Protesters outside a military barracks in Bangkok on Monday. (Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images)March 15, 2010
By THOMAS FULLER
The New York Times
BANGKOK — Antigovernment protesters shut down parts of the Thai capital on Monday but appeared to be a long way from achieving their goal of forcing the government to step down. Banks, shops and government offices in the northern outskirts of the city closed for the day as convoys of red-shirted protesters converged on a military base that has become a sort of field headquarters for government leaders, including Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.
Two soldiers were wounded when several grenades were fired at the base on Monday, The Associated Press reported.
The protesters on Sunday had demanded that the government dissolve Parliament and call elections by noon Monday, a deadline that was rejected by Mr. Abhisit.
By early afternoon, Thai media reported that Mr. Abhisit had left the heavily guarded military compound. Leaders of the protest then urged their followers to retreat to a district of government offices where protesters have set up camp.
On Sunday, tens of thousands of antigovernment protesters poured into Bangkok in what was one of the largest demonstrations in Thailand’s recent tumultuous history.
Convoys of farmers in pickup trucks and busloads of families wearing red shirts blanketed the district of ministries and government offices.
“We are here to announce class warfare, in peace and for democracy,” Nattawut Saikua, a protest leader, told a roaring crowd not deterred by the scorching sun and 90-degree temperatures.
Organizers estimated the crowd at 250,000 people and said more were on the way by road and riverboat. The police estimated the number of protesters at 120,000. The protest leaders have vowed to continue their demonstration this week if their demands are not met.
In four years of political turmoil here, the divisions in Thai society have been complex and manifold. But on Sunday, protesters and their leaders portrayed the demonstration as a struggle of the poor and disaffected against a government supported and controlled by the elite.
Mr. Abhisit, a former economics professor educated at Oxford, was described in speeches by protest leaders as the son of “privilege” who had evaded military service and now presided over a veiled dictatorship.
“They have never felt pain,” Mr. Nattawut said of the governing class. “We don’t have their connections, but we’re ready to die.”
Mr. Abhisit came to power in December 2008 with military backing after a court forced the dissolution of the previous government by disbanding a political party loyal to Thaksin Shinawatra, the prime minister ousted in the military coup four years ago.
Mr. Abhisit’s government, which has two years left in office before it must call elections, has poured money into rural development projects, but Mr. Abhisit remains unpopular among voters in the rice-growing area of northeastern Thailand, a stronghold for Mr. Thaksin.
In his weekly television address on Sunday, Mr. Abhisit rejected the protesters’ demands to step down, calling them “unpractical.”
“I cannot accept any demand that is considered a threat,” he said. “I came to power in a constitutional way.” He added, “I have the right to complete my term.”
The depth of the distrust of the elite and the sense of victimization was on display among protesters at the rally on Sunday. Vendors sold hats that read: “Whatever you do is right. Whatever I do is wrong.”
“We’ve come to ask for justice and democracy,” said Sompaan Nhongbor, 63, a rice farmer from the northeast who drove to the protest in a pickup truck jammed with 12 people and a large bag of sticky rice to sustain themselves.
“We’re not doing this for Thaksin,” Mr. Sompaan said. “If Thaksin were a bad person, we would be chasing him out, too.”
The protesters, or redshirts, as they are called here, say they had more opportunities during the five years when Mr. Thaksin, a telecommunications tycoon, was prime minister. They credit him with creating a heavily subsidized health care system and with cracking down on illegal drugs.
Voters from the northeast still speak bitterly about the 2006 military coup that ousted Mr. Thaksin, a move they say was carried out by the Bangkok establishment.
A Thai court decided in February that the government could seize $1.4 billion of Mr. Thaksin’s assets because he had used his position in government to advance his business interests.
Many here say they perceive the decision as continued persecution of Mr. Thaksin by a shadowy elite.
