Two Observations: Cambodian-Thai
Relations
One: History Textbooks
Two: Turning the Battlefields into
Hindu-Buddhist Trans-Boundary World Heritages
Two Observations: Cambodian-Thai Relations
Religion, Politics, Nationalism
and an Ancient Temple
Background and Contemporary Debates
of the 2011 Cambodia-Thai Border
AAS-ICAS Annual Conference
Honolulu, Hawaii 2011, 31 March 2011
Charnvit Kasetsiri
charnvitkasetsiri.com
Thammasat University
Bangkok, Siam (Thailand)
One
„Bad‟ History – „Bad‟ Education
and
„Bad‟ ASEAN
Neighbour Relations
What I would like to do is to give you pictures of interactions between history-myth, education, textbooks, and Thailand/Siam‟s
relations with her neighbors. In this age of globalization and even
with regional organizations like ASEAN/GMS/ASEM/ADB we seem to have some difficulties as good neighbors to one another.
We will see that the use of the Past, History-myth, if not
up-right, incorrectly perceived, negatively and
politically exploited could produce an unpleasant outcome.
In other words „bad history‟ produces „bad education‟ and
eventually leads to „bad relations between nations‟.
On January 29, 2003, theThai Embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia was torched and burnt down.
Thai diplomats had to run for their lives.
The Thai Government of Mr. Thaksin flew planes into Cambodiato evacuate all Thai citizens from Phnom Penh.
This ugly episode of Thai-Cambodian relations started with a news that
a popular Thai TV female star was reported to have said that
„she would not visit Cambodia unless the 800 year-old temple of Angkor Wat was returnedto Thailand‟. I, personally, do not believe that the Thai star said that kind of word.
But the news, regarded as a serious insult to the Cambodian Nation, spread like fire.
It was reported in Khmer newspapers and radio.
On top of that there was a rumor that Cambodian diplomats in Bangkok
were brutally murdered.
There were students demonstrations which eventually led to
the burning and looting of the Thai Embassy.
Angkor Wat
Cambodian Flag
Kob Suwanan
Niang Prakai Pruk
Thai TV star
Students began their protest by marching through the city and burned a
Thai flag and a photograph of Kob-Suwanan outside the embassy.
The size of the demonstration swelled to around one thousand and the
crowd became more aggressive as the day progressed, burning tyres and
throwing rocks at the embassy. After a day of flag-burning and anti-Thai
chanting, the crowd massed outside the embassy towards nightfall.
Thailand estimates the damage at about
US$ 23 million and has demanded that
Phnom Penh reimburse both the Thai
government and the businesses affected.
Bangkok has cut all economic and
technical assistance pending a full
explanation and compensation by
Cambodia. It also demanded that those
responsible be jailed.
Royal Thai Embassy: Phnom Penh
``The protest is because we hate the Thais inside Cambodia and
because the Thais encroach on Cambodian border territory,'' said
Virak, an 18-year-old law student.
Two
Preah Vihear – Phra Viharn
Temple
Unesco World Heritage
2008-2011
Preah Vihear Temple
Unesco World Heritage since 2008
14
Turning a Market Place into Battlefields
สงคราม หรือ สันติภาพWar or Peace
Battlefields - Thai-Cambodian Border
Village Houses Burning:
Thai-Cambodian Border February
2011
Battlefields Thai versus Thai along the Border 2008-2011
Phum Srol-Srisaket :
Reds versus Yellows along the Border
2008
As you can see the incidents in the Angkor-
remark in 2003 and Preah Vihear Unesco
Heritage Affairs of 2008-2011
are unpleasant and tragic.
They may lead to a bigger war
between the two Asean countries:
Cambodia and Thailand.
One may ask why these two events happened and
how come such a remark about “Angkor Wat”
and simply the Temple nomination to the Unesco
could spark up such ugly incidents ?
We may explain that it is because of:
1. Khmer-Thai brands of Nationalism ?
2. Political Conflict and Manipulation ?
3. Love and Hate Relationship: Khmers & Thais
4. Unequal and Expliotative Relationship ?
5. Misundertanding & misuse of the Past/History
etc. etc.
As a history teacher of Thailand/Siam and
Southeast Asia/Asean,
I would like to look and try to understand it from my own professional angle,
i.e.
the use and misuse of
History-myth and the Past,
in my own country.
• First, let us see how the Thai in general see their neighbors.
