Deadly Bombs Make Bangkok Unsafe

Thai security personnel inspect the site of bombing in the suburbs of Bangkok October 5, 2010. A blast at an apartment complex in a Bangkok suburb killed three people on Tuesday and wounded four, authorities said, deepening unease in the Thai capital after a string of bomb attacks believed to be politically motivated. REUTERS/Daily News/Handout 

Tuesday, 12 October 2010
Written by Richard S. Ehrlich
Asia Sentinel

But who's setting them off remains a mystery

At least 71 bombs have exploded this year in Bangkok in the wake of the failed Red Shirt revolution of April and May, causing random damage, injuries and a handful of deaths and an increasingly worried and frustrated citizenry.

During September, successful and failed bombings have targeted a school, a shopping mall's car park, the Public Health Ministry's parking lot, the Royal Turf Club, a ruling politician's office, and public sidewalks. The scattered timing and locations of the blasts have people baffled.

The bombings have averaged about two a week in a city now gripped by political polarization after the Red Shirts' failed insurrection. Another 43 explosive devices have been defused, police say. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and other officials recently issued what sounded like a macabre weather report -- bleakly warning that more bomb attacks would occur in October but may taper off in November.

"If the conflict is not resolved, it is likely that more bombs will be used in attacks, especially IEDs (improvised explosive devices) because they are easily assembled," warned Explosive Ordnance Disposal Police Lt. Col. Khamthorn Auicharoen.

Security officials blame frustrated pro-democracy Red Shirt revolutionaries for what they characterize as bloody revenge assaults after the military crushed the Reds' nine-week insurrection last spring, leaving 91 people dead -- mostly civilians -- and more than 1,500 injured. However, some critics blame police and military officials themselves, especially after the disappearance of considerable amounts of explosives and weapons from presumably well-guarded armories. Bombings have included 40-mm, M-67, M-26, MK-2, RGD-5 and rocket-propelled grenades, police said.

"Do not seek to destroy the army, even if you have failed to secure a promotion," Army Chief Prayuth Chan-ocha told Thailand's splintered, poorly disciplined military earlier this month.

Some 32 rocket-propelled grenades, 8,000 bullets for US-supplied M-16 assault rifles and other weaponry disappeared from an army arsenal during September. A similar mysterious theft of 69 hand grenades and 3,100 bullets for assault rifles occurred at a different army depot in March.

As Bangkok's security degenerates, residents have become increasingly jittery and suspicious while demanding an immediate solution after each new bomb blast. A "How to Identify a Bomb" advisory was published in the English-language Bangkok Post on Oct. 10, describing an array of the grenades, Molotov cocktails and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) built with dynamite, empty fire extinguishers, cooking gas cylinders, fertilizer, diesel fuel, nails, fireworks, and detonators linked to cell phones, which have been used in recent weeks to wreak havoc in the Thai capital.

The worst blast to hit the area in many years ripped apart two floors of an apartment building on Oct. 5 in Nonthaburi province, 40 kilometers north of Bangkok, killing four people, including the alleged bomb maker. Investigators said electrician Samai Wongsuwan, a known Red Shirt activist from Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, apparently accidentally detonated a device made of 10 kg of TNT. They identified him from a driver's license and a DNA match to a severed arm discovered amid the wreckage of his recently rented inexpensive room.

Nine others were injured in the powerful explosion, and city officials ordered the five-story building to be dismantled because its structure could collapse. Police on Oct. 11 said they were hunting two suspects. Amporn Jaikorn, 49, allegedly appeared in the building's closed-circuit security video when she and a man, Kasi Ditthanarat, 48, visited the building, apparently to meet Samai, police said.

Jaikorn was described as a Red Shirt supporter from Chiang Mai, while Kasi comes from Narathiwat province in Thailand's violent, Muslim-majority south, raising suspicions that bombers may also be sourcing their explosives from the region, where the military has been unable to crush minority Muslim ethnic Malay-Thai insurgents, in a murky war that has killed more than 4,000 people on all sides since 2004.

It was unclear, however, if that proved a first-ever public link between the mostly Buddhist, nationalistic Reds who are based in Thailand's north and northeast, and minority southern separatists who frequently build bombs in their fight for an Islamist homeland.

Despite the evidence of Red Shirt involvement in the Nonthaburi incident, the Red Shirts and their supporters portray Bangkok's bombings as a shameless conspiracy by the government to entrench the military, justify the government's ongoing state of emergency decree, and smear innocent Reds.

"The government is addicted to the power of the emergency decree," said opposition Puea Thai Party spokesman Prompong Nopparit. The emergency decree gives officials sweeping powers to seize and imprison people, curtail free expression and political assemblies, and grants immunity from prosecution for officials under its scope.

The Puea Thai Party and the Reds, who wear symbolic crimson clothing, want to reverse a 2006 military coup and have a nationwide election to restore toppled Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who is an international fugitive based mostly in Dubai, dodging a two-year jail sentence for corruption.

The Red Shirts are officially known as the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), but a hard-line wing named Red Siam earlier broke away, reportedly to pursue "a true revolution." It is unclear, however, who staged most of the bomb attacks or if they are by diverse individuals.

"It's not right in my face, but I'm of course scared," said one executive. "I think if people see something funny, or weird, they should tell an officer."

Unable to stop the assaults, officials express strained hopes.

"I would like to thank the people for staying alert and cooperating with police following the recent bombings," Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said in his weekly broadcast on Oct. 10. "If everyone works together, the situation will be restored soon."

In September, the prime minister was similarly unable to protect his citizens and said: "Many people, including myself, have assessed the situation and decided we will have to be more cautious over the next two weeks."

Others are nervous about the possibility of yet another military coup in a country which suffered more than 18 successful and attempted putsches since the 1930s.

"I will try to step back from politics, be clear of it, and leave it with the government so that soldiers can do their military work," declared Army Chief Prayuth who is widely regarded as a staunchly anti-Red, anti-Thaksin hawk. "But if the nation has not returned to order, the military -- as a mechanism of the government -- must help build order first."

Prayuth was promoted to the military's top slot on Oct. 1 after helping to stage the 2006 coup.