Mr. Thaksin addressed the rally by video on Sunday night from an undisclosed location outside Thailand, The Associated Press reported. “The people who caused the problems in the country these days are the ruling elites,” he told the crowd.
Near Parliament, there were hundreds of trucks, bearing license plates from across the rural heartland, serving as makeshift kitchens.
Many Bangkok residents say they fear the demonstrations will turn violent; some wealthier families left, while others stayed indoors. But most parts of Bangkok, a vast metropolis of about eight million people, were calm and unaffected by the protest.
Two soldiers were wounded when several grenades were fired at the base on Monday, The Associated Press reported.
The protesters on Sunday had demanded that the government dissolve Parliament and call elections by noon Monday, a deadline that was rejected by Mr. Abhisit.
By early afternoon, Thai media reported that Mr. Abhisit had left the heavily guarded military compound. Leaders of the protest then urged their followers to retreat to a district of government offices where protesters have set up camp.
On Sunday, tens of thousands of antigovernment protesters poured into Bangkok in what was one of the largest demonstrations in Thailand’s recent tumultuous history.
Convoys of farmers in pickup trucks and busloads of families wearing red shirts blanketed the district of ministries and government offices.
“We are here to announce class warfare, in peace and for democracy,” Nattawut Saikua, a protest leader, told a roaring crowd not deterred by the scorching sun and 90-degree temperatures.
Organizers estimated the crowd at 250,000 people and said more were on the way by road and riverboat. The police estimated the number of protesters at 120,000. The protest leaders have vowed to continue their demonstration this week if their demands are not met.
In four years of political turmoil here, the divisions in Thai society have been complex and manifold. But on Sunday, protesters and their leaders portrayed the demonstration as a struggle of the poor and disaffected against a government supported and controlled by the elite.
Mr. Abhisit, a former economics professor educated at Oxford, was described in speeches by protest leaders as the son of “privilege” who had evaded military service and now presided over a veiled dictatorship.
“They have never felt pain,” Mr. Nattawut said of the governing class. “We don’t have their connections, but we’re ready to die.”
Mr. Abhisit came to power in December 2008 with military backing after a court forced the dissolution of the previous government by disbanding a political party loyal to Thaksin Shinawatra, the prime minister ousted in the military coup four years ago.
Mr. Abhisit’s government, which has two years left in office before it must call elections, has poured money into rural development projects, but Mr. Abhisit remains unpopular among voters in the rice-growing area of northeastern Thailand, a stronghold for Mr. Thaksin.
In his weekly television address on Sunday, Mr. Abhisit rejected the protesters’ demands to step down, calling them “unpractical.”
“I cannot accept any demand that is considered a threat,” he said. “I came to power in a constitutional way.” He added, “I have the right to complete my term.”
The depth of the distrust of the elite and the sense of victimization was on display among protesters at the rally on Sunday. Vendors sold hats that read: “Whatever you do is right. Whatever I do is wrong.”
“We’ve come to ask for justice and democracy,” said Sompaan Nhongbor, 63, a rice farmer from the northeast who drove to the protest in a pickup truck jammed with 12 people and a large bag of sticky rice to sustain themselves.
“We’re not doing this for Thaksin,” Mr. Sompaan said. “If Thaksin were a bad person, we would be chasing him out, too.”
The protesters, or redshirts, as they are called here, say they had more opportunities during the five years when Mr. Thaksin, a telecommunications tycoon, was prime minister. They credit him with creating a heavily subsidized health care system and with cracking down on illegal drugs.
Voters from the northeast still speak bitterly about the 2006 military coup that ousted Mr. Thaksin, a move they say was carried out by the Bangkok establishment.
A Thai court decided in February that the government could seize $1.4 billion of Mr. Thaksin’s assets because he had used his position in government to advance his business interests.
Many here say they perceive the decision as continued persecution of Mr. Thaksin by a shadowy elite.
