Filed under: Engaged Spirituality, Environment, Human Rights, Non-Violence
Kanchanaburi public prosecutor (Thong Paphoom) V. Sulak Sivaraksa
For violation of the Thai Petroleum Act BE 2522 (1979)
The court has been informed that on 7 May 1996, the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT) was authorized to undertake the construction of natural gas pipelines from the Yadana source in Burma through the Thailand-Burma border into Thailand at Ban I-tong, Tambon Pilok, Thong Paphoom district, Kanchanaburi province toward the Ratchaburi combined cycle power plant in Muang district, Ratchaburi province. But between 2-6 March 1998, during day and night successively, the accused and about 30 others camped out in the forest to obstruct the construction of the pipelines. They stood in rows and sat in groups to make the operation of the machines impossible. Thus, they were accused for violating the laws which provided for the rights of PTT to continue their construction.
The accused refused to accept the charge. He informed the judges that as a law graduate he believes in the Constitution and cherishes the constitutional monarchy. Among many in Siam, he has been revered as a conservationist who has made immense contribution to history, social development, economics, politics, culture, archeology and the environment. Apart from his extensive writings, lectures or public speeches, the accused has been endeavoring to work to preserve ancient buildings and the environment all along. Being informed about the Thailand-Burma gas pipeline project, he deemed the project had been pushed ahead by PTT with support from the Thai government without heeding to public opinions. The government, by refusing to hear voices from the people, was pressing ahead a project that would cause massive damages to the national interests, economically and politically, within and outside the country. The damages would also reach the environment, forests, fauna, etc. With this concern and the care for nature and the environment, the accused has been opposed to deforestation, destruction of the environment, particularly, in pristine forests of Kanchanaburi province. Therefore, the opposition waged by the accused toward the construction of the natural gas pipeline rests on the fervent hope to protect national interests at present and in future. It can be regarded as a sincere, honest, peaceful and nonviolent action and this right and freedom has been exercised duly under the provisions in the Constitution.
The accused further argued that the Petroleum Act BE 2522 (1979), which had been cited by the plaintiff to bring charges against him is unlawful in light of the current Constitution. The law grants draconian powers to PTT to bring charges against anyone who decide to obstruct their operation. However, with the attempts by the government to corporatize PTT, new legislations have been issued in recent years and that has led to the revocation of the PTT Act. In addition, the new laws mulled for the governing of the corporatized PTT bear no punitive clauses. Therefore, the PTT Act can no longer be cited as a ground to punish anyone who obstructs the operation by PTT.
The judges are therefore of the opinion that the accused is found not guilty for the charge.
Judges of the Criminal Court, 18 August 2006
The word “democracy” appeared in the First Declaration of the People’s Party which was announced and distributed to the public on 24 June 1932. It states: “It is necessary that the country has a government like in a democracy; that is, the country’s head of state must be a commoner elected by Parliament to assume the position for a specified period. Citizens, expect to be cared for in the best ways.”
Now, the word “democracy” often refers to a presidency or a republic. To avoid any misunderstanding or fear, democracy is further clarified to specifically mean “a democracy with the monarch as the head of state”; that is, a constitutional monarchy.
In reality, the word “democracy” is often mistakenly used and abused. Many states that call themselves “democracies” take pride in allowing their citizens to vote for their own representatives in parliament every four year or so. (Here I won’t refer to the presidential system.) Before citizens go cast their votes, all kinds of means are used during the election campaigns—lies, vote-buying, disinformation, etc. in various degrees. When the whole electoral process is over, the right to government is jealously guarded by politicians and representatives, and citizens are swept aside to play the role of having no role. In some countries, the freedom of expression is only nominally upheld. Here I am not referring to dictatorships in the guise of democracies such as Singapore and Malaysia, but full-fledged democracies like England whose mass media systems are dominated by vested interests and the pursuit of profit. As such, their citizens have limited access to vital information (e.g., many important issues are not freely discussed, and hence are unknown), and therefore they may interpret the world according to the dictates of the ruling interests—e.g., capitalism, consumerism, neoliberalism, imperialism, etc. People everywhere are increasingly finding this version of democracy revolting. No doubt, this is not the kind of democracy that Thais should aim for; it is not good enough for us.
