... to witness for myself what happened here, I ventured into the Red zone very early Friday morning... had to walk in the last kilometer, or so, as it was closed to vehicles.
... sobering stuff... at 6.00a, the streets were desolate, but for police and military guards, still armed and in body armor, controlling the intersections... surprisingly, they just let me walk in.
... from Ploenchit BTS Station, I got out of the taxi and walked down Ploenchit Road, past Chitlom, to the Rajadamri protest site... I walked the length of Rajadamri, from the Erawan Monument, over the khlong to the far end of the Red's encampment on Petchaburi Road... then back, around the backside of Central World, back up Ploenchit Road to the Erawan Shrine, and then up Rajadamri toward Ban Kai Intersection on Silom Road before hiking back out to Ploenchit Road to find a taxi.
... the images I photographed, the stench of human waste, fetid food, ashes and petro all combined to create an indelible sensory imprint about which I could write on, and on... perhaps elsewhere.
... maybe more important than the "report" of what I witnessed, is the impact this little walk had on me.
... standing atop the Red's abandoned stage, overlooking the still smoldering Central World and main protest site, now empty except for the stray soi dogs and soldiers dutifully guarding the piles of waste, the ghost of Mrs. Stuckey (my 7th-grade American History teacher) came shrieking out of the dark at me... holy jeez!
... she was one mean old school marm, that one... but... into our empty heads, filled with refried shit for brains, she carefully poured words, quoted below, the measure of which I would not appreciate until much later in life... authored primarily by Thomas Jefferson, a Founding Father and the 3rd US President, the Preamble to the American Declaration of Independence.
... it's 56 signatories, men of means and many of wealth, included John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams... by affixing their signatures to this document, they signed their own death warrants in an act of overt treason... these men had reeeeally big balls!
... I returned home, Googled it up and re-read this remarkable document, whose simple humanity, wisdom and decency are manifest to most of us, but is sadly beyond the grasp of the relatively few powerful Thai families who have long controlled this country... I read it, word for word, as though for the first time... and it filled for me a missing perspective to this mayhem.
... the English is a bit arcane, but it's simple truth is compelling, and worth re-reading:
"When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. --Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world."
... while few might defend HOW these poor folks, the Reds, chose to revolt, no one who has really seen the ugliness of Thai society, up close and personal, could deny WHY they chose revolt... except for their selection of leadership and the action-movie tactics these rear echelon mother-f***ers chose for them to execute, were I a Thai, I might easily have been a Red.
Report from Bangkok Post dated Sunday 23 May 2010 :-
PM: Curfew to be extended to Monday 24 May 2010 ======================================
The government plans to extend a curfew in Bangkok and other provinces for till Monday but the curfew time will be adjusted, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said.
"We [the government] will announce the curfew extension for tonight and tomorrow night but there will be time adjustments," Mr Abhisit said in his weekly broadcast on Sunday morning. "It may start from 11pm or midnight and end at 4am or 5am."
The government's Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES) will discuss this issue before making the announcement to the public in the afternoon, the premier added.
Al-Qaeda is composed of Muslims. Al-Qaeda is a group of terrorists. Therefor all Muslims are terrorists.
Both of these arguments are patently false,as is this.
On 19 May all Bangkok building burners were Red Shirts All 19 May Bangkok building burners are guilty of arson. Therefor all Red Shirts are guilty of arson.
Doesn't matter how you try to white wash your friends' crimes, inevitably:
"All Bangkok building burners were Red Shirts"
(oh, and for a bonus : All terrorists over the past 10+ years have been Al Quaeda sponsored Muslim)
Valetta, you give extreme examples of "association" which only serve to deflect from what I said. Guilt by association is not the same as Martin Luther King being a communist in your example (by the way that is certainly not "guilt"). Guilt by association in the context of what I was talking about is the culpability of everyone who was on stage, or who is a leader of the red shirts, who did not speak out against the inciting speeches of their colleagues, knowing fully well that they were on highly dangerous ground dealing, as they were, with a mass of people who were easily excitable.
In modern terrorist crime tracking every person who was involved in a phone call, for instance, or was associated with a trip of the suspect, including family members, are subjected to intensive verification by being presumed guilty till the background checks prove them otherwise. This is how apparently innocent people like the operator at a phone booth, or a money changer, for instance, have been linked for abusing civilized society’s services to join the long chain that helps an eventual terrorist strike to succeed.
You might call this outrageous but, given the impunity with which abettors manage to evade action by using the very democratic rights that they abuse – exactly what the red leaders have done – “guilt by association” is not such a bad thing in their case. Remember we are not talking of punishment for everyone "deemed" guilty but the presumption of guilt till proved otherwise -- just as in any modern terrorist investigation. Given the mindless violence that they were directly responsible for, every red leader who failed to dissociate himself or herself from the traitorous speeches of their colleagues would have to be deemed guilty by association. Pussy-footing will get the Thais nowhere.
