Reactions

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.

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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.

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.

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.

 

Red Shirt Rally Day 69: Descent into Chaos

The government has imposed a curfew from 8 p.m. tonight until 6 a.m. tomorrow.

Today the government soldiers moved in on the protesters at their Rajaprasong rally site. The Red Shirt leaders surrendered. One reportedly told the Red Shirts to stop fighting while another is said to have told them to keep up the fight. Leaderless, the protesters became a mob that looted and set fire to buildings, including a TV station. Five people died today. All this is according to reports from CNN and The Nation website.

All this tragedy happened on a beautiful sunny day. The school had let us out after half-day so I met AJ at the club. I went into the study room to surf the net for the latest news. The Nation wrote there would be a curfew but didn't say when. At 4 p.m. Andy left the office and went home. He said we should come home now. The club is closing early and there is a curfew tonight. At the club, the Thai members like to swim after 4 p.m. when the sun has lost its strength, but the pool was empty. AJ and I went immediately to Tops to buy food. The shelves were barely filled but I managed to get chicken legs and breasts, new potatoes, and small onions for a stew. I grabbed two liters of zero percent milk. Finally, after two days, there was fresh milk again. We joined the queues at the checkout just as the announcement came over the PA that the supermarket was closing.

On the way home, the English language Radio Thailand announced the curfew over the car radio. As we waited in the u-turn lane to enter our soi, I saw a dozen motorcycle riders drive by on the opposite side. The pillion passenger of one was carrying a long white pole with a sharp point. As they approached the cookshop on the corner of Soi Phung Mi, an old man came out of the shop and applauded. Some of them ducked their heads in acknowledgment.  The motorcycles continued east towards Bang Na intersection and as they passed out of sight, I heard two explosions. The first one was a deep boom, the second sounded like a fire cracker. As we drove deeper inside the soi, we joined a queue of  cars going slowly in our direction. A white Toyota had stalled on the bridge near the 93 Building, but once I got around it, we got home pretty quickly.  It's hard to believe; is the Red Shirt Rally finally over?

 From the kitchen window, neighborhood sights and sounds were familiar. The backdoor neighbor's dogs panted in the afternoon heat. Mongkut, the black and white, rolled in the road to scratch an itch. I saw our neighbor jog by. He always jogs in a green tee and red shorts. In the kitchen, I prepped the chicken and the vegetables for the stew. AJ washed and put the brown rice in the rice cooker. Then I heard the whirr of helicopters in the near distance. We have just heard that the Central World shopping mall in Rajaprasong is burning out of control.

Tomorrow the assessment begins: we tally the score and assess the damages. There's sure to be some finger-pointing.

Red Shirt Rally Day 68: Things Will Never Be the Same Again

photo from www.nationmultimedia.com May 19, 2010

Did you see the picture of the baby on top of the barricade?

Indeed, a Thai newspaper printed the picture that took up half its front page. There is a baby (eyes blanked out) sitting on top of the tires forming the Red Shirt barricades. In the background is "no man's land" the strip of asphalt that separates the protesters from the soldiers.  Was it a taunt to the snipers or a dare to the armed soldiers? Sensible people are appalled.  It's further proof, they say,  that the Red Shirts are ignorant and easily manipulated. I think back to six weeks ago when the Red Shirts held their mobile rally. It was peaceful. What has changed to make death a thing to challenge?

Death is also on show. Do you want to see something?  One of the Thai teachers whipped out her cell phone to show me a bird's eye view photograph of four bodies in the street. Somebody sent it to her, she explained. Three of the bodies show no signs of violence but the fourth body, a woman, her blood stains the street in a long dark red ribbon. No one can lose so much blood and still be alive. I turn my head away but I can't forget the image. This isn't mere sensationalism; the Thai press routinely offers graphic pictures for mass consumption. Viewing carnage is normal to the Thai. When is it too much?

To end the protests, the government should shoot all the protesters, this teacher said flatly, a quiet anger in her voice. Her visceral reaction shocked me.  But her feeling isn't unique to the Thai; she actually paraphrased my father. He once declared to a group of Americans that anyone caught committing a crime with a gun should be put to death. Like me, the Americans didn't understand the context of a speech act and looked away, embarrassed.  They didn't know the reason my father spoke like that was his anger at the powerlessness of the Jamaican police to put a stop to the country's murderous crime rampage. That was back in the 1970s and nothing much has changed since. Last year an average of five people were murdered every day in Jamaica.

