an older generation for being apolitical or uncommitted to social issues now come to take on the challenge of restoring creativity in a city that is recognised as one of the most artistically exciting and vibrant city in Southeast Asia. We look forward to that day where we may witness once again how resilient the collective human spirit can be.
For a timeline on the political crisis, please click on the link below:
http://bangkokok.typepad.com/files/thai-timeline-english-1.pdf
And a note of solace, taken from Jeab Gridthiya:
~
(ss)
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“Landmarks from Central World to the Siam theatre are places we are all familiar with as guests in Thailand. To see the city burn, we cannot begin to guess or measure the sorrow for those who call the City of Angels their home.”
Why is empathy channeled towards landmarks and BKK locals? Is this because as middle to upper class visitors, the touristic sites and city natives are more familiar and thus more worthy of mention?
I’m just concerned arteri folks might be romanticizing the city and indirectly portraying those who caused the destruction as savage outsiders.
The infographic is super but crosschecking is necessary as I found that numbers in the election results pie charts were not clear or not consistent with wiki data.
Crosschecking did reveal that the Reds (Thai Rak Thai –> People’s Power Partay) were always receiving a strong majority of the votes. Are they simply poor farmers whose votes were bought again and again?
Please remember that the ‘Democratic’ party had help from a military coup which now has demonstrated it will not restrain from using extreme violence against Thai people. The King also kinda chipped in 2006.
It is easy to see a building burn
but
what is happening is the crumbling of democracy.
Thaksin may be the biggest douche bag in the world yet he did not need the backing of the monarchy or the military.
Like religion, these two powers are traditional institutions where your vote will not mean shit because their religious scriptures, ceremonial crown, or machine gun bullets will tell you how to live your life.
Dear Langsat,
Nowhere did the above entry seek a partisan indictment of any political parties involved in the current crisis in Bangkok.
Yes, I did mention the touristy site because it is more familiar. The hundreds of status updates on my facebook point towards this.
More pertinently, it is a call to discussion of what artists can do in its aftermath. This is what we want to initiate on ARTERI.
– Simon
“Thaksin may be the biggest douche bag in the world yet he did not need the backing of the monarchy or the military.”
This political strategy to being a douchebag is quite common these days; esp in countries that are reviled by the western media; The ayatollah and gang has so much rural popularity it can get away with fucking around with liberties and lives, Hugo Chavez can be a huge prick so long as he gives the peasants what they want and what they want to hear. Closer to home, our dear BN and their $$$ for development winz the rural support so they can pretty much continue sucking money out of the country.
Is this democracy failz?
In response to Langsat’s comments above, the following article may be of use in clarifying any commonly held misconceptions about the recent events in BKK :
http://www.somtow.org/2010/05/dont-blame-dan-rivers.html
polly… that is indeed one of the best and most articulate article on what is really going on…
siam theatre…. cry….
Still chewing through some ideas but just wanna say thanks for link. Polly can you be more specific about the areas in which my comment that will benefit from Somtow’s analysis? There’s lots of interesting bits but there are parts which just makes me a bit skeptical of his words:
“I want to insist yet again that I am not siding with anyone.”
– read the entire piece and it is clear that his sympathies and arguments have a strong leaning to the Democrats
“this country already has democracy. Not a perfect one, but the idea of (the Red Shirts) “demanding democracy” is sheer fantasy”
– even if you don’t read the whole thing, the dismissive tone of this one line should tell you that no way is the writer ‘not siding with anyone’.
Bribery or voting fraud and manipulation of the mass by douchebags leaders is a flaw within the system, but my main argument is that democracy is a superior system to monarchy and military control / intervention.
Somtow is giving an interpretation of the facts and added important details to it but the fact remains: Red Shirts won majority of votes, Military Coup and Royal support gave power to the ‘Democrats’. Somtow says he is neutral but is basically justifying these severe abuse of democracy and dismisses the idea that democracy was in any danger.
After some years holding power, the Democrats should be confident enough to give way to the Red’s demand for a re-election. Instead, it shot and kill hundreds of Thais.
I doubt that money alone could have made so many Thais do what they been doing for months and months.
Meanwhile, some Bangkok natives still can’t do their luxury shopping. Boo hoo.
Did anyone see the clip of military snipers taking out Red Shirts? That is for me more violent and an injustice greater than what the Red Shirts had done.
Regardless of the douche bag who will come and go through democratic systems, a democracy is the system to hold and protect. Any system is vulnerable to exploitation by douchbags, but which systems really gives every citizen a shot at making a change?
Resorting to the royalty, the warriors, or the priests to bring order or the change you want is the most head in the ass thing you can do in the 21st century. Thus I’m really frustrated when I saw that our opposition were appealing to royal power and when that didn’t work out, they took to the religious icons.
I worry that with all the art and entertainment that fills our busy middle class life, we loose touch with reality, and forget just how angry oppressed people can be. Money may be a catalyst to some demonstrations but the anger comes from somewhere deeper.
We here, showing sympathy for burnt down shopping malls and buildings however beautiful and historical, sounds very alienating in my opinion. Kinda like the way Paris Hilton types safely channel their affection to little dogs or animal causes.
Anger can also be created and manipulated. Your retort seems just as bias as Polly’s link and they do not explain the complex make up of what is the red shirt movement, which is larger than Thaksin as the political figure connected to it as well as its working class majority.
Interesting to note how both the yellow and red shirts have been labeling each other as fascistic, claiming that each control important channels within the nation’s infrastructure that impede fair competition – military, media, royal support, election, etc.
I think part of the sympathy towards bangkok, the malls and the burnt theatres is a reflection of the anguish and frustrations that Malaysians feel towards our own political/social situation.
Compare the whole thousands camped out, with bamboo barricades and tires and even weapons at such a central tourist/financial district for two long months to how our single day bersih, hindraf protests all played out.
it seems to be envy, at how much they could get away with in BKK, which added to the anger when they broke the whole civil disobedience/ no violence rule.
Isn’t obvious I’m not neutral in this?I was making an argument that democracy was in danger in Thailand, not Bangkok.
Besides, I was already calling out Arteri’s seemingly neutral stance while showing subtle / unconscious support of the coup installed government by evoking sympathy for art/architecture and the city instead of the people who bled and died.
Here’s a piece I just found by a Lefty Thai.
“Giles Ji Ungpakorn worked in the faculty of political science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. He was forced to leave Thailand after being charged under Thailand’s anti-democratic les majeste laws. He is an activist with the socialist Turn Left Thailand group.”
http://links.org.au/node/1253
So it’s siding the Red lah k.
Read section on ‘Red Shirt’s Evolution’ to have an idea why the Reds could camp out for months.