Thailand: Return of the Red Shirts -- big protests mark massacre anniversary
A huge crowd mobilised at Ratchaprasong Intersection to mark four months since the May 19 massacre of pro-democracy protesters. Video by Richard Barrow.
By Thailand Troubles and Peter Boyle
September 19, 2010 -- While a motorcade of 150 vehicles made their way from Bangkok to
Chiangmai for a rally of the United Front for Democracy against
Dictatorship (UDD), popularly known as the Red Shirts, expected to draw
10,000, a growing crowd of Red Shirts gathered since morning
around Ratchaprasong Intersection, the site of the April-May mass protest
camp of Red Shirts that was bloodily repressed by the military on May
19. Ninety-one people were killed and thousands were wounded. Hundreds
of Red Shirts remain in detention. There were also protests around the world (reports will be posted in the comments section below, as they come to hand).
When many thousands openly protest their support for a cause
labelled terrorist by a government willing to use deadly force to
suppress those who question its writ it is hard not to conclude that the
spirit of the movement is far from broken.
The Red Shirt movement demonstrated that this afternoon and evening when they
turned Ratchaprasong, site of a two-month sit-in protest that was
finally brought to an end by troops using deadly force on the May
19, 2010, into a sea of red once again, evoking the heady days of March,
April and May. The graffiti, handwritten notices and banners were
defiant, angry and confident, a mix of accusations and condemnation,
demands and questions. The mood was joyful with singing and cheering,
clapping and dancing. But amid the smiles, the feelings of solidarity,
were not a few faces sad and serious. As ever people were polite and
courteous, talking eagerly with new acquaintances.
These pictures relayed by Rajprasong News via Twitter, and from Thailand's Troubles blog that follow, tell the story of the gathering crowd in Bangkok.
Road filled up!
14:38 Crowds of more than 5000 now occupying Ratchaprasong.
16:39
Crowd now in "tens of thousands".
According to Rajprasong News the police estimated the crowd as
10,000 at 4pm, but other estimates were higher, especially leading up to
5pm.
4 years 4 months
September 19, 2010 -- Thailand's Troubles -- Today was for the Red movement a commemoration of those killed on the May 19, 2010, by troops under the government of Abhisit Vejjajiva, of the
rather misnamed Democrat Party, and the coup of September 19, 2006, when
the elected government of Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted by troops
serving the interests of an elite cabal which eventually engineered the
government led by Abhisit.
His government has since the bloody day of 19 May made much of
reconciliation and harmony but done precious little for justice. The
arrogance, disdain and ignorance showed by him and those he represents
and is associated with does not bode well for the future of Thailand. If
there is any need of the reminder of the depth of feelings, the
frustration and anger it comes no larger than the charred wreck at
CentralWorld Mall and its Zen Tower, which were torched in a final
spontaneous act of defiance by the remnants of the protest a few hours
before sunset on May 19.
Today's protest took place beneath that 19-story exclamation mark.
The government insists people of the Red movement simply don't
understand. The government is right. People don't understand. They don't
understand why they should accept double standards. They don't
understand why they should be denied justice. They don't understand why
their choice at the ballot box should be annulled by the power of an
unelected minority. They don't understand how they can be citizens of
Thailand if their voice expressed at the ballot box is silenced by those
who will talk electoral politics but when it doesn't go their way will
walk the way of the gun.
The government, for now, appears to be in a stronger position. It may
hang on for a very long time. It will probably find a way to delay and
evade holding an election. Or the end may come rather sooner. Even the
strongest regimes can turn out to be brittle when many people stand up
in public to say enough. The fall of autocratic states in Europe in 1989
culminating with the collapse of the Soviet Union is an example of what
can happen. Alternatively, if rulers and their acolytes and supporters
decide to resist matters may take a nastier turn as they did in China
and Indochina during the 20th century and in various European states
starting with France in 1789. What will follow in Thailand is anybody's
guess but it would be brave person who would bet on the status quo.
