Let love conquer every form of dictatorship
In what ways can you be separated from your loved one? Death? The prison? Or by disappearing without a trace? Min Thalufa's partner was deprived of his freedom by the authorities at the end of September, without the right to bail. This letter is a rallying cry she sent to her sweetheart in Bangkok Remand Prison. She hopes he will have the opportunity to read it.
By Min (Mintermint) Thalufa
October 25, 2021
Currently, political activists are imprisoned. They are deprived of their right to freedom in an inhumane way, while they only stand up for the rights of citizens. They demand a democracy as guaranteed by the Constitution. But the authorities are doing the exact opposite and are using their power in an illegitimate way. They abuse their power by arresting and imprisoning political activists and other people who oppose injustice.
If you ask me who these people are, I will answer that they are probably members of a family, a friend, a brother or a sister. Or, and it cannot be forgotten, someone's lover. That is also the case with me: a government that has separated the two of us.
His name is Pao Thalufa, also called Pawarit Yaming. He is a political science student at Ramkhamhaeng University and is someone who has an eye for the plight of the people. He has turned himself into a political activist and has now been charged on political grounds. He has been held in custody in the second wing of Bangkok Remand Prison for 25 days now. The charge concerns throwing paint at the facade of the Thung Song Hong police station in Bangkok on August 3, 2021. This would be a violation of the bail conditions in a lawsuit that has been ongoing since October 13, 2020. The court has still not issued any verdict done.
He was imprisoned together with two friends of mine, namely Dino Thalufa and Piek Thalufa. Previously, Phai, Athit, Penguin and several other comrades of mine were taken into custody along with many others.
It hurts me, not only because I am separated from my love, but also because the justice system is absolutely not fair!
I see my friends and other citizens being rounded up and locked up by the police on a daily basis. The authorities use force to disperse civilian demonstrations. It emphasizes to me that the government does not serve the people, but only the elite: the social upper layer that tramples and oppresses the people.
(Adirach Toumlamoon / Shutterstock.com)
Fighting for democracy is something I love to do, but which also hurts me at the same time. It's eating me up inside, but I have to persevere so that one day we will win this fight for everyone.
I cannot call myself and the other activists martyrs, but I see it this way: when you realize how unjust society is in the country we love so much, we cannot stand by indifferently and hope that people will not surrender to the injustice.
The three demands that my love and I make in the name of Thalufa (literally: pierce the sky / sky), are done under the leadership of Phai Jatupat. He is considered the captain of the group. Our demands are that Prayuth Chan-o-cha resign, that a new constitution be drawn up and reform of the monarchy. We remain firm on those three fundamental demands, but must add another demand today: to reform the justice system by restoring access to bail. Thus we demand justice for the people and the political activists who are currently denied provisional bail.
We operate as one group and share joys and sorrows together. I will not deny that when we saw the suffering of the people together, we fell in love with each other. We met, we learned things from each other and in the end we chose to work together. After the Isaan Ratsadon group started, an important event took place at the Monument to Democracy. On October 30, 2020, police forcibly dispersed the crowd and arrested the protesters, invoking the public order law.
That was the first time my love was arrested. I watched as these officers repeatedly brutally kicked and beat my friends. Their freedom was taken from them for six days. It was blatantly illegal, and eventually they all received their provisional bail.
That was also the first time I experienced being separated from my love. I insist that demanding democracy is our right, and the government has no right to harm our rights and freedoms. Although there is currently an authoritarian regime that abuses its power and has no regard for civil rights at all.
Even though she returned my love to me that time, it didn't mean we could continue together as a run-of-the-mill teenage couple in love. We still have to keep fighting for the democratic movement, as our goal is still not reached.
Me and my love work together, where each has his own tasks and different responsibilities. All tasks are equally important, there is no one we can do without.
My love and I hardly have the time to meet up somewhere together or travel to other provinces, as other couples normally do. He takes me to demonstrations and we do fieldwork there. This is how we meet people who have a conflict about the use of land. We do not simply live as a couple of two people, but live and work together in a group of diverse friends. Our love is not unique, we care for each other as we try to care for our friends. And always in an equal way.
As we learn to love and fight together, we also learn more and more about the lives of our many friends. We take care of each other as a family, we listen to problems, talk together and exchange things.
Sometimes I feel misunderstood because my love doesn't have much time for me. But he usually manages to comfort me with his strong spirit, then he says, "Even if we don't have much time together, at least we're on the same battlefield together."