What will stop the Thai from killing the Thai?

Red Shirt Rally Day 67: Death in the Morning, Civil Disobedience in the Afternoon

The general wounded by a sniper died this morning.  Described in the press as a "rogue" he was an officer who could have defended the status quo but he chose to join the Red Shirts' cause. Now his death represents the deep fracture in Thai society, a serious setback for peace and finding common ground. News reports say that the King is sponsoring Seh Daeng's funeral. Meanwhile,  protesters ignored this afternoon's deadline to leave the Rajaprasong rally site. 

What's unusual about these protests from, say,  May 1992, is how deeply it has entered the consciousness of the residents of the city.  Perhaps the protracted nature of the protests is the reason, but none of the previous protests ever took place literally on the doorstep of the middle class. Protest sites were Phan Fah Bridge and the Democracy Monument, symbols of protests past. Rajaprasong, with its gleaming office towers, proud shopping malls, luxury hotels, and well-appointed condominiums for the well-heeled, seems like an unlikely protest site.

The school will still be closed on Tuesday for students, but all the teachers have been asked to come in.

Red Shirt Rally Day 66: Uncertainty

The government has declared Monday and Tuesday "public holidays."

Since Seh Daeng was shot Thursday night, the violence has escalated; more people have died and hundreds more injured. The uncertainty about what will happen next has caused the postponement of the first day of school for Thai students from May 17 to June 1st. The international schools which follow the British/American school year are closed on Monday.

I got an SMS from a friend today, warning me to stay away from department stores and malls in certain parts of the city.  To create confusion, the SMS said, there are going to be grenade attacks in areas outside the Rajaprasong conflict zone. She didn't say who originated the SMS or where; it was a forwarded message. That just shows how hard it has become to separate fact from rumor, disinformation from the truth.

The government's waffling hasn't helped either. From setting emergency decrees that are largely ignored by their own people to threatening to enforce a curfew then backing off, it's hard to say that the leadership knows what it is doing. The overall impression is that it is as chaotic in the 11th army camp, where the PM  has  barricaded himself,  as it is around the Red Shirt barricades.

Red Shirt Rally Day 65: More Street Violence

First of all, let me assure all our family and friends that we are safe. As we live in eastern Bangkok about 10+K  away from the disturbances, we are not in the thick of things. However, we won't be able to go to mass since the church is very close to the protests.

Fresh violence erupted after the Red Shirt general was shot in the head on Thursday night. He's in hospital but is not expected to live.  The government had reportedly planned to isolate the protesters by cutting water, power, transportation, and communications in the Rajaprasong area. However, because residents of luxury condominiums there were not told to evacuate, those plans were shelved. Fighting Friday resulted in 10 more deaths and many injuries.

Many Thai are waiting and hoping for the King to speak to the protesters. Many believe that a word from him will end the standoff.  He has intervened in past crises but he has avoided any intervention this time.  I was thinking about that literary trope the deus ex machina, the unexpected intervention that saves the day.  In a world where retribution is complicated and power or lack of power is often contested, it's natural to wish for someone to end the predicament in which one finds oneself. Perhaps it's naive to expect to be saved from situations we ourselves created. If that is so, would Thailand return to the way it was before?

Red Shirt Rally Day 63: Tensions Rising

The government has withdrawn its reconciliation plan which included promised polls in November when the Red Shirt protesters made counter-demands and refused to leave the protest site. The tensions worsened tonight when Maj. Gen. Khattiya Sawatdipon, known as Seh Daeng, the Red Shirts' security advisor, was shot by a sniper. The government has labeled him a terrorist but the army denies it ordered an assassination.

Assassination is never the solution.

Red Shirt Rally Day 51: PR Nightmare or Disinformation?

This week has been a public relations disaster for the Red Shirts. This week they have barricaded themselves in the area known as Rajaprasong intersection in central Bangkok with piles of old tires and bamboo stakes. On Friday, they accused Chulalongkorn Hospital near the barricades of harboring government soldiers. Even though hospital officials assured them no soldiers were on the premises, they insisted on searching the buildings, alarming the doctors,  nurses,  and patients. Following the search, the Hospital decided that patients near the barricades would be moved to other hospitals.

