Thailand: "The protest has turned into a rebellion or insurrection"

Boing Boing reader Alex Ringis in Western Australia, who has been keeping close watch on the political upheaval in Bangkok, Thailand, writes:

I'm sure you've heard by now, that Bangkok / Thailand is kind of a big deal in the news? I feel really bad in pointing out that this is what I feared way back when I brought this issue to Boing Boing's attention, screaming something to the effect of "This is going to be HUGE" - it gives me no pleasure to be proven correct. Tonight Thailand is virtually in a state of Civil War.

Here are two editorials:

Ron's latest update from 2bangkok.com is exceptionally well written, balanced, and gives a fantastic insight into how things got so bad so quickly.

And today I was shared a link to an editorial in the Bangkok Post, which effectively mirrors what I have personally been thinking all weekend - that this "Protest" has actually turned into a rebellion or insurrection.

Here is "citizen journalist" video from "Ace Wushu" [embedded above]. He's updating at least every hour or so from his apartment complex, where it sounds like he's barricaded in with a bunch of frightened Thais.

And this video, "Red Shirt Got Shot" is just... so distressing. I am literally in tears at most of this footage. Din Daeng, earlier on Saturday, May 15. I don't think I can stand to watch any of this stuff anymore. I'm so upset at what is happening. Tonight I'm meditating on peace for Thailand very very hard.

INSET IMAGE, from 2bankgkok.com: A protest poster in Bangkok, May, 2010. The Thai lettering on the figure is meant to imply that several top politicians in Thailand "desire death and chaos."

An earlier update from Alex sent to Boing Boing on May 14 follows, with more news links.

Thailand has become the top story on Al-Jazeera, CNN, and BBC's international news pages.

Probably related to this - the Red Shirts' Self-proclaimed "Military Leader", "Seh Daeng" (who lead a bunch of black-clad goons who were part of the violence last month) was shot in the head by a sniper, presumably by the military or by elements in the now divided Red Shirts (some are "Doves" And others are "Hawks"). Worth mentioning, Seh Daeng was shot AS he was being interviewed by a New York Times Journalist, there's an interview with him on CNN where the journalist claims he felt the bullet "graze his head". Apparently the last thing Daeng said was "The Military can't get in here".

Believe it or not, I am scheduled to fly into Bangkok on Monday. While some time ago I initially intended to go into the heart of things and take some shots or footage and interview some people, now that things seem to be getting completely out of hand I'm reconsidering that now. Several Journalists have been shot - at least one Canadian, one French, and several Thai ones. Apparently the French Journalist is in critical condition. This is all apparently due to crossfire. I don't have the resources of CNN / BBC reporters who enjoy the luxury of flak jackets/helmets and armored vehicles. I love Thailand, and want to bring her plight to the world, but risking my life for a bit of good footage seems like a choice I shouldn't have to make. We will see.

Here is some intense and dramatic footage of what I believe is the Canadian Journalist I mentioned being shot in the leg, then carried off, with the French Journalist afterwards.

My Government [Australia] has an active travel advisory against all but "essential" travel to Bangkok, and many friends over there are now advising us not to come, although some who have just holed up in their condos seem to think it's should be ok - the Thai paradox - even when there's a revolution going on, some people are all "Meh, no big deal. Have some more 'Som Tam'"... The bottom line is it's almost certain if we go we'll be confined to our hotel rooms, or travelling on foot if we wish to go anywhere. With a state of Emergency in effect, the city is effectively crippled.

Editor's note: Journalist Newley Purnell is another excellent source for ongoing updates. He's in Bangkok now. I've been following him on Twitter.

And here are two Twitter users in Thailand right now who, as I understand it, are Canadian citizens stuck in Bangkok—both sending regular and vivid updates: @markmackinnon, @legalnomads (via @markaci)

• [kiltreiser]

  OK, cool down. I’ve been living in Thailand for the past eight months and it is NOWHERE NEAR A STATE OF CIVIL WAR. The unrest is confined to a tiny area of Bangkok and no-one outside Bangkok is the slightest bit worried about it. Not Thais, not ex-pats, no-one. The media sees some action and some people dying and suddenly thinks the sky’s falling.

  Don’t get me wrong, it’s a horrible situation and the deaths are unforgiveable. There’s no civil war on the way though and the overblown reporting is only going to make things worse.

  Some perspective would be nice…

• [Anonymous]

  I’ve been in Thailand for two months. The non-Thai press makes it look like the sky is falling, as kiltreiser said. They also show soldiers with assault rifles and shotguns while the red shirts are shown with slingshots and fireworks. Funny, they don’t show them with m79 grenade launchers. Also haven’t seen any mention that their deposed leader is paying each red shirt protester between 9 and 12 USD a day?

