Article

2006-09-10 Southeast Asia

Teachers in Thailand under fire -- and learning to shoot back

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Posted by ryuge 2006-09-10 00:53|| || Front Page|| [336282 views since 2007-05-07] Top

mostly Buddhist men and women who say bringing a gun to school has become essential. ... "we need them, or we'll die."

Has anybody told Richard Gere? *spit*

Aree Aatomphrasangsa, a 50-year-old elementary school principal, says she owns two shotguns but has a problem -- they don't fit in her purse. "I want a smaller gun -- a revolver," said Aree.... "A revolver is easy to carry and shoot," explained Aree, a slight, bespectacled woman with a ponytail. "When I drive, I can hold the steering wheel with one hand and use the other hand to shoot."

Get that lady an NRA membership!

now come attacks that seem to have no rationale at all

You mean like in D.C.?

Posted by Barbara Skolaut">Barbara Skolaut 2006-09-10 02:46|| http://ariellestjohndesigns.com/page/15bk1/Home_Page.html]">[http://ariellestjohndesigns.com/page/15bk1/Home_Page.html] 2006-09-10 02:46|| Front Page Top

#2 They are Muslims spreading the word of Allan. Whomever they target deserves it - they're all cattle, anyway. Hmmm, how does the UN "define" missionary work such as this, I wonder?

Shoot straight and keep low, folks. I admit it's hard to picture armed Buddhist monks - that's as close to pure cognitive dissonance as I can conjur, without my head exploding.

Posted by flyover 2006-09-10 03:28|| 2006-09-10 03:28|| Front Page Top

#3 Why is that, flyover? Lots of the Viet Cong were Buddhists; as a matter of fact, the VC went out of their way to recruit members in Buddhist monasteries so that they could operate as remote observation posts. And those monasteries were on a "no-target" list throughout the VietNam war.

Posted by Shieldwolf 2006-09-10 04:44|| 2006-09-10 04:44|| Front Page Top

#4 " I admit it's hard to picture armed Buddhist monks..."

Yeah, me too, but if their forebears started the Shaolin school of martial arts in yonder days it might be innovative and necessary to adapt to modern technology. Deep down there's no Buddhist teachings that actually denies self-defense.

Posted by Duh! 2006-09-10 04:45|| 2006-09-10 04:45|| Front Page Top

#5 SW - the combination of "armed" and "monk" is what got me. Sure, some Buddhists, not very good Buddhists, will fight. And sure, some Buddhist monks, not very good Buddhist monks, will aid a side in a conflict by being observers or in other non-combat ways.

But the combo - LOL - that's pretty hard to fathom. I've been to Thailand several times - love the place and people - and just have a hard time wrapping my head around armed monks, heh.

Duh - Now all Buddhists are not Shaolin, LOL. The Thai variety is chock full of animism. They have their share of really bizarre bogeymen, too, LOL. Thai horror movies are hysterical, at least to me / us. And that seems to be about all they make, besides soaps and the occasional historical drama. Of course our movies can look pretty silly to them, too. Nothing like buying a recent US movie ripoff for a buck on CD and, when you watch it, you hear audience laughter at "inappropriate" times, LOL.

Posted by flyover 2006-09-10 05:13|| 2006-09-10 05:13|| Front Page Top

#6 Well, if one has to put up with the nuthouse Dalai Lama calling islam a religion of peace, one should be prepared to see armed monks as well!! Sure enough, not every (thus plentiful) saffron robe has any real depth for the wearer as much as it is traditionall/culturally promoted....a statistically unlikely thing. A fun loving ppl is being pushed to the brink.

Posted by Duh! 2006-09-10 05:36|| 2006-09-10 05:36|| Front Page Top

#7 Authorities insist the uprising is purely domestic, but have been unable to arrest any leaders

hint: check the mosques

Posted by Frank G 2006-09-10 09:47|| 2006-09-10 09:47|| Front Page Top

#8 Should learn to shoot first.

Posted by gromgoru 2006-09-10 10:15|| 2006-09-10 10:15|| Front Page Top

#9 the combination of "armed" and "monk" is what got me. Sure, some Buddhists, not very good Buddhists, will fight.

You need to get away from the MSM and culturally sensitive crap that tries to paint Buddhism with one big broad stroke of 'pacifism'. There's a difference between using a religion to go out and pick a fight and another which says don't seek it out, but if it comes to you, fight the best fight you can.

Posted by Pholurong Flavilet2357 2006-09-10 10:29|| 2006-09-10 10:29|| Front Page Top

#10 And sure, some Buddhist monks, not very good Buddhist monks, will aid a side in a conflict by being observers or in other non-combat ways.

Actually, AFAIK, in S. Korea and in Thailand, there have been/is some very violent mob fights between various buddhist monks factions, often for the control of charity and/or "territories"; sometimes, this makes to the MSM, I remember even seeing one of thoses fights in a cheesy "the most spectacular videos" type program, and boy, did those monks put all their heart into it!... Fighting with rocks, clubs and chains like the best of them... the meat of this segment was IIRC when a telescoping cabin used by the riot police to reach the monks holed up in their temple overturned. Ouch.

Of course, this is mostly a spectacular anomaly, but I can't see buddhism as a "true ROP" (even if one judge by the much weaker resistance to islam compared to hindouism during the conquest of India, which led to buddhism being almost eradicated from its birthplace).
IMHO, asian buddhists are as likely to go to war and use violence than the regular christians (who also should be non-violent, from Jesus' teaching)
I mean, just look at thai kickboxing, that would convince anyone they can take names and kick asses as good as anybody else.

Posted by anonymous5089 2006-09-10 10:42|| 2006-09-10 10:42|| Front Page Top

#11 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9LY730g9u8

Posted by anonymous5089 2006-09-10 10:53|| 2006-09-10 10:53|| Front Page Top

#12 I mean, just look at thai kickboxing, that would convince anyone they can take names and kick asses as good as anybody else.

In college I knew a 5' tall kick-boxing champion woman.

Not Thai, though. Indian extraction. Jain.

Posted by Rob Crawford">Rob Crawford 2006-09-10 18:55|| http://www.kloognome.com/]">[http://www.kloognome.com/] 2006-09-10 18:55|| Front Page Top

#13 They are going about this all wrong. The solution does not depend upon arming the school teachers or any other civilians for that matter.

Resolving this requires killing all of the Muslims involved and deporting the rest. There is no such thing as peaceful coexistence with Islam. This has been proven over and over again. The only argument against this comes from Muslims who, as usual, might claim to be moderate but, somehow, never turn out to actually be so.

Posted by Zenster 2006-09-10 19:52|| 2006-09-10 19:52|| Front Page Top

#14 flyover: I admit it's hard to picture armed Buddhist monks - that's as close to pure cognitive dissonance as I can conjur, without my head exploding.

I think there's this Richard Gere-ish view of Buddhism as a religion of peace. I'm afraid that's wrong. The very existence of Thailand is proof that Thai Buddhism isn't a religion of peace. Whatever a nation's religion, its borders have always been under pressure from foreign countries and internal threats of secession. Thailand has held up until now because it has always been ready and willing to defend itself, and indeed extend its territory if necessary. Laos, Cambodia and modern-day Malaysia were all Thai vassal states before European imperialists replaced the regional ones like Thailand. They weren't vassals by choice.

Posted by Zhang Fei 2006-09-10 23:35|| http://timurileng.blogspot.com]">[http://timurileng.blogspot.com] 2006-09-10 23:35|| Front Page Top

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