Thirayuth Boonmee

Thirayuth Boonmee ( Thai ธีร ยุทธ บุญ มี , RTGS Thirayut Bunmi , also written Boonmi ; born January 10, 1950 in Nakhon Pathom ) is a Thai social scientist, publicist and former student activist . He played a leading role in the popular uprising in October 1973 . Since the 1990s he has been one of the most influential and publicly present intellectuals in the country.

Life

Thirayuth came from a humble background, his father was a non-commissioned officer, his mother sold sweets in the market. Due to his special talent, he was accepted at the renowned Suankularb-Wittayalai School , from which he graduated as the best in his year. He then passed the university entrance examination with the best result in the country. From 1968 Thirayuth studied engineering at Chulalongkorn University .

Student activist

In August 1972 he was elected Secretary General of the National Student Center of Thailand (NSCT). Up until that time, the organization was more active in the humanitarian field; under Thirayuth's leadership, it became increasingly involved politically. The student center, under Thirayuth's leadership, protested against the supposed excessive influence of Japan in the Thai economy, which led to an inflated foreign trade deficit in Thailand. In November 1972 it organized a boycott of Japanese products, which some politicians also joined. As recently as January 1973, Thirayuth denied that the NSCT was anti-government and distanced himself from the student movement in Western countries: “In America and Europe, students are working to destroy their governments, while we only want to point out mistakes so that our political ones Leaders can correct them. "

In the following months, however, the student center increasingly criticized the long-standing military dictatorship of Prime Minister and Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn and his deputy General Praphas Charusathien, as well as the repeatedly delayed constitutional process. After the end of his tenure as Secretary General of the NSCT, Thirayuth and other student leaders initiated the “Group Constitutional Call” in mid-1973. This launched a petition for a democratic constitution, which was signed by 100 politicians and intellectuals. After they had distributed leaflets demanding that a new constitution be drawn up as soon as possible, Thirayuth was arrested with twelve other activists on October 6, 1973 for "incitement". From October 9th, there were increasing protests against her imprisonment on the campus of Thammasat University . On October 13, the government relented and released Thirayuth and the rest of the detained opposition members from custody. However, the protests had developed their own momentum and had grown into a popular uprising that the NSCT could no longer stop.

After the overthrow of the military dictators Thanom and Praphas on October 14, 1973, Thirayuth was invited to the constituent committee as a prominent representative of the student movement. In the following free-democratic phase, Thirayuth founded the radical left group “People for Democracy” (Prachachon phuea Prachathipatai) , which participated in the founding of the Socialist Party of Thailand. He spread Marxist and Maoist theories and translated EL Wheelwright's book The Chinese Road to Socialism into Thai. In addition, Thirayuth was editor of the left-wing magazine Samakhi Surop ("United in the fight"), which circulated mainly among students and intellectuals.

After the student movement was crushed in the massacre at Thammasat University on October 6, 1976, Thirayuth fled, like many activists, into the jungle and joined the illegal Communist Party of Thailand (KPT), in whose camps he hid for the next four and a half years . After the government of Prem Tinsulanonda had promised an amnesty to capitulating KPT activists, Thirayuth surrendered to the authorities in February 1981 in order to be able to lead a civil life again. He then attacked the KPT in interviews and articles.

Scientist and publicist

Thirayuth went to the Netherlands to continue his studies at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) The Hague (part of the Erasmus University Rotterdam ), where he turned to sociology , philosophy and anthropology . He graduated with a candidate title (equivalent to a master’s degree). After returning to Thailand, he became a lecturer in the faculty of sociology and anthropology at Thammasat University . The focus of his teaching and research is on social philosophy , theory of anthropology, political anthropology and modernization theory ( postmodernism , consumerism , modern culture ).

He explicitly distanced himself from his earlier Marxist and radical left convictions. Instead, in an article from 1993, he committed himself to a "rational Buddhism" as well as to influences of western progressism and social volunteer work in the succession of Sulak Sivaraksa and Puey Ungphakorn . In a 1997 poll, Thirayuth was named one of the ten most influential intellectuals in the country. Hardly any other Thai academic speaks out in newspapers on current political and social issues as often as he does. Thirayuth's political positions in the 1990s and 2000s ranged between reformism and conservative liberalism.

