The Dark Side of Nationalism

Credit: Borort

It’s probably the first time since the reemergence of the Preah Vihear tension that I see a very thoughtful and fair commentary on the issue in a Thai newspaper. Written by Prof. Thongchai Winichakul, a historian and author of “Siam Mapped: A History of the Geo Body of a Nation,” in today’s edition of the Nation, the commentary is entitled “Preah Vihear can be a ‘time bomb’.”

Throughout the article, Winichakul stresses his support for the 1962 ruling of the International Court of Justice, which was in favor of Cambodia’s jurisdiction over the disputed temple.

For the boundary around Preah Vihear, the International Court of Justice in 1962 provided a settlement without which military might and heavy loss of lives would have been the only other option. We should respect the settlement provided by the court since Thailand has no better justifiable claim than Cambodia.

He continues by warning that ‘nationalism’ in Southeast Asia remains as common and dangerous as ever, although many countries in this region have over the years strived to unite as one community. Nationalists in these countries continues to discuss about and create maps of ‘lost territories,’ as in Lao nationalists talking about losing Issan to Thailand, the Cambodian ones to Thailand and Vietnam, and vice versa. In many ways, the idea of loss is a powerful tool used to whip up nationalism, especially in domestic politics.

Winichakul compares nationalism to ‘fire’ which can be destructive and generates greed, hatred and delusion. This is illustrated in Thai nationalism, which tends to be based on a few ideological premises that are powerful in creating hatred and delusion but historically dubious; yet many people believe them wholeheartedly.

According to him, “the Preah Vihear World Heritage case has gone beyond technicalities. It is abused to arouse delusion that the temple belongs to Thailand and a desire to revive the claim.” And what the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) and their media supporters are doing is completely ‘foolish.’

Obviously they are irresponsibly playing with fire and are doing the same thing they despised when Cambodian nationalists drummed hysteria against Thailand a few years ago.  If they really want to fight for all disputable cases, there are probably hundreds of them to choose and to send soldiers to die for.

Totally agreed. Very well said indeed.