The Prime Minister came out and made his plea for cool heads and reconciliation, promising help to rebuild. The curfew is still in effect tonight. I don't know if there will be a curfew on Sunday night as well.
From what I've read on the blogosphere and in the English newspapers, people are divided, as is often the case in polarizing events such as this. There is much bitterness; bitterness for the Red Shirts that they did not reach their objective--although it must be admitted in hindsight that the dissolution of parliament was a long shot. Bitterness for the pro-government supporters that action wasn't swift enough and indignation that the government was powerless to prevent the arson fires that took place. Hundreds are jobless and perhaps ruined.
An enduring mystery is why the temple that was supposed to be a weapon-free zone had so many weapons and why there were six bodies there, all shot, one of them a young Red Cross worker. Then there are the pictures that got people buzzing: the Red Shirt leaders enjoying their incarceration in air conditioned bungalows at a border patrol camp.
Meanwhile, the person the government is accusing of bankrolling the protests is now denying he was in any way involved, much less its leader, though thousands saw and heard his night-time messages of encouragement. I am speaking of Thaksin, former Prime Minister and thorn in the side of every PM since his ouster in 2006, including his own party's. Not one has managed to hang on until the next election. His postscript is not yet written, partly because he has gone underground again, and mostly because he's so good at it. Pied Piper of Promises.
***
Recommended reading The Wheel of Life Turns at Ratchaprasong by Jeffrey Race. Race sees parallels and missed opportunities in Thailand's past and present. It seems the country is doomed to repeat its past (isn't that what they say about history too?) or until a hero arrives to save us from ourselves. Such a person has yet to make an appearance. Some of my Thai friends have expressed a yearning for the bad old days of dictatorship. Wishful thinking that's also not new.
Showing posts with label Aftermath. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Aftermath. Show all posts
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
Don't Believe Everything You Read on Facebook
Andy called: pack your bags, we're going to Haad Chao Samran for the weekend. The Reds are going to cut power to the city.
According to the Facebook site that we've been following for the latest news on the Red Shirt Rally, some Red hold-outs were going to attack a power station. Their staging area was reportedly just outside Bangkok at the property of a Red MP. Andy called all his friends. He told Mimi if she had to, she should take Mama to the hospital where she'd be safer than at home. Mimi said, just go. He called Boong and told her to look after Gigi.
We threw together a change of clothes for 3 days, swimsuits, sunblock, snacks, laptops and DVDs, and piled everything into the CR-V. We left the house and drove towards Bang Na intersection, a huge concrete monstrosity of elevated highways going over the river, up the river, beside the river and away from the river. Sort of like Washington DC's Mixing Bowl, only I'd say this is more like ruammit--a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and a whole lot of confusion mixed in because of the Thai predilection for giving incomplete directions; the infamous thinoon! or "over there!"
On our way, we passed the supposed staging area and saw enough policemen to deter any Red Shirt determined to be stupid. Andy checked the internet on his iPhone; the Facebook announcement had been retracted. We turned around. He called his friends. He called Mimi. He called Boong.
It only cost us Baht 20 for the toll.
According to the Facebook site that we've been following for the latest news on the Red Shirt Rally, some Red hold-outs were going to attack a power station. Their staging area was reportedly just outside Bangkok at the property of a Red MP. Andy called all his friends. He told Mimi if she had to, she should take Mama to the hospital where she'd be safer than at home. Mimi said, just go. He called Boong and told her to look after Gigi.
We threw together a change of clothes for 3 days, swimsuits, sunblock, snacks, laptops and DVDs, and piled everything into the CR-V. We left the house and drove towards Bang Na intersection, a huge concrete monstrosity of elevated highways going over the river, up the river, beside the river and away from the river. Sort of like Washington DC's Mixing Bowl, only I'd say this is more like ruammit--a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and a whole lot of confusion mixed in because of the Thai predilection for giving incomplete directions; the infamous thinoon! or "over there!"
On our way, we passed the supposed staging area and saw enough policemen to deter any Red Shirt determined to be stupid. Andy checked the internet on his iPhone; the Facebook announcement had been retracted. We turned around. He called his friends. He called Mimi. He called Boong.
It only cost us Baht 20 for the toll.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
In the Aftermath
School was closed today so we tried to visit some of our usual stops. The noodle shop outside Seacon Square was open but Seacon itself was closed. Uniformed guards and people frowning into their walkie talkies were wandering around the perimeter. The club was open but not crowded with the usual faces. There was even seating in Starbucks at the height of the afternoon heat. The supermarket was crowded though, but the air conditioners and the refrigeration units had conked out. The dairy products had been moved to buckets filled with ice. Most vegetables and fruit, except the expensive imports, were gone. No eggs for the second day in a row. Rather than risk food poisoning, I passed up anything raw and uncooked. We have enough food at home anyway; tonight we had skillet pizza.
The curfew hours have shifted from 9 p.m. tonight to 5 a.m. tomorrow and will extend to the weekend. So far, it is quiet in the streets, but the number of places that were set on fire by arsonists has grown to nearly forty. The city says that CentralWorld will have to be demolished; it cannot be saved. The worst is the terrible loss of life. Sadly, they found the bodies of at least six people, all shot, inside a temple that was supposed to be neutral territory in the middle of the fighting. The government spokesman said that emergency services received a call for help from the temple but guards would not permit them to enter the grounds. It remains to be seen if the government will investigate what happened at the temple. To its credit, the Abhisit government has tried to be transparent and publish accurate figures of those killed and injured; a vast difference from May 1992 when estimates of those killed and injured ranged from a mere dozen to hundreds.
The curfew hours have shifted from 9 p.m. tonight to 5 a.m. tomorrow and will extend to the weekend. So far, it is quiet in the streets, but the number of places that were set on fire by arsonists has grown to nearly forty. The city says that CentralWorld will have to be demolished; it cannot be saved. The worst is the terrible loss of life. Sadly, they found the bodies of at least six people, all shot, inside a temple that was supposed to be neutral territory in the middle of the fighting. The government spokesman said that emergency services received a call for help from the temple but guards would not permit them to enter the grounds. It remains to be seen if the government will investigate what happened at the temple. To its credit, the Abhisit government has tried to be transparent and publish accurate figures of those killed and injured; a vast difference from May 1992 when estimates of those killed and injured ranged from a mere dozen to hundreds.
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