This is just an attempt at putting some thoughts together to see if they make sense.

First, the background for 1973-1976 developments is Sarit’s regime and Sarit’s legacy. Though there’s not much good to say about him, he nevertheless instilled some very deep values in the generation that played a major part in how 70s turned up for Thailand.

Sarit was a strongman in every sense, completely dominating political scene. In fact he simply outlawed politics altogether. With a man like Sarit in charge there was no need for things like parliament, and there was no need for any checks and balances. He was incorruptible, dedicated, selfless servant of the nation and the King. Whether he lived up to this image is not the point – people believed it and they cherished it. Sarit brought the monarchy back into the center of “Thainess”, making it a symbol of the state and everything good in the world, monarchy was again inviolable and indispensable. Sarit also showed no mercy to “troublemakers”, I think he even executed a few himself. Sacrificing troublemakers lives for the betterment of the nation, in the name of unity and the King, was deemed acceptable and no one gave it a second thought.

Sarit’s reign also coincided with Americanization of the country, when the US made Thailand it’s strongest ally in South East Asia. In exchange Thailand got growing investments, then Vietnam war brought in even more, and good times rolled. The country boomed, Americans built roads to Eastern borders and with that came even more development, spreading deeper into the countryside. Everything was on the up, up, up.

Then Thanom-Prapas took over, continuing in the same vein, but without Sarit’s charisma and public presence.

Middle classes expanded tremendously during those years, people really started to think they could climb up the social ladder and get rich. Education was also booming with university enrollment doubling and tripling every couple of years. Middle classes thought their kids would really really make it big, any moment, aspirations were set really really high.

Then the reality asserted itself.

First there were allegations of corruption against Thanom and Prapas. Perhaps people didn’t want a repeat of embarrassment of disclosure of Sarit’s assets after his demise, perhaps it was toying with democracy in the form of national assembly (Thanom-Prapas staged a coup against their own government and dissolved the parliament), but they were not going to tolerate these two one way or another, then Thanom’s son married Prapas daughter and it became Thanom-Prapas-Narong evil trio.

That brought 1973. While the movement was spearheaded by the students, the vast majority of protesters were middle class, respectable citizens. When half a million of well dressed and well mannered people took to the streets the establishment couldn’t ignore it. So there was “people revolution”, it was exhilarating, but while the notion of benevolent dictatorship has quietly disappeared, people were not prepared to ditch its values, and they had no idea where to go from there, and so from then on it got only worse.

First there was the worldwide oil crisis that drove inflation up and the investments and land speculation down, and the boom as people knew it was basically over. Then Americans started losing the Vietnam war, Thais were left to themselves, and it wasn’t very promising. Then Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia fell into communist hands and Thais were really scared they would be next as communist insurgency was raging through the countryside.

Internally, students who were leaders of 1973 uprising were taking a very anti-American stance, following their counterparts on campuses in the US. That was alarming.

Another major problem is that culturally students didn’t turn out as middle classes expected them to be. In Sarit’s days “student” was a status symbol, students were supposed to enter the sacred halls of bureaucracy and become model citizens. Instead middle classes were confronted with generation of free thinkers who didn’t display any outward respect to the monarchy and analyzed reverent Thai history in terms of class struggles and parallels with Europe. That was shocking. This new generation was very anti-establishment, the same establishment parents groomed them to be the best part of.

The growth in student population during economic crisis also meant many of them were unemployed, or even unemployable.

Another disturbing feature of post 1973 period was tremendous growth in labor strikes. In Sarit’s days unions were outlawed, strikes were unimaginable, and punishment was death. Instead middle classes were forced to endure personal inconvenience, losses in profits, increased wages, absolute impunity, and some unkempt, good for nothing layabouts arguing that this is the way it should be.

It’s in this soil that the right-wing establishment planted the seeds of 1976 crackdown. They came up with their own propaganda – people should unite around Nation-Religion-King triplet and good old values so that the country can pull through the crisis together and fight off communist malaise.

There was nothing scientific or rational about it – the country was supposed to be saved through faith and sacrifices, the country was punished and it needed to be put back on the straight path.

It worked brilliantly. It appealed to people’s core values and memories, and it strengthened itself by offering a “full package” in form of various Village Scouts, Red Gaurs, Nawapon and other popular organizations. Many of those groups were acting as social clubs where disillusioned people got their doze of nationalism, monarchism, traditional culture, songs and stage performances etc. The leaders were local pooyais and hi-so and I suppose membership was somewhat prestigious.

When crisis fully hit and they were told horror stories about what’s to come, and there was a need to blame someone for it, guess who was at the top of their list, edging out Chinese and Vietnamese? Students and the leftist movement in general.

That strategy assured middle class support for the crackdown. The muscle itself came in the form or Nawapon and Krating Daeng (Red Gaurs).

For Nawapon the establishment recruited vocational students, playing up on their second class status and higher unemployment rates. They were offered a chance to get back at their “superior” university counterparts, and they were enticed with the offer of the same goodies their parents wanted them to enjoy – money, booze, brothels, good life. For some reason violence was in these guys nature, when not fighting leftists they were busy bashing each other (and they still do, in 21st century).

Red Gaurs were established by Border Patrol Police, had people close to royal family, and they were driven by pure ideological hatred.

Nawapon and Red Gaurs were armed to the teeth and between 1973 and 1976 they attacked and killed a number of students and leftists, and the police couldn’t touch them. They were practically flaunting their untouchable status.

Ideological connection with middle classes prevented any serious public backlash, and so the right wing was fully prepared to unleash the horror of 6 October, 1976.

People like Samak, with unquestionable loyalty to the Nation-Religion-King, resolute and merciless to enemies were the heroes, and people voted for them with their hearts, and it stayed in their memory for decades – Samak won over a million of Bangkok votes in 2000 elections, people still don’t care about several hundred dead students.

Samak was literally the voice of their hearts back then, and he was no doubt articulate, witty, and intelligent, and they couldn’t accept that he might have been wrong.

After 1976 Nawapon and Red Gaurs were sent off to fight communists, and Village Scouts disappeared themselves, as far as I know. The whole massacre episode was rather embarrassing and was left unspoken, a quiet admission that it was a mistake. Thais don’t do soul cleansing very well, it’s not Christianity with it’s value of confessions, people deal with sins in a different way here.

What to make of it?

On one hand it’s a good time to forget his controversial side and focus on “RIP” but I don’t think it would serve any useful purpose.

There’s a lot to be learned from his life and death.

Politically speaking he was a very very unpleasant fellow with absolute disregard for freedoms and even human lives, not to mention the media. It was less than two years ago when he declared with a straight face that only one person died during 1976 massacre to which he personally contributed by rallying the mobs against the commies.

In a one dimensional world he’d be served nothing but condemnation for this, but I believe there’s more to this story.

Take the media. He made a career and a name for himself as a journalist and even once owned a newspaper. I believe he knew how media works a lot better than any of us, internet critics. We believe in unbiased reporting and some abstract “truth”, from Samak’s point of view none of that exists and media and journos are dirven by their own agendas, and I find it hard to disagree.

If he didn’t give them as much respect as we expect it was probably because he knew how much respect they deserved exactly. In my opinion CNN deserves to be lied and manipulated, for example. They accept it when it suits their editorial line, why protest when someone lies to them about something they don’t like?

When Samak was shouting at some female reporter from Al Jazeera we saw him attack the press, Samak probably saw a young and ignorant faceless upstart biting a lot more than she could chew just because she was sent there by an “important” news agency. Samak probably didn’t want to talk unless she was “properly introduced”, and I believe should would have behaved differently, too.

Samak lived in a world where everybody was connected and related to everybody else and no one was allowed to pretend any independence. In that sense I can easily trace my own connection to Samak, either via my family or my work. It would be just a few steps before he would say: “Ok, enough, now I know who you are.” My Internet persona is something different, though.