As reported by Asia Sentinel on Feb. 17, the Thai military's bomb hunting abilities and priorities were exposed when it spent more than US$24 million on hundreds of empty plastic boxes -- each with a toy antenna sticking out -- and used them from 2007 to 2010 as bomb detectors in the south and elsewhere, despite officials denouncing the British devices as a corruption hoax.

Richard S Ehrlich is a Bangkok-based journalist who has reported news from Asia since 1978. His web page is http://www.asia-correspondent.110mb.com

Red guard fugitive Surachai nabbed on terrorism charges

Fri, Jul 16, 2010
The Nation/Asia News Network

Surachai reportedly has admitted being with others who launched M79 grenades at a police flat on May 15, and attacked a police checkpoint near Lumpini Park with rifle fire, causing two deaths, on May 8.

Surachai, who was on the Department of Special Investigation's (DSI) "most wanted" list, was captured in a hotel room in Lop Buri's Muang district during a morning raid led by Pol MajGeneral Thanapol Sonthes, commander of the Special Patrol and Operations Division, or 191 police.

Thanapol said Surachai was wanted on three warrants on charges of terrorism, violating the emergency decree and bodily assault. Police knew Surachai had fled to Cambodia after May 19, but returned to Thailand on June 26 and had been hiding in the North, Northeast, and the East regions before moving to the Lop Buri hotel where he was captured, he said.

Pol Colonel Panurat Lakboon, deputy commander of the 191 police, said the initial investigation revealed Surachai, who had been involved in many violent incidents in Bangkok, was efficient in using weapons and welltrained. After questioning, police would hand Surachai over to the DSI, he said.

Surachai reportedly told police he was a close aide to MajGeneral Khattiya for many years and served as a trainer in the "King Taksin warriors" for eight years.

He also reportedly admitted he was one of the "men in black" who launched M79 grenades at a Lumpini police flat on May 15 and that he fired an M16 rifle at a security checkpoint at the Saladaeng intersection on May 8, when two officers were killed.

MajGeneral Khattiya planned and commanded every attack, Surachai said, but he declined to say how many people were involved. Surachai also reportedly said MajGeneral Khattiya took him and other "men in black" to undergo weapons and tactical training in Taiwan, Panurat said.

An informed source reported that, after Surachai returned to Thailand on June 26, he reunited with former subordinates of MajGeneral Khattiya. He contacted his wife, saying he was staying in a Lop Buri hotel and would send her some money after completing an important mission.

The source said the mission was believed to be related to the July 12 assassination of Nakhon Sawan provincial administrative organisation president, Amnat Sirichai.

In addition, police would also look into an alleged plot to assassinate Thailand's key person with assistance from Lop Buri local politicians, the source reported.

At DSI headquarters, directorgeneral Tharit Pengdit said yesterday deputy national police chief General Panupong Singhara na Ayutthaya had contacted him about handing over Surachai to the agency. Warrants had been issued against Surachai alleging involvement in the M79 grenade to attacks on the BTS station in Saladaeng and the police checkpoint near Lumpini Park. Police and DSI officials would interrogate him further on these matters.

Meanwhile, Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner Maj General Sumet Ruangsawat, said the police investigation into the Amnat Sirichai assassination was ongoing and, if evidence was found implicating Surachai, he would be charged accordingly. But for now it would be best to let the investigation run before commenting.

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said yesterday he had received the report about Surachai's arrest and would wait on the DSI investigation results.

He affirmed there was no scapegoat capturing in the case and the authority already had details of several operations carried out during the redshirt rally.

Suspect has notes on how to make bombs : police

July 7, 2010
THE NATION

Tips on how to make bombs were allegedly found in a notebook belonging to Warisriya Boonsom - a suspect behind the botched blast at Bhum Jai Thai Party office.

Warisriya, who is now in detention, admitted owning the notebook but denied writing down the tips.

"The notebook was found inside her luggage bag," Department of Special Investigation (DSI) chief Tharit Pengdit said yesterday.

Warisriya and Kobchai Boonplod were arrested in Cambodia last Saturday and extradited back on Monday. They fled Thailand on June 23, one day after the blast occurred.

Both Warisriya and Kobchai are now detained at the DSI facility.

DSI senior official Lt-Colonel Sittiporn Charoenput said Warisriya was apparently suffering stress after she was interrogated. She was seen weeping on arrival at Suvarnabhumi Airport on Monday.

"But her condition is now improving a bit. At least, she could eat after asking for some khao mun gai (chicken rice) for breakfast," Sittiporn said, as he led a media tour through the DSI facility.

He said the facility - which has 18 detention cells, each with a bed and bathroom - was maximum security. Each room was for one suspect only and DSI officials would monitor them all.

During the tour, reporters ran into Warisriya as she was brought to her cell. She was shocked to see reporters and stood speechless briefly before bowing her head.

Kobchai's mother Yuppadee Boonplod showed up at the DSI to visit her son yesterday evening. She said tearfully she did not believe her son was involved in the blast.

"He's a quiet, kind-hearted and helpful man. He has never harmed anyone." Yuppadee also denied reports Kobchai and Warisriya lived as husband and wife. "They just shared the same political ideology."

Yuppadee said Warisriya insisted she never said some red shirts betrayed her and Kobchai.

Central Investigation Bureau deputy-commissioner Maj-General Panya Mamen said Warisriya and Kobchai had confessed to buying a cart for the self-confessed bombers and giving them accommodation, but denied knowing about their bomb plot.

"We are going to check their phone-call records and we are digging deep into where the explosives and other equipment for the plot came from," Panya said.

He said Kobchai and Warisriya did not clearly specify who betrayed them.

"They said they went down to the lobby of a hotel in Siem Reap because someone told them via a phone call red-shirt leaders would meet them there. But when they came down, they met Cambodian officials instead and were arrested," Panya said.

Commenting on the case, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the investigation was seeking to find out who else was involved.

Warisriya has been quoted as saying that Payap Panket and DJ Aom, Kanyapak Maneejak, had betrayed her and Kobchai.

