Thailand has promoted Thai history through school textbooks under an overriding royalist-nationalist theme (prawathisat baeb rachachatniyom). Thai students learn how the Siamese kingdom had to succumb to foreign invaders throughout its history, but the nation survived because of the wisdom and farsightedness of the Thai monarchs. The number-one enemy of the Thai kingdom has been the Burmese who sacked the old Ayutthaya kingdom not once, but twice.
While the tale of Siam being a ruthless destroyer of Angkor is missing in Thai textbooks, humiliating images of the Cambodians, such as the Khmer King Satha (1576-1596) took the opportunity to attack Ayutthaya from the east. In revenge, according to the Thai chronicles, King Naresuan of Ayutthaya (1590-1605) ordered the capture of Lovek, the capital of the Khmer kingdom at the time, and beheaded Phraya Lovek. Naresuan then washed his feet with Phraya Lovek's blood,(this Thai Textbooks word was use by Thai current foreign minister Kasit Piromya in 2008"I will use Hun Sen blood to wash my feet") Thai false history highlighted to make the Thai superiority apparent. The issue of lost territories is also included in the historical textbooks, including the loss of Preah Vihear Temple to Cambodia in 1962.
Indeed, the Thai name of Phra Viharn only appears in school textbooks, since the Thai state believed that the name was linked to ownership. The name Preah Vihear/Phra Viharn posed as a major stumbling block during the Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission (JBC) in February 2009; each side insisted on using their own dialect in reference to the disputed temple. But textbooks are not the only means employed to inculcate a sense of Thai nationhood and to construct Cambodia as enemy. State agencies in Thailand have issued countless press releases attacking the Cambodians when bilateral problems arose. Thai leaders talked about history, often discursively and arbitrarily, to contest the Cambodian leadership, through bureaucratic channels. In 1961, the Thai Foreign Ministry declared in its press release, ―As a matter of fact, Thailand has been in possession of Khao Phra Viharn since 1941 and, although France protested in 1949, Thailand has continued to be in possession of it without interruption.
Moreover, Thai leaders also turn to news media as their latest political instrument and demean Khmer. Abhisit has launched his own interactive media channel called ―Abhisit.Org to communicate with his supporters. He often discusses Thailand‘s relations with Cambodia through this channel. Abhisit defended his foreign policy toward Cambodia and vowed that he would not allow PM Hun Sen to take advantage of Thai interests. Some of his interviews were posted on Youtube.
(Note: this article is intended for Khmers to understand the Thai ideology, thanks from L.C).
2 comments:
The new policy of Hun Sen regime today is to kill all Ex Khmer Rouge because they are the true Khmer patriot that can be harmful to Hun Sen regime as Vietnam slave.
Hun Sen regime sends all Ex Khmer rouge soldiers to frontline fighting with Thai army without enough weapons and foods. Hun Sen ordered the front line army do not fire back to Thai Army while they bomb Ex Khmer Rouge over 50 000 shells. These actions are representing very clear that Hun Sen is trying to clear or kill all Ex Khmer Rouge army by using Thai hands.
The true and real Khmer patriots are the enemy of Hun Sen regime. Vietnam is scare of Ex Khmer Rouge Soldiers as they have been defeat Vietnam army (Over 100 000 Vietnam soldiers have been killed by EX Khmer Rouge Army in Cambodia. That is lead to Vietnam withdraw out of Cambodia) before 1993.
Dear 1:10 PM,
I don't know who you are and how badly you hate Hun Sen. But I thought your comment is insulting to over 1 million khmers died under the Khmer Rouge regime.
Post a Comment