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วันเสาร์ที่ 5 กันยายน พ.ศ. 2552
วันอังคารที่ 1 กันยายน พ.ศ. 2552
Religious news
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Turning to spirits in hard times
Two shrines at a temple in Phra Khanong are drawing daily crowds desperate for a change in fortune
Writer: Suthep Chaviwan
Published: 15/03/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: Spectrum
'We come here to worship the spirit of Mae Nak with the hope that she will bless us to have a prosperous life, and we also expect that the spirit of Ton Takien here will give us a lucky lottery number," said Chutamas and Wasana in unison last weekend at Bangkok's Wat Mahabut in Phra Khanong district. The two women had come to worship at the temple's Mae (Nang) Nak and Ton Takien shrines. Ton Takien shrines are logs from hopea trees found in some Buddhist temples.
HOPEFUL: Images of the Nang Nak ghost with her child. Worshippers come seeking the ghost’s blessings on hope itwill help them find what they want.
Chutamas and Wasana, both in their thirties, joined several hundred people at the temple on Soi Onnuj last weekend, mostly others who have fallen on hard times in the current economic downturn. There are two other shrines at Wat Mahabut - an image of the Buddha known as Luang Poh Yim (smiling Buddha) and a Chinese Kuanyin (Goddess of Mercy and Love) - but it seems that the Nang Nak ghost shrine and the Ton Takien shrine are the most favoured. Of course, the two shrines make a lot of money for the temple as the worshippers make donations through them.
Along with 150 other workers at a food processing factory in Thon Buri which closed after the owners decided they could no longer operate at a loss, Chutamas and Wasana have been jobless for two months. The two women have visited many spirit shrines and temples to ask for blessings in their search for jobs, but as of now there don't seem to be any jobs available for them.
Another worshipper, 42-year-old Sanit Phumnathee, said he was laid off along with 80 workers at an car company in the first part of January. He also has travelled to many Buddhist temples and shrines in the hope it will bring him employment.
"I have a family with two kids to take care of. I don't know what to do about our future and I don't know whether the spirit of Mae Nak or the Ton Takien shrine can help me or not," he said.
What is known is that new employment is very hard to find nowadays, not only for those recently laid off, but also for the 700,000 new university graduates this year.
The Federation of Thai Industries has warned that about one million people in the country are expected to be laid off due to the economic meltdown.
LUCKY NUMBERS: Worshippers touch the bark of the Ton Takien log hoping to see lottery numbers on the tips of their fingers.
THE LEGEND OF NANG NAK
The story of Mae Nang Nak, perhaps the most famous of all Thai ghosts, began during the reign of King Mongkut (1851-1868) when a newlywed couple, Nang Nak and Tid Mak, moved into a small and abandoned house in Bangkok's Phra Khanong district, near Wat Mahabut.
According to the legend, Tid Mak was called off to war, leaving Nang Nak pregnant and all alone.
Both Nang Nak and her child died during childbirth and they became ghosts. Yet they still took the form of human beings as they waited for Tid Mak to return.
When he did return he was under a spell, and knew nothing of the death of his wife and child. His neighbours tried to tell him, but he did not believe them, and so he lived with the ghosts in the secluded house.
One day Tid Mak was watching Nang Nak as she was preparing dinner. She dropped a lemon and it fell off the elevated floor and into the earthen cellar of the house. Nang Nak then extended her arm all the way to the ground to pick up the lemon.
Terrified, Tid Mak realised that his beautiful wife was a ghost as his neighbours had been telling him all along, and he tried to flee from her.
When she knew her husband had left the house, Nang Nak chased him to the area of Wat Mahabut, but she could not enter the temple. She decided to stay nearby and terrorise the people as an expression of her anger with them for helping her husband leave her.
Nang Nak's ghost was later exorcised and confined within an earthen pot, which was thrown into the river.
People in the area had a change of heart however, and erected the shrine at Wat Mahabut for her and her child and invited their spirits to dwell there.
There are, however, other versions of Nang Nak's story, some very different from the one above.
Some say that the story is fiction and based on rumour, while others believe it is true, although there is no evidence to prove it.
What is not in dispute is that the Nang Nak ghost shrine truly exists at Wat Mahabut and that each day the shrine draws hundreds of worshippers who are looking to improve their fortunes.
At the very least, the story of Nang Nak has been a gift for the Thai movie industry, with more than 20 films produced so far, and no doubt more on the way.