Deputy PM Suthep Thaugsuban yesterday expected the couple would give crucial details leading to the arrest of more people in the case. "Based on evidence and ongoing investigation, I am convinced these two suspects played a key role."

Asked if Thailand would ask Cambodia to arrest more suspects on its soil, Abhisit said the government had to analyse information from various sides first. "But we will of course seek co-operation from Cambodia too".

Sacrava's Thai Political Cartoon: The Buffalo Fighter

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Western Media Perverts Information about Thailand

May 30, 2010
Andre Vltchek
Op-Ed
Worldpress.org

Rebellion was crushed and Bangkok streets were covered with blood, mostly that of poor Thai peasants with their origins in the country's north or northeast. Armored vehicles crashed through the barricades made of old tires and bamboo rods, and government-employed snipers performed their terrible task, shooting people from tall buildings, often aiming directly at their heads.

The reaction of Western media was one of almost calm. "Peace was largely restored in the city Thursday, a day after a military crackdown on anti-government protesters triggered rioting in which 39 buildings were burned," reported the Associate Press (AP) just one day after the carnage. Not surprisingly, it was AP whose news appeared for days on the front page of Yahoo News, shaping public opinion in Europe and the United States as well as Southeast Asia itself.

Early on, it appeared that no one visiting the Redshirts stronghold at the Ratchaprasong area in Bangkok could ignore the pleas of protesters for social justice. While the military coup against Thaksin Shinavatra remained one of the main grievances of the rebels, the issue was gradually fading, replaced by much more urgent ones. Thaksin's images gave way to the red stars on the hats and jackets of defenders of the barricades.

In Western media reports, practically all talk about poverty and discrimination and arrogance of ruling elites quickly disappeared from dispatches of major press agencies. Expressions like "struggle for social justice" became self-censored by journalists in almost all English-language publications and wire services.

A propaganda machine went to work. Government snipers killing protesters came to be described as "clashes between protesters and government troops." The murder (by one of the snipers) of Major General Khattiya Sawasdiphol, who had earlier switched sides and joined the Redshirts, was played down, while agencies, newspapers and magazines in the United Kingdom and United States even invented a derogatory definition for this fallen soldier: rogue general. In the same breath, in one of its recent reports, AP described the country's monarch both as "revered" and "beloved."

With almost no exception, Western media stood by the morally and financially corrupt Thai establishment. Murder of civilians became synonymous with "restoring peace." Shooting into the crowd was labeled as the "quelling of violence."

Rarely was the illegitimate government of British-born and Oxford-educated Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva described as a "regime," (a favorite expression of Western media when dealing with anti-corporate and anti-Western governments), despite the fact that he came to power through the barrel of a gun after an illegal coup-d'etat.

While little sympathy or outrage over the killing of civilians was expressed, one could read laments over destroyed high-end real estate properties.

Southeast Asia's history of manipulated news

Southeast Asia is where manipulation of the Western media reached shameful and dizzying heights. Barbaric and brutal bombing of Laotian countryside during the Vietnam War (by U.S. forces, but also with enormous Thai assistance) was called a "secret war," reflecting the willingness of the U.S. and European press to muzzle itself in exchange for the usual perks. The whole truth about Western involvement in Cambodia, including its support for Khmer Rouge, is virtually unknown beyond the boundaries of this part of the world.

Western allies in Southeast Asia became virtually untouchable. The Philippines is very rarely exposed for its brutal feudal system, but is constantly hailed for its "democracy."

Indonesia could be designated as the textbook case. Almost no country managed to escape scrutiny of the Western media as much. The Western-backed coup in 1965 against Sukarno killed between 1 million and 3 million communists, leftists, intellectuals, teachers and people from the Chinese minority. It also opened doors to unbridled capitalism, corruption and religious (Muslim) control of the society, but mainly to the plunder of natural resources.

Naturally, most Western media outlets refused to comment on the occupation and genocide in East Timor or the massacres in Aceh. There was hardly any reporting on the more than 100,000 people who died in Papua, the remote Indonesian province consistently plundered by both Western companies and Indonesian state and military.

Read dispatches of major Western press agencies, and the conclusion you will arrive at is that Indonesia is a democracy (not the brutal feudal state it really is), the largest Southeast Asian economy (not the country with basic services like drinking water at a lower supply than in India or even Bangladesh) and "tolerant Muslim-majority state" (not the country where minorities are historically oppressed to the extreme, where churches periodically go up in flames and atheism is banned by law).

Thailand: land of violent smiles

Despite the cliché of it being a "country of smiles," Thailand is actually a country with one of the most brutal modern histories. In many ways it is a very tough, heartless and aggressive country, which oppresses almost all intellectual, religious and ethnic minorities. But you would hardly find a report on this topic.

The longest-serving (and the richest) monarch on Earth still rules the country that went through 18 military coups. Some coups were relatively "benign," but some were brutal. Pro feudal to the extreme, the Thailand ruling elite systematically liquidates its opposition, particularly any opposition striving for social justice. It has massacred left-wing students and leaders and even burned alleged communists in barrels of oil.

October 1973 saw some of the most brutal massacres on the streets of any Southeast Asian capital, in the name of the fight against communism. Again, there was no word of condemnation from the West, which promoted the country as an excellent place for beaches, massages, cheap food and sex.

AP published a piece in defense of the 1973 massacre with the title, "Experts: 'Bangkok crackdown no replay of Tiananmen,'" proclaiming that "Thailand is a democracy, albeit one now in crisis and long prone to military coups, while China was and is staunchly authoritarian."

For years, Thailand has been ruled by military juntas, with the monarch ceremonial head of state and with anti-communism the main rallying cry of Thai elites. In the name of anti-communism, local opposition was liquidated while the country participated in regional military adventures, basically invading and deeply wounding people of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia on behalf of the United States, Australia and other Western powers.

Killing and torturing of the opposition is not the only issue not ventilated on the pages of U.S. and European newspapers. Other topics include terrible treatment of minorities (many non-Thai minorities do not have citizenship and therefore are deprived of basic services and assistance) and refugees (of the more than 1 million Burmese refugees, some endure near slave labor or virtual sexual slavery).