Among other things, Thirayuth sat decisive for the concept of " good governance " (English good governance a) in the political discourse of Thailand. In Thai, he used the term Thammarat ( ธรรม รัฐ ) for it, literally translated as “virtuous state”, which also met with criticism due to the religious connotation (of Dharma ). More precisely, Thirayuth spoke out for Thammarat haeng Chat , d. H. “National good governance”, which for him included not only international values ​​such as transparency, honesty, and responsibility but also typical Thai and Buddhist values. In doing so, he referred to the influences of committed Buddhism , the teaching of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of the “modest existence” or self-sufficient economy and the community culture movement of Sulak Sivaraksa and Prawase Wasi. In view of the Asian financial and economic crisis of 1997/98 in particular , “good governance” for Thailand meant, according to Thirayuth, “solving problems without blaming others, for example the USA, the IMF, without seeking a debt moratorium or seeking help from outside to ask ”. Thirayuth's concept of “good governance” was thus critical of globalization and communitarian , in that he proposed a “national project” in which the government, the private sector and local communities should work together, for which social unity was required.

Thirayuth was one of the outspoken critics of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra , who ruled from 2001 to 2006. For his style of government Thirayuth coined the term "Thaksinocracy" (Thaksinocracy) . In return, Thaksin accused Thirayuth of agitating against the government, even though he received his salary as a university lecturer from them, and made fun of his clothing style (worn sweaters). In 2003, Thirayuth received the Sriburapha Literature Prize.

In 2008, Thirayuth took over the management of the Sanya Dharmasakti Institute for Democracy. In 2012 he was appointed adjunct professor of anthropology at Thammasat University. In 2015 he moved to the College for Interdisciplinary Studies at Thammasat University.

Works (selection)