• By land Thailand/Siam is surrounded by mainland ASEAN
countries: Burma, Laos, Cambodia, and Malaysia. If we include island-neighbors, or by the sea, they would cover India, Indonesia and Vietnam as well. As is known to all of you, in the colonial era,
Siam (Thailand) remained
the only independent country in Southeast Asia („history-myth‟).
• Therefore, from mid 19th century until after the Second World
War the Thai Government in Bangkok had to pay attention to what the colonial powers would have to say. Bangkok had to deal
with London and the British in India and Singapore, Paris and the French in Vietnam.
• The Thai Elite need no concern nor having anything to do with the Burmese in Rangoon, the Lao in Vientiane, the Khmer in
Phnom Penh, the Vietnamese in Saigon or Hanoi, nor the Malay in Kuala Lumpur, etc. Asians were kept apart from one another.
Cartoon from Vajiravudh‟s Time (Dusit Samit)
1920s Cartoon in Siam:
Showing Rama VI,
the King of Siam (Thailand)
pulling his Thai People high up,
while Burmese,
Vietnamese and Cambodian
were left down below.
In the background
five former Bangkok Kings,
Rama I-II-III-IV-V,
were watching up in the sky.
Illustrations like these are regularly portrayed in school textbooks.
The episodes of the fall of the former Thai capital of Ayutthaya and
the suffering and bravity of the Thai are also repeatedly reproduced
in drama, songs, novels, films, and TV series.
• In one of his interviews, Nidhi A., a leading Thai historian, explained how the Thai, especially the elite, see the neighbors. To us the Burmese have become a „permanent national enemy‟
• This was an outcome of Thai history writing from the latter part of the 19th century. For „nation-building‟, an enemy was needed to unify the people within Siam/Thailand while the country was threatened by the British and the French.
• Burma which in the pre-colonial time, used to have frequent wars with the Thai had already been colonized by the British. They were no longer a threat.
• So the wars between Ayutthaya and various Burmese Kingdomshave been high-lighted to show the struggle of the Thai people in the Past and to be a lesson for our unity in the Present.
Villagers of Bang Rachan
fighting the Burmese, all
died heroic death during the
Fall of Ayutthaya in 1767.
King Naresuan
in an elephant dual
fighting a Burmese Prince
Bang Rachan
History-Myth-Texts-Films-Plays-Songs
Villagers of Bang Rachan
fighting the Burmese, all
died heroic death during the
Fall of Ayutthaya in 1767.
King Naresuan
in an elephant dual
fighting a Burmese Prince
King Naresuan
in an myth-historical
elephant dual
fighting a Burmese Prince
LAOS and CAMBODIA
(what and how to the Thai)
• As for Laos and Cambodia, we, Thai viewed theseneighbors rather inferior.
• They, the Lao and the Cambodians, have been seen as „younger‟ (smaller) and poorer.
• In the past, during Ayutthaya and early Bangkok periods, they were seen as our muang khuen or “colonies”.
• In the present they are less developped and poorer. So I would say that relationship with Laos and Cambodia is even much more difficult, complicated, sensitve, and problematic.
History Writing, Textbook,
and the Ministry of Education
• In Thailand/Siam stop signs with warnings like: “Official Property, Do Not Enter without Permission”, are not uncommon. They are symbols of authority and a reminder to „know one‟s place‟ in this „bureaucratic polity‟.
• As a history teacher for more than thirty years I have the impression that history is also an official domain and there is no trespassing.
• This forbidden area is noticeable in what is, or correctly, is not, written „in‟ textbooks, especially for six-year primary and six-year secondary school students.
Fourth Year, Primary Sch.
Students Aged 10
THAI HISTORY
Chapter 1:
Urban Settlements in Thailand
Chapter 2:
Kingdom of Sukhothai
Chapter 3:
Contemporaries of Sukhothai
(Hariphunchai, Lanna, Phayao-Phrae-
Nan, Nakhon Sithammarat, Ayutthaya)
No Pagan, no Angkor, no Champa, no
Melayu, etc. etc = no neighbors.
Perception of „mythical‟
Past for 4th Year-Aged
10 Primary School
Textbook
SukhothaiThe „first‟ Thai
Kingdom
13th-15th centuries
Shown in the Map of
Boundary covering
Malacca &
Temasek/Singapore ?
Fifth Year, Primary Sch.