Most of those coming to Wat Mahabut go with the intention of worshiping at the ghost shrine of Nang Nak, asking her spirit to bless their lives with good fortune, but almost to a person they also make a stop at the Ton Takien shrine for a lucky lottery number.
According to reports, worshippers just rub on the Ton Takien log, pray to the spirit of the log, and the lucky number magically appears on their fingertips.
Turning to spirits in hard times
Two shrines at a temple in Phra Khanong are drawing daily crowds desperate for a change in fortune
Writer: Suthep Chaviwan
Published: 15/03/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: Spectrum
'We come here to worship the spirit of Mae Nak with the hope that she will bless us to have a prosperous life, and we also expect that the spirit of Ton Takien here will give us a lucky lottery number," said Chutamas and Wasana in unison last weekend at Bangkok's Wat Mahabut in Phra Khanong district. The two women had come to worship at the temple's Mae (Nang) Nak and Ton Takien shrines. Ton Takien shrines are logs from hopea trees found in some Buddhist temples.
HOPEFUL: Images of the Nang Nak ghost with her child. Worshippers come seeking the ghost’s blessings on hope itwill help them find what they want.
Chutamas and Wasana, both in their thirties, joined several hundred people at the temple on Soi Onnuj last weekend, mostly others who have fallen on hard times in the current economic downturn. There are two other shrines at Wat Mahabut - an image of the Buddha known as Luang Poh Yim (smiling Buddha) and a Chinese Kuanyin (Goddess of Mercy and Love) - but it seems that the Nang Nak ghost shrine and the Ton Takien shrine are the most favoured. Of course, the two shrines make a lot of money for the temple as the worshippers make donations through them.
Along with 150 other workers at a food processing factory in Thon Buri which closed after the owners decided they could no longer operate at a loss, Chutamas and Wasana have been jobless for two months. The two women have visited many spirit shrines and temples to ask for blessings in their search for jobs, but as of now there don't seem to be any jobs available for them.
Another worshipper, 42-year-old Sanit Phumnathee, said he was laid off along with 80 workers at an car company in the first part of January. He also has travelled to many Buddhist temples and shrines in the hope it will bring him employment.
"I have a family with two kids to take care of. I don't know what to do about our future and I don't know whether the spirit of Mae Nak or the Ton Takien shrine can help me or not," he said.
What is known is that new employment is very hard to find nowadays, not only for those recently laid off, but also for the 700,000 new university graduates this year.
The Federation of Thai Industries has warned that about one million people in the country are expected to be laid off due to the economic meltdown.
LUCKY NUMBERS: Worshippers touch the bark of the Ton Takien log hoping to see lottery numbers on the tips of their fingers.
THE LEGEND OF NANG NAK
The story of Mae Nang Nak, perhaps the most famous of all Thai ghosts, began during the reign of King Mongkut (1851-1868) when a newlywed couple, Nang Nak and Tid Mak, moved into a small and abandoned house in Bangkok's Phra Khanong district, near Wat Mahabut.
According to the legend, Tid Mak was called off to war, leaving Nang Nak pregnant and all alone.
Both Nang Nak and her child died during childbirth and they became ghosts. Yet they still took the form of human beings as they waited for Tid Mak to return.
When he did return he was under a spell, and knew nothing of the death of his wife and child. His neighbours tried to tell him, but he did not believe them, and so he lived with the ghosts in the secluded house.
One day Tid Mak was watching Nang Nak as she was preparing dinner. She dropped a lemon and it fell off the elevated floor and into the earthen cellar of the house. Nang Nak then extended her arm all the way to the ground to pick up the lemon.
Terrified, Tid Mak realised that his beautiful wife was a ghost as his neighbours had been telling him all along, and he tried to flee from her.
When she knew her husband had left the house, Nang Nak chased him to the area of Wat Mahabut, but she could not enter the temple. She decided to stay nearby and terrorise the people as an expression of her anger with them for helping her husband leave her.
Nang Nak's ghost was later exorcised and confined within an earthen pot, which was thrown into the river.
People in the area had a change of heart however, and erected the shrine at Wat Mahabut for her and her child and invited their spirits to dwell there.
There are, however, other versions of Nang Nak's story, some very different from the one above.
Some say that the story is fiction and based on rumour, while others believe it is true, although there is no evidence to prove it.
What is not in dispute is that the Nang Nak ghost shrine truly exists at Wat Mahabut and that each day the shrine draws hundreds of worshippers who are looking to improve their fortunes.
