New Mandala

10 responses so far ↓

• 1 Dog Lover // Feb 29, 2008 at 9:31 am

  The EWC has long been a supporter to the Thai monarchy and vice versa. There are mutual benefits. It is an academic outfit, but seems more like an arm of US foreign policy in the way that it operates.

• 2 Dog Lover // Feb 29, 2008 at 12:00 pm

  A second thought: Maybe you should post the whole fawning news release. It shows how far U.S. institutions are prepared to forgo in terms of academic credentials in seeking to promote themselves and raise cash. This is a truly embarrassing announcement. Those who complain that the direct royal involvement in horrendous events like the October 6 massacre are forgotten and brushed aside have an exceptionally good point.

• 3 Teth // Feb 29, 2008 at 2:35 pm

  Dog Lover, don’t be surprised. This has been happening since the US propped up dictatorial Thai generals like Sarit and the monarchy since cold war days!

  They are (as in continue to be) chums!

• 4 jonfernquest // Feb 29, 2008 at 10:44 pm

  “…seems more like an arm of US foreign policy in the way that it operates.”

  Disagree.

  There have been some very useful and productive intellectual exchanges between University of Hawaii and Thai universities, like Richard Day an expert in teaching reading (extensive reading).

  He taught at ABAC and came up north to give talks at universities in the Chiang Rai area. Talked at Rajabhat but unfortunately the university I taught at didn’t seem to care about low profile teacher development, not prestige enhancing enough, I guess, like GMS meetings. Anyway, if this professor was better supported by the US state department, it would have been great, his host in town even ended up shelling out the 300 baht for the salad he had for dinner.

  Kenon Breazeale who is director of research at the East West centre is a fine scholar who publishes articles in the Siam Society journal of lasting value and former professor Walter Vella wrote the history of Rama III.

  IMHO the long-term relationship of the East-West Center with Thai royalty probably provides a much more solid long-term basis for doing work in Thailand than anything else could.

• 5 Dog Lover // Mar 1, 2008 at 2:29 am

  Not surprised at all. The American habit of sucking up to authoritarian buffoons is legendary. One just might, might, maybe, expect some faculty member there to raise some concerns. Did someone mention pigs flying on this blog recently?

• 6 Teth // Mar 1, 2008 at 11:36 am

  IMHO the long-term relationship of the East-West Center with Thai royalty probably provides a much more solid long-term basis for doing work in Thailand than anything else could.

  I hope you see the conflict of interest, Mr Fernquest. Understandably, it is true that in Thailand the Mahidols are the most influential family and therefore a solid foundation. I merely wish to ask if you make the distinction between “solid long-term basis” and “actual quality of the research involved,” because I certainly think being tied up to the Thai monarchy will affect the quality of the latter to a large extent.

• 7 Dog Lover // Mar 1, 2008 at 9:19 pm

  jonfernquest: So sucking up to royals is the best way to do academic work in Thailand…. Like Teth, I hope you see the problem in this. I also suggest that you look more carefully at the ways in which the EWC Honolulu constructs its academic agenda in support of US foreign policy objectives. Of course, this is its mission:

  “The East-West Center is an education and research organization established by the U.S. Congress in 1960 to strengthen relations and understanding among the peoples and nations of Asia, the Pacific, and the United States. The Center contributes to a peaceful, prosperous, and just Asia Pacific community by serving as a vigorous hub for cooperative research, education, and dialogue on critical issues of common concern to the Asia Pacific region and the United States. Funding for the Center comes from the U.S. government, with additional support provided by private agencies, individuals, foundations, corporations, and the governments of the region.”

  I’m not sure that “some very useful and productive intellectual exchanges between University of Hawaii and Thai universities, … teaching reading (extensive reading).” is what I had in mind regarding critical scholarship.

• 8 Land of Snarls // Mar 2, 2008 at 7:19 pm

  Dog Lover #7:’ I’m not sure that “some very useful and productive intellectual exchanges between University of Hawaii and Thai universities, … teaching reading (extensive reading).” is what I had in mind regarding critical scholarship.’ Well, come on, don’t be coy. What did you have in mind? Spell it out.

  It seems to me that many of the political bloggers on this site are dedicated to maintaining the state of polarization that is responsible for the history of Thai politics replaying the same old story over & over. Tub thumping about the big issues, instead of worming in at ground-level and gradually effecting genuine change in the society, may be satisfying for those who want to be seen as knights in shining armour, but in terms of reality it’s counter-productive.

  This is, and always has been, a cosmetically-engineered society, in which the image is more important than the reality, & the majority of people are quite happy to leave everything to those who are in charge, & go along with their PR. Try discussing the Drug War deaths with Thai people. “They were in the drug trade, they deserved to die,” they’ll say. Where is the evidence that that is true? “Oh, they were on the police blacklists.” Begging the question! (Many bloggers,even ‘academics’, here don’t understand the meaning of ‘begging the question.’ They think it means ‘ raising a further, obvious, question. It doesn’t. Their misunderstanding may come from the fact that they have never studied a critical or extensive reading course.)

  It’s a very well-established fact that critical thinking skills are not taught in most of the Thai education system. Education? I don’t think so! Except in a few elite institutions, assessment in undergraduate, & even some post-graduate courses, is done on the basis of multiple-choice exams: the students can go through 4 years of ’study’ without ever having to write an essay. It doesn’t matter in many departments, anyway, because they’re not allowed to fail. All they have to do is regurgitate what their lecturers have told them are the true facts.

  Sneering at “teaching reading (extensive reading)” is tacky and stupid.

• 9 The Siamese // Mar 4, 2008 at 5:22 am

  Land of Snarls ““They were in the drug trade, they deserved to die,””
  and don’t forget Thaksin’s puppet Samak wishes to continue the war on drugs….

• 10 Tom Plate on the East-West Center’s royal event // Mar 10, 2008 at 3:55 pm

  [...] recent East-West Center event to honour the Thai king (previously reported on New Mandala here) has motivated an article titled “An unnecessary honor” by Tom Plate.  Available [...]

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