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Village Scouts
Village Scouts ( th, ลูกเสือชาวบ้าน, ) is the common name of a right-wing politics, right-wing, ultranationalist social movement and paramilitary militia of volunteers from rural Thailand. It is a countrywide organization that the King and Queen of Thailand have sponsored since 1972 in order to promote national unity. It was first founded by the Thai Border Patrol Police (BPP) under the aegis of the Ministry of Interior (Thailand), Ministry of Interior. 20th century Village Scouts The Village Scouts were mustered from 1971 on to fight the Communist insurgency in Thailand, communist insurgency and the pro-democracy movement in Thailand as well as the progressive Farmers' Federation of Thailand. They were modeled on the South Vietnamese Popular Force, "grass roots" defense organizations in South Vietnam. At their core were rich and independent farmers. The Village Scouts were organized in small cells, usually commanded by an urban right-wing politician. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thammasat University Massacre
The 6 October 1976 massacre, or the 6 October event ( th, เหตุการณ์ 6 ตุลา ) as it is known in Thailand, was a violent crackdown by Thai police and lynching by right-wing paramilitaries and bystanders against leftist protesters who had occupied Bangkok's Thammasat University and the adjacent Sanam Luang, on 6 October 1976. Prior to the massacre, thousands of leftists, including students, workers and others, had been holding ongoing demonstrations against the return of former dictator Thanom Kittikachorn to Thailand since mid-September. Official reports state that 46 were killed (on both sides) and 167 were wounded, while unofficial reports state that more than 100 demonstrators were killed. In the "Documentation of Oct 6" project, Thongchai Winichakul argued that official death toll should be 45, including 40 demonstrators and 5 perpetrators, because one demonstrator died in jail after the incident. In the aftermath of the events of 14 October 1973, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paramilitary Organizations Based In Thailand
A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carry out duties that a country's military or police forces are unable or unwilling to handle. Other organizations may be considered paramilitaries by structure alone, despite being unarmed or lacking a combat role. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definition, not a military, it is usually equivalent to a light infantry force in terms of strength, firepower, and organizational structure. Paramilitaries use "military" equipment (such as long guns and armored personnel carriers; usually military surplus resources), skills (such as battlefield medicine and bomb disposal), and tactics (such as urban warfare and close-quarters combat) that are compatible with their purpose, often combining them with skills from other relevant fields such as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nationalist Movements In Asia
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, Ideology, History''. Polity, 2010. pp. 9, 25–30; especially with the aim of gaining and maintaining the nation's sovereignty ( self-governance) over its homeland to create a nation-state. Nationalism holds that each nation should govern itself, free from outside interference (self-determination), that a nation is a natural and ideal basis for a polity, and that the nation is the only rightful source of political power. It further aims to build and maintain a single national identity, based on a combination of shared social characteristics such as culture, ethnicity, geographic location, language, politics (or the government), religion, traditions and belief in a shared singular history, and to promote national unity or solidarity. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vigilantes
Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority. A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a person who practices or partakes in vigilantism, or undertakes public safety and retributive justice without commission. Definition According to political scientist Regina Bateson, vigilantism is "the extralegal prevention, investigation, or punishment of offenses." The definition has three components: # Extralegal: Vigilantism is done outside of the law (not necessarily in violation of the law) # Prevention, investigation, or punishment: Vigilantism requires specific actions, not just attitudes or beliefs # Offense: Vigilantism is a response to a perceived crime or violation of an authoritative norm Other scholars have defined "collective vigilantism" as "group violence to punish perceived offenses to a community." History Vigilantism and the v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anti-communism In Thailand
Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and the Soviet Union engaged in an intense rivalry. Anti-communism has been an element of movements which hold many different political positions, including conservatism, fascism, liberalism, nationalism, social democracy, libertarianism, or the anti-Stalinist left. Anti-communism has also been expressed in philosophy, by several religious groups, and in literature. Some well-known proponents of anti-communism are former communists. Anti-communism has also been prominent among movements resisting communist governance. The first organization which was specifically dedicated to opposing communism was the Russian White movement which fought in the Russian Civil War starting in 1918 against the recently established Bolshevik government. The White m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thai Rangers