On September 19, 2006, a military junta calling itself the Council for National Security overthrew Thaksin's government while he was abroad. The Yellow Shirts—a movement that defends monarchy and elites—inspired the event, which fell on the 60th anniversary of King Bhumibol's reign. As long as the elite structure and the monarchy were not endangered, the West did nothing to stop this gross interference in democratic process. No major international organizations left Bangkok, and no sanctions from abroad were imposed. (Compare this to the coup in Fiji, which endangered Australian interests there and led to both sanctions and an enormous media campaign). Although Thailand was never actually a democracy, since the country was for decades a staunch anti-communist warrior and ally, it was always awarded democratic status by Western media.

One of the main cadres of the Yellow Shirts, Pipob Tongchai, said in February, "The U.S. wants to have 'traditional' government in Thailand. On September 19 the U.S. took no action against the Thai military. Coups don't matter as long as there is continuity. There was no U.S. intervention. And when Thailand has 'traditional' government, it actually means that the U.S. is fully in charge. It doesn't matter who is at its head—so Thaksin really doesn't matter."

Now Western media is attempting to look objective once again, just as it was "objective" in covering East Timor up to 1999, Indonesian in 1965, or Papua and the Philippines today.

In some publications one can hear voices of reason and truth. On May 18, the International Herald Tribune published a report by Thomas Fuller and Seth Mydans that said, "The protest movement defiantly encamped in Bangkok has its roots as a reaction to Mr. Thaksin's ouster, but it has since expanded to resemble a large social movement by less-affluent segments of Thai society rebelling against what they say is an elite that meddles to control Thailand's democratic institutions."

The same reports later stated, "The government has insisted that soldiers fire only in self defense, but the death toll has been lopsidedly among civilians since violence erupted last Thursday. A government bureau said that 34 civilians and two soldiers, including General Khattiya, had been killed since Thursday and that 256 people had been wounded, almost all of them civilians. … Protesters have attributed some of the deaths to snipers who are stationed in several places around the city on top of tall buildings."

But these voices are in minority.

Not surprisingly, Western media corporations now control almost all news distributed around the world. Japanese filmmaker Takeshi Hata said, "All that Japanese networks report about Thailand is just a copy of what is said on CNN, BBC and other English-language news outlets."

In neighboring Southeast Asian countries, the situation is even more extreme. The great majority of The Jakarta Post articles covering events in Thailand now comes directly from Reuters, and the situation is not much different when it comes to publications in Bahasa Indonesia, including dailies like Sinar Harapan.

"The other side to media distortion and self-censorship is the way that mostly American academia have treated Thailand," explained Geoffrey C. Gunn, a longtime student of Lao politics and society. "What is going on now is a kind of white terror, pay back and disappearances and the entrenchment of a de facto military government. Of course big business and the West will look the other way. It was the Australian foreign minister who congratulated Abhisit on his near bloodless solution."

It has been made increasingly irrelevant what the Redshirts really wanted to achieve, the cause for which they fought and many died. Their voices—those of poor men and women from the countryside and shantytowns—were silenced again, by both media and the military.

Andre Vltchek (andrevltchek.weebly.com) is a novelist, journalist and filmmaker. His latest book, "Oceania," exposes Western neo-colonialism in Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia. Mr. Vltchek lives and works in Asia and East Africa. This is an abridged version of his original article.

Can a new Thailand emerge from the Red Shirt rubble?

A Thai soldier stands guard outside a broken bank window in Bangkok on May 21, 2010, in the days following the military crackdown. (Fayaz Kabli/Reuters)
Red Shirt protesters are welcomed home at the Chiang Mai train station 700 kilometres north of Bangkok, where the protest movement has its strongest support. (Caren Firouz/Reuters)

Friday, May 28, 2010
By Brendan Brady, special to CBC News
Analysis

Battered Bangkok

The two-month, sometimes violent standoff in Bangkok is over now, with the Thai military having forcibly dispersed the country's red-shirted protestors.

The government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva managed to stamp out the Red Shirts bold display of resistance, in which they occupied the city's posh commercial centre and fended off initial military movements against their sizeable encampment.

But the dramatic, days-long conclusion to the standoff brought no resolution to the underlying divisions between the Red Shirts and their supporters, who are typically characterized as representing rural and new-money interests, and their yellow-shirted opponents, who are associated with the traditional Bangkok-led establishment.

Even as the Red Shirt leaders were being rounded-up by authorities, the opposition movement continued to have mass support in most rural areas, and the violence in Bangkok that left at least 88 dead and more than 2,000 injured appears to have only hardened their resolve.

"Before, political conflicts were just between elites, and small groups would sit down to fight it out or to compromise," observes Puangthong Pawakapan, a professor of political science at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.

This time, she said, "it's dividing all people and compromise is over."

Awakening

In Thailand's revolving door of democracies, coups and dictatorships, regimes have risen and fallen frequently. But the country's Bangkok-dominated political establishment has largely remained intact.

The past 77 years of constitutional monarchy have seen 18 coups, while raucous protests have regularly rocked the capital since the beginning of the country's democracy movement in 1973.

However, the incoming and outgoing factions have generally hailed from the same insular social strata, a factor that has severely limited every new government's approach to fundamental reform, many observers say.

If, in the past, the demands of the electorate were often undermined by tradeoffs among the ruling and business elites, the sheer number of those who are today so passionately engaged in political life has complicated those kinds of solutions.

"The old magic and way of holding things together have become obsolete," says Michael Montesano, a visiting research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.

"Thai society has become more complicated. Unspoken arrangements within a limited elite no longer suffice to hold the country together."

Broad-based anger

Indeed, Montesano says, a new resistance movement with a deep grassroots foundation has emerged, uniting rural Thais — whose improved access to information and travel — with a growing urban working- and lower-middle class with whom they share common cause.

During the protests in Bangkok, many of these rural communities, which had previously seen little room for themselves in national politics, were up in arms, holding town rallies and fundraising for the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, the anti-government pressure group more commonly known as the Red Shirts.

Discontent in the countryside had been simmering for more than three years, since a military coup overthrew Thaksin Shinawatra, the last elected prime minister, who is now in hiding.