Quim, I remember reading that same report and being surprised myself at what I thought was an unexpectedly low ratio of 6% of GDP. I think this figure has been obtained by just looking at the sectors that are visibly linked to tourism, like hotels, travel agencies, airlines, etc.
I am not so sure that other add-on effects have been considered. Which would mean that if it were possible to stop the flow of (overseas) tourists into Thailand, the GDP would fall not by 6% but by a much higher percentage, because we would then see other sectors, not classified as tourism sectors, suffering declines. For example, high-end shopping mall sales would decline, high-end restaurants would see thinner crowds, and the industries producing mass consumption products like garments, electronics, footwear, etc would see a severe downturn as much of their output is directed at filling up street level shops, vendor stalls and touristy places like Indra, Pratunam, Sukhumvit, and so on. Just my satang-bit thoughts.
Tezza, automotive exports, in Thailand’s case, basically refers to components rather than automobiles.
KayManx,you are right.I do find it outrageous that you say the Red Shirt leaders should be deemed guilty until it is proved otherwise.I find it outrageous because it is outrageous.
The presumption of innocence in judicial proceedings is one of the most important concepts that differentiates a society that truly values and respects individual liberty from one that does not.
Do you really want a judicial system where the state accuses a citizen of a crime,and the citizen must be found to be guilty unless the citizen, in the face of all the powers a state has,proves that he is innocent.
There have been judicial systems of this kind.You only have to go to the show trials in Stalin`s Soviet Union which resulted in the execution,or deportation to the Gulags,of hundreds of thousands whose only crimes were real,or imagined opposition to Stalin,or simply being a member of the wrong social class.
You seem to be arguing that the Red Shirts are so reprehensible that the usual protections the judicial system gives accused persons against abuses by the state should be set aside.
My argument is that these protections should never be set aside because to do so is to open the door to state abuse and injustice.This is particularly the case where the alleged offences are of a political nature because in those circumstances the state, more often than not,is seeking revenge on its political opponents,not justice.
Report from Bangkok Post dated Sunday 23 May 2010 :-
Curfew time for Mon, Sun: 11pm-4am =============================
The government's Centre for the Resolution of Emergency Situation (CRES) on Sunday extended the curfew in the Thai capital and 23 other provinces for two more nights, Sunday and Monday, to maintain order following widespread arson and grenade attacks in key locations after the anti-government protesters ended their rally as troops approached their rally site.
CRES spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said the curfew timeframe has been changed, banning people from leaving their homes between 11pm and 4am.
CRES first imposed a curfew on May 19 after disgruntled Red Shirt protesters set afire state buildings, shopping malls and banks in Bangkok as their leaders surrendered to police and announced the end of the movement's more than six-week protest at Bangkok's prime commercial area of Ratchaprasong.
Red Shirts in other provinces of the North and Northeast also burned tyres and provincial halls to express their anger against the army operation to retake the Ratchaprasong area.
Curfew had been extended from Thursday through Saturday night to allow security personnel to handle the situation and separate the innocent public from the agitators.
Col Sansern said five checkpoints will be set up around Ratchaprasong intersection, with army personnel working with police to prevent possible violence.
Mobile units of army personnel will also inspect Bangkok vicinities from Sunday, and 17 checkpoints will be set up outskirts of the capital, with another 16 in inner Bangkok, Col Sansern said.
The CRES will evaluate the situation again to determine whether curfew will be revoked or extended after Monday night, said the spokesman.
Col Sansern added that the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is now cleaning Ratchaprasong intersection and checking the closed circuit televisions there. If everything is on as planned, the intersection will be opened for public by 5am Monday.
Metropolitan Police spokesman Piya Uthayo said Sunday that riot police have been deployed to ensure security for residents of Ratchaprasong area in five checkpoints; Ratchaprasong intersection, Pratunam intersection, Pathumwan intersection, Ploenchit intersection and Sala Daeng intersection.
Mobile public service centres with a number of police on standby will also be set up in eight locations to facilitate local residents to file complaints or asking for help.
The centres are located in front of the Indra Hotel, Victory Monument, Big-C Ratchadamri, Siam Intercontinental Hotel, CentralWorld, Kaysorn Plaza, Siam Square and Century Park Hotel.
Considering the terror and devastation unleashed on the country, the use of weapons of war (the firing of grenades, etc) that ordinary citizens should not be possessing, and the state of anarchy that the city descended into for those few hours, I find it surprising that you equate their leaders with ordinary citizens. Their actions and speeches were not those of ordinary politicians arousing people to fight against injustice. They were threatening, blackmailing and openly inciting the crowds to loot, burn, destroy. Are you advocating that the system exonerate some of those leaders because they did not directly incite the crowds although they said nothing against the inciters despite sharing the same platform ? That would mean turning a blind eye to those who lent their tacit approval.