Students Aged 11
Thai HistoryChapter 1:
Foundation of the Ayutthaya Kingdom
Chapter 2: Political and Administrative
Evolution of Ayutthaya
Chapter 3: Economic Evolution of
Ayutthaya
Chapter 4: Social and Buddhist
Evolution
Chapter 5: Wars with the Burmese and
Falls of Ayutthaya
Chapter 6: New Capital: Thonburi
(Bangkok)
1767 Fall of Ayutthaya: completely „destroyed‟ by the „Burmese‟ !?
Besides Textbooks, novels, drama, songs,
films and TV series about
Ayutthaya/Burmese have been repeated
reproduced and reinvented
Queen Sudachan
Wars of„national independence‟
with „Burma‟ !?
or of between Kings and Kings !?
Queens and Queens!?
Father: By former
Minister of Edcation !?
Besides Textbooks, novels, drama, songs, films and TV series about
Ayutthaya/Burmese have been repeated reproduced and reinvented
Father: By former
Minister of Edcation !?
Queen Sudachan
Mythical-historical Wars of „National Independence‟
Between „Thailand‟ and „Burma‟ Nation vs Nation !!!???
or of between Kings/Queens and Kings/Queens !!!???
Series
of
History
Mythical
Films
heavily
funded
with
public money
disregard
To
Neighbors
King Naresuan Part I-II-III etc.
กรุงยโสธรปุระ-อาณาจักรพระนคร-นครวัด-นครธมANGKOR (Contemporary of Ayutthaya, but…)
สร้างกรุงยโสธรปุระBirth of Angkor, not mentioned
Concluding words
The Fall of Angkor 1431, not mentioned
• Myth-history: Problematic Textbooks
• ‘Siam-Thailand’ nationally confined, no neighbors
• Fall of Angkor 1431, not mentioned
• King Chao Sam Phraya, attacking Angkor
• เสียกรุงศรียโสธรปุระ พ.ศ. ๑๙๗๔/๑๔๓๑
• ถูกกองทัพอยุธยาของพระเจ้าสามพระยาโจมตี
Sixth Year, Primary Sch.
Students Aged 12
THAI HISTORY
Chapter 1:
Revival of the Country in Early
Bangkok Period
Chapter 2: Thailand Entered the
Modern Age
(„lost‟ of territories (เสียดินแดน 1940s) to
the Western powers: Left Bank of the Mekong (Laos), 1893, Siem Reap,
Battambang, Sisophon, 1907 Kedah,
Palis, Kelantan, Trengganu, 1909, and
remained independent)
Chapter 3: Democratic
Administrative Change
Chapter 4: Evolution of Democratic
Administration9 King Ramas of Bangkok Era
Big „Lost‟ of Territories to the
Western powers, the British and
the French:
Laos or the whole area of the left bank
of the Mekong River, 1893
Cambodia, Siem Reap (Angkor Wat),
Battambang, Sisophon 1907
Malaysia: Kedah/Saiburi, Pelis,
Kelantan, Terengganu,
1909
And Siam/Thailand remained
independent: history-myth ?
Ultra-Nationalism
reproduced 2008-11
Internet-online-long distance nationalism
Modern or anachronistic !!!???
How much TERRITORIES
have we LOST ? 14 or 15 times !!! ???
Biggest Lost, No 12 !!!???
Inner Cambodia, 1907
Siem Reap (Angkor Wat), Battambang, Sisophon
Interestingly, what we do not know-inconvenient truth, Khmer „mapped‟
A leading Thai historian, Thongchai Winichakul,
has this concluding word about Thai history:
• “Historical studies in Thailand have been closely related to the formation of the nation since the late nineteenth century...
• It presented a royal/national chronicle, a historiography modern in character but based upon traditional perceptions of the past and traditional materials.
• It was a collection of stories by and for the national elite celebrating their successful mission of building and protecting the country despite great difficulties, and promising a prosperous future.
• The plot and meaning of this melodramatic past have become a paradigm of historical discourse, making history an ideological weapon and a source of legitimation of the state.”
Concluding words
Concluding words for Cambodian, Thai,
Southeast Asians and ASEAN Community
ONE
Our Texts
on History and the Past of Thailand/Siam
(including most of the Asean/GMS countries)
especially in relations with our Neighbors
are problematic and need a serious reform.