To be truly religious is not to reject society but to work for social justice and change. Religion is at the heart of social change, and this change is an essence of religion. The teachings of Buddha have much more to offer to mitigate sufferings of both humans and nature in the world. If one is worth living, there are ways one can live.
This was the crux of the talk on the challenges and prospects of Buddhism given by Sulak Sivaraksa from Thailand at the conference hall of the Centre for Bhutan Studies on 23 August.
He is a teacher, a scholar, a publisher, an activist, founder of many organizations and author of more than hundred books and monographs. He is among the handful of leaders world-wide working to revive the socially engaged aspects of spirituality and was granted the Right Livelihood Award, also known as Alternative Noble Prize in 1995.
According to Sivaraksa, 21st century is the century of spirituality. Otherwise the world would have been destroyed. Buddhism plays a vital role in Asia especially in South and South East Asia, not only spiritually but also morally, socially and ecologically. Simplicity guides one to be mindful of materialism and sensual pleasures.
Bhutan has developed the concept of Gross National Happiness instead of Gross National Product, which will help in the post-modern era, realizing that what they wanted is happiness, not money nor power.
Sulak envisions a future built on traditional wisdom and culture. Bhutan is unique in this regard.
“We must chain our society to be transparent and accountable. One cannot practice good politics without being a spiritual person,” said Sulak.
During the 1970s, Sulak became a central figure in a number of NGOs in Thailand. He said, “Whatever you do, don’t do it out of selfish motives but out of understanding and kindness. Itีs you who decide.”
Sonam Pelden
from Bhutan Observer
Saturday August 25, 2006
Filed under: Engaged Spirituality, Human Rights, Siamese History, Thai Politics
AMID all that is ailing Thai society now, Sulak Sivaraksa stands out as its voice of conscience.
He seems like a ray of light, albeit too glaring sometimes, that keeps the moral compass intact.
At 73, he is still viewed by most people as one of Thailand’s more outspoken and respected social activists and scholars.
Here’s a man who has been twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize; a man whom Thaksin Shinawatra, who usually does not hold his tongue against his critics, has not retaliated at all against despite Sulak’s constant attacks of him.
“He has not criticised me publicly. Not even privately, according to those from within his circle,” Sulak said in an interview.
Mind you, he has stinging remarks of Thaksin, even calling him a dog at one point.
“People know that I have no political aspiration. Even if I had wanted to be a prime minister, I would not have become one,” he said, laughing.
Sulak, according to a friend of his who has known him for decades, has deep moral integrity but no personal agenda, no desire for material benefits.
“He is inspired by Gandhi and the Dalai Lama is one of the many international figures who know him well,” said this friend.
During the interview, Sulak did not hold back his views about the way Buddhism was being practised in Thailand.
It is debatable whether one calls Buddhism religion or not. However as an organized creed practiced by many peoples in Asia and now in the west too, it contributes both a blessing and a curse to mankind.
My late spiritual teacher, Bhikkhu Buddhadasa, whose centenary this year is recognized by UNESCO as a man who contributes so much for peace in the world, has warned his disciples that we should understand the best in Buddhism, that is how to transform greed into generosity, hatred into loving kindness and delusion into wisdom or proper understanding.
He also says that Buddhists must respect other religions – not just tolerance – as much as our own.
People with different religions must collaborate together and with atheists and agnostics too, in order to overcome the new demonic religion of materialism and consumerism i.e. to liberate mankind from greed, hatred and delusion.
The hard core of the Buddha’s teaching is skillful means to reduce selfishness to serve all sentient beings yet all through these years, Buddhism has compromised itself with superstition, nationalism, feudalism, male chauvinism and lately with economism. As an institution Buddhism contributed negatively to mankind too. Baker Roshi will no doubt confirm the information in the book Zen at War that Japanese practitioners of Buddhist meditation used that technique of inner strength to kill the enemy more effectively, even with the loss of their own lives, for the sake of the Emperor and the Empire.