Despite being a billionaire telecom tycoon, Thaksin was seen as the first politician to have substantively dealt with the concerns of the poor.

His populism, of course, has been viewed with a large degree of cynicism. But rural communities in particular gratefully received his rhetorical overtures as well as his development funds and low-cost health care.

More importantly, in the current context, his patronage network remains a significant force behind the protests.

At the same time, though, the protest movement gained much of its strength from farmers, manual laborers and factory workers who were demonstrating a new assertiveness.

In the early, more peaceful stages of the protests in Bangkok, surprising numbers of local residents commiserated with the tens of thousands of rural Thais who flooded the capital — undermining the government's characterization of the Red Shirts as merely hired agitators.

Even more troubling for the government and army, though, was the apparent support, both direct and tacit, for the Red Shirts by monks and even some government security personnel.

Monks carry considerable moral authority in Thai society, while the police, in numerous instances, appeared unwilling to suppress the protestors, who mostly derive from the same humble roots.

A new society?

This social awakening, says Federico Ferrara, an academic at the National University of Singapore and author of Thailand Unhinged: Unravelling the Myth of Thai-style Democracy, is leading to an inexorable disintegration of the existing social contract.

Powerful unelected people and institutions "can no longer continue to use such power to subvert the people's will without encountering some serious resistance or inviting an angry backlash," he says.

But how much change will be consolidated from this backlash is still not clear.

Jakrapob Penkair, a spokesman for Thaksin during his time in office and now an adviser to the fugitive former prime minister, says that the Red Shirt movement, at its purest, is not pushing simply for regime change but for "new guidelines for society."

Jakrapob may not be the best representative of the movement, given that his vehement anti-royalist stance is not shared by most rural Thais. But he does speak to their common belief in the need for an overhaul of the country's political life.

The Red Shirts have mobilized around a gospel of injustice. But while they have enfranchised — at least rhetorically — large segments of the population that were previously subdued, the movement has yet to show clearly how they would transform the political landscape itself.

Only that it can't be done when the cards are stacked against them.

Brendan Brady is a journalist currently based in Cambodia, where his main subjects of interest include the Khmer Rouge war crimes tribunal, human rights abuses, diplomatic disputes and religious tensions. His writing has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, and World Politics Review, among other publications.

Sacrava's Thai Political Cartoon: Thai Terrorists

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Click here to read the related article

Thai army fears red shadows?

Army fears outbreak of terrorism

CRES says it favours early end to curfew

28/05/2010
Wassana Nanuam
Bangkok Post

The army is stepping up its surveillance in fear armed men allied to hard-core protesters could launch terror attacks in Bangkok and other provinces in revenge for the May 19 crackdown, an army source says.

Intelligence reports and an assessment of the situation in the wake of the rally have concluded there is a real possibility of violent retaliation by groups who fled the protest site at Ratchaprasong intersection after the military operation, the source said yesterday.

The revenge could be in the form of car and motorcycle bombs, taking the lives of soldiers and government figures, and arson attacks at locations which are symbols of the government and armed forces. They could take place in the capital or the provinces.

Some red shirt politicians who have connections in the three southern border provinces could hire insurgents from the lower South to launch attacks in Bangkok, the source said.

The concerns have prompted intelligence authorities to monitor the movements of suspected insurgents, especially those who are already in Bangkok.

One incident which led the army to fear possible terror attacks was a car bomb at the Poseidon massage parlour car park on Ratchadaphisek Road in Bangkok on April 4, the source said.

While the army is preparing for the possibility of violence, the Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation favours ending the curfew in Bangkok and other provinces tomorrow.

The government will decide today whether to extend the curfew.

Security agencies held talks yesterday to evaluate the situation, consulting with army leaders in other regions and provincial governors.

Many were of the view that the situation in the wake of the red shirt rally was improving and the curfew therefore should be lifted, CRES spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said.

But the armed forces needed to be deployed in some key places, while security duty in other areas of the capital should be returned to police if they were ready to take over, Col Sansern said.

Bangkok and 23 other provinces are under curfew from midnight tonight to 4am tomorrow.

Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon said earlier that although the curfew might end, the state of emergency law was still necessary to allow security authorities to arrest so-called terrorists.

"What can be lifted is the curfew but the executive decree will continue," Gen Prawit said after meeting the Defence Council yesterday which was attended by all armed forces leaders.

Defence Ministry spokesman Thanathip Sawangsaeng said Gen Prawit had ordered soldiers to secure their units and local government offices and to stay alert despite the end of the riots.

The minister ordered continuous surveillance and protection at arsenals and fuel yards of the armed forces, he said.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has plans to reconcile the country's political divisions but he has vowed there would be no compromise with terrorists, the defence minister said.

Tourism Showing the Strain From Thai Crisis

Ros Sothea, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Wednesday, 26 May 2010

“Since there’s been a crisis in Thailand, our round trip flights are full. Before, it was only 50 percent to 60 percent of passengers, but now it’s up to 90 percent. Our boss said we plan to increase the number of flights from one flight a day to two or three flights, based on the number of passengers.”

With Thailand in the grips of a sustained political crisis, the Cambodian government has had to seek new strategies to draw in tourists and avoid relying on Bangkok as a gateway. But at least some damage has already been done.

Typically, around 40 percent of Cambodia’s 2 million visitors come through Thailand. But Tourism Minister Thong Khon told VOA Khmer that number is decreasing.

“Because of the situation in Thailand, we’re promoting other entrances,” he said. “In the past, we’ve advertised only on CNN in Europe and CNN in Asia, but in the near future we will advertise on CNN in America. And we have to promote direct flights and strengthen the quality of tourism services like food and accommodation.”

Cambodia is looking to Malaysia, Singapore, China, Hong Kong and Vietnam as places where tourists might fly in from, in an industry that remains one of the country’s top earners.

Nearly 2.2 million people visited Cambodia last year, a small increase from the year before. About 1 million of those came from Thailand, either by air or road.

But a prolonged political protest there that ended in violence last week has caused a significant reduction at the land border of Poipet—where about 10 percent of travelers typically pass. Border officials there say the number of tourists coming each day has dropped from about 900 to 600.