TWO
Our History Texts
must be revised in order to be up-right,
correctly perceived in order for us to live
peaceful together in this age of
Regionalism-Asean Community/GMS
and Globalization.
THREE
We, Cambodian, Lao, Thai, Vietnamese
(including all Asean/GMS citizens)
need to know and understand not just about
ourselves but also in relations with our
Neighbors, especially the closed ones on
mainland Southeast Asia i.e. Burma, Laos,
Cambodia, Malaysia, and Thailand/Siam.
FOUR
What has happened in the PAST
can not be changed
but what is happening in the PRESENT
can be rescued for the FUTURE.
FIVE
Perhaps an urgently needed task of
ASEAN/GMS Education Ministers + 3 or 4
(i.e. China, Japan, Korea, India, or even Taiwan),
together with some NGOs or education-oriented
organizations,
is to sit down and work out together.
New Textbooks, new Histories, for the sake of
peace, prosperity, and friendship of the ASEAN
Community are urgently needed.
SIX
Creating Network and Linkage of
Peoples to Peoples---Locals to Locals
(not just Governments to Governments as usual)
Academics to Academics
Students to Students
Youth to Youth
(Traveling classrooms for Undergrads from Cambodia, Laos,
Thailand, and Vietnam, etc.
From Ho Chi Minh to Phnom Penh to Bangkok
to Vientiane and to Hanoi)
That was my Observation one:
Revising History Textbooks for ASEAN
Now, Observation two: Turning the
Battlefields into Hindu-Buddhist Trans-Boundary ASEAN World Heritages:
เทือกเขาพนมดงรัก (ไทย) – แดงเร็ก (กัมพูชา)
Phanom Dongrak in Thai – Chuŏr Phnum Dângrêk in Cambodian:
LAND-MOUNTAINS OF PRASAT
IN CAMBODIA-LAOS-THAILAND
LAND-WATER OF THE MEKONG
IN CAMBODIA-LAOS-THAILAND
To avoid War, my second proposal is that:
--from the Dong Phyayen-Khao Yai Forest, in
Khorat, Thailand…,
--all the way along the Phnom Dangrek Mountians
to Prasat Phnom Rung, to Prasat Preah Vihear and
Prasat Vat Phou….
--to the Biggest Waterfalls of Asia, i.e. Khon Papeng
and Li Phi…
--should be turned into:
AN ASEAN ECO-CULTURAL
TRANS-BOUNDARY WORLD HERITAGE SITES
The Emerald Triangle
Land-Mountains-Water
Cambodia-Laos-Thialand
Khon Phapheng Falls
Khao Yai: WH
Vat Phou:WH
Khon Phapeng-Li Phi Falls ?
ASEAN ECO-CULTURAL TRANS-BOUNDARY
WORLD HERITAGE SITES
Phnom Rung ?Preah Vihear: WH
Phnom Dangrek:?
Hindu-Buddhist Prasats-Mountains and Rivers
Phnom Dangrek-Middle Mekong Basin belonging to Cambodia-Laos-Siam/Thailand
Lesson from Latin America
Iguaçu Falls
น ้าตกอีกวาซู
Argentina
Brazil
Paraguay
•ARGENTINAIndependently inscribed
1984
•BRAZILIndependently inscribed
1987
BRAZIL1987
ARGENTINA1984
Lesson from Europe
The Belfries
of Belgium and France
Serially inscribed
World Heritage Belfries of Belgium and France
Belfries
of Belgium and Franceserially nominated & inscribed
France
Belgium
Khao Yai: WH
Vat Phou:WH
Khon Phapeng-Li Phi Falls ?
ASEAN ECO-CULTURAL TRANS-BOUNDARY
WORLD HERITAGE SITES
Phnom Rung ?Preah Vihear: WH
Phnom Dangrek:?
Phimai
Preah Vihear
Vat Phou
WaterfallsAngkor
Phnom Rung
Bantei Cmar
Muang Tam
Sambor Preikuk
Thara
Borivat
Sra Kampaeng Yai-Noi
Srok Kok Thom
Prasat Noi
Preah Khan
Phnom Wan
Plus, plus, plus
The Emerald Triangle
Land-Mountains-Water
of the Dangrek and the Mekong
Cambodia-Laos-Thialand
serially nominated and inscribed as Asean Eco-cultural World Heritages
For Peace, Humanity and
ASEAN Community
Som Orkun Kho khob chai
Khob khun krab
