No, Thailand is Not a Colony of the US. Nor the Junta
May 30, 2016 9:50:26 GMT 7
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Post by Soutpeel on May 30, 2016 9:50:26 GMT 7
No, Thailand is Not a Colony of the US. Nor the Junta, For That Matter.
BANGKOK — America’s handling of its relations with Thailand’s military regime is Exhibit A on how it adheres to the principles of human rights and democracy over short-term gains, a mid-rank American diplomat told me last week at a reception.
The remark prompted me to refer to Exhibit B – U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to Vietnam earlier this week.
It’s obvious Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party is a repressive regime. It’s a one-party state with about 100 political prisoners and a number of dissidents kept under house arrest while the media is less free than that in Thailand under dictator Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha.
As Obama landed in Hanoi on Sunday, Amnesty International said waves of arrests against political dissidents continued.
“Even as it faces the glare of global attention with the U.S. President’s visit, the Vietnamese authorities, shamefully, are carrying out their repressive business as usual,” said Amnesty International’s Director for Southeast Asia Rafendi Djamin in a statement released on Monday.
The United States is using Vietnam to help contain China, however, and that’s supposedly a priority for them.
When it comes to defending its geopolitical interests, including access to the South China Sea, Uncle Sam won’t let “petty issues” such as human rights violations and lack of democracy get in the way. Although Obama urged the leaders of the Vietnamese Communist Party in a speech in Hanoi to allow for greater freedoms, including respect human rights, the meat is in the lifting of a five-decade arms embargo and sale of 100 Boeing civilian transport jets to Vietnamese airline VietJet, worth USD$11 billion.
While America uses Vietnam to help contain China, Vietnam also uses America to do the same. That’s real politik.
Thais should know this well, as during the Cold War, dictator Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat, known for throwing his opponents to rot in jail and even executing some without waiting for judge to decide, was basically America’s boy. Sarit was good as long as he keeps the commies, including Vietnam at that time, at bay.
www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1464420431&typecate=06§ion=
BANGKOK — America’s handling of its relations with Thailand’s military regime is Exhibit A on how it adheres to the principles of human rights and democracy over short-term gains, a mid-rank American diplomat told me last week at a reception.
The remark prompted me to refer to Exhibit B – U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to Vietnam earlier this week.
It’s obvious Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party is a repressive regime. It’s a one-party state with about 100 political prisoners and a number of dissidents kept under house arrest while the media is less free than that in Thailand under dictator Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha.
As Obama landed in Hanoi on Sunday, Amnesty International said waves of arrests against political dissidents continued.
“Even as it faces the glare of global attention with the U.S. President’s visit, the Vietnamese authorities, shamefully, are carrying out their repressive business as usual,” said Amnesty International’s Director for Southeast Asia Rafendi Djamin in a statement released on Monday.
The United States is using Vietnam to help contain China, however, and that’s supposedly a priority for them.
When it comes to defending its geopolitical interests, including access to the South China Sea, Uncle Sam won’t let “petty issues” such as human rights violations and lack of democracy get in the way. Although Obama urged the leaders of the Vietnamese Communist Party in a speech in Hanoi to allow for greater freedoms, including respect human rights, the meat is in the lifting of a five-decade arms embargo and sale of 100 Boeing civilian transport jets to Vietnamese airline VietJet, worth USD$11 billion.
While America uses Vietnam to help contain China, Vietnam also uses America to do the same. That’s real politik.
Thais should know this well, as during the Cold War, dictator Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat, known for throwing his opponents to rot in jail and even executing some without waiting for judge to decide, was basically America’s boy. Sarit was good as long as he keeps the commies, including Vietnam at that time, at bay.
www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1464420431&typecate=06§ion=