If I talked to Samak as StanG who writes this blog, he’d probably skip on that and asked for my real identity instead, and then tried to reconcile what I write here and what I would say in real life. I would have some real explaining to do, if he even paused to listen, and I think it’s fair and I wouldn’t blame him for that or for whatever unflattering words he’d chose for me.

Reconciling his involvement in 1976 is a lot more difficult, but I believe it deserves an attempt, too. Why? I never had any positive thoughts for those mobs and the police that let them on a mad rampage on that day, but one short blurb in The Nation’s report on Samak’s last moments made me puzzled about this:

“..Samak’s relatives had no idea the end was near until the patient deliriously remarked about angels surrounding his hospital bed..”

There’s no chance he was visited by angels if his 1976 exploits were not somehow forgiven. Of course you could simply refuse to talk about any angels at all and stop reading right here, but let’s assume that there were indeed angles and not demons surrounding his deathbed, and he wasn’t taken to one of the numerous buddhist hells but to some heavenly planet with lots of cats and heaps of noodles and unrivaled fresh produce.

That’s what forced be stop and think of possibilities. Maybe he was just doing his job, like an executioner who doesn’t go to hell for chopping people’s heads off. Or maybe he sincerely felt it was the right thing to do, and maybe he was somehow right.

Like with media example, we approach those events from a certain angle, in our universe October 1976 is universally condemned. For Samak, however, and the rest of the Thai society, it wasn’t a black and white affair as it is portrayed to us in popular history. There were real people involved in it, with real aspirations and feelings, sharing some and diverging in other areas.

Prapas-Thanom regime overthrown in student uprising in 1973 is viewed extremely negatively, too, but just a few years earlier it was perfectly acceptable and there was nothing major to complain about, judging by former British ambassador letter. On page 5 Thanom is described as “benevolent, accomodating, cautious, not spectacularly rich” and carries “general goodwill”. Compare this to how he is viewed now on wikipedia – it’s as if they are describing a different person.

Something happened in those three years between 1973 and 1976 that turned public opinion in a completely opposite direction. So far I’ve heard only the student side of the story, the “prosecution”. I’ve yet to see “defense” arguments. I think it’s quite plausible that Samak’s role in those event shouldn’t be demonized, as I myself have done in the past. It is unacceptable now, but in those days, over thirty years ago, it could have looked entirely different and, perhaps, the judgment should be reserved until more information is available.

And then there’s human side of Samak, and it was almost universally adored, there seems to be a consensus that he was everybody’s favorite uncle. I have no doubts that he was a devout Buddhist, exemplary in his behavior and thoughts. I’m pretty sure that it was this side of his life that earned him a visit from the angels, if it ever happened. Even his harsh speech was admired by many, if only for his skill and presentation. While some wanted to sensor his weekly radio program for inappropriate language, others were apparently glued to their radios, trying to learn: “His Sunday talks when he was prime minister, on the Thai language, history and culture, was a weekly enjoyment as I could close my ears to his political views.” – from a letter by Songdej Praditsmanont.

At the end of the day, many of his political enemies would pay him their last respects on his funeral. Newin, who blocked his return to PMship last year and later defected to join Democrats, went to Samak’s bathing rights already. He was duly booed by some reds, as were Democrats themselves, even though Newin cannot be really called Samak’s protagonist.

Samak started his political career in Democrat party, btw. Of course it was a different outfit than it is now but it’s an interesting factoid to reflect on.

I wish I could conclude by saying customary RIP, but, I think Samak wouldn’t have cared even a little about that. He never wanted any reconciliation with his “enemies”, he never felt the need to apologize for any of the things he is accused of, so I don’t think extending that unwarranted forgiveness is necessary, as in “Samak, we forgive you, RIP”. Crap.

I’d rather ask for his blessings instead, he doesn’t need any of mine.

On November 24th, 2009, a man named Samak died at the age of 74. He had been suffering from liver cancer for a long time and his death did not come as a surprise.
He had been the 25th prime minister of Thailand. He had been the governor of Bangkok from 2000 to 2004. He had been a member of the Thai parliament for many years. Many obituaries will say that he served his country. Did he serve his country well? Historians and other people will be the determination of that.
What can definitely be said that one word that would be used to describe was big. He had a big nose, big eyes, big nose and a big belly. It was if he had been a giant once and had been shrunk down to the size of z human, keeping the big features of his giant race.
He was not exactly a shy person and was not afraid to use his big mouth to express his views. It is his mouth that some people will remember him for.
In 1976, it was probably when he used his mouth the most destructively. He went on the radio and said that students were gathering at a local university. He said that the students were communists. Some extreme right-wing people took him seriously and went to the university, They lynched some of the students. Other students were able to get safely away. Some people think he is responsible for the massacre. When he was prime minister, he insisted to a CNN reporter that there was no massacre, even though there are many pictures of dead bodies at the university. This reopened old wounds and upset many people. His mouth had insulted the people who had been there or the ones who had lost their loved ones in the massacre.
As governor of Bangkok, his mouth was most active, but it did not seem interested in making Bangkok a better city. His mouth mostly talked about the cooking show that he hosted on a weekly and the celebrities that he met being the governor of Bangkok. He had a website devoted not to his main job of being the governor of one of the biggest cities on the planet, but to his cooking show. His main job just seemed a means to promote his cooking show and the city did not improve because of his stewardship.
One inspired idea that he had was to remove all the trash bins during a major summit of world leaders that was being held in Bangkok. He felt that the trash bins made the city look ugly. He put no thought in what would happen to the trash that would have to dumped on the street by people because there was no trash bins to put them in. A city would be truly be ugly with trash everywhere. Thankfully, his idea was never put into reality.
As governor, he said that mother nature was responsible for the flooding in the city of Bangkok. This would only be true if you consider mother nature to include buildings, streets and pipes. His mouth got him into trouble again.
As prime minister, his mouth seemed most obsessed with he called the Invisible Hand. The protesters that had partly driven Thaksin out of power had plagued him as well for most people had seen him as Thaksin’s nominee. Some viewed him as being chosen by Thaksin to be prime minister to protect Thaksin and to make sure that Thaksin was not punished for the misdeeds that he had done during his time as prime minister. Samak felt that the protesters were being controlled by an Invisible Hand that was keeping him from ruling the country properly.
Ironically, in the end, his downfall came from the cooking show that he was so concerned about when he was governor. As a prime minister of Thailand, you are not allowed to have any other job than being prime minister. He claimed that doing the cooking show was not really a job. A Thai court ruled that it was indeed a job and he had to step down as being prime minister. Some would see it as justice for ignoring his responsibilities of being a governor.
A few weeks after his downfall, he was found guilty of libel. He had repeatedly insulted another important person during a political show that he used to have. He was sentenced to two years of jail because libel in Thailand is a criminal as well as a civil offence. The cancer that killed him helped him not serve a day in jail for he used the illness as an excuse not to serve time in jail.
His mouth was silenced on a day in November. Some people might be happy that it was silenced. Some people think that his unique voice will be missed. Again, people in the future will have to make that judgement. On November 24th, 2009, a man named Samak died at the age of 74. He had been suffering from liver cancer for a long time and his death did not come as a surprise.
He had been the 25th prime minister of Thailand. He had been the governor of Bangkok from 2000 to 2004. He had been a member of the Thai parliament for many years. Many obituaries will say that he served his country. Did he serve his country well? Historians and other people will be the determination of that.
What can definitely be said that one word that would be used to describe was big. He had a big nose, big eyes, big nose and a big belly. It was if he had been a giant once and had been shrunk down to the size of z human, keeping the big features of his giant race.
He was not exactly a shy person and was not afraid to use his big mouth to express his views. It is his mouth that some people will remember him for.
In 1976, it was probably when he used his mouth the most destructively. He went on the radio and said that students were gathering at a local university. He said that the students were communists. Some extreme right-wing people took him seriously and went to the university, They lynched some of the students. Other students were able to get safely away. Some people think he is responsible for the massacre. When he was prime minister, he insisted to a CNN reporter that there was no massacre, even though there are many pictures of dead bodies at the university. This reopened old wounds and upset many people. His mouth had insulted the people who had been there or the ones who had lost their loved ones in the massacre.
As governor of Bangkok, his mouth was most active, but it did not seem interested in making Bangkok a better city. His mouth mostly talked about the cooking show that he hosted on a weekly and the celebrities that he met being the governor of Bangkok. He had a website devoted not to his main job of being the governor of one of the biggest cities on the planet, but to his cooking show. His main job just seemed a means to promote his cooking show and the city did not improve because of his stewardship.
One inspired idea that he had was to remove all the trash bins during a major summit of world leaders that was being held in Bangkok. He felt that the trash bins made the city look ugly. He put no thought in what would happen to the trash that would have to dumped on the street by people because there was no trash bins to put them in. A city would be truly be ugly with trash everywhere. Thankfully, his idea was never put into reality.
As governor, he said that mother nature was responsible for the flooding in the city of Bangkok. This would only be true if you consider mother nature to include buildings, streets and pipes. His mouth got him into trouble again.
As prime minister, his mouth seemed most obsessed with he called the Invisible Hand. The protesters that had partly driven Thaksin out of power had plagued him as well for most people had seen him as Thaksin’s nominee. Some viewed him as being chosen by Thaksin to be prime minister to protect Thaksin and to make sure that Thaksin was not punished for the misdeeds that he had done during his time as prime minister. Samak felt that the protesters were being controlled by an Invisible Hand that was keeping him from ruling the country properly.
Ironically, in the end, his downfall came from the cooking show that he was so concerned about when he was governor. As a prime minister of Thailand, you are not allowed to have any other job than being prime minister. He claimed that doing the cooking show was not really a job. A Thai court ruled that it was indeed a job and he had to step down as being prime minister. Some would see it as justice for ignoring his responsibilities of being a governor.
A few weeks after his downfall, he was found guilty of libel. He had repeatedly insulted another important person during a political show that he used to have. He was sentenced to two years of jail because libel in Thailand is a criminal as well as a civil offence. The cancer that killed him helped him not serve a day in jail for he used the illness as an excuse not to serve time in jail.
His mouth was silenced on a day in November. Some people might be happy that it was silenced. Some people think that his unique voice will be missed. Again, people in the future will have to make that judgment.

