The chronically combative Andrew Spooner tries to critique my views on the importance of royal succession in Thailands political crisis. As usual he takes a very simplistic one-dimensional position and misrepresents my argument in order to attack it. Obviously the political conflict in Thailand is multi-faceted and at its most profound level it is a struggle by ordinary Thais to assert their rights and free themselves from exploitation by the elite. Nobody would seriously argue that the crisis is only about succession, and Ive never made such a claim. What I have been arguing for the past few years, and will explain in my forthcoming book, is that to fully comprehend what is going on in Thailand and make sense of the behaviour of the old elite, it is essential to understand the usually denied and taboo issue of royal succession. Recent events have proven this to be true and Spooner himself acknowledges that succession is indeed a factor (something he previously denied). So basically he now accepts that my thesis is correct, but just wants to pretend otherwise. Spooners hysterical portrayal of Jonathan Head as a fascist sympathizer is also typical of him, and shows why he remains a marginal figure in the debate, impossible to take seriously.
Posted on: Mon, 07 Apr 2014 05:14:04 +0000
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