• [NigelT]

  Surprisingly, CNN has a pretty good Thai Unrest Recent History 101 — definitely worth reading for a quick overview of why this is happening, for those (like me) who didn’t know much background history:

  http://tinyurl.com/38rut7x

  “Oh, it’s O.K. I’m an American!”…

  Wow. As a fellow American, I’m quite impressed how that girl summed up our national state of oblivion in all of six words. Impressed and depressed, simultaneously.

• [Anonymous]

  I wont deny that corruption, poverty, abuse of power, etc. are real problems. There are problems virtually every where in the world. This is also the situation in Thailand. However, we had a populist politician (now a Montenegrin citizen) who will do everything to overturn a supreme court decision that penalized him for corruption and abuse of power. That is made easier by a relatively ignorant rural population; ineffective, subsequent governments (the Surayud Administation) and his nominees; namely, the Somchai and Samak Administrations. The present Abhisit Administration has underestimated the problem one time too many.

  As if these ills are not sufficient, Taksin also defamed our monarch through his various puppets in a thinly-veiled attempt to turn our country into a republic with him at the helm. A republic is not part of our heritage and a lot of us find the idea rather repulsive. May be it is fine for places like the US, but for us, this is not it. Similarly, my American friends will find the idea of someone establishing a monarchy in the US rather unthinkable. Each country has its own path and walks at its own pace.

• [Anonymous]

  The Thai news is heavily censored and controlled. In the UK, we see the army shooting any red protester that moves. In Thailand, the news says the reds are the ones shooting and does not show unarmed people being shot.

  In April 10th killings, the army said they did not use live rounds. Then France24 satellite news, showed they were shooting live bullets into the crowd.

  This is why I think they (the army) shot the France24 reporter. As punishment for reporting what the army was doing.

  Bangkok post (or rather the military censor assigned to them) is censoring critical comment of the army and the editor is trying to say it in a way that will pass the censors by apportioning blame equally.

  This is a military blood bath, the army is once again killing the people, and it is not just killing ‘terrorists’. The reds won that last election, they are fighting for democracy and dying for it.

  • [Anonymous]

    Bangkok post has stopped all comments now.
    I posted a comment calling for war crimes charges against the Thai generals who ordered the shooting of Thai protesters (including children, see Walter Billingtons comment).
    I have posted the same comment on several boards, to show that Thai websites are under military censorship. As a result all comments on Bangkok post appears to have been closed now (or at least blocked from here).

    The men with guns are afraid of the men with words.

• [WalterBillington]

  The thais are my favourite people in the world. This is incredibly sad.

  And here’s some footage of a child being used as a human shield – see how he’s being held in place?

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjT7ZKkq5yQ

  No-one is innocent

• [Anonymous]

  Hi everyone. @legalnomads here, who Xeni kindly mentioned in her post. I’ve been in Bangkok since mid-March and have taken photographs/covered the red protests and rallies, and live in Din Daeng, which was designated a live firing zone earlier this weekend. I wanted to link to Nick Nostitz’ accounts of what happened up my street this weekend: http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandala/2010/05/16/nick-nostitz-in-the-killing-zone/. The images are fairly horrific, and the article describes what is in the Din Daeng video linked to above. I’ve also posted a media round-up of this weekend’s deadly clashes, as well as some personal pictures (and my account of jumping into a cab as grenades went off around me). Best regards, Jodi

• [ADavies]

  Check out this BBC report…

  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8686272.stm

  It says the Thai army is, “pursuing a policy of containment by fire, shooting live rounds towards the encampment in an effort to keep protesters at a safe distance from them.”

  Back in my day, we just called that shooting at people.

• [Cupcake Faerie]

  From the sign pictured in the second photograph, I take it that Godwin’s Law has yet been validated.

• [Anonymous]

  Where can I find a live feed of Al Jazeera that doesn’t require RealPlayer or a subscription? Or BBC?

  (CNN’s just doing prepackaged crap and Fox is doing Laura Bush book shilling BS)

  Thanks!

• [Anonymous]

  …and the situation has unfortunatly passed the point in which one can make Star Trek jokes in good taste.

• [Anonymous]

  For your information: The political party that supports the red shirts is composed of those from a dissolved party who has been caught cheating on the election. Of course, back when they won the election, none of the red shirts seems to come out to protest against or complain about the new constitution.

• [Anonymous]

  The smoke is impressive but is not the real issue as it probably comes from tires lit by the red shirts. The firing is what is most worrisome. Most firing probably by the army but how much from the red shirts? The insurrection was clear even before these last tragic events when the siege lasted more that a few days…

• [BookGuy]

  An interesting anecdote: I was eating lunch in a local Thai restaurant about a month ago. A young woman and a young man came in and were chattering loudly. The restaurant wasn’t crowded, so most of the waitstaff was up near the front of the restaurant, where we were. Here’s the exchange that happened:

  Young Woman, to the restaurant staff: “Are you Vietnamese?”

