THAILAND'S MOMENT OF TRUTH - ZENJOURNALIST
THAILAND'S MOMENT OF TRUTH - ZENJOURNALIST
THAILAND'S MOMENT OF TRUTH - ZENJOURNALIST
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y their politicians, generals, bureaucrats and business tycoons in the same way: everybody knows it’s all<br />
fake, but everybody feels it wouldn’t be polite to interrupt the theatrics by saying so. With the greatest<br />
of respect, it’s time to say the show is over. Thailand needs to start dealing with reality. Especially now,<br />
when the whole country is convulsed by anger and pain and anxiety, and when so many dark clouds are<br />
gathering on the horizon.<br />
Everybody knows that a storm is coming. The only question is how much time is left before it hits. What<br />
happens then will fundamentally define what kind of country Thailand becomes in the 21st century. You<br />
don’t get any shelter from a storm just by closing your eyes and refusing to look at it.<br />
When I realized I would not be able to say what needs to be said about Thailand as a Reuters journalist,<br />
I began making copies of all the U.S. cables relating to the country over a few fraught sleepless nights<br />
of frenetic cutting-and-pasting and excessive amounts of Krating Daeng.. Technology has made the theft<br />
of secret information much easier than it used to be: an eccentric Thai writer and publisher called K.S.R.<br />
Kulap Kritsananon had a much more difficult time 130 years ago when he wanted to share the wealth of<br />
accumulated historical wisdom contained within the manuscripts held in the Royal Scribes’ library in the<br />
Grand Palace. He saw his chance when the library was under renovation and the manuscripts taken out<br />
of the palace and entrusted to the care of Prince Bodinphaisansophon, head of the Department of Royal<br />
Scribes. Craig Reynolds tells the story in Seditious Histories: Contesting Thai and Southeast Asian Pasts:<br />
The accessibility of these manuscripts to Kulap sparked his curiosity, and out of his love for<br />
old writings, he paid daily visits to admire the most ancient books in the kingdom. Naturally,<br />
he desired copies for himself, his passion for old books guiding him around any obstruction.<br />
According to Prince Damrong’s account of the episode, based on conversations with Kulap’s<br />
accomplices, he circumvented the prohibition on public access to such documents by persuading<br />
Prince Bodin to lend the texts overnight one at a time. With a manuscript in his possession, Kulap<br />
then rowed across the river to the Thonburi bank to the famous monastery, Wat Arun or Wat<br />
Claeng. There, in the portico of the monastery, Kulap spread out the accordion-pleated text its<br />
entire length, and members of the Royal Pages Bodyguard Regiment, hired by Kulap to assist in<br />
this venture, were then each assigned a section of the manuscript. In assembly-line fashion, they<br />
managed to complete the transcription within the allotted time. Kulap then rowed back across the<br />
river to return the original, with the prince apparently none the wiser.<br />
On June 3, 2011, I resigned from Reuters after a 17-year career so that I could make this article freely<br />
available to all those who wish to read it. Reuters was explicitly opposed to my actions and sought to<br />
prevent me writing it while I was employed there. They have also informed me several times of the<br />
potential consequences of making unauthorized use of material that came into my possession through<br />
my work as a Reuters journalist. I have chosen to disregard those warnings, but it is important to make<br />
clear that Reuters made every reasonable effort to stop me publishing this story, and some frankly rather<br />
unreasonable efforts too. Responsibility for the content and the consequences of my article is mine, and<br />
mine alone.<br />
Besides having to leave a job I loved with a company I had believed in, it also seems likely that I<br />
can never visit Thailand again. That feels unbearably sad. But it would have been infinitely sadder to