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The day after the government moved into the Red Shirt compound, I had a look in to see what the 6-week old camp looked like. It revealed a depth of organization that I hadn't expected. If the government hadn't moved in, these guys would have stayed much longer than they did!
I felt like a trespasser wandering through what until 24 hours before had been people's homes. Clothes were still hanging on lines and personal belongings were strewn about the floor in a clear indication of a hasty exit.
Three things struck me as I passed thousands of makeshift shelters:
First, the place was incredibly organized -- with toilets, kitchens, first aid posts, nurseries, and showers.
Second, despite being camped just metres away from five star hotels and Thailand's priciest department stores, not a single place was looted -- except possibly the local petrol station.
Even at Central World, which you see here in ruins, I'm willing to bet that there wasn't even a crack in a window until the more radical elements of the Red Shirts decided to fire it.
The third thing took me an hour
to notice. But when I did, I nearly fell over.
In all the thousands of shelters, in the makeshift temple, at the first aid stations, and at the nurseries, there wasn't a single picture of the king.
If you've been to Thailand, you'll know that the king's image is omnipotent. You'll rarely walk into someone's house who doesn't have a portrait of the king. And you'll NEVER walk into a commercial or public establishment without seeing his portrait in a prominent position. It's so normal to see his portrait that suddenly NOT seeing it came as quite a shock. More thoughts on that later.
A well organized protest
The long lines of temporary shelters were tents pitched in military precision for miles and miles. I didn't traverse the full extent of the camp, but as far as my eye could see, these shelters didn't stop... and were in a perfect line. Such organization doesn't start with a spur of the moment protest.
Similarly, there were lines of portapotties at regular intervals. Now, having done my share of camping and using portable toilets, I can tell you it doesn't take long
A local rides past a burnt out truck
Several vehicles were destroyed in the fires, mainly after being captured from the army. It's testament to the manufacturer that the fuel tanks didn't blow.for them to start stinking to high heaven without regular servicing. And with 20,000 protesters abluting in tropical heat, you'd expect these to smell pretty funky after a day or so. But nope. Apart from the expected lived-in smell, there was no unpleasant odour in the camp -- and none at all from the clearly well-maintained toilets.
Then there are the speaker towers. Wow. These things were ten metres high with stacks of high-end super-duper fuck-off speakers. I mean, they were what you'd expect at a night club or outdoor rock concert.
Not only were they big, expensive, and impressive. They seemed to be well set up to broadcast messages to the entire camp in the same second -- and would coincide with a webcast or other motion picture image on the many cinema screens in the camp.
And one has to mention the black netting. The areas that were clearly for congregating and meetings were covered by black netting more than 10 metres in the air. as much of this was already under cover, you couldn't say it was a sun shelter. This was sniper protection. Clearly someone had already thought through the
A kitchen sits abandoned
I came across several camp kitchens, all of which had food strewn about and seem to have been abandoned in a hurry. government's game plan and knew what was going to happen (although he misjudged it a bit later, thinking snipers wouldn't take a shot when he was being interviewed by foreign reporters).
Other amenities and essentials were also there. On a garden that rose above the camp, monks had set up a makeshift temple. Judging by the number of robes strews around, there must have been quite a contingent.
At regular intervals, first aid stations had been set up with sterilized supplies, saline solution, bandages, and other essentials for treating gunshot wounds.
I saw two obvious nurseries for the kids, half a dozen kitchens, and several propaganda booths. Any suggestion that this was not a Taksin led protest would be absurd.
The organization, the logistics, and the financing had clearly been months in the planning.
A peaceful protest
Ok, so there was some violence and the torching of Central World was attributed to the Red Shirts. But walking through the encampment, there's nothing there to indicate even a shred of violence or ill-will -- other than photos of the PM with his eyes scratched out.
This encampment
A woman looks into the abandoned Red Shirt camp
Apart from a few locals looking into the thousands of shelters, I saw no hint of looting. was in the prime shopping area of Thailand. It was Bangkok's 5th Avenue. A single shirt from some of these shops would have cost more than a month's income for most of the people living in this camp. Talk about temptation.
I can't imagine this happening in any western country without at least the adjoining shops getting looted. Not to mention the ATM machines -- none of which were damaged in the least.
Sure there were signs saying, "Non-violence" and "Peace", but actions speak louder than words, and the restraint shown here screamed "PEACEFUL" louder than any 10m high stack of speakers could.
In fact, one wonders about the M79s the government claims to have found. Apart from the grenade attack on the hotel from where snipers picked off red shirt leaders, there seems to be little evidence of grenade attacks on the military. In fact, most of the attacks seem to have been against banks and ATMs -- and attributed to the Red Shirts after the fact.
That's not to say there wasn't an armed militia contingent attached to the red shirts. Of course there was -- they stood out like
Field Hospital
I came across several first aid stations, all supplied with sterile equipment and medicines dogs balls from the very start (oh, and were wearing black from the very start as well).
But apart from these few trouble-makers, the total sum of evidence that I found at the Red Shirts camp of violence amounted to zero. This wasn't a riot. It was a peaceful protest with a few anarchists on one side and a huge PR machine on the other.
No photos of the king?
As I said, this was a bit shocking to me. Just last year a Swiss guy (drunk as a skunk) defaced several portraits of the king. The court sentenced him to 70 years in prison. (The king pardoned him soon after and he was allowed to return home.)
The blatant challenge to the monarchy I saw here -- both through the complete absence of royal portraits and Taksin's magazine -- seemed too much in your face even to me. And I generally say it like it see it.
The magazine cover with the king replaced by a question-mark is a powerful (and highly seditious) statement and pretty much seals Taksin's fate: he won't be allowed back while Thailand has a
Where is the king?
The knave (black-hearted J) is the government, the queen (red-hearted Q) is the people. But who should select the king? Probably the most direct challenge to the monarchy I've ever seen. king.
I'd heard stories about poor relations between Taksin and the king, but I'd never seen anything to back it up. This really makes the Red Shirt protest much more of a republican demonstration and turns what was a political divide into a huge ideological chasm.
Going forward...
The curfew should be lifting tomorrow and Bangkok will return to normal. Khao San Road was pretty untouched throughout the protest (apart from the unfortunate Japanese videographer) so backpackers will be back in the usual droves.
But elsewhere in the country? Who knows. Taksin was the first democratically elected prime minister to complete a full term and get re-elected. However, he did ruffle a few too many feathers (sure, he was as corrupt as hell as well, but that wasn't the point). What clearly needs to be done now is some way of showing the Red Shirt supporters that they have a voice -- so they don't have to take over Bangkok to get heard.
There seems to be little indication that the current government is likely to oblige, which is why there is still unrest in the provinces.
For
One of the many camp nurseries
Somewhere there are three little red-shirted kids with no teddy. the foreseeable future there's going to be an undercurrent of restlessness and anger towards the government -- that's for sure.
But for us falang, it will be back to normal. Already the soldiers who were grim-faced and unsmiling just a few days ago are now grinning and relaxed. The Thai smile is back and I'll be happy to enjoy that. It certainly beats trying to understand Thai politics!
Cheers,
Peter.
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anonymous
non-member comment
Excellent Peter! A very interesting and honest blog! I can not agree more with you on your views,but things happen very differently there as they do here in Vietnam where I live,democracey is a privallage to us and we sometimes take it for granted! We are very lucky! As for the Red Shirts it is a battle never to be won,but now it is on the so called international stage(big deal!) ...Nothing will over come the millitray might in these countries,opions and views get squashed like ants here and only the strong survive!....Very unfortunate! Different world all together!...great read, Thanks, Dean