Yes, I can truly say that my sweetheart loves the people and my friends even more than he loves me. But that doesn't bother me at all. I see how concentrated he works, with a resolute perseverance to make his goal a success. Work always comes first for him, so I can say that he is a huge workaholic.
But it is unpaid work, with no salary to support his family. The reverse is happening: his family has been supporting him for 25 years. This is his job, and his family has always been understanding and proud of it.
That work can probably be called “the task of revolution”, but he has had to give up many things in his life. Far from his family and home, he has chosen this path, hoping to improve society.
We, as a couple, always give each other moral support. I have to keep going with my work, even if he's not here. He fights from prison, and I fight and fight hopefully from the outside. We continue to fight unabated, even if we cannot do it together outside of prison.
I still think of a quote from the book “The love of Wallayaa” written by Seni Saowaphong, which my sweetheart read when he was in Bangkok Remand Prison in October 2020. He was the one who recommended that I read the book.
“Love that revolves only around the happiness or desire of one, or at most two persons, is limited love. We should spread a broad love that reaches to all people.”
He once said, “when I read this book, I think of you”. That's romantic, but when I think about it, it's pretty painful.
We should be able to read together, without bars or walls separating us!
I don't see myself as Wannayaa from the book, but the book does inspire me. It makes me want to reread it over and over when I feel exhausted and down. It gives me the strength to continue the fight, and to keep pushing the wheel of historical change.
On October 1, 2021, my sweetheart was imprisoned for the second time, and I had to experience again what it's like to be separated from your loved one. For several days now I can no longer hear his voice, see his face and no longer hug him, as I otherwise can do. I only receive messages through his lawyer visiting him. Then he sends the message that he continues to morally support those outside the prison, and tears sometimes stream down my face. I can only imagine…:
What book is he reading now?
does he miss me?
Is he counting the days until we can hug each other again?”
I don't have the chance to hear his voice at all. Despite wanting to visit him, talk to him and ask each other questions. But the Custodial Institutions Agency does not allow visits from relatives, relying on the Covid-19 situation.
(Adirach Toumlamoon / Shutterstock.com)
It is rather painful that legal proceedings are used as an excuse to keep us apart. He has not yet been convicted and is still innocent, but is now in prison, risking contracting an infectious disease. The people they should lock up in prison are the state officials who use their power without being able to look out for the people.
The fact that the judge does not grant bail makes me wonder: “Don't you see that you are doing such an injustice to the people? That they are someone's family, or someone they share a life with? While the judge may also have a family or a loved one of his own!”
When I miss my sweetheart I think of the words of Yajai Thalufa, a friend of mine whom I consider to be a poetic thinker, who has also been imprisoned. He once said: “Today we only feel disappointment, which breeds hatred towards all things as they are. I hate this extremely cruel justice system, which has no compassion for the people who have the best intentions for society.”
Despite setbacks in our struggle, we still struggle on. We still have faith in the people and the people who come out to fight together for a change in this society. I still have hope and I am constantly counting the days in anticipation of it. I keep saying to my sweetheart, “I know you are strong, but if you feel pain or disappointment in the justice system, please share it with me. You can share your suffering and happiness with me. We share everything together”. We will not give up, we will keep fighting for each other.
This is probably the only way I can support my sweetheart for now. We wait for the day when he and all my friends get their freedom back, and then together we can continue the fight out here again.
Even though I don't hold any hope in the justice system, I'm still hopeful. I hope that we and the people will prevail. That love will overcome any form of dictatorship. The love we two feel for each other and also for the people.
***
Source: https://theisaanrecord.co/2021/10/24/may-all-dictatorship-be-defeated-by-love/
Notes: Converting Thai names to English sometimes causes confusion, so for the enthusiast an overview of these names in English, Thai script and Dutch phonetics.
– Min Thalufa: มิ้นทะลุฟ้า, Mín Tha-lóe-faa.
–Bangkok Remand Prison: กรุงเทพ, ruen-tjam phi-sèet kroeng-thêp (literally: Bangkok Special Prison).
– Pao Thalufa: เปาทะลุฟ้า, Pao Tha-lóe-faa.
– Pawarit Yaming: ปวริศ แย้มยิ่ง, Pà-wá-ríet Yáem-yîng.
– Thung Song Hong: ทุ่งสองห้อง, Thôeng Sǒng Hông.
– Dino Thalufa: ไดโน่ ทะลุฟ้า, Dai-nôo Tha-lóe-faa.