• สังคม เข้มแข็ง [Sangkhom Khemkhaeng; Strong company]. Samnakphim Mingmit, Bangkok 1993, ISBN 974-89159-1-3 .
• จุด เปลี่ยน แห่ง ยุค สมัย [Chut Plian haeng Yuk Samai; Turning point of the era]. Winyuchon, Bangkok 1994.
• ปรัชญา แห่ง การ ปฏิรูป การเมือง [Pratya haeng Kanpatirup Kanmueang; Philosophy of Political Reform]. Wanlaya, Bangkok 1997, ISBN 974894981 .
• ธรรม รัฐ แห่ง ชาติ: ยุทธศาสตร์ กู้ หายนะ ประเทศไทย [Thammarat haeng Chat: Yutthasat Ku Hayana Prathet Thai; National Good Governance]. Saithan, Bangkok 1998, ISBN 974-86257-2-9 .
• Good governance. A Strategy to Restore Thailand. In: Duncan McCargo: Reforming Thai Politics. Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, Copenhagen 2002, pp. 29–35.
• ความ คิด หลัง ตะวันตก [Khwamkhit Lang Tawantok; Post-Western thinking]. Saithan, Bangkok 2003, ISBN 974-9609-28-X .
• ชาตินิยม และ หลัง ชาตินิยม [Chatniyom lae Lang Chatniyom; Nationalism and post-nationalism]. Saithan, Bangkok 2003, ISBN 974-8468-92-5 .
• ตุลาการ ภิ วั ฒ น์ [Tulakanphiwat; Justice Revolt]. Winyuchon, Bangkok 2006, ISBN 974-288-449-8 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Chris Baker, Pasuk Phongpaichit: A History of Thailand. 2nd edition, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge / Melbourne 2009, p. 302.
2. ^ David Morell, Chai-anan Samudavanija: Political Conflict in Thailand. Reform, reaction, revolution. Oelgeschlager, Gunn & Hain, Cambridge (MA) 1981, p. 143.
3. ↑ Ross Prizzia, Narong Sinsawasdi: Thailand. Student Activism and Political Change. DK Book House, 1974, p. 30.
4. ↑ Prajak Kongkirati: Thailand. The Cultural Politics of Student Resistance. In: Meredith L. Weiss, Edward Aspinall: Student Activism in Asia. Between Protest and Powerlessness. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis / London 2012, pp. 229-258, at p. 245.
5. ↑ quoted from Ruth-Inge Heinze: Ten Days in October - Students vs. the Military. An Account of the Student Uprising in Thailand. In: Asian Survey , Volume 14, No. 6 (June 1974), pp. 491-508, at p. 505.
6. ↑ Kanokrat Lertchoosakul: The Rise of the Octobrists. Power and Conflict among Former Left Wing Student Activists in Contemporary Thai Politics. Ph.D. Dissertation, London School of Economics and Political Science, 2012 p. 50.
7. ↑ Kanokrat Lertchoosakul: The Rise of the Octobrists. 2012, p. 59.
8. ↑ Kanokrat Lertchoosakul: The Rise of the Octobrists. 2012, pp. 64–65.
9. ↑ Kanokrat Lertchoosakul: The Rise of the Octobrists. 2012, p. 68.
10. ↑ Kanokrat Lertchoosakul: The Rise of the Octobrists. 2012, p. 75.
11. ↑ Kanokrat Lertchoosakul: The Rise of the Octobrists. 2012, p. 81.
12. ↑ Faculty of Sociology and Anthropology, Thammasat University ( Memento of October 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
13. ↑ Kanokrat Lertchoosakul: The Rise of the Octobrists. 2012, p. 113.
14. ↑ Suchart Sriyaranya: Leading Thai Intellectuals. Role and Influence in the Public Sphere of Bangkok. Bielefeld University, research focus on developmental sociology, Working Paper No. 329, Bielefeld 2000, pp. 11, 16.
15. ↑ Gerald W. Fry, Gayla S. Nieminen, Harold E. Smith: Historical Dictionary of Thailand. 3rd edition, Scarecrow Press, Lanham (MD) / Plymouth 2013, entry Thirayuth Boonmi , p. 422.
16. ↑ Kanokrat Lertchoosakul: The Rise of the Octobrists. 2012, p. 177.
17. ↑ Pasuk Phongpaichit, Chris Baker: Thailand's Crisis. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore 2000, p. 202.
18. ^ Jürgen Rüland: Good governance instead of democracy? For the Asianization of a western concept of order. In: Boike Rehbein u. a .: Identity politics and interculturality in Asia. Lit Verlag, Berlin / Münster 2006, pp. 93–118, on pp. 108–109.
19. ^ Daniel C. Lynch: Rising China and Asian Democratization. Socialization to “Global Culture” in the Political Transformations of Thailand, China, and Taiwan. Stanford University Press, Stanford (CA) 2006, pp. 62-63.
20. ↑ Michael Kelly Connors: Democracy and National Identity in Thailand. NIAS Press, Copenhagen 2007, p. 250.
21. ↑ Michael H. Nelson: Thai Politics. Global and Local Perspectives. King Prajadhipok's Institute, Bangkok 2002, pp. Xxiv.
22. ^ Michael Herzfeld: Deskilling, 'Dumbing Down', and the Auditing of Knowledge in the Practical Mastery of Artisans and Academics. An Ethnographer's Response to a Global Problem. In: Mark Harris: Ways of Knowing. Anthropological Approaches to Crafting Experience and Knowledge. Berghahn Books, New York / Oxford 2007, at pp. 91–110, pp. 92–94.
23. ↑ ประวัติ ย่อ นัก เขียน รางวัล ศรี บูรพา [Brief History of the Sriburapha Literature Prize Winners] ( Memento from June 9, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
24. ↑ อนุมัติ 'ศ.' 15 ราย - 'ธีร ยุทธ' ได้ สาขา มานุษยวิทยา In: Thai Rath , March 7, 2012.
25. ↑ ศาสตราจารย์ ธีร ยุทธ บุญ มี (CV), College for Interdisciplinary Studies, Thammasat University. Retrieved May 15, 2018.

Note on Thai names : This article addresses people by their first name.