Nov 24, 2009
They said, they saw Samak Sundaravej ghost in the council… Everyone saw the same thing…

ASTV wrote that Samak wore his full white dress. The image was appeared in the middle of LCD monitor. He respected in Thai style. Then, all lights were shutting down… They do believe that what they saw is real Samak Sundaravej, because there is none of Samak’s photo in any computer. All is 4 seconds.

Samak Sundaravej died with liver cancer at Banrungrach Hospital at 9.33 AM. He had been 25th prime minister of Thailand, and Bangkok Governor. He is famous in cooking, but I do not know how he cooked to get the cancer in himself.

I would like to let you know that everyone has to die someday. We cannot brougth any money with us. The only thing that we can leave for this world is our name. Notorious or Honorable. We should not pay our honor to get dirty money. We should not be selfish. We are not materialism. We will be happy when we can make others happy, rather than be happy on others’ sadness.

Please think, when you die, what kind of liquid will be dropped on your corpse, tear or savila?

—

I did draw something for him long time ago.
Thai people call him, Rose Apple, because of his nose.
You may look up wikipedia to read his stuff.

Drawing for Samak Sundaravej about age ago.

	Ajeran (Bidens pilosa L.)
	Sinonim : Bidens sundaica Blume (1826), Bidens leucorrhiza (Lour.) DC. (1836), Bidens pilosa L. var. minor (Blume) Sherff (1925).
	Familia : Asteraceae (Compositae).
Uraian : Tumbuhan ini termasuk tumbuhan liar dan banyak ditemui di pinggir jalan. Kadang-kadang ditanam di halaman, sebagai tanaman hias. Tumbuhan ini tergolong terna, tinggi dapat mencapai 150 cm. Batang berbentuk segi empat, warna hijau. Daun bertiga-tiga, masing-masing berbentuk bulat telur, pinggir bergerigi. Bunga bertangkai panjang, mahkota bunga berwarna putih dengan putik berwarna kuning. Bagian yang digunakan Seluruh bagian tumbuhan yang berada di atas tanah (herba).
Nama Lokal : NAMA DAERAH: ajeran, hareuga (Sunda), jaringan, ketul (Jawa). NAMA ASING: Black jack (En). Sornet (Fr). Malaysia: kancing baju, pau-pau pasir, keroten. Papua New Guinea: ivu na mag (Gunantuna, New Britain), rakot (Kurtatchi, Bougainville). Philippines: dadayem (Ibanag), burburtak (Ilocano), pisau-pisau (Bisaya). Thailand: puen noksai, kee nok sai, yaa koncham khaao. Vietnam: d[ow]n bu [oos] t, t [uwr] t [oo] hoang, q [ur]y tr [aa] m th [ar] o. NAMA SIMPLISIA Bidentitis pilosae Herba; Herba Ajeran.

Penyakit Yang Dapat Diobati :
SIFAT KHAS Mendinginkan, rasa pahit, dan melancarkan peredaran darah. KHASIAT Antiinflamasi, antipiretik, dan antiseptik.

Pemanfaatan :

KEGUNAAN
1. Demam.
2. Pencernaan tidak baik.
3. Rematik (nyeri persendian).
4. Selesma.
5.Usus buntu.
6.Wasir.

RAMUAN DAN TAKARAN

Selesma dan Demam
Ramuan:
Herba Ajeran (3 gram)
Babakan Pule (200 mg)
Daun Sembung (3 gram)
Daun Poko (2 gram)
Air (130 ml)

Cara pembuatan:
Dibuat infus atau diseduh.

Cara pemakaian:
Diminum 2 kali sehari, pagi dan sore, tiap kali minum 100 ml.

Lama pengobatan:
Diulang sampai sembuh.

Usus Buntu
Penyakit usus buntu harus segera ditangani oleh dokter. Bila karena sesuatu hal, dokter belum dapat ditemui, ramuan ini dapat digunakan.

Ramuan:
Herba Ajeran (5 gram)
Air (120 ml)

Cara pembuatan:
Dibuat infus atau pil.

Cara pemakaian:
Diminum 2 kali sehari, pagi dan sore, tiap kali minum 100 ml, atau 3 kali sehari 9 pil.

Lama pengobatan:
Diulang selama 20 hari.

Komposisi :
Alkaloid poliina, saponin, zat pahit, minyak atsiri, dan zat samak.

Är det inte så man säger?! Och ska vi åka en massa bil så är det ju smartare att åka flera. Ensam känns onödigt på många sätt. Fick en idé när jag och en kompis hade vår sk Techwalk. ‘Tänk va smart om det fanns en sajt man kunde se om folk skulle åt samma håll som jag, när jag ska hem till Falun t ex”. Vi trodde dock att detta redan fanns, vilket det såklart gjorde. Sajten heter Samåkning. Så samåk nu, men var försiktig. Du ska nog fundera innan, meddela folk vem du åker med osv. Tyvärr går ju inte alla att lita på hur än optimistisk man vill vara.

Kärlek i sommarsolen!

.jd

Here’s a short documentary I did about ’samak’ some time ago. And to my delight, because of this, I was immediately promoted to the rank of ‘Ustaz‘!