  (Me, in my head: “Good guess. When in a Thai restaurant, assume that everyone is Vietnamese. Wait…what?”)

  Staff: “No, we’re Thai.”

  Young Woman: “Oh, cool! I’m going to Thailand in four weeks!”

  Hostess, looking obviously concerned: “No no, don’t go now! There are protests! Could be trouble!”

  Young Woman, smiling and giggling: “Oh, it’s O.K. I’m an American!”

  Seriously, I wish this dim-witted woman no ill will, but on the other hand….

  • [apoxia]

    “Oh, it’s O.K. I’m an American!” – now that’s funny. I could perhaps get away with saying I’m a New Zealander, but seriously, I wonder if this woman has travelled before.

  • [Anonymous]

    Not that that wasn’t a stupid thing to say, but Thailand has seen lots of protests, and they are always isolated to Bangkok. It’s pretty easy to avoid, and I’m sure there are plenty of tourists now who are elsewhere in Thailand who will make it through their trips just fine.

• [Anonymous]

  Here is the opinion of American who has been following the news.

  This has already been a rebellion for at least the past two months. The original Red Shirt plan was to simply walk into the government buildings and take them over by force and declare themselves the new government. That did not work, so Plan B was to take over the business district and prevent all commercial activity in order to punish the elite and attract the poor. It is only now turning (more) violent because the Thai government decided to stop putting up with it.

  If you’re looking for “good guys” and “bad guys” you won’t find purity on either side. The Red Shirts have many valid demands and grievances regarding government corruption, yet their leader Thaksin is a rich businessman who was himself expelled from power for corruption. They also started much of the violence and their leaders have steadfastly refused to negotiate for peace, instead insisting on absolute victory for themselves and praising the most violent and illegal actions of the movement.

  The government forces have politely put up with this for a long time and been very restrained in their use of force, but they represent a system that was established by a military junta which made it illegal to criticise their changes to the Constitution a few years ago. One of the key Red Shirt demands is to reverse these changes and go back to the Constitution of 1997. What the changes were? I have not seen that reported yet.

  Into pure speculation, a lot of the Red Shirts were recruited out of rural areas, but I have seen no information on any government economic policies that may have effected the farmers. If there were any, they did not get into the English press. For more speculation, the Red Shirt movement seems comparable to the leftist coup in Kyrgyzstan, the explicitly Maoist revolt in Nepal, the Sandinista violence against the National Assembly of Nicaragua, and the failed pro-Chavez revolt in Honduras last year, which raises the question of whether the Cold War is coming back to life and if there might be state support for the revolt behind the scenes. There is no explicit sign of anything more than a coincidence, and again, this is just speculation.

  • [Anonymous]

    The red shirts weren’t “recruited” from the rural areas, the movement is comprised primarily of people from rural areas, especially the north. In the last election the People Power Party was elected by this rural/northern base. The Bangkok elite cried foul, claiming that democracy wasn’t working because the people kept electing “corrupt” politicians. They had mass protests, occupied the city, took over the airport, etc. The court found the leader of the People Power Party had violated some law (receiving a salary from another job, I think), and overturned the election results. The current party was then appointed by parliament. The grievance is not related to the current administrations policies, it has to do with their efforts to marginalize the rural poor from the political process. Abhisit and his people, the yellow-shirts, wanted to rewrite the constitution so 70% of parliament was appointed, not elected.

    The red-shirts have made strategic mistakes with their protest, but they have a real, legitimate, grievance. They are not extremists, and comparing them to Maoists is irresponsible, when they are the ones calling for electoral democracy, and the party in power was calling for rule more akin to fascism.

• [bat21]

  I guess no one in Thailand watches Star Trek.

• [Anonymous]

  Recent news reports indicate that protesters have asked for UN-mediation, and there seem to be indications that the protesters are now afraid to leave. Which is quite likely – in their position leaving unarmed at this point could mean walking to their execution or an extra-judicial killing at the hands of the government. I don’t think it’s fair to label this an insurrection against the government – at this point who could claim to know why the protesters are still holding out?

  They’ve been boxed in and are being picked off by snipers. They’ve asked the King to intervene. It seems quite likely that they are holding out in the hopes that some resolution or intervention will save their lives, rather than keeping up their original protest at this point. The Thai government has been known to make people disappear, and to have committed mass murder before, so why should the protesters believe it is safe for them to surrender at this point?

  It’s debatable that the current Thai government came to power through a legitimate democratic process – so using that as a basis for claiming this is insurrection is a weak argument. Abhisit was himself on the street once calling for the dissolution of the democratically elected government to be replaced with appointed ministers – it was ok for his party, but when it’s poor people out in the street calling for a democratic process, it’s insurrection?

  • [Antinous / Moderator]

    when it’s poor people out in the street calling for a democratic process, it’s insurrection?

