Frans Tarmedi | Chulalongkorn University (original) (raw)
Papers by Frans Tarmedi
A quote from Gaston Bachelard, a French Philosopher says that 'Cities are epistemological obstacl... more A quote from Gaston Bachelard, a French Philosopher says that 'Cities are epistemological obstacle.' The city as a term is a confusing word because it does not cover those many activities which happen in the growth center. By using the term "city" alone many urban planner fell into the trap in making bad urban policy which created many problems then what usually happens is that the urban poor always be the marginalized and victimized by it. Is it the city for the people or people for the city? As an alternative, we can call city as "market place", "center", "metropolis", "concentration area" or the place "where formalities and informalities meet".
On ne naît pas femme, on le devient. » -Simone de Beauvoir
Signaling a new phase of cooperation between Thailand and Myanmar, on 9 October 2014, Thailand’s ... more Signaling a new phase of cooperation between Thailand and Myanmar, on 9 October 2014, Thailand’s new Prime Minister, General Prayuth Chan-o-cha took a two-day trip to Myanmar where he met with high-ranked officials in the capital Nay Pi Taw, including President Thein Sein. During their meeting, Prime Minister Prayuth and President Thein Sein agreed to better regulate border areas and deepen their cooperation on border related issues, including on illicit drugs, formal and illegal migrant labor, human trafficking, and plans to develop economic zones along border areas – for example, in Mae Sot district of Tak province. Also on the agenda was the Dawei Special Economic Zone development, which Thailand has been keen to develop since 2006. Sharing more than 2000 kilometer of border, both leaders reportedly understood these issues as “partnership matters for security and development” (Bangkok Post, 2014).
This paper argues that both the Thai and the Myanmar military, which are currently exceptionally influential in the politics of the respective countries, view their border-area collaboration as important for building their legitimacy towards elections in 2016 and 2015 respectively; both governments want to prove that they can generate economic prosperity and provide national security. We suggest that the way the military views the border has shifted from securitizing the border for national security, to developing the border regions economically – also for the purpose of national security. Thus, there has been a shift from governments trying to directly rule the border to a collaborative inter-government “governing” of the border. The process of intensified governance or control at the border, which amongst other things has become less “porous”, has implications for those who treat the border as a place to flee from the centralizing state control (Scott, 2009). We conclude that even though the recent cooperation is framed as “development” of the border, it in fact is likely to reproduce traditional modes of security rather than moving towards human security.
A quote from Gaston Bachelard, a French Philosopher says that 'Cities are epistemological obstacl... more A quote from Gaston Bachelard, a French Philosopher says that 'Cities are epistemological obstacle.' The city as a term is a confusing word because it does not cover those many activities which happen in the growth center. By using the term "city" alone many urban planner fell into the trap in making bad urban policy which created many problems then what usually happens is that the urban poor always be the marginalized and victimized by it. Is it the city for the people or people for the city? As an alternative, we can call city as "market place", "center", "metropolis", "concentration area" or the place "where formalities and informalities meet".
On ne naît pas femme, on le devient. » -Simone de Beauvoir
Signaling a new phase of cooperation between Thailand and Myanmar, on 9 October 2014, Thailand’s ... more Signaling a new phase of cooperation between Thailand and Myanmar, on 9 October 2014, Thailand’s new Prime Minister, General Prayuth Chan-o-cha took a two-day trip to Myanmar where he met with high-ranked officials in the capital Nay Pi Taw, including President Thein Sein. During their meeting, Prime Minister Prayuth and President Thein Sein agreed to better regulate border areas and deepen their cooperation on border related issues, including on illicit drugs, formal and illegal migrant labor, human trafficking, and plans to develop economic zones along border areas – for example, in Mae Sot district of Tak province. Also on the agenda was the Dawei Special Economic Zone development, which Thailand has been keen to develop since 2006. Sharing more than 2000 kilometer of border, both leaders reportedly understood these issues as “partnership matters for security and development” (Bangkok Post, 2014).
This paper argues that both the Thai and the Myanmar military, which are currently exceptionally influential in the politics of the respective countries, view their border-area collaboration as important for building their legitimacy towards elections in 2016 and 2015 respectively; both governments want to prove that they can generate economic prosperity and provide national security. We suggest that the way the military views the border has shifted from securitizing the border for national security, to developing the border regions economically – also for the purpose of national security. Thus, there has been a shift from governments trying to directly rule the border to a collaborative inter-government “governing” of the border. The process of intensified governance or control at the border, which amongst other things has become less “porous”, has implications for those who treat the border as a place to flee from the centralizing state control (Scott, 2009). We conclude that even though the recent cooperation is framed as “development” of the border, it in fact is likely to reproduce traditional modes of security rather than moving towards human security.