Here’s an excerpt of my latest column/reaction to my new found status (which can be read in it’s entirety at The Malaysian Insider):

JUNE 3 — “Assalamualaikum,” said the woman on the other line.
“Wa’alaikumsalam,” I replied.
“Boleh saya bercakap dengan Ustaz Zan Azlee?”
“Err… Zan Azlee bercakap.”
“Saya nak bertanya, saya baru sahaja membeli rumah. Perlukah saya samak lantai dan dinding rumah tersebut?”
I’m definitely not an ustaz (Islamic scholar) and I’m definitely not an expert on issues relating to samak. I had no clue as to why she called me asking for advice on cleaning her house. [Click for more]

Tripoli, 2ème ville du Liban au nord, était réputée en gastronomie pour son poisson pimenté (Samaké Harra) ainsi que sa pâtisserie Halawet el Jeben (la douceur du fromage) qui était reconnue comme meilleure que celle de la capitale Beyrouth. Avant les événements de 1975, on n’hésitait pas à y aller exprès pour goûter cette délicieuse pâtisserie et d’en ramener pour ceux qui n’ont pas pu se déplacer. Il vous faudra aller à Tripoli pour goûter cette pâtisserie ou chez Diwan à Paris où ils doivent la faire peut-être, pour le poisson je vais vous le proposer ci-après,ça ne sera pas du Loukkoz le poisson roi sur les côtes du Liban mais une dorade royale fera bien l’affaire. Les enfants se régalaient surtout de la sauce qui accompagne ce plat et leur assiette était propre à la fin du repas.

• 1 dorade royale de 1kg500
• 25 cl de Tahini
• 25 cl d’eau
• 1 citron 1/2 à 2 citrons selon le goût
• 125g + 125g de cerneaux de noix
• 4 + 2 gousses d’ail
• 5 à 10 brins de coriandre fraiche
• 2 pincées d’épices libanaises ou 4 épices
• 1 piment vert
• sel
• 5 cs d’huile d’olive

Ecailler et vider la dorade, la laver et bien l’essuyer. Saler l’intérieur et laisser reposer 15 minutes.

Pendant ce temps préparer les ingrédients et préchauffer le four à 220°C.
Hacher  les noix (en 2 parts) , 4 gousses d’ail, le piment vert débarrassé de ses graines, la coriandre.
Avec un essuie-tout essuyer l’intérieur du poisson et le farcir avec le mélange suivant : 1 part de noix +l’ail + la coriandre + le piment  + 1 pincée d’épices + 2 cs d’huile d’olive. Rabattre le ventre du poisson pour le fermer et placer ce poisson dans un plat légèrement plus grand que les dimensions de la dorade. Huiler le poisson avec l’huile restante sur les deux faces et enfourner pour 30 minutes.
Dans une casserole réunir le Tahini avec le jus de citron, bien mélanger et délayer avec l’eau petit à petit. Vous devez obtenir une consistance légèrement plus liquide qu’une pâte à crêpe. Saler, ajouter la dernière pincée d’épices  et les 2 gousses d’ail écrasées et porter sur le feu jusqu’à l’ébullition et épaississement de la sauce (consistance d’une pâte à beignets fluide).  Eteindre  et réserver au chaud.
Cinq minutes avant la fin de cuisson du poisson, sortir le plat du four, et délicatement recueillir la farce et une cuillerée  ou deux de jus de cuisson et les ajouter à la sauce,ajouter aussi la dernière part de noix hachées, bien mélanger et napper le poisson  avec 2 ou 3 cs de ce mélange et réenfourner pour les cinq dernières minutes avec le Grill en fonction.
Sortir le poisson, laisser reposer 5 minutes couvert d’un alu , puis servir le plat au centre de la table . Quelqu’un se dévouera pour servir quelques filets de poisson qu’il arrosera avec la sauce au noix  pimentée bien chaude.

• 1Kg poisson genre dorade royale (couper en 4 morceaux)
• 1poivron rouge (environ 300 g)
• 2 ou 3 tomates moyennes
• 1 oignon
• 3 gousses d’ail
• ½ citron jaune
• 1 ou 2 piments verts
• 1/4 bouquet de coriandre fraîche
• 4 à 5 cs d’huile d’olive
• sel, épices libanaises,cumin
• 50g de pignons de pin revenus dans un peu d’huile

Couper les poivrons en brunoise (tout petits dés),monder (enlever la peau) les tomates et les couper en petits dés, émincer l’oignon et les gousses d’ail.

Mettre l’huile d’olive dans une poêle et faire revenir ensemble les oignons et les poivrons, faire étuver jusqu’à cuisson. Ajouter l’ail , faire revenir pour exprimer son goût puis ajouter les tomates, ajouter le sel épices et cumin et laisser cuire à petit feu et à couvert une dizaine de minutes tout en surveillant et remuant de temps en temps.

Couper les piments (sans les pépins) en brunoise,hacher la coriandre et les ajouter,bien mélanger ,ajouter un 1/4 de verre d’eau et laisser cuire 10 bonnes minutes.

à la fin de la cuisson de la sauce, y presser le demi-citron, mélanger.**

Pendant ces 10 minutes dans une poêle à friture, faire bien frire les morceaux de poisson dans de l’huile à frire 4 bonnes minutes de chaque côté.
Mettre le poisson dans un plat allant au four, verser la préparation aux poivrons sur le poisson..Enfourner 10 à 15 minutes dans un four à 220°C, à la sortie du four éparpiller les pignons et servir.
Personnellement je préfère manger ce plat entre tiède et chaud.

Une idée pour déguster ce plat à la façon resto chic :

Tout faire jusqu’à l’**
Puis lever les filets du poisson,les désarêter.
Couper en biais des morceaux de 150 à 200g,saler,poivrer.
Chauffer une poêle avec un peu d’huile d’arachide ou de Maïs,poêler les filets de loup ou dorade presque à l’unilatérale côté peau en dessous, retourner les 1/2 minutes à la fin pas plus.

Dresser  dans une assiette deux belles cuillers de préparation au poivrons en dôme et poser dessus le filet de poisson, quelques tagliatelles fraîches tournées autour d’une fourchette et placées dans un coin de l’assiette, décorer avec deux traits de sauces, des pignons et qques brins de coriandre, et l’assiette est prête à être dégustée.

Bon appétit à tous.

Ce plat était une astuce d’économie car à l’origine il était fait avec les têtes de poisson (coupées un peu large )qu’on enlevait ,et pour ne rien gaspiller ,on faisait avec ce plat délicieux;et pour ceux qui aimaient désosser les têtes de poissons c’était un double délice.

• 1 Kg de poisson genre dorade royale  (pièces de 500 à 600g)
• 1 gros oignon
• 1 verre de tahini
• 1 ou 2 citrons selon le citron et le goût de chacun
• sel ,épices libanaises  ou 4 épices
• 2 + 3 càs d’huile
• 50g de pignons
• eau

Nettoyer les poissons.

Emincer très finement l’oignon en lamelles.

Couper le poisson en tranches en biais de 2cm de large , saler poivrer et enduire d’huile avec les 2 càs.Poser sur un plat recouvert d’un papier cuisson et enfourner à 200°C pendant 5 minutes .Le poisson doit être juste cuit.

Sortir le poisson ,attendre qu’il refroidisse un peu et lever les arêtes sans les jeter.Ma grand-mère ne s’embêtait pas ,elle faisait frire le poisson à moitié comme elle disait ,puis elle faisait revenir les oignons avec l’huile du poisson donc elle n’avait pas besoin de l’étape qui suit car ainsi elle avait déjà assez de goût ,c’est vrai que c’était très bon mais je ne vous dis pas le gras,alors moi je modifie un peu la recette.

Mettre toutes les arêtes dans une petite casserole les couvrir d’eau ,saler  épicer et laisser sur le feu en petite ébullition 15′,cela va réduire un peu,passer dans un chinois et réserver,cela doit donner un verre de fumet.Pendant ce temps faire revenir dans 3 càs d’huile l’oignon émincé sur feu doux sans coloration,quand l’oignon est bien revenu rajouter un demi verre d’eau et laisser compoter jusqu’à évaporation complète de l’eau.L’oignon à la fin doit être fondant de chez chocolat.

Voilà on a presque fini.

Prendre un plat plutôt creux ,mettre les morceaux de poisson , l’oignon bien distribué partout,ajouter au fumet de poisson autant de Tahini ,bien mélanger et réchauffer sur le feu jusqu’à l’ébullition  , presser 1/2 citron ou plus selon le goût et fonction du citron , bien mélanger ,goûter et ajuster le sel et épices .Verser dans le plat pour couvrir poisson et oignons.