At the very least, the story of Nang Nak has been a gift for the Thai movie industry, with more than 20 films produced so far, and no doubt more on the way.
Most of those coming to Wat Mahabut go with the intention of worshiping at the ghost shrine of Nang Nak, asking her spirit to bless their lives with good fortune, but almost to a person they also make a stop at the Ton Takien shrine for a lucky lottery number.
According to reports, worshippers just rub on the Ton Takien log, pray to the spirit of the log, and the lucky number magically appears on their fingertips.
วันเสาร์ที่ 29 สิงหาคม พ.ศ. 2552
Guerrillas battle rising costs
Guerrillas battle rising costs
The armed struggle of the region's rebel forces is becoming more difficult as supplies of weapons and ammunition dry up and prices, in turn, increase,
By: Suthep Chaviwan
Published: 21/12/2008 at 12:00 AM
Bangkok Post, Newspaper section: Spectrum
A few months ago, in a wooded camp controlled by an anti-Rangoon ethnic group across the Thai border, arms merchants were making a sales pitch. Among the weapons on offer was an M203 grenade launcher, as used by US soldiers in Iraq. But at a price of more than 25,000 baht, it was considered too expensive for the guerrillas.
Like many others around the world, ethnic armed groups along the Thai-Burmese and Indian-Burmese borders are facing economic hard times.
For arms smugglers, the heyday of the trade is gone. They now make do with small-scale transactions, intelligence officers tell Spectrum.
It is not an exaggeration to say all armed ethnic groups fighting against Burma's ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), as well as rebel groups in the northeastern states of India, are having difficulty getting weapons and ammunition to strengthen their forces, they say.
This view is shared by Thai authorities, who say the armed ethnic groups do not have the resources to deal with major international arms traffickers like Viktor Bout, the alleged Russian arms dealer arrested in Thailand in March this year. Mr Bout is accused of selling arms to the Taliban in Afghanistan and rebel groups in Colombia. He remains in Thai custody pending further investigation.
More than 20 years ago it was not difficult to buy weapons of war along the Thai-Cambodian or Thai-Laotian borders, thanks to the surplus from the Indochina War and the rival groups fighting in Cambodia. There were Russian-made Kalashnikov AK-47s, US-made M16s, light machine-guns, hand grenades, RPG launchers, pistols and even SAM-7 surface-to-air missiles.
At the time it was not difficult to traffic in these illicit items from the Cambodian and Laotian borders to the Burmese border, or to the southern Thai coastal town of Ranong on the Andaman Sea. Some of these weapons were delivered to resistance groups in other countries, such as the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka.
Such shipments are difficult to find now. Gun runners reportedly collect from here and there in small quantities from rebels who have deserted their outfits and from individual ex-members of the now-defunct Communist Party of Burma.
There are a dozen armed ethnic groups in Burma that are still fighting the SPDC for their independence and sovereignty. They include the Karen National Union, the New Mon State Party, the Shan State Army, the Kachin Independence Organisation and the Chin Independence Organisation.
These groups today have all kinds of small arms - M16s, Israeli-made Uzi sub-machine-guns, Russian-made AKM (Automat Kalashnikov Modernzikovanny) assault rifles and Chinese-made AK-47s, to name a few.
But they are short on ammunition for their weapons, especially 7.62x39 ammunition for the AK-47 and 5.56mm ammunition for the M16.
CHINESE FILL GAP!
The shortage of AK-47 ammunition may be solved in the near future. According to rebel sources, Chinese arms experts are trying to manufacture 7.62x39 shells in a make-shift factory in upper Shan state, close to the Chinese border. Prospective clients will certainly include the Burmese resistance groups in the region.
They will also come from seven northeastern states of India, known as the Seven Sisters, inhabited by more than 38.5 million people, most of them ethnic tribal groups. These states are bordered by China, Burma, Bangladesh and Bhutan, and are connected to the rest of India by a narrow corridor of land. They share a 1,643km border with Burma.
There are 15 ethnic tribes recognised by India, but more than 66 others in the region are not officially recognised. More than 40 rebel groups, both large and small, are operating against the Indian government with the aim of creating their own independent nations. But they lack firepower.
According to a well-informed source, arms and ammunition in these areas are very costly, several times more expensive than in Thailand, Cambodia or Burma. AK-47s and M16s sell for between 100,000 and 170,000 rupees (73,300 to 125,000 baht) each, while a single bullet costs 120 rupees (88 baht) in the rebel-controlled areas.