The English newspapers published heart wrenching pictures of the move juxtaposed with pictures of the barricades. Manipulation of images by the media, certainly, but the Reds didn't help themselves either. They have been accused of violating patient rights. Though the Red Shirts have apologized, the damage has been done. As they have done before, the protesters have fallen back to their original positions in Rajaprasong. There they remain. Still.

Meanwhile, the state media is accusing the Red Shirts of plotting to destroy the monarchy. Accusing anti-government protesters of lèse majesté is an old ploy.  Critics charge that these laws have been used at times to muzzle dissent. The government needs to go beyond using ideology as an excuse to attack its opponents and instead seek real solutions to the current impasse. All this suspicion and counter-suspicion does nothing to ease tensions. What is needed is for both the government and the Red Shirts to sit down at the table and hammer out an agreement that will end the stalemate.

Red Shirt Rally Day 49: Standoff Continues

Yesterday, the Red Shirts attempted to leave their positions in Central Bangkok to go to Pathum Thani.  By the way, this is on the opposite side of town from where we live. It's not clear why the Red Shirts were going there. Perhaps it was to test the government's attempt to keep them hemmed inside the area called Rajaprasong intersection. Andy saw the procession from his office which is located in the northwest suburbs.  Later, I read in the Nation online, that a confrontation with riot police and soldiers resulted in the death of a soldier and several injuries. Later reports said the soldier was killed by friendly fire. In any case, the Reds eventually withdrew. Back to their original positions, presumably. And that's how it stands: no better, but a little bit worse.

Red Shirt Rally Day 43: Explosions in Bangkok BTS Station

I want to reassure all our family and friends that we are okay.

You have no doubt heard about the bomb attacks here in Bangkok. Last evening while commuters were going home, there were 5 grenade explosions at the Saladaeng BTS station in the business district. One person, a Thai, was killed and dozens were injured. This is so sad, because it seems that the stand-off will continue.

For how much longer? No one knows.

Red Shirt Rally Day 37: Keeping Law and Order in Bangkok

When police commandos went to arrest the leaders of the Red Shirts at a Bangkok hotel, they observed one of them climbing out the hotel window in classic style (knotted bedsheets) and dropping to the street below.  Come on, man,  we're here to arrest you. Such disrespect for law and order. It was too humiliating for the Men in Khaki, especially since the protesters took two senior police commanders hostage. To show they are really, really, REALLY serious now, the government has appointed the army chief to head the state-of-emergency operations.

Red Shirt Rally Day 32: The Latest Twist

The Election Commission has announced that the ruling Democrat Party must be dissolved for the alleged failure to report campaign contributions from a large corporation. If the Constitution Court concurs, then Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva would be out of a job. In fact, his government could be tossed out. If so, this would be the second time it has happened to a sitting Prime Minister in the last two years. In 2008, Somchai Wongsawat lost the job after the Court ruled against his People Power Party for alleged vote buying. At the time, he was also facing a political impasse because the Yellow Shirts (the anti-government protesters of the day) were his most vocal opponents, having occupied the two airports and Government House.

After the Red Shirt protests turned deadly last weekend, the protesters have declared their demand Yubsapha! (Dissolve parliament now!) is non-negotiable. The victims of the violence are martyrs and their cause is just; they cannot waste their blood by negotiating with the government.  If the timing of the EC decision is appalling, well, it may be an indicator that the Prime Minister has lost key political support.  These events have called into question Abhisit's ability to control the situation, even to bring it to a peaceful resolution. Dissolving the Democrat Party, rather than parliament,  may even be viewed as a solution to the current impasse. If it seems extreme, well, political winds are fickle.

Red Shirt Rally Day 31: Endgame?

I want to reassure everyone that we are safe and that we are fine. The demonstrations are taking place in the shopping district of lower Sukhumvit Road where it becomes Ploenchit Road,  as well as in Old Bangkok. A friend of mine who lives in that old part of the city is supposed to fly out to the States tonight. She doesn't know whether the roads will be open.

An estimated 15 people have died in clashes on the streets between the government soldiers and the Red Shirt protesters. Hundreds have been injured.