Mettre à gratiner dans le four de 5 à 10 minutes (surveiller)

Pendant ce temps faire colorer légèrement les pignons dans une poêle avec un peu d’huile ,et décorer le plat avec à la sortie du four.

Ce plat se mange chaud,tiède c’est meilleur,et froid à la température de la pièce c’est encore délicieux.

Unless you haven’t been living under a rock for the past few days, you would have known the general sequence of events taking place in Thailand. The anti-Abhisit, pro-Thaksin protestors reached the location of the ASEAN+3 summit, as a climax of their protests, which has engulfed Bangkok for the past few weeks. Their purpose is simple and clear: kick Abhisit out because he was elected undemocratically, and get Thaksin (or at least the party which represents his interests) back in power.

(Ok fine, if you have been living under a rock, then here and there provide more vivid detail.)

However, Abhisit has threatened to use the military should the protests devolve into riots, which necessarily involve clashes between protesting forces. (The blue, red, and yellow shirts represent different parties and interests and have clashed before.) This came from a hugely embarrased PM, which condemned their actions strongly. The delegates and leaders from various nations had to be evacuated to a military airport, upon which they rushed off soon after.

Now, with increasing military pressure, the protests have stopped – at least until the protest leaders resume them. The reports say that that will be in about 6 months, and a good thing to. It will allow the protestors to temporarily resume their livelihoods, while giving them the opportunity to ride on a favourable tide of public opinion (and I’m willing to bet that tide will rise).

How do we make sense of all this chaos? I believe it’s a form of revenger’s tragedy, after the popular novel in a warped sense. Lest we forget, Abhisit’s government was installed because the then more powerful Samak-led administration (People’s Power Party and the six-party coalition) won 310-163 in last year’s parlimentary elections. All of a sudden, the judiciary decided that it was time for the PPP to be slapped with a “election fraud” label, effectively banning all its key party members from politics for half a decade, and pushing Samak towards the direction of a 2-year jail term. (Which makes me wonder, why weren’t the judges more stealth? If they had wanted to make their judicial coup more favourable to general opinion, they really should have waited for a bit, and not acted with such immediate effect after the elections.)

The great motivating force, was, of course, the blockade of Bangkok’s airports and other key infrastructural facilities. Trade fell by as much as 30%, tourism (a huge industry in Thailand) suffered, numerous other industries suffered either a bottleneck of production or a complete lack of production resources, or both. The yellow crowd was responsible for this economic havoc.

So why not the reds? It’s their time to shine.

Go, reds!

(P.S.: There’s a bit of history going on behind Thai politics. Protests are always follosed by either action or inaction. Here’s something you could take a look at.)

ลำดับเหตุการณ์วิกฤตการเมืองไทย
โดย ดิเอทโซซิเอทส์ เพรส

ความขัดแย้งทางการเมืองที่เกิดขึ้นมาเป็นระยะเวลานานในไทยได้มาถึงอีกหนึ่งจุดผกผันเมื่อวันอังคารที่ผ่านมาเมื่อศาลได้มีคำวินิจฉัยให้นายกรัฐมนตรีพ้นจากตำแหน่ง

ทันทีที่ศาลมีคำวินิจฉัยให้ยุบพรรคการเมือง(โดยเฉพาะพรรคพลังประชาชน)กลุ่มต่อต้านรัฐบาลพันธมิตรประชาชนเพื่อประชาธิปไตย(พธม.)ได้ประกาศชัยชนะและกล่าวว่าอาจยุติภารกิจการยึดสนามบินทั้งสองแห่งในเมืองหลวง

9 กุมภาพันธ์ 2544
-คุณทักษิณ ชินวัตร มหาเศรษฐีในธุรกิจสื่อสารโทรคมนาคมได้รับเลือกให้เป็นนายกรัฐมนตรี

พฤศจิกายน 2548
-การชุมนุมต่อต้านทักษิณรายสัปดาห์เริ่มก่อตัวขึ้น ผู้เข้าร่วมชุมนุมกว่าหลายพันคนกล่าวหารัฐบาลว่าทุจริตคอรัปชั่น ใช้อำนาจในทางมิชอบและควบคุมเสรีภาพในการพูด

19 กันยายน 2549
-ทหารไทยเข้าทำการรัฐประหารแบบไม่เสียเลือดเนื้อขณะที่คุณทักษิณยังอยู่ที่นิวยอร์ค

ธันวาคม 2550
-พรรคพลังประชาชน ซึ่งเป็นตัวแทนของพรรคซึ่งถูกยุบไปของคุณทักษิณได้รับชัยชนะอย่างง่ายดายโดยได้ที่นั่งในสภาฯมากที่สุดในการเลือกตั้งทั่วไปและเดินหน้าเป็นผู้นำในการจัดตั้งรัฐบาลผสม 6 พรรคโดยเลือกคุณสมัคร สุนทรเวชมาเป็นนายกรัฐมนตรี

พฤษภาคม 2551
-กลุ่มพันธมิตรประชาชนเพื่อประชาธิปไตยซึ่งประกอบไปด้วยกลุ่มนักธุรกิจคนชั้นกลางและผู้เกษียณอายุราชการ กลุ่มนิยมเจ้า และกลุ่มต่อต้านโลกาภิวัฒณ์ ได้เริ่มต้นการชุมนุมประท้วงต่อต้านคุณสมัครผู้ซึ่งถูกกล่าวหาว่าเป็นหุ่นเชิดของคุณทักษิณ โดยเรียกร้องให้คุณสมัครลาออก

26 สิงหาคม
-กลุ่มพันธมิตรฯได้บุกจู่โจมสถานีโทรทัศน์ของรัฐและก่อการประท้วงภายนอกกระทรวงที่ทำการของรัฐบาลหลายแห่ง ผู้ประท้วงหลายหมื่นคนได้เข้ายึดทำเนียบรัฐบาลของนายกรัฐมนตรี

9 กันยายน
-ศาลมีคำวินิจฉัยให้คุณสมัครพ้นจากตำแหน่งนายกรัฐมนตรีจากการจัดรายการทำอาหารโชว์ของเขาทางโทรทัศน์ซึ่งเป็นการกระทำที่ครบองค์ประกอบความผิดฐานมีความขัดแย้งระหว่างผลประโยชน์ส่วนตัวกับผลประโยชน์ขององค์กรหรือส่วนรวม

17 กันยายน
-สภาผู้แทนราษฎรเลือกนายสมชาย วงศ์สวัสดิ์เป็นนายกรัฐมนตรี แต่กลุ่มผู้ประท้วงกล่าวว่าคุณสมชายเป็นหุ่นเชิดของคุณทักษิณด้วยเช่นกันและยืนยันที่จะอยู่ในทำเนียบรัฐบาลต่อไปจนกว่าคุณสมชายจะลาออก

7 ตุลาคม
-มีการปะทะกันระหว่างตำรวจและกลุ่มผู้ประท้วงหลังจากที่ทางเจ้าหน้าที่พยายามเปิดถนนรอบๆบริเวณรัฐสภาฯเพื่อให้สส.เข้าร่วมประชุมสภาฯได้ ยังผลให้มีผู้เสียชีวิตหนึ่งรายบาดเจ็บกว่า 100 ราย

21 ตุลาคม
-คุณทักษิณต้องโทษจำคุกเป็นเวลา 2 ปีในข้อหาละเมิดกฎหมายว่าด้วยการขัดแย้งแห่งผลประโยชน์แต่เขาเดินทางกลับไปลี้ภัยในลอนดอนคืนโดยคุณทักษิณกล่าวว่าเขาไม่ได้รับการพิจารณาคดีอย่างเป็นธรรม

20 พฤศจิกายน
-ลูกระเบิดลูกหนึ่งได้ระเบิดขึ้นที่ทำเนียบรัฐบาลของนายกรัฐมนตรีที่ซึ่งกลุ่มผู้ประท้วงได้ลงปักหลักประท้วงเป็นเหตุให้มีผู้เสียชีวิตหนึ่งรายบาดเจ็บมากกว่า 20 คน