Even with such high profit potential it is hard to find sellers, but the goods are available from time to time at the underground market at the border trading area of Tamu-Moreh, close to India's Manipur state.
The prices are higher further inside India's northeast provinces, but rebel groups in these states have more money than their Burmese counterparts as they are able to collect taxes from businesses.
Prices are rising in the old Golden Triangle region as well and elsewhere along the Thai-Burmese border. Over 15 years ago, AK-47 and M16 ammunition could be purchased for around eight to 10 baht per round at Three Pagodas Pass, Mae Sot and Umphang. But the same rounds these days cost 20 to 25 baht each, according to ethnic rebel leaders.
Burmese rebels will not buy arms on Thai soil. They buy only from dealers who can deliver.
Over 10 years ago, AK-47s and M16s cost 5,000 to 8,000 baht each in these rebel-controlled areas, but the price of the same items now is more than 17,000 baht. The weapons, of course, are not new.
The M203 grenade launcher is also available along the Thai-Burmese border. It is fitted to an M16 rifle (or an M4 carbine) and is a single-shot 40mm grenade launcher. It sells for over 25,000 baht.
The Type 56 assault rifle (a Chinese copy of the Kalashnikov AK-47) and chemical explosives are also available along the frontier.
Users of the Type 56, however, say it does not meet international standards. After firing about 2,000 rounds, the barrel starts to bend and is deformed by heat and pressure, they say. It is not as strong as the original Russian-made Kalashnikov.
China, through its Norinco Company - part of the People's Liberation Army - is one of the world's largest arms suppliers. Norinco has a branch office in central Bangkok, registered under the name H.D.Intertrade Co Ltd, located on soi Anumarn Rajathon, off Surawong road.
H.D.Intertrade acts as Norinco's agent in Thailand, selling arms, ammunition and heavy military hardware to the Thai armed forces. The Chinese tear-gas canisters used by Thai police to disperse anti-government protesters in front of parliament in October were purchased through this company, according to a reliable source.
Although all governments of the region have been trying to solve their insurgency problems through various methods, including peaceful negotiation and ceasefire agreements, real peace is still a distant dream.
Some of the rebel leaders say they agree to peace proposals, but peace must also come with independence and sovereignty. They believe peace talks and armed struggle must go hand-in-hand in order to bargain for what they want.
That is why they are trying hard to secure more weapons to strengthen their forces, even though this is much more difficult than it has been in the past.
The armed struggle of the region's rebel forces is becoming more difficult as supplies of weapons and ammunition dry up and prices, in turn, increase,
By: Suthep Chaviwan
Published: 21/12/2008 at 12:00 AM
Bangkok Post, Newspaper section: Spectrum
A few months ago, in a wooded camp controlled by an anti-Rangoon ethnic group across the Thai border, arms merchants were making a sales pitch. Among the weapons on offer was an M203 grenade launcher, as used by US soldiers in Iraq. But at a price of more than 25,000 baht, it was considered too expensive for the guerrillas.
Like many others around the world, ethnic armed groups along the Thai-Burmese and Indian-Burmese borders are facing economic hard times.
For arms smugglers, the heyday of the trade is gone. They now make do with small-scale transactions, intelligence officers tell Spectrum.
It is not an exaggeration to say all armed ethnic groups fighting against Burma's ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), as well as rebel groups in the northeastern states of India, are having difficulty getting weapons and ammunition to strengthen their forces, they say.
This view is shared by Thai authorities, who say the armed ethnic groups do not have the resources to deal with major international arms traffickers like Viktor Bout, the alleged Russian arms dealer arrested in Thailand in March this year. Mr Bout is accused of selling arms to the Taliban in Afghanistan and rebel groups in Colombia. He remains in Thai custody pending further investigation.
More than 20 years ago it was not difficult to buy weapons of war along the Thai-Cambodian or Thai-Laotian borders, thanks to the surplus from the Indochina War and the rival groups fighting in Cambodia. There were Russian-made Kalashnikov AK-47s, US-made M16s, light machine-guns, hand grenades, RPG launchers, pistols and even SAM-7 surface-to-air missiles.
At the time it was not difficult to traffic in these illicit items from the Cambodian and Laotian borders to the Burmese border, or to the southern Thai coastal town of Ranong on the Andaman Sea. Some of these weapons were delivered to resistance groups in other countries, such as the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka.