Mr. Thaksin addressed the rally by video on Sunday night from an undisclosed location outside Thailand, The Associated Press reported. “The people who caused the problems in the country these days are the ruling elites,” he told the crowd.
Near Parliament, there were hundreds of trucks, bearing license plates from across the rural heartland, serving as makeshift kitchens.
Many Bangkok residents say they fear the demonstrations will turn violent; some wealthier families left, while others stayed indoors. But most parts of Bangkok, a vast metropolis of about eight million people, were calm and unaffected by the protest.
17 comments:
Let go Thais, that's your turn, kill eachother..
Khmers, Loatian, Vietnameses..
This is something that Khmer, Lao and Viet should learn from Thailand that allows and promote rights of demonstrators. Can Cambodia, Lao and Viet do that?
Where is the US voice when you need it, the best Democratic country in the world. Thai gov. has been running by the military after the coup but some how it seams to be acceptable to the world. If some thing like that happened in Cambodia, you will see every body is yelling at Cambodia.
There will be human right violation, but I garranty you that every body will keep their mouth shut including the US because Thais has big economy and rich.
The rule of the jungle, the strongest rule the forest and the rich rule the world.
good for your guys Thai, at least you freedom to that, Khmer don,t
Khmers need to learn something here from Thais. Freedome don't come cheap.
The Western countries keep their mouths shut due to their fear of previous Thaksin's foreign policy that was too pro-China. They had their contributions in the Thai mess.
Thai stop looking down Cambodia. This is your turn.
You will kill each others worst than cambodian.
9:11 PM
Please say, what we Khmer have to learn from Thais ?
Look beyond the veil... I think EU and USA is setting this up for Thailand to fall so they can take the globalist agenda into the next phase in SE Asia. This is more then a struggle between the East and West people of Thailand.
If everyone shouts at the same time
buildings may come tumbling down like walls of Jericho.
Kom sabbay ning tuk roborss neak dortey.
These are China and Vietnam strategty to used Cambodia as a military base to attack Thais economy...
Abhisit Vejjajiva should dissolve parliament and do whatever the Red Shirts asking him to do, this way will help solved the problems quickly...and everyone can go back their normal life..but Abhishit is so stubborn too..! let put it this way, he will not going to win or gain anythings??
Abhishit step down, and problems solved..!!
I think so, Abhisit Vejjajiva should step down and this is the best way for the country, because it's not going to do him any good..? if he still wanted to staying in power, these people will kept bothering him forever...until new elections happening..?
8:06, 10:48 you are some idiot Khmer. Thai never kill each other like idiot Khmer. Abhisit is not smart than Hun Sen because he is not cruel like Hun Sen, he can't kill his own people like Hun Sen. You should watch more deeply inside Thai heart.
4:50AM,
There may be some truth to what you say. But it is not the people of the USA that want any global agenda, it is the government. We are fighting a socialist and globalist takeover in the USA. We do not want the socialist/communist policies of Obama and the left. We do not believe government is the answer to our problems. Government takes. Government kills. The individual is the key, not the state, not the collective, not beaurocrats telling you they know what is best for you. But I am talking to someone who knows this more than the people of the USA. You have seen first hand wht the "state" can do (Cambodia, Viet Nam, China, Korea... Fight these "stateists". We are fighting them from here.
4:50 AM,
You know shit about what has been happening in Thailand.
Mostly caused by Yuon Hanoi. Last year one Lao Monk was murdered after he gave a speech teaching his people to know who are the intruders in his country, and he pointed finger at Yuon Hanoi. He escaped from his country Lao to stay in Bangkok Pagoda, but man he was murdered after that. Samak Suntarawat kept telling Thais that Yuon army are among students in Thammasart University, he later died and said he was sick.
Pol Pot was interviewed by a white journalist and he admitted among KR there're Yuon army with, then he slowly died.
Why would not you see how these Yuon are the evil ones in SEA? Good that China controls the water. Let all die including Yuon the most evil ones.
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