Riots In Bangkok

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The Africa trip was drawing to a close and I couldn’t wait to get to the Novotel Sukhumvit in Bangkok for a good nights sleep before flying again. We had spent a month away, mostly camping, and a five star hotel seemed on the cards. I didn’t want to waste time in Bangkok though – I had money to spend and was in the city to do it. Bangkok, however, was in a state of emergency. The hotel was in lockdown.

I was there when the below (copied from wikipedia) was going on.

In March 2009, Thaksin Shinawatra claimed via video broadcast to a UDD rally that Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda masterminded the 2006 military coup, and that Prem and fellow Privy Councilor members Surayud Chulanont and Chanchai Likhitjittha conspired with the military and other members of the ‘Ammatayathipatai’ (aristocratic polity) to ensure that Abhisit became Premier. Although Abhisit denied the accusations, thousands protested in Bangkok early April demanding that Abhisit resign from the Premiership and that Prem, Surayud, and Chanchai resign from the Privy Council. Thaksin called for a “peoples revolution” to overcome the alleged aristocratic influences of the Abhisit government.2009, 100,000 UDD demonstrators, rallied at Government House and the nearby Royal Plaza by the evening. The government decided to declare the State of Emergency in Bangkok and surrounding areas, and military forces were brought into the capital. Fighting erupted between anti-government protesters, government supporters, and the general population. At a demonstration in front of Prem’s residence, a yellow shirted driver plunged her car into a crowd of UDD protesters injuring several before driving away; she was not arrested. Abhisit denounced the UDD protesters as “national enemies”. Abhisit also issued a red shirt decree that empowered the government to censor television broadcasts.

In the pre-dawn of Monday 13 April, Army soldiers used tear gas and fired live and training rounds to clear protesters from the Din Daeng intersection near the Victory Monument in central Bangkok, injuring at least 70 people. The Army later claimed that live rounds were only fired into the air while training rounds were fired at the crowd. However, Human Rights Watch confirmed that there were some cases where the Army fired live ammunition directly at protesters. The UDD claimed that dozens of protesters died from gunshot wounds sustained during the military’s attack. However, the Army later claimed that the wounds were not caused by an M-16, the standard Army rifle. Also on Monday the government ordered the red shirt blocking of satellite news station D Station, an affiliate of the UDD which, at the time, was broadcasting the clashes. Several community radio stations were shut down and searched upon suspicion of supporting the UDD. I truly believe that there will always some sort of unrest somewhere in the world for the rest of our lives. Why cant we all just get along?

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