Meanwhile, national hotel bookings have fallen between 10 percent and 15 percent, especially in Siem Reap, said Lu Meng, president of the Cambodia Hotel Association. He worries government strategies to improve the situation won’t take effect until next year or so. For now, he said, improved tourism depends on an improved Thai situation.

However, it is not yet clear how much Cambodia has lost since unrest began in Thailand.

Tourism, garment manufacturing and construction together make up a third of Cambodia’s $10 billion GDP, but the tourism sector here remains much smaller than in neighboring Vietnam and Thailand, which receive up to 10 million visitors a year each.

The political crisis in Thailand has hit an industry that was already hurt from the global economic downturn.

Now there are signs that more people have begun using alternative routes, including the border crossing in Svay Rieng province, where about 31,000 people crossed in April, roughly 4,000 more than the month before.

“When Thailand became an insecure entrance, a number of tourists used the safer entrance from Vietnam,” said Mam Yoy, deputy chief of the Bavet border office in Svay Rieng province.

Ho Polend, a ticket seller for Malaysian airlines, experienced a similar uptick.

“Since there’s been a crisis in Thailand, our round trip flights are full,” she said. “Before, it was only 50 percent to 60 percent of passengers, but now it’s up to 90 percent. Our boss said we plan to increase the number of flights from one flight a day to two or three flights, based on the number of passengers.”

More incoming flights from other countries could prove problematic for the overall promotion of tourism here, however, because their prices are higher than Thai carriers, said Ang Kim Eang, president of the Cambodia Association of Tourism Agencies.

Thong Khon said an increase in direct flights could help. He expects tourism numbers to increase around 10 percent this year, still below the norm before the global economic crisis.

Cambodia currently has direct flights from Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

And Thong Khon said he expects Cambodia to benefit from an increasing number of Chinese and Indian visitors of the next 10 years.

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Thaksin Shinawatra

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Sacrava's Thai Toon: The Bumpy Road Map

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Click on the cartoon to zoom in

Southeast Asia: Reactions to Thailand protests

25 May 2010
Written by Mong Palatino
Global Voices Online

For two months, Red Shirt protesters occupied the streets of Bangkok demanding the resignation of the prime minister. The protest camps have been dismantled already but the city is still reeling from the political crisis.

The violent confrontations between the heavily armed soldiers and protesters in the past week have stunned the world. What are the reactions of bloggers from neighbouring Southeast Asian nations?

A few days ago, the Thailand government revealed that Cambodian “mercenaries” were hired by the Red Shirts to sow violence in the city. This accusation elicited strong reactions in Cambodia. Khmerization reminds the Thailand government that there are many ethnic Khmers in Thailand who are already Thai citizens.

Many red shirt protesters were mainly made up of ethnic Khmers and Laotians living in the northeastern provinces of Thailand who are Thai citizens. We need to remember also that the Thai media owned by the Red Shirt Movement also accused the Abhisit government of dressing up Khmer prisoners in military uniform and sent them to crackdown on the red shirt recently. How true are these rumours? Nobody knows.

The Son of the Khmer Empire believes the motive for spreading this rumor is to demonize Cambodians

I believe the rumour is circulated intentionally and politically in order to…make the Khmer as scapegaot to appease Thai anger against each other and turn the revenge/hatred towards Khmers and esp. the bloody Thai elite and royal family will not be held responsible for the bloodshed.

A political cartoon about the Red Shirt protest crackdown in Bangkok. Cartoon created by Cambodian artist Bun Heang Ung


Filipino journalist Joe Torres visited a Red Shirt protest site

It was like our EDSA “revolutions.” There were raw emotions, spontaneous actions and a lot of fun. The people, many of them from the countryside, wanted the ruling party out. They wanted “change,” something we hear in our politicians campaign sorties these days.

Kopisusu2 from Indonesia was also visiting Bangkok when the Red Shirts were still in the streets

Many analysts agree the protesters have a point. But as long as the demonstration lasts, the Red Shirts are cutting off the supply of joy to businesses in the Red Zone and impeding its flow to the entire economy.

Our old hotel, the VIP Golden House, is inside the zone. It will stay closed until the protesters leave, said the woman behind the desk with a stoic smile.

i eat padek, who blogs about Laos, reacts

wow. red shirts, yellow shirts, thaksin vs. vejjajivait, it's all really confusing… most people have already heard about the recent violence consuming bangkok, thailand and killing it's land-of-smiles-and-etc tourism industry

Southeast Asian Archaeology newsblog warns that the protests are affecting attendance in museums near the protest zones

Most of you would be familiar with the protests going on in Bangkok, which have recently claimed lives due to clashes between the protesters and the authorities. The Fine Arts Department also report that museum visitorships have suffered greatly because of the protests, as the majority of the museums in Bangkok are located near the protest areas, and in some cases protesters have mistakenly stormed the museums!

Musings from the Lion City, a Singapore blogger, analyzes Thailand’s political situation

Even if he wants to call fresh elections, Abhisit most probably can’t as the Bangkok elite that support him and put him in power will not allow it. They will probably also know that any elections will be won by the rural “Red Shirts”. Mistakes have been made by both sides in this conflict and I’m afraid the mistakes has piled up to such an extent that there’s no longer an easy way out for anyone.

Twitter and Facebook were extensively used to monitor the situation in Bangkok. Jonathan Russell provides a better and clearer context about the usage of social media in relation to the Red Shirt protests

While I do agree Twitter, and more prominently Facebook, amplified hateful comments, many of the vitriol online (though worrying itself) can be put down to extreme opinions which do not represent the popular opinion.

A minority of Thais use Facebook (around 3 million) and Twitter (less than a million), and of these the comments came from a small percentage. For example, an vitriolic Facebook Group with 1,000 is large number but, in the bigger picture, is 0.03% of Thai Facebook members and clearly not representative of any kind of majority.

I agree that the manner in which social networks can legitimize vitriolic groups which grew in Thailand during the protests is worrying. As the average Facebook users is more likely in Bangkok, middle class or affluent, and not a red shirt, much of comments and rage were against the UDD and its protest.