25 พฤศจิกายน
-สมาชิกของกลุ่มพันธมิตรฯหลายคนได้เข้ายึดสนามบินสุวรรณภูมิที่กรุงเทพฯทำให้ทุกเที่ยวบินต้องหยุดชะงักลงชั่วคราวและมีนักเดินทางร่วมแสนต้องติดค้างและตกอยู่ในสถาณการณ์ที่ยากลำบาก ท่าอากาศยานภายในประเทศดอนเมืองถูกยึดในวันต่อมา

2 ธันวาคม
-พรรคของคุณสมชายมีความผิดฐานทุจริตการเลือกตั้งและถูกยุบ คุณสมชายถูกเพิกถอนสิทธิทางการเมืองเป็นเวลา 5 ปีและรองนายกรัฐมนตรีเชาวรัตน์ ชาญวีระกูลทำหน้าหน้าที่รักษาการณ์นายกรัฐมนตรีแทน กลุ่มผู้ประท้วงรัฐบาลประกาศชัยชนะและกล่าวว่าพวกเขาจะเคลื่อนย้ายออกจากสนามบิณสุวรรณภูมิ

ถอดความภาษาไทยโดย Thinking in ink

Timeline of Thailand’s political crisis
By The Associated Press

Thailand’s long-running political conflict reached another watershed Tuesday, as a court forced the prime minister from office. The anti-government People’s Alliance for Democracy declared victory following the ruling and said it would end its occupation of the capital’s two airports.

Feb. 9, 2001

_Thaksin Shinawatra, a telecommunications mogul, is elected prime minister.

November 2005

_Weekly anti-Thaksin rallies begin, drawing thousands of people accusing the government of corruption, abuse of power, and suppressing free speech.

Sept. 19, 2006

_Thailand’s military stages bloodless coup while Thaksin is in New York.

December 2007

_The People’s Power Party, a proxy for Thaksin’s disbanded party, easily wins the top number of seats in a general election and goes on to lead a six-party coalition that chooses Samak Sundaravej as prime minister.

May 2008

_The People’s Alliance for Democracy, comprising middle class business people and retirees, monarchists and opponents of globalization, launches protests against Samak, who it accuses of being Thaksin’s puppet. It demands Samak resign.

Aug. 26

_The protest alliance raids a government-controlled television station and launches protests outside several government ministries. Tens of thousands of protesters take over the prime minister’s compound.

Sept. 9

_Samak is removed from office after a court rules his appearance on a TV cooking show constituted a conflict of interest.

Sept. 17

_Parliament elects Somchai Wongsawat prime minister. Protesters say Somchai is also Thaksin’s puppet and vow to stay at Government House until he leaves office.

Oct. 7

_Police and protesters clash after authorities try to clear the streets around Parliament to allow in lawmakers. One person is killed and hundreds injured.

Oct. 21

_Thaksin is sentenced to two years in jail for breaking a conflict-of-interest law, but has already fled back to London exile, claiming he cannot get a fair trial.

Nov. 20

_A grenade explodes at the prime minister’s offices where protesters are camped out, killing one person and wounding more than 20.

Nov. 25

_Members of the protest alliance take over Bangkok’s main Suvarnabhumi airport, halting all flights and stranding hundreds of thousands of travelers. The city’s Don Muang domestic airport is occupied the next day.

Dec. 2

_Somchai’s party is found guilty of electoral fraud and dissolved. Somchai is barred from politics for five years and Deputy Prime Minister Chaowarat Chandeerakul becomes acting prime minister. Anti-government protesters declare victory and say they will vacate the airports.

Thailand wasn’t exactly the sort of nation we’d expect to have a coup. We were suspecting this, perhaps, in another country, perhaps, in a less developed nation. These things do happen more frequently in Africa, where power struggle is common and has cemented itself as a fact of life since 40 years ago. Since them, a great many of them have turned independent, and the result has been less than satisfactory.

But not in Thailand.

A land we commonly associated very distinctly with three things: golden Buddhist temples, rice, and smiles. That’s what they advertised, if not explicitly then implicitly, if not by huge billboards on buses and long commercials on television, then by word-of-mouth.

Who’s to blame? Thailand’s predicament lies not in one party, but in a number of hands directly responsible for all the trouble they’ve put the entire nation into.

First, the military – and what a beautifully orchestrated coup that was! Wait till the Prime Minister leaves the country to attend a global event, then moat his residence, suspend his governing organs and hamstring Parliament. If the suddenness didn’t surprise one, then the elegance must have impressed even the most indifferent person. What the top brass of the Thailand military did was not only illegitimate, but cowardly at its very best. It disgusts me, now, then, that after screwing up a country which showed promise once again in terms of its 1st-world prospects, they say that “coups aren’t the way to solve it”. I believe it’s time for a pat on the back.

Next – the yellow protesters camping first outside yet another House of governance, then at two major airports. It’s not a question of responsibility here – never-mind the disruption to the economy and survival of the nation if it’s the name of “democracy” – but a dispute of the extent at which they contradict themselves. Sitting and lazing around, getting free barber haircuts and free supplies of food, by senior citizens and the occasional working adult (at least that’s what’s almost always shown) is more than just obstructing entrance to governmental bodies – it’s creating an unfair impediment to democracy. These protesters deserve much more than degrade themselves in the name of “democracy”, when they are really used as tools to obstruct everything even remotely related to democracy. Democracy doesn’t mean mobs; it means people power – not achieved solely through mass protests (as what has appeared a stunning success in Thailand), but through the power of the vote. The last time I checked, this was an inalienable tenet of democracy. I think Thaksin Shinawatra received a majority of the vote, did he not? Perhaps they removed deicded to the “e” and make it a tent instead for protestors – but we never really know, do we?

Thirdly – the High Court. First came the military coup, then the judicial coup. Wonderfully executed. I think Samak Sundaravej’s PPP received a majority of the vote, did it not? (In this case, repetition is a deliberate device.) Still, I must say it’s an admirable excuse how do they manage to conceive such things – this sudden “You committed a fraud last year, I guess.” proposition by the judges quite effectively removed obstructions from airports. And with it comes the obstruction of justice, but never you mind this silly little concept.

Finally – the PAD. As far as I am concerned, their only “Action” (Incidentally their middle name. Oh, but you didn’t notice.) was to raise havoc simply because they didn’t want Thaksin, or any of his sidekicks, reincarnations or lackeys. Why? Because Thaksin is bad. Why? Because he opposes the royal elite. Why? Because… he isn’t good for Thailand. Why? Because the people – ah, you see these demonstrators – don’t like him. Why? Because, ok, let’s go down and ask them. (In Thai) Hey aunty, why is Thaksin bad for Thailand? This gentleman here wants to know. (In response) Oh, aiyah, because he is against the King! And of course we get to have free yellow shirts and food lah, hahaha. (End Thai)

Undoubtedly the PAD has moral responsibility in the collapse of what was once the moral and legislative authority of Thailand – the Government. Because the Monarch, must as the people revere him for his occasional speeches about the necessity of peace, kicked Thaksin out diplomatically and has a hand – deny he may – in this spectecular disaster. The PAD want to be government, and they’ve taken a well chosen shortcut.

In any case, the PAD offers extraordinary insight in how to pull the right strings on the people, and how to exploit power to their advantage. I believe the people responsible should be commemorated and their deeds recorded in the annals of history. Articles should be written and tributes should be paid in their honour for their recent inclusion (just a day ago) into The Book of Coups.

Turn with me, students, to the section “Most Useless, Best Executed”. Page 547.

Yes, Gretel, you raised your hand. Oh, yes, I know, yellow’s a beautiful colour, isn’t it?

Tröttnade på att sitta?

Ni trodde kanske att protesterna i Bangkok var över? Det trodde nästan jag också, men har ju hört lite då och då att de fortfarande satt där ute vid regeringsbyggnaden.

Nu har de satt lite fart igen. Igår kväll stoppade de framkomligheten till parlamentet. Idag Tisdag skulle regeringen ha annonserat en ny policy. Enligt tidningarna är det en fredlig “sittning” utanför byggnaden. Men på tv ser man tydligt att dom står upp och det med mindre fredliga miner.

Uppdatering Tisdag kväll: Ja det brakade ju loss ordentligt, värre än innan. Läs mer på the Nation.

Välj rätt accessoarer för en lyckad demonstration.

Kvinna med clapper. Bild från BkkPost.

PAD har under sina protester använt klappande plasthänder, så kallade “clappers” bl.a. för att störa lite för talande regeringsmedlemmar. Protesterna har ibland kallats för “the Clapper War” och sånger med texter som “clap away the country’s evils” sjungs.

De finns i alla dess färger och storlekar, ibland självlysande. Kostar ca 40 baht.

Nu ska folk som stöder regeringen få sin egen version av clappern. Det blir en stor röd knytnäve, även den med störigt klappljud. Dom kommer att delas ut till vänner av lag och ordning i nästa vecka. Pris för oss andra ännu oklart.

Samakar maten bra?

Minns ni vår före detta tv-kock/premiärminister Samak? Han togs i förra veckan in på Bumrungrad Hospital här i Bangkok. Det ryktas om matförgiftning. Vi får verkligen hoppas att det inte var från hans egen matlagning…

Magförgiftning?

Bangkok (VNA) - Thailand’s former Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej has quit as leader of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), local media reported.

He held a press conference on the matter in the afternoon of September 30, according to the Bangkok Post.

Samak was disqualified by the Constitution Court from the top post on September 15 for violating the constitution by hosting two cooking shows on commercial television.-

ไม่ได้ประหลาดใจกับคำตัดสินคดีของคุณสมัครในวันนี้ เพราะเคยเขียนเตือนไปหลายครั้งแล้วว่า “อย่าทำเป็นเล่นกับเรื่องคดีหมิ่นประมาทของคุณสมัคร” ดังที่ได้เขียนเป็นบทความในชื่อ “ก็แค่เจรจาไม่ลงตัว” เมื่อวันศุกร์ที่ 12 กันยายน 2551 ตั้งแต่ก่อนจะมีความชัดเจนในการคัดตัวนายกรัฐมนตรีคนใหม่ ดังเนื้อหาในส่วนที่เกี่ยวข้องดังต่อไปนี้

“ถึงตรงนี้ขอเตือนว่า อย่าทำเป็นเล่นกับเรื่องคดีหมิ่นประมาทของคุณสมัคร เอกสิทธิ์ ส.ส. ตามมาตรา 130 คุ้มครองคุณสมัครไม่ได้ เพราะเป็นการพิจารณาคดีต่อเนื่องก่อนที่ คุณสมัครจะเป็น ส.ส. อยู่ในวรรค 4 ลองอ่านรัฐธรรมนูญกันดู หากศาลท่านไม่ยอมให้ฎีกา แล้วให้คุณสมัครติดคุกแบบไม่รอลงอาญาจริง ทั้งสถานภาพนายกรัฐมนตรี และสถานภาพ ส.ส. ก็ต้องสิ้นสุดลงตามรัฐธรรมนูญ ตอนนี้เมื่อใช้ช่องนี้ไม่ได้ ก็อาจผลักดันผ่านช่องทางเสนอให้อัยการสูงสุดลงนามสลักหลังในคำร้องขอฎีกา แต่ก็นั่นแหละช่องทางนี้ก็แค่ยืดเวลา สุดท้ายก็ต้องถูกจำคุกอยู่ดี

แม้จะฝืนใจใครๆหลายคน แต่ก็ต้องย้ำแล้วย้ำอีก ว่าอย่าไปยึดติดตัวบุคคล เตรียมนายกรัฐมนตรีคนใหม่เผื่อเอาไว้ระหว่างที่คุณสมชายฝึกงานเป็นนายกรัฐมนตรีรักษาการในขณะนี้”

ดูอาการแล้วคู่ความ อย่างคุณสามารถยังแสดงท่าทีไม่ยอมความ และได้เล่าด้วยว่ามีผู้ใหญ่มาขอเจรจาให้ยอมความ แต่ตนตั้งใจจะดำเนินคดีให้ถึงที่สุด ศาลจึงต้องตัดสินไปตามข้อเท็จจริง

แต่เห็นคุณธนพิชญ์ โฆษกสำนักงานอัยการสูงสุด ได้ชี้ช่องทางให้คุณสมัครยังสามารถยื่นฎีกา โดยจะมีการประสานให้อัยการสูงสุดลงนามสลักหลังคำร้องขอฎีกา ก็แสดงว่าโอกาสในการขอยื่นฎีกายังมีอยู่ ตามที่ได้เขียนเตือนไปในบทความก่อนโน้นแล้ว หากช่องทางฎีกาผ่านอัยการสูงสุดไม่สามารถทำได้ ก็คงเหลืออีกช่องทางเดียวคือยื่นเรื่องต่อผู้พิพากษาที่พิจารณาคดีเพื่อให้ส่งเรื่องเข้าสู่ศาลฎีกา หากช่องทางนี้ยังทำไม่ได้อีก คุณสมัครก็จะต้องถูกดำเนินคดี และเอกสิทธิ์คุ้มครอง สส. ไม่สามารถคุ้มครองได้ เรื่องนี้แตกต่างจากกรณีของคุณสมเกียรติ แกนนำ พธม. ที่ใช้ช่องเอกสิทธิ์ สส. คุ้มครองได้ตาม มาตรา 130 ที่ต้องพูดเรื่องนี้ เพราะเห็นยังมีบางคนเข้าใจผิด คิดว่าคุณสมัครจะใช้ช่องทางเอกสิทธิ์ สส. คุ้มครอง ซึ่งกฎหมายยกเว้นเอกสิทธิ์หากเป็นคดีที่มีการพิจารณาต่อเนื่องก่อนที่จะเข้าดำรงตำแหน่ง สส. หรือก่อนจะมีสมัยประชุม ในวรรค 4

แต่ตอนนี้คุณสมัครก็ใช้หลักทรัพย์ค้ำประกันตน ก่อนรอฟังผลการขอยื่นฎีกาต่อไป ก็น่าเชื่อว่ายังจะพอมีโอกาสอยู่ ถึงตรงนี้ก็ขึ้นอยู่กับความเมตตาของศาล

ถึงตรงนี้ยังต้องทำความเข้าใจกับหลายๆคนเพิ่มอีกว่า ในระบบนิติรัฐ ทุกสิ่งทุกอย่างต้องทำตามกฎหมาย การต่อสู้ก็ต่อสู้ไปตามช่องทางที่บัญญัติไว้ในกฎหมายต่างๆ หากไม่เห็นด้วยกับกฎหมายของรัฐนั้นก็ต้องเลือกการลี้ภัย เพื่อไปอาศัยอยู่ในรัฐอื่นที่ใช้กฎหมายที่ต่างกันออกไป หากจะทำการแข็งขืนรัฐด้วยวิธีการเช่น อารยะขัดขืน ก็ต้องยินยอมรับความผิดที่ตนฝ่าฝืนนั้นด้วย เช่นเดียวกับมหาตมะ คานธี และเหล่าผู้ติดตาม ที่เดินทางไปจาริกเพื่อทำเกลือ และยอมถูกรับโทษจำคุก

ในสมัยเอเธนส์ ภายหลังที่เอเธนส์บรรลุถึงยุคเสื่อมพ่ายแพ้สงครามให้กับสปาร์ตา มีบุคคลยุให้ไต่สวนโสกราตีสนักปราชญ์คนสำคัญในยุคกรีก โดยกล่าวหาว่าโสกราตีสเป็นคนทำให้เกิดความเสื่อมศรัทธาในศาสนา เหตุเพราะโสกราตีสได้ตั้งคำถามและสนทนาเกี่ยวกับปัญหาปรัชญาซึ่งถือเป็นการล่วงละเมิดไปยังเทพเจ้า ซึ่งถือเป็นที่เคารพของชาวเอเธนส์ในขณะนั้น ศาลได้ตัดสินประหารชีวิตโสกราตีส

ในบทเล่าถึงวันสุดท้ายของโสกราตีส กล่าวถึงไครโต มิตรของเขาที่ชักชวนให้โสกราตีสหลบหนี พร้อมกล่าวว่าเขาได้ติดสินบนผู้คุมให้เตรียมเปิดทางเอาไว้แล้ว แต่โสกราตีสปฏิเสธและยินยอมรับโทษ เพราะเขาศรัทธาในความเป็นรัฐ ด้วยความเป็นรัฐและนิติรัฐ จึงเกิดมีพ่อแม่ของเขาขึ้นมา และพ่อแม่ของเขาก็ได้แต่งงานกันและให้กำเนิดตัวเขา

โสกราตีสดื่มยาพิษที่ทำจากเฮมล็อกและสิ้นใจไปในเช้าวันใหม่ ปัจฉิมวาทะของโสคราตีสนั้นคือ : “ข้าพเจ้าขอบอกแก่พวกท่าน คนที่ฆ่าข้าพเจ้าว่า หลังการจากไปของข้าพเจ้าแล้ว โดยทันทีโทษทัณฑ์…จะตกแก่พวกท่าน…จะมีผู้ฟ้องร้องกล่าวหาพวกท่านมากกว่าที่มีอยู่เวลานี้ แต่ก่อนข้าพเจ้าได้เหนี่ยวรั้งพวกเขาเอาไว้ พวกเขาจะไม่เกรงอกเกรงใจพวกท่าน อีกต่อไป พวกเขาจะทำกับพวกท่านยิ่งกว่าข้าพเจ้า เพราะพวกเขายังหนุ่มหากพวกท่านคิดว่าการฆ่าคนสามารถทำให้พวกท่านป้องกันคนบางคนไม่ให้มา ตรวจสอบชีวิตชั่วร้ายของพวกท่านได้แล้ว พวกท่าน เข้าใจผิด”

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Is Chavalit fostering false hope in the deep South Nation Multimedia, Thailand -

Somchai completes his team Nation Multimedia, Thailand -

Friends of Newin deny lobbying cabinet seats Nation Multimedia, Thailand -

ROUNDUP: Thailand’s new prime minister yet to announce cabinet Earthtimes (press release), UK -

Thailand’s new prime minister still deciding on cabinet Monsters and Critics.com -

Thailand: Calming the Political Turmoil International Crisis Group, Belgium -

THAILAND: Fighting domestic violence Reuters AlertNet, UK -

Meet my brother-in-law PeaceReporter, Italy -

Cabinet constructed Bangkok Post, Thailand -

PAD presents ‘New Politics’ Bangkok Post, Thailand -

Thai PM completes new cabinet line-up Xinhua, China -

‘Democracy protesters’ present unique election method as ‘New … Thai News Agency MCOT, Thailand -

New cabinet line-up remains unsettled Bangkok Post, Thailand -

Poonpirom to leave Energy Ministry Nation Multimedia, Thailand -

Thailand: Caretaker deputy FM Suchart elected leader of Puea Thai … Mathaba.Net, UK -

Complete cabinet line-up expected Monday evening Bangkok Post, Thailand -

Suchart to lead Puea Thai party Bangkok Post, Thailand -

PAD drops 70:30 split for House under revised plan Bangkok Post, Thailand -

THAI POST COLUMNIST PLAEW SI-NGERN: Bangkok Post, Thailand -

Somchai has a golden chance Bangkok Post, Thailand -

Do not hold your breath over cabinet Bangkok Post, Thailand -

Politics still casts shadow despite entry of new premier Bangkok Post, Thailand -

White knights in Bangkok Indian Express, India -

PAD brainstorms over “New Politics” Nation Multimedia, Thailand -

Ten great ways to punish Thai democracy Nation Multimedia, Thailand -

This week in Focus Nation Multimedia, Thailand -

suchart throws hat in ring Nation Multimedia, Thailand -

Political situation to improve under PM Somchai : NIDA rector Nation Multimedia, Thailand -

Most Bangkokians think PM can settle political conflicts : survey Nation Multimedia, Thailand -

New Thai prime minister to name cabinet amid suspicious opposition Earthtimes (press release), UK -

Democracy – ready or not Manila Times, Philippines -

Opposition urges ‘clean’ cabinet ministers Bangkok Post, Thailand -

New Thai PM vows to heal social rifts ABC Online, Australia -

War without limits among the privileged International Viewpoint, UK -

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Thaksin Relative Has Party Backing for Thai Prime Minister Voice of America -

thailand: Political turmoil puts off tourists and investors Monday Morning, Lebanon -

Thailand’s political crisis grows over Parliament Philippine Star, Philippines -

Thailand protest Cambodia over troop intrusion Nation Multimedia, Thailand -

Somchai expresses confidence if elected as new PM Bangkok Post, Thailand -

Security at parliament tightened Bangkok Post, Thailand -

Thais Say Asean Summit Is On Schedule Bernama, Malaysia -

Thailand ready to host ASEAN summit despite political turmoil Xinhua, China -

Bangkok ready to host Asean meetings : Govt spokesman Nation Multimedia, Thailand -

Thai ruling party claims consensus Washington Times, DC -

UPDATE 1-Thai ruling party rebels agree on PM candidate Forbes, NY -

Dissident PPP faction to back Somchai as PM, after all Thai News Agency MCOT, Thailand -

Thailand: Faction Of Ruling Party Rejects Somchai As Next PM Sin Chew Jit Poh, Malaysia -

Thai Ex-PM: No need for gov`t of national reconciliation yet Mathaba.Net, UK -

Thai party rallies behind Somchai BBC News, UK -

Somchai moves step closer to PM job as split in PPP ends Nation Multimedia, Thailand -

Thai court issues arrest warrant for Thaksin The National, United Arab Emirates -

Thailand issues arrest warrant for Thaksin CNN International -

Far more bizarre Cebu Daily News, Philippines -

PM pick splits Thai ruling party Aljazeera.net, Qatar -

Thailand’s great train push derails on politics (Feature) Monsters and Critics.com -

No election – for now Bangkok Post, Thailand -

Thai MPs haggle for posts ahead of PM vote Reuters -

Thai protesters sit tight while govt bickers The Associated Press -

Thailand’s new economics and politics have collided Pattaya Today, Thailand -

Coalition parties oppose house dissolution Bangkok Post, Thailand -

Reason to grumble Bangkok Post, Thailand -

Thailand protests: Conflict of elites Global Voices Online, MA -

Sign Asia no-shows reflect crisis impact Bangkok Post, Thailand -

THAI RATH COMMENT : Bangkok Post, Thailand -

Somchai’s track record suggests he’s just not right for the job Bangkok Post, Thailand -

Academics support Somchai as next PM Bangkok Post, Thailand -

‘People’s govt’ proposal fails to win support Bangkok Post, Thailand -

Ruling party backs Thaksin relative for PM guardian.co.uk, UK -

Thai leaders face new puppet claim Scotsman, United Kingdom -

Anger as Thaksin ally is nominated Thailand The National, United Arab Emirates -

Thai protesters sit tight while government bickers over political … The Canadian Press,  Thailand -

Thaksin clan in power play The Standard, Hong Kong -

Thai protesters sit tight while govt bickers The Associated Press -

Astrologers benefit from Thai turmoil Denver Post, CO -

Premiärminister Thaksin blev avsatt, ersattes av Samak. Premiärminister Samak blev avsatt, ersätts av ex-exPremiärminister Thaksin’s svåger? Han är i alla fall nominerad till premiärministerposten. Beslut fattas på onsdag.

Snart sitter det väl en liten mini-Thaksin på samtliga poster:

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