I was here in May 1992 when soldiers fired real bullets at unarmed protesters, causing dozens of deaths. Are there parallels? Certainly. The battle lines were and are ideological. But class lines have been drawn this time around. What lessons have been learned (or not learned) since those terrible events? That is for discussion in a calmer time, for the future.

Read Shirt Rally Day 30: Attack and Counter-Attack

It has been a game of attack and retreat, counter-attack and retreat. Neither the Red Shirts nor the government will give an inch.  The government closed the Red Shirts' television station. The Red Shirts attacked the station and took it back. The government pushed the Reds out. All the fun seems to have gone out of the demonstrations, no more flag waving, clappers and drums. The Nation reports that troops have fired rubber bullets at the protesters and the protesters responded by firing real bullets, injuring several troops. Who will gain the upper hand is now deadly contested.

Red Shirt Rally Day 22: A Red Easter

If you've lived here long enough, then you've seen the temples and monuments, so there are really only two things left to do in Bangkok: eat and shop. For the last three weeks, though, most Bangkok residents have been entertaining second thoughts about shopping and eating out. It's something we're not used to doing. It's forcing us to find unfamiliar ways to entertain ourselves. Like exercising. Or cooking at home. I tell you, it's unfair. My inalienable right to shop till I drop and dine heartily at restuarants has been interrupted by the red tide of protests.

Last night we didn't go to the Easter Vigil because the Red Shirts decided yesterday to occupy the business district near the church, forcing shopping malls in the area to close down. Since superb restaurants are in the shopping malls, that ended any notion of celebrating the end of Lent with a succulent glazed ham. 

The Red Shirts repeated their blood-letting rituals and ceremoniously poured the red stuff at Government House. Afterwards, men in haz-mat suits came out to clean up. It is telling when one person's symbolic act is another's inconvenience. That has been the whole sorry consequence of the protests starting with the Yellow Shirts' infamous 2008 occupation of  Government House and the two airports.

Since both the government and the protesters have tried and failed at negotiating an end to the stalemate, there is no telling how or when the protests will end. We just might get used to not shopping and eating out whenever we feel like it. One thing is for sure, though:  we'll all be a lot healthier and richer when this rally is over.

Red Shirt Rally Day 20: Political Deadlock

The Bangkok Post reports that the negotiations between the government and the Red Shirt leadership is deadlocked. They agree on one thing: calling new elections. But they do not agree on the time line. The Red Shirts want parliament dissolved in 15 days; the government says that's too soon and recommends new elections in 9 months.

It's hard to say how this will all end. Time describes it as the "classic class struggle." Indeed, we are stuck in the modernist mode of viewing the world in terms of either/or and neither/nor.

Red Shirt Rally Day 17: Dialogue

On Thai TV today, the prime minister and two advisors met with the Red Shirt leadership. Though they sat two feet across a table from each other, the ideological divide is wider and deeper. It's too soon to expect any resolution but at least they are talking.

Red Shirt Rally Day 15: A Bomb Scare

We had a bomb scare this afternoon at Piyarom.

I saw two policemen casually walking towards the entrance from the lobby, just as I was going up to the Fitness Pavilion at 5:30 this afternoon. They didn't look anxious.  I shrugged it off and forgot about it as I went to do my workout. After all, it's more important to tone up the flabby bits. 

We had dinner at Yentafo in the club's shopping mall. Tried to go vegetarian--it's Lent, after all. And I only ate 1/3 cup of rice. I felt dessert was due and shared iteem boran  with Andy and AJ. This is "old-fashioned ice cream" or coconut ice cream on a sweet bun with sticky rice, peanuts, red beans, and toddy palm seeds. Afterwards, AJ and I went to Tops Supermarket to pick up some groceries and Andy went to the motor show. Religion and capitalism. Two mutually exclusive ideas though a lot of capital was made in the promotion of religion. However, politics is another flashpoint in these parts.

Andy called and said there was a bomb scare at the club.  As AJ and I drove out of the parking lot we saw two police pickup trucks parked out front that weren't there before. One of them said "bomb squad"--in Thai, so it was just as well I couldn't read it.

Andy said he had asked what it was all about. After all,  security around the club is decent. The club uses a fingerprint identification system for members, and to get into the club compound, cars have to pass through security at the gate. Andy said the club had received a bomb threat via e-mail. Can't be too serious, right? Must be a prank, right?