    ‘Insurrection’ is not a pejorative.

    • [Anonymous]

      No, you’re right, insurrection is not pejorative, or shouldn’t be, except when it’s used along with “terrorists” by those in power in order to justify the murder they are and plan to continue committing.

• [jerwin]

  In May 2009, Foreign Policy published “The Bourgeois Revolution:How the global middle class declared war on democracy”. It featured, among other groups, the “Yellow Shirts”.

  It’s behind a paywall now, but google cached it

  An excerpt:
  But elite opinion in Thailand still views the yellow-shirted protesters, led by a
  group called the People’s Alliance for Democracy, as reformers fighting
  for the rule of law, while the red shirts are seen as an unruly mob.
  Tactics aside, this is not a useful division: Abhisit’s middle-class
  supporters are not reformers, but antidemocratic reactionaries. Their
  perceived status as progressives clouds the truth, and it also throws a
  veil over one of the most confusing evolutions in developing countries
  over the last decade: the rise of the democracy-hating middle class.

• [Rindan]

  I think it is pretty important to understand as an outsider looking in that no one is clean in this fight. Both sides are woefully corrupt, and both sides have legitimate grievances. This isn’t a color rebellion against a brutal dictatorship, nor is it a fully legitimate government trying to put an end to a Maoist rebellion. The two sides don’t even have the decency to fall cleanly on a left/right spectrum so that all us privileged assholes in the first world can root for our favorite handedness.

  There is a lot going on right now and I really think it is worth following. This is a post cold war globalized world style conflict that I think is going to be significant in the years to come. I don’t think that Thailand is going to be the last nation with an issue like this, and I really think it that it points to the glaring problems with democracy, especially in less that perfectly stable nations.

  • [retrac13]

    Agreed, on many points.

    As a depressing side note, who knows how bad/worse things could get when the King dies…

• [jimboo]

  I’m an American ex-pat who has lived in Bangkok for the past ten years. Some of the comments above are accurate, some are not. The former PM Thaksin is one of the richest men in the world and his power base was always the rural poor — and while 25% of all Thais live in Bangkok, this is still an agrarian society. Thaksin owned several large banks and made many low-cost loans to poor rice farmers. (He also paid for their votes but that’s not surprising in most developing nations.) I have friends in Issan — the poorest, NE region — and they tell me that Red Shirt recruiters offer more than the average monthly income to put on a red shirt and take a bus to Bangkok — mostly on the weekends. But the Red Shirts have fractionated, as someone said, and there is no “one policy/leadership” now. I receive near-daily travel warnings now from the State Dept. and the US Embassy. The meeting by the US Embassy for today, Tuesday (local) was cancelled due to disturbances in the Klong Toey district and so was changed to a video conference; the first such held by our Embassy. I’ll watch and let you know what the Ambassador says. Two weeks ago, the meeting called at the JW Marriott was mostly a waste of time. Things here are definitely escalating, though. Sawasdee kap (polite Thai for ‘regards’), Jim Meier

• [bobhughes]

  “…one night in bangkok and the tough guys tumble

  can’t be too careful with your company
  I can feel The Devil walking next to me…”

  -Murray Head

• [Anonymous]

  I am an American, and I was in Thailand May 1-8. I have many friends and in-laws in Thailand for over 20 years. I drove with my friends from Bangkok to Chiang Mai and then back. There are numerous road blocks all along the way. It will be quite difficult to continue to add substantially more to the number of red shirts in the city. They will be stuck in the North near the Chatuchak area. I took the sky train a few times, which goes over the occupied areas, and it was fairly calm back then. The skytrain stations that stop in the red shirt areas are closed, but you can walk on the platforms above the crowds. The violence is in a fairly limited area, as the red shirt’s own road blocks and the Thai military keep them within a confined area. I spent a few days with two of my red shirt friends, and a few days with several of my yellow friends. This isn’t like the US Republicans and Democrats, where they really do vehemently hate each other. The red shirts and yellow shirts do know each other, work together and can be friends. The police, military and government are all totally corrupt, as in 100% of them are corrupt. I have worked on a large government project, and people were receiving their cut at all levels, except for the workers are the very bottom. The biggest problem with the red shirts and yellow shirts (there are several other colors, but nevermind) is that each groups wants the best share of the corruption money. The red shirt government (Taksin) was overthrown and replaced with a yellow shirt government. There have always some sort of political problems in Thailand, and always will be. Civil war? Nope. To have civil war, you would have to have a much more polarized situation than really exists in Thailand. Civil war in the US is more likely.

• [Avram / Moderator]

  Post goes live at 10:02 AM. First Star Trek jokes goes up at 1:20 PM, more than three hours later. Internet, I’m disappointed.

• [toxonix]

  That sounds a lot like a high powered rifle.