Elephant for one more time

Whew! It's good to be back to AP again after more than a year of 'doing other things'.

I'm back in Canberra, Australia and ready to roll again.

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Lately there are two 'elephants' that I've come across:

The first was a novel. It's Jose Saramago's The Elephant's Journey (2008). I started reading it on the way to Sydney and finished it on the way back to Canberra. The story takes place in the mid-16th century and focuses on an Indian mahout and his elephant.

The story is full of wit, symbolic representation, and philosophical questions. I like the poignant sense of humour in his work. Many times he seems to be emphasizing a lot on Christianity and its critique. It's a good book and worth discussing. Type the title of the book in Google search box and you'll find many interesting reviews, such as this piece by Ursula K Le Guin.

The second elephant is about Thailand. The phrase chang u nai hong [ช้างอยู่ในห้อง - elephant in the room] is very much in use nowadays by Thai progressives . It is referred to an issue relating to the Thai monarchy, which is now increasingly becoming the centre of the discussion among observers. The topic has become one of the most controversial debates in Thai political arena. The royalists are willing to fight to their last drop of blood to protect the monarchy being defamed. At the same time, the progressives are pushing hard to create a more open debate among Thais about the monarchy.

It's amazing to see how deeply entrenched the Thai monarchy is in the minds of the conservatives. But it's equally amazing to see how a few years could make such a big change, especially after the 2006 coup.

It's now the time for Thailand to discuss about that elephant in the room. Not only because it's important, but it's also inevitable. To be blunt, it's great to see the Red Shirts becoming a big political body. But it is critical for them to be conscious and not pushing themselves to the verge of a civil war. Some opportunists will, for sure, be happy to see that.

They'll be happy to see the chaos in Thailand, and then they'll ask for the hero, who will come on the white horse to solve all the problems this country ever had.

But I guess it's not going to work no more. Thailand needs different solution.