In Sri Lanka , many Sinhala Buddhists are against the Tamil Hindus on the island very violently. Likewise in my own country, quite a number of Thai Buddhists are not at all tolerant towards the Malay Muslims who are also citizens of Siam.
Yadana Pipeline Protest Case Dismissed
By Sai Silp
August 18, 2006
The case against prominent Thai social activist Sulak Sivaraksa, accused with other protestors six years ago of disrupting the building of a gas pipeline crossing part of Burma, has been dismissed by Thailand’s criminal court.
Sulak was charged with obstructing the pipeline when it was being built in 1998. It now transmits gas from the Yadana field in Burmese offshore waters to Thai power plants, via Mon and Karen areas. The pipeline was being built by state-controlled oil ands gas conglomerate PTT, formerly the Petroleum Authority of Thailand.
Sulak said the outcome was a victory for justice of sorts, but the issues of compensation for villagers in Burma whose land was taken and the misuse of the income from the gas by the Burmese regime remained unanswered.
“The pipeline project has not provided benefit for local people both Thai and Burma,” he told The Irrawaddy on Friday. “It is a shameful project. The Thai government has to pay US$ 400 million per year to the Burmese government and they use this money to abuse and threaten ethnic people in their country.”
The case was dropped because the law under which Sulak was charged related to the former state-owned Petroleum Authority of Thailand which had since been partially privatized as PTT plc.
PTT implied that it might still pursue Sulak. “We have not decided yet whether to move on in the legal process or not. [PTT] executives will discuss the matter after we have got the official report from Office of the Attorney General,” a company legal department spokesman said.
It is widely known that much of the income from Burma’s gas, which now totals about US $1 billion from Thailand alone, goes to buy military equipment and weapons. Activists say this helps the junta harass ethnic groups opposed to the regime.
Sulak Sivaraksa is a high profile social commentator and environmental campaigner. In 2005, was nominated for Nobel Peace Prize for his social work among Thai communities, including the Assembly of the Poor, indigenous peoples and Buddhist groups.
As Bhutan prepares to embrace parliamentary democracy in 2008, it should be cautious about drawing models from western democracy, says a Buddhist scholar from Thailand.
Mr. Ajarn Sulak Sivaraksa, who is a teacher, an activist and a renowned Thai Buddhist scholar, said that he was afraid that Bhutan would use western democracy as a model, a mistake most Asian countries like Bur-ma, Sri Lanka including his own country, Thailand made.
The elections, he emphasised, was one of the very negative sides from the west.
Bhutan should instead adopt the Buddhist model of democracy.
The old “sangha model”, he said, which is the oldest Buddhist democracy upholds positive actions, transforms bad habits, purifies negativity, increases virtuous acts and encourages equality and fraternity for all.
Simplicity, modesty and harmony, he said, were the key elements in the Buddhist concept. He said that the sangha model was used to run Bhutan some 100 years ago and could still be referred to pull out positive aspects so Bhutan could itself become a model for rest of the world.
“With the western democracy you cannot stop corruption,” he said. “That is evident in the British and American elections which are filled with it.”
The advent of western modernisation in Thailand started a century ago before it came to Bhutan, and he said that his country adopted western democracy at the expense of Buddhism.
“That’s where we went wrong as our elites embraced modernisation at the cost of our own tradition and culture,” Mr. Sulak Sivaraksa told Kuensel. “Now our invaluable tradition and culture live only in the form of dance and music and not as a way of life.”
Bhutan, he said, was in a very unique situation in that it remained isolated while all its neighbouring countries went through the evils of western modernisation, which gave the country the advantage to learn about both the positive and negative aspects of modernisation and adopt what was good and relevant.
“The countryีs policy of allowing few selected tourists is a good example of that,” said Mr. Sulak Sivaraksa, adding that while the country focused on learning certain things from the tourists, it in turn taught them a great deal about values, tradition, culture and preservation of nature.
“Tourism destroys every country like mine,” he said. “Our local people saw them as wonderful modern people with great spending capacity. They then started aping the tourists and embraced their ways of life.”
Samten Wangchuk
from Kuensel
Saturday August 26, 2006