Such shipments are difficult to find now. Gun runners reportedly collect from here and there in small quantities from rebels who have deserted their outfits and from individual ex-members of the now-defunct Communist Party of Burma.
There are a dozen armed ethnic groups in Burma that are still fighting the SPDC for their independence and sovereignty. They include the Karen National Union, the New Mon State Party, the Shan State Army, the Kachin Independence Organisation and the Chin Independence Organisation.
These groups today have all kinds of small arms - M16s, Israeli-made Uzi sub-machine-guns, Russian-made AKM (Automat Kalashnikov Modernzikovanny) assault rifles and Chinese-made AK-47s, to name a few.
But they are short on ammunition for their weapons, especially 7.62x39 ammunition for the AK-47 and 5.56mm ammunition for the M16.
CHINESE FILL GAP!
The shortage of AK-47 ammunition may be solved in the near future. According to rebel sources, Chinese arms experts are trying to manufacture 7.62x39 shells in a make-shift factory in upper Shan state, close to the Chinese border. Prospective clients will certainly include the Burmese resistance groups in the region.
They will also come from seven northeastern states of India, known as the Seven Sisters, inhabited by more than 38.5 million people, most of them ethnic tribal groups. These states are bordered by China, Burma, Bangladesh and Bhutan, and are connected to the rest of India by a narrow corridor of land. They share a 1,643km border with Burma.
There are 15 ethnic tribes recognised by India, but more than 66 others in the region are not officially recognised. More than 40 rebel groups, both large and small, are operating against the Indian government with the aim of creating their own independent nations. But they lack firepower.
According to a well-informed source, arms and ammunition in these areas are very costly, several times more expensive than in Thailand, Cambodia or Burma. AK-47s and M16s sell for between 100,000 and 170,000 rupees (73,300 to 125,000 baht) each, while a single bullet costs 120 rupees (88 baht) in the rebel-controlled areas.
Even with such high profit potential it is hard to find sellers, but the goods are available from time to time at the underground market at the border trading area of Tamu-Moreh, close to India's Manipur state.
The prices are higher further inside India's northeast provinces, but rebel groups in these states have more money than their Burmese counterparts as they are able to collect taxes from businesses.
Prices are rising in the old Golden Triangle region as well and elsewhere along the Thai-Burmese border. Over 15 years ago, AK-47 and M16 ammunition could be purchased for around eight to 10 baht per round at Three Pagodas Pass, Mae Sot and Umphang. But the same rounds these days cost 20 to 25 baht each, according to ethnic rebel leaders.
Burmese rebels will not buy arms on Thai soil. They buy only from dealers who can deliver.
Over 10 years ago, AK-47s and M16s cost 5,000 to 8,000 baht each in these rebel-controlled areas, but the price of the same items now is more than 17,000 baht. The weapons, of course, are not new.
The M203 grenade launcher is also available along the Thai-Burmese border. It is fitted to an M16 rifle (or an M4 carbine) and is a single-shot 40mm grenade launcher. It sells for over 25,000 baht.
The Type 56 assault rifle (a Chinese copy of the Kalashnikov AK-47) and chemical explosives are also available along the frontier.
Users of the Type 56, however, say it does not meet international standards. After firing about 2,000 rounds, the barrel starts to bend and is deformed by heat and pressure, they say. It is not as strong as the original Russian-made Kalashnikov.
China, through its Norinco Company - part of the People's Liberation Army - is one of the world's largest arms suppliers. Norinco has a branch office in central Bangkok, registered under the name H.D.Intertrade Co Ltd, located on soi Anumarn Rajathon, off Surawong road.
H.D.Intertrade acts as Norinco's agent in Thailand, selling arms, ammunition and heavy military hardware to the Thai armed forces. The Chinese tear-gas canisters used by Thai police to disperse anti-government protesters in front of parliament in October were purchased through this company, according to a reliable source.
Although all governments of the region have been trying to solve their insurgency problems through various methods, including peaceful negotiation and ceasefire agreements, real peace is still a distant dream.
Some of the rebel leaders say they agree to peace proposals, but peace must also come with independence and sovereignty. They believe peace talks and armed struggle must go hand-in-hand in order to bargain for what they want.
That is why they are trying hard to secure more weapons to strengthen their forces, even though this is much more difficult than it has been in the past.
วันศุกร์ที่ 28 สิงหาคม พ.ศ. 2552
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