Govt calls for Thais to free Cambodian

Monday, 24 May 2010
Cheang Sokha
The Phnom Penh Post

THE Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called on Thailand to immediately release a Cambodian man accused of committing an arson attack on a bank during violent protests in Bangkok last week.

Koy Kuong, the ministry’s spokesman, said Thai authorities arrested the man on Wednesday in the Thai capital while he was standing outside the beverage shop where he worked.

Koy Kuong said the man, a native of Battambang province who is married to a Thai woman and has lived in Bangkok for about five years, had no involvement with the antigovernment Red Shirts.

“We ask the Abhisit government to urgently release him,” he said, and added that the embassy in Bangkok was seeking a lawyer to represent the man.

“We cannot accept such accusations. I think the accusation is meant to make trouble with Cambodia.”

Tith Sothea, a spokesman for the Council of Ministers’ Press and Quick Reaction Unit, identified the man as San Mony Phet, 27, and said Thai police claimed to have confiscated a lighter, pieces of clothing and fuel after his arrest.

He denied reports, published by Thailand’s Krung Thep Thurakej Online on Friday, that Cambodians had taken part in the Red Shirt protests.

“No Cambodian people have joined the protests in Bangkok,” he said. “This information is completely exaggerated, which could cause diplomatic relations between the two nations to worsen.”

Australia’s ABC also noted the alleged involvement of a Briton and an unidentified “Asian national” in Bangkok arson attacks last week.

But Thani Thongphakdi, deputy spokesman of the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that he had not heard reports of foreigners’ involvement in last week’s clashes, which left 86 dead and around 1,900 injured.

“I haven’t heard anything specifically,” he said. “Let’s wait until something’s clear.”

The Cambodian government has warned its citizens to avoid travel to Bangkok since the protests started in mid-February.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JAMES O’TOOLE

Some Thais couldn't fathom that their own soldiers shot their own people

Thai soldiers charge and shoot in the air, in the direction of Thai supporter of exiled Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra (not in photo), in Bangkok on April 13. Thai troops fired warning shots and tear gas in clashes with petrol bomb-hurling protesters in Bangkok Monday, leaving 70 injured as the government launched a crackdown to enforce a state of emergency. AFP / Getty Images / Nicolas Asfouri

Cambodians and Burmese

Thursday, 20 May 2010
Originally posted at http://thailandtrouble.blogspot.com/2010/05/cambodians-and-burmese.html

Cambodian mercenaries were manning army positions protesters told me at Bon Kai and Din Daeng during the afternoon on 18 May. The only evidence they could offer was that some of the troops they had tried to talk to could not speak Thai. A young woman, who was still selling drinks outside the Erawan Hotel while her baby perhaps just a year old lay sleeping on the ground as the army was advancing up Ratchaprasong, called from within the refuge of Wat Pathumwanaram to tell me it was too dangerous to outside as there were Burmese troops. Later when I reached Siam Square, where there had apparently been fighting between armed civilians and troops I only met Thai infantry.

Could the government find enough Burmese or Cambodian mercenaries, put them in Thai uniforms and train them with Thai weapons at short notice? What benefits might there be other than increasing numbers of dependable troops in light of rumours of many junior soldiers being red?

Or might it be that these rumours are without substance but spread and are believed because they relieve people of having to accept that they are facing, and being shot by, soldiers who like themselves are Thai? Some may be comforted if it is Burmese or Cambodians who are there to impose the state's will and defend its interests because of the generally negative stereotypes attached to these nationalities?

Not dissimilar is the disagreement and even mystery over the identities of a handful of civilians with rifles who it seems fought with troops in and around Siam Square. I got no closer than eight, maybe six, feet to one man with an M16 for just a few minutes. It was not possible to talk. Some protesters say these men are Red, a proto-militia perhaps, but one protester insisted their identity and motives were a mystery. But what could motivate a small group of men other than anger, belief or vengeance to fight against the much greater numbers of the army when their only advantage may have been intimate knowledge of the urban terrain? On the other hand it may not matter because that they were there and fighting troops makes for common cause with people of the Red movement, whether they of the mind to pursue their demands by peace or through force. Thus their exploits may enter into Red mythology. Are these men drawn from the same group of men-in-black caught on film on 10 April? The armed man I saw was only wearing a black jacket, his jeans were blue and he wasn't wearing a hat or balaclava. Being dressed quite differently from the men-in-black may suggest he was from a different group?

There is a large black market in military weapons in Thailand. Hitmen, enforcers and mercenaries are apparently relatively common livelihoods. It may not be difficult for either the government, Reds or other elements to finance hired hands to do violent work. Many hands may willingly take up such duties spurred on by the intensity of feelings and the depths of division in the country. This violent backdrop, the lack of evidence, and the interests of all players to pin blame on rivals for killings forms a difficult environment for building confidence, stability and engagement but a fertile one for rumour and suspicion.

Cambodian and Burmese accused of involving in Bangkok bloodshed and arson

An army soldier stands guard over anti-government "red shirt" supporters detained at a Buddhist temple in central Bangkok May 21, 2010. Troops manned razor-wire roadblocks and searched vehicles for weapons in Bangkok on Friday, two days after they ended anti-government protests that descended into the worst violence in modern Thai history. They also swept through the capital's posh central shopping area, searching for weapons and explosives in the now-deserted battleground. REUTERS/Sukree Sukplang

By Sokhoeun Pang
Originally posted at The Son of The Khmer Empire

The war between the Redd shirts and the elite Bangkok last week did not paint only a bad picture of Thailand itself, but it even dragged Cambodia and Burma to the same level of negative image. The rumours are palying now in both sites of the Thai factions: The Red accuse the Thai elite govt of having Cambodian mercenaries in the Thai military troops for crashing and killing them and yet the Thai elite govt accuses the Red of having Cambodian mercenaries among them for Bangkok arson. You can read them here, here, here, and here. Below I just extract from Thailand’s Trouble:

Cambodian mercenaries were manning army positions protesters told me at Bon Kai and Din Daeng during the afternoon on 18 May. The only evidence they could offer was that some of the troops they had tried to talk to could not speak Thai. A young woman, who was still selling drinks outside the Erawan Hotel while her baby perhaps just a year old lay sleeping on the ground as the army was advancing up Ratchaprasong, called from within the refuge of Wat Pathumwanaram to tell me it was too dangerous to outside as there were Burmese troops. Later when I reached Siam Square, where there had apparently been fighting between armed civilians and troops I only met Thai infantry.