The Thahan Phran (ทหารพราน; literally "hunter soldiers"; AKA Thai Rangers) AKA the Royal Thai Paramilitary Force is a paramilitary light infantry force which patrols the borders of Thailand and is an auxiliary of the Royal Thai Army (RTA) and the Royal Thai Marine Corps (RTMC). The Thahan Phran operate in conjunction with the Border Patrol Police (BPP), but are trained and equipped to engage in combat while the BPP is primarily a law enforcement agency. In Thailand there is a common name of black clothing unit (นักรบเสื้อดำ) or the Black Army due to their wearing of black uniforms.Ball D. ''The Boys in Black: The Thahan Phran (Rangers), Thailand's Para-Military Border Guards.'' Bangkok, Thailand: White Lotus Press, 2004, 2007. and History The Thahan Phran was established in 1978 to fight Communist Party of Thailand (CPT) guerrillas and drive them from their mountain strongholds in northeast Thailand. Conceived by General Chavalit Yong ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rubbish Collection Organization
The Rubbish Collection Organization (RCO; th, องค์กรเก็บขยะแผ่นดิน; ) is a Thai state-sponsored online ultra-royalist vigilante group that has been characterized as fascist. Headed by Rienthong Nanna, an ultra-royalist former major general, medical doctor, and special advisor to the Prime Minister, it was founded during the 2013–2014 Thai political crisis, on the side of the People's Democratic Reform Committee, and as of July 2019 had 300,000 likes on its Facebook page. The RCO is organized along professional military-style lines and engages in mob activism. Its stated aim is to 'eradicate' Thailand's “social rubbish” and to “eradicate lèse-majesté offenders completely.” The RCO seeks out potential cases of lèse majesté and reports them to the authorities. In addition, it perpetrates systematic mobbing, seeking to disclose a victim’s private address (doxing) and then inciting pro-royalists to verbally abuse the victim at the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nawaphon
The Nawaphon organization ( th, ขบวนการนวพล, alternatively transcribed as ''Navapol'', ''Nawapol'', ''Nawaphol'', translated variously as 'new force', 'ninth force',) or 'nine new forces' was a Thai extreme right-wing, patriotic, Buddhist and anti-communist propaganda organization active during the country's short democratic period in the mid-1970s. Nawaphon has been described as a psychological warfare unit. Its mission: to support the Red Gaurs and propagandize the Thai population. Nawaphon was set up by Wattana Keovimol in 1974. Wattana had been the head of the ''Thai Students Association in the United States'', when he studied at Seton Hall University. Nawaphon was supported by the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) of the Thai military and the Ministry of Interior. The group was said to have links to wealthy businessmen, politicians, the National Security Council, and Thai military intelligence. Nawaphon rallied merchants, businessmen, and mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red Gaurs
The Red Gaurs ( th, กระทิงแดง, ''Krathing Daeng'') were an extreme right-wing paramilitary organization active in Thailand during the 1970s. The Red Gaurs played a key role in the 6 October 1976 massacre of students and activists at Thammasat University. The organization derives its name from the gaur (/ɡaʊər/, ''Bos gaurus''), also called the Indian bison, the largest extant bovine. The gaur is native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Establishment and activities It was set up by the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) of the Thai military to counter the country's students movement after the democratic revolution of October 1973. Major-General Sudsai Hasadin has been reported being its main organizer. From mid-1974 on, the paramilitary organization's units were publicly armed with firearms and grenades. Afterwards, they enjoyed practical immunity to criminal prosecution, or even warnings from police or army staff. The Red Gaurs violent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cyber Scouts (Thailand)
The Cyber Scouts is a Thai state-sponsored youth-based online vigilante network that German academic Wolfram Schaffar has characterised as 'reminiscent of fascist vigilante groups'. It was founded in 2010 and currently operates under the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society. The program trains high school and university students nationally in ultra-royalist ideology via workshops. Its two main objectives are indoctrinating Thai youth with ultra-royalist values and creating a youth-based nationwide network dedicated to detecting and reporting lèse-majesté violations through online surveillance. History The Cyber Scouts have been described as "reminiscent of the anticommunist, right-wing paramilitary Village Scouts of the 1970s" in that both programs are state-backed. The program was launched in December 2010 by the conservative Abhisit Vejjajiva administration, under the Thai Ministry of Justice and the Ministry for Information and Communication Technology. It was shut dow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Thailand Insurgency
The South Thailand insurgency ( th, ความไม่สงบในชายแดนภาคใต้ของประเทศไทย; ms, Pemberontakan di Thailand Selatan) is an ongoing conflict centered in southern Thailand. It originated in 1948 as an ethnic and religious separatist insurgency in the historical Malay Patani Region, made up of the three southernmost provinces of Thailand and parts of a fourth, but has become more complex and increasingly violent since the early 2000s from drug cartels, oil smuggling networks, and sometimes pirate raids. The former Sultanate of Pattani, which included the southern Thai provinces of Pattani (Patani), Yala (Jala), Narathiwat (Menara)—also known as the three Southern Border Provinces (SBP)—as well as neighbouring parts of Songkhla Province (Singgora), and the northeastern part of Malaysia (Kelantan), was conquered by the Kingdom of Siam in 1785 and, except for Kelantan, has been governed by Thailand eve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