– Peak Thalufa: ปีก ทะลุฟ้า, Pìek Thá-lóe-fáa.
– Phai Jatupat / Daodin: ไผ่ จตุภัทร์/ดาวดิน, Phài Tjàtoephát / Daaw-din.
– Athit: อาทิตย์, Aa-thíet.
– Penguin: เพนกวิน, Phen-kwin (Parit Chiwarak)
– Isaan Ratsadon group: กลุ่มราษฎรอีสาน, klòem Râat-sà-don Isǎan (Isan Popular Movement)
– “The love of Wallayaa”: ความรักของวัลยา, khwaam rák khǒng Wal-la-yaa.
– Seni Saowaphong: เสนีย์ เสาวพงศ์, Sěe-nie Sǎow-Phong.
– Yajai Thalufa: ยาใจ ทะลุฟ้า, Yaa-tjai Thá-loe-fáa.
Rob V. thanks for this contribution.
In this country, do not resist the kongsi of the elite and the military who want to prevent any form of participation and for that their end apparently justifies the means….. This tendency can be found in almost all of Asia where lovers of absolute power copy the 'art' of China apparently can do whatever it wants.
In this part of the world you walk in line or you get caught. It is not for nothing that intelligentsia still flee from this country to the freer west.
If one were to imitate the art of China, one would ensure that the economic position of the population improves to such an extent that criticism of the regime is confined to the living room. Anything can be said there in China, not in public. But that art is really not understood in a number of countries. On the contrary.
A moving and important story, thank you.
Just a few figures in the world language:
Over the longer period from July 2020 to October 2021, according to the Thai Enquirer, 1,636 people in 896 cases have faced lawsuits for their political participation and expression, including 258 minors.
Of that, 1,337 are being prosecuted for alleged violations of the emergency decree which came into effect in March 2020, 107 are being prosecuted for the alleged violations of the Public Assembly Act, 97 for alleged violations of the Computer Crime Act, 112 for sedition and 154 for lese-majeste.
How many are actually imprisoned is not so clear, maybe around a hundred people.
Here's a good story about the 2020-21 Thailand protests:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020%E2%80%932021_Thai_protests
Fortunately, Thailand's Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin announced in March 2021 that it would expand prison capacity.
https://thediplomat.com/2021/03/thailand-to-boost-prison-capacity-amid-political-crackdown/
With the best will in the world I don't understand these messages. If 99.9% understands how the game is played, why give 0.1% attention?
What do you mean Johnny? I do not understand you.
Are you saying we should keep looking away neutrally? And that you will not be prosecuted?
The recently deceased Desmond Tutu put it this way: 'If you remain neutral you support the oppressor'.
Elie Wiesel, a Jewish man who survived the Holocaust, said: 'We have to take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor and never the victim.'
I admire all the people who ever and now stand up for justice in Thailand.
Because, Johnny BG, not 99,9 percent of the people, but the full one hundred percent, has the right to human rights, free speech, fair justice, and the right to be free from torture and murder.
By the way, how would you react if that 0,1 percent were to cover all farang in Thailand? What if YOU too became a victim of arbitrariness, imprisonment without trial, and torture? You would shout it from the rooftops! Well, if you don't get killed as has happened so many times in Thailand. Do you remember the red drum murders, and Thammasat, and the corpses in the Mekong?
Then give everyone rights!
Good that this blog is open to all facets of Thai society.
I don't know any better than that rights also come with duties and that the screamers are currently given a large platform in their pursuit of feminizing their own ideal world, which raises the question of whether the population is ready yet. I know many Thai women who just want to be housewives and take care of their child until the age of 13. Unthinkable in NL but more normal in TH. What respect is there for that wish among the “do-gooders”?
If someone has a hobby to fool, then that is always allowed, but don't cry if it turns out wrong.
“By the way, how would you react if that 0,1 percent were to concern all farang in Thailand? If YOU, too, became a victim of arbitrariness, imprisonment without trial, and torture?”
Once I was also a victim of arbitrariness, which resulted in being locked up with very vague figures who gave me a few hours of professional training on how to deal with the circumstances.
Scaremongering is a tried and true tool, but you don't buy that much with if, if and look at those stories. Understand it and see the light. The government in TH interferes with the citizens to a limited extent, but if you see the various affairs in NL compared to the number of cases in TH, then you better worry about your own people in the little country. Ganzenland is also possible hhhh.
I am also happy that we can produce opposing views because we are all different in the game.
I can't follow you either Johnny. How is the call for a democratic society with respect for human rights, accountability towards fellow citizens/human beings, equivalent to feminizing society? I have not yet seen any signs among the various activists that everyone must go to work. Most lyrics say something like “release our friends”, “reform the constitution” “revising 112 is not overthrow”, “democracy! freedom!". The well-known core requirements for a fairer, more just country where everyone can talk and decide.
Yesterday I came across a new beautiful text, a sign that says “ถ้าคุณรู้สึกเจ็บ คุณยังมีชีวิตอยู่ แต ่… ถ้าคุณรู้สึกเจ็บแทนผู้อื่น คุณยังมีความเ ป็นมนุษย์อยู่!” Translation: Whoever feels pain has a life (lives), but whoever feels another's pain has humanity!”
I would like to shed the tears of the boys, girls, men and women who are very affected because loved ones are behind bars in often ahem less pleasant circumstances (overcrowded cells, poor facilities, a cute little virus...) in pretrial detention on a trial that is still a long time coming. can wait, certainly not call it "whining".
Dear Rob,
I know we think very differently and I also know that because of a mistake a friend chose to sit down instead of paying the fine. He didn't come out molested and I know few people who have been mistreated when they weren't the nicest people because of murder.
There is great freedom and do something with it and lice in the fur have a harder time and there are pesticides for animals.
Theory is nice but practice is better.
Perhaps the worst part is that the world is allowing it to happen, I wonder what good is a human rights treaty if other governments look on.
Not only in Thailand, but also in many other countries, prisons and detention camps are full of people who can become dangerous to a system.
In Thailand it is basically an elite minority, who have been defending their rights for generations at the expense of a real democracy.
A freely elected political party, which has too much support among the general population, is immediately seen as a threat by this elite minority.
A threat that is immediately dismissed, with accusations of corruption and possible mismanagement, so that the military has a sought-after reason to take action again for this elite.
A so-called democracy on paper, in which the system of this small elite wants to keep the masses at this level through desirable poor educational opportunities.
“Currently there are political activists imprisoned. They are deprived of their right to freedom in an inhumane way, while they only stand up for the rights of citizens. They demand a democracy as guaranteed by the Constitution. But the authorities are doing the exact opposite and are using their power in an illegitimate way. They abuse their power by arresting and imprisoning political activists and other people who oppose injustice.”
When I read this first paragraph I have actually already eaten and drunk. (And to be clear, I sympathize with the protesters.)
inhumane: is a prison inhumane?
demand democracy: no, they demand changes in the current situation.
authorities use their power: yes, fortunately they do everywhere otherwise it would be a big mess everywhere
unlawful: only a judge can determine that and he has not been consulted. And as far as there have been lawsuits, the protesters have lost them
injustice: what is injustice? The constitution, the police action? Art112 isn't right, or am I seeing it wrong?
hats off to your story that speaks of love and commitment. It makes me long for when I was young and also stood on the barikade. Persevere it's worth living
Really, Chris? Have you never found a judgment of a judge unlawful? Read the Buddha's Kalama Sutta. Think and judge independently. What is wrong with that?
Totally disagree with you Chris.
Look what happens in Australia to people who don't want a Corona vaccine? It is a gross disgrace, violation of human rights, and judges who suddenly go along with it.
In Austria and Germany, the judiciary is already 'massaged' in the same direction.
And now also in the Netherlands (still today) innocent citizens are arrested because they stand up for their fundamental rights.
That such things (injustice, judges ruling in favor of the elite) I do not doubt for a second. Power corrupts, and not only in Thailand.
Sorry, this had to get out.
Erratum regarding Australia (for those who are not or poorly informed).
Not grafting > lost job > no entitlement to benefits > not allowed to leave your house > being locked up in a camp. It's a gross SHAME!!!
Speaking of being misinformed: in some states, such as Western Australia, there is a vaccination requirement for certain professions. There is no question of being locked up in camps etc.
I hereby inform you, dear Cornelis,
https://twitter.com/_evelynrae/status/1466712921266814977?s=21
https://twitter.com/thierrybaudet/status/1467589795283189772?s=21
Do you consider a comment on Twitter as information? It's sheer nonsense...
And you believe the mainstream media?
No, then you are well informed
And then separate from Twitter and co. A Dutch student friend lives in Australia and tells the same stories. Anyway, on your advice I don't believe him anymore from today what he tells me (hope you feel the irony in my argument)