Thailand’s Trouble also gives analytic questions below regarding to the allegation of the RED.

Could the government find enough Burmese or Cambodian mercenaries, put them in Thai uniforms and train them with Thai weapons at short notice? What benefits might there be other than increasing numbers of dependable troops in light of rumours of many junior soldiers being red?

Or might it be that these rumors are without substance but spread and are believed because they relieve people of having to accept that they are facing, and being shot by, soldiers who like themselves are Thai? Some may be comforted if it is Burmese or Cambodians who are there to impose the state’s will and defend its interests because of the generally negative stereotypes attached to these nationalities?

NOTE: I don’t want to add any more idea related to this post since I just reacted in my previous post: Thais spread rumors that Khmer mercenaries among the red shirt, regarding to this issue.

Thai spread rumours that Khmer mercenaries among the red shirts

A Thai shows Khmer Sak (Khmer Tattoo) on his back during Thai Tattoo Festival

By Sokhoeun Pang
Originally posted at The Son of The Khmer Empire

The Irish Time published an article on Siamese recent bloodhed titled :Mop-up operation in Bangkok under way, which described the situation in Bangkok during the past, present, the damage, the rebuilding Siamese society, etc., and especially about the RED shirts violence which has again something related to Khmer. Read the article below.

Rumours swirl in the capital. Many say the Black Shirt hardcore rioters were made up of Khmer mercenaries from Cambodia. I witnessed one fighter with elaborate Khmer style tattoos on his neck and arms, but these are also popular in Thailand.

With this rummour Khmerization has reasonably reacted that:

Many red shirt protesters were mainly made up of ethnic Khmers and Laotians living in the northeastern provinces of Thailand who are Thai citizens. We need to remember also that the Thai media owned by the Red Shirt Movement also accused the Abhisit government of dressing up Khmer prisoners in military uniform and sent them to crackdown on the red shirt recently. How true are these rumours? Nobody knows.

Then followed by some anynomous commentators in Khmerization:

Anonymous said...

This is a ridiculous accusation. Such rumor are a bunch made up lies trying to point fingers at Cambodia for Thailand’s own embarrassing uncontrollable political bloodshed. Keep your own fight and your own problems in your own country. Keep your fights to yourself. Don’t try to incite and inflame Cambodia into involving in your bullshit chaotic political madness.

Anonymous said…

It is ridiculous that Khmers have become convenient scapegoats for all the Thai political problems. Khmers have gone through enough suffering and bloodshed so they would be scared to get into such dangerous game. If they found some Khmer-speaking protesters among the red shirts, they must be ethnic Khmers living in Thailand called Khmer Surin. These claims are total lies to try to sow hatred among the Thais against Cambodia and the Khmers people. The yellow shirts who brought Abhisit into powers have caused border conflict with Cambodia when they stir up trouble along the border that saw Thai troops occupying a strip of lands in Preah Vihear temple in 2008 that caused armed clashes and tensions until today. Stop blaming Khmers for all your problems. Enough is enough!

NOTE: If such a rumour is true then I can say that most Thais are born to be arrogant , insincere, and the enemy of the Khmers. They should understand that not only the million Khmer ethnics who live in Thailand are fond of Khmer Sak/Chak Sak/Khmer Yant/Sak Yant (Khmer tattoo), but even the pure Thais, they do love it for they believe Khmer tattoo is not only just an art like any other tattoo in the world, but it has the magical power for protection, luck and success. For example Khmer geometric tattoos, meant to protect the wearer, originally as protection during war/fighting times. Visibly, Khmer tattoo is popular throughtout Thailand and even foriegners. You can see such Khmer tattoo everywhere like on the human body, in the shops, in the houses, in the taxi, in the bus, in the train in Thailand and even with Thai overseas. Please see some of the beautiful Khmer tattoos in Thailand are being used by boxer, taxi drivers, and businessmen: here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here.

I believe the rumour is true and circulated intentionally and politically in order to:

• tell the world that Thai people are nice people, gentle people, peace-loving people, and non-violent people.
• make the Khmer as scapegoat to appease Thai anger against each other and turn the revenge/hatred towards Khmers and esp. the bloody Thai elite and royal family will not be held responsible for the bloodshed.
• to save the good face of Thailand because Thai people are known for face-saving people and coward to accept their own shame as a real human being. Generally, when it comes to a good thing Thais like to say it is Thai and yet when it comes to a bad thing the Thais like to say it is Khmer. For instance, please observe the tattoos in the links provided above if the Thais say a word that these tattoos are Khmer tattoos and those who have those tattoos claim that they are Khmers. They proudly say those are Thai tattoos and they are Thais to show the world. But when it comes to a bad thing happened in the last week the Thais jump up and twisted that those who were violent were Khmers because they had Khmer tattoos.

It also seems that the Thai ultra-nationalism propaganda since 1850s to treat Khmer as “Khmamen padong” - the jungle and uncivilized people, still lives on today, or it reflectively seems that Thai people are still ignorant despite technology, communication, knowledge in the world are widely developed and accessible.

Lastly, I’d like to advise Thais people that they should be brave enough to recognize their bad deed and nature just like other human being, because no one is perfect even our worshiping Buddha. My last word:

If You Thai people don’t know how to pay back your gratitude towards Khmer who once sheltered you and enlightened you architecture, art, dance, writing, and political organization, please stop painting us bad or making us your scapegoat through your arrogant attitude, hatred, ignorance, brutality, shame, irresponsibility, cowardice, jealousy, and inhuman manner.

Khmer mercenaries among the Red Shirts: Did the Thais take too much "Yaba" to cook up this story?

Mop-up operation in Bangkok under way

Friday, