Related from earlier this week:
Thai government plans to MITM all internet communications
The Thai cleaning lady facing prison for 'I see'
21–30 of 47 posts
Re: The Thai cleaning lady facing prison for 'I see'
#22There's an Arabic saying that goes لا تسأل الطغاة لماذا طغوا , بل اسأل العبيد لماذا ركعوا Do not ask the tyrants why they tyrannised, but ask the slaves why they knelt.
Maybe I'm misreading you, but this seems disrespectful—to victims of tyrants in general, and to the victim of this possible prison sentence in particular—and I can't see what it adds to the discussion.
It makes sense to me. It's not insulting, it's merely stating that you should consider your situation.
Re: The Thai cleaning lady facing prison for 'I see'
#23There's an Arabic saying that goes لا تسأل الطغاة لماذا طغوا , بل اسأل العبيد لماذا ركعوا Do not ask the tyrants why they tyrannised, but ask the slaves why they knelt.
Maybe I'm misreading you, but this seems disrespectful—to victims of tyrants in general, and to the victim of this possible prison sentence in particular—and I can't see what it adds to the discussion.
I think maybe you're stuck on a particular interpretation. A "slave" can "kneel" for many reasons, including because they don't want to see more fighting, because they don't think they can win, because they see another way to fight such as through politics, because the through to their loved ones is too large, because they think the current "tyrant" is the current best choice.
Another way to word it in the interpretation I choose is "Don't ask the ruler for justification of the laws they made, ask the subjects why they followed those laws."
Re: The Thai cleaning lady facing prison for 'I see'
#24German comedian faces prison for mocking Turkish leader [1]
In Canada men went to jail for disagreeing with feminist. He was latter released on bail, but could not use computer and electronic devices for 4 years. Father of five is graphic designer...[2]
[1] http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/04/ger...
Re: The Thai cleaning lady facing prison for 'I see'
#25There's an Arabic saying that goes لا تسأل الطغاة لماذا طغوا , بل اسأل العبيد لماذا ركعوا Do not ask the tyrants why they tyrannised, but ask the slaves why they knelt.
Maybe I'm misreading you, but this seems disrespectful—to victims of tyrants in general, and to the victim of this possible prison sentence in particular—and I can't see what it adds to the discussion.
You can't be made a slave without your permission. You can be made a fugitive, a prisoner, or dead... but you can't be made a slave.
Re: The Thai cleaning lady facing prison for 'I see'
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe I'm misreading you, but this seems disrespectful—to victims of tyrants in general, and to the victim of this possible prison sentence in particular—and I can't see what it adds to the discussion.
I think maybe you're stuck on a particular interpretation. A "slave" can "kneel" for many reasons, including because they don't want to see more fighting, because they don't think they can win, because they see another way to fight such as through politics, because the through to their loved ones is too large, because they think the current "tyrant" is the current best choice. Another way to word it in the interpreta…
>"Don't ask the ruler for justification of the laws they made, ask the subjects why they followed those laws."
That is precisely the intended interpretation of the saying.
Re: The Thai cleaning lady facing prison for 'I see'
#27I was in Thailand in December, and the political situation there is really not great at the moment. The 90-year old King, whom Thais regard on the whole with a great deal of respect, is dying. He is in hospital for much of the time, there are rumours that he now barely speaks, and he is hardly seen in public at all anymore. The military is nervous about what happens when the King dies, as his son is not held in anywh…
Any discussion of politics in Thailand is worth mentioning that they've had 12 (twelve!) coups since 1932: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Thai_coup_d'%C3%A9tat
It's like a national sport or something...
Re: The Thai cleaning lady facing prison for 'I see'
#28I was in Thailand in 2012, spent a day in Bangkok hanging out with my former office assistant who had returned there to take care of family. While walking through the park there was sudden music playing from the loud speakers. Everyone stopped and stood perfectly still. My friend had gone into a public bathroom and rushed back out to make sure I was standing as well. There was an announcement from the king that lasted a few minutes. After it ended everyone resumed their walking, sitting on the grass, and exercise routines. I found it hard to imagine political intrusions like this in daily life, although it seemed akin to being at a sports event that had obligatory random national anthems in the middle of a game. Anyway it seemed indicative of a larger political climate of intrusion, but it sounds as though it's gotten exponentially worse.
Re: The Thai cleaning lady facing prison for 'I see'
#29I was in Thailand in December, and the political situation there is really not great at the moment. The 90-year old King, whom Thais regard on the whole with a great deal of respect, is dying. He is in hospital for much of the time, there are rumours that he now barely speaks, and he is hardly seen in public at all anymore. The military is nervous about what happens when the King dies, as his son is not held in anywh…
> I left the country fascinated by the experience of a > population living under authoritarian military rule, It's not as simple as that. They are a democracy, with regular elections. They're just punctuated with military coups. There'll be tanks in the street and the military will have to, after a few days, try and stop people from dancing on/near the tanks. There'll be as many people in favour of the coup as agains…
> They are a democracy, with regular elections.
That's almost laughable. The country has been under martial law for two years, with its constitution revoked. If the article is to be believed, the military prohibits campaigning against pieces of "legislation" they want passed -- like the new constitution, which basically just confirms military rule as law. A country with harsh (and enforced) laws on the book prohibiting criticizing the head of state... yeah, not a democracy.
Re: The Thai cleaning lady facing prison for 'I see'
#30I was in Thailand in December, and the political situation there is really not great at the moment. The 90-year old King, whom Thais regard on the whole with a great deal of respect, is dying. He is in hospital for much of the time, there are rumours that he now barely speaks, and he is hardly seen in public at all anymore. The military is nervous about what happens when the King dies, as his son is not held in anywh…
> It's very very hard to work out if the public affection for the King is for real
It's real. A lot of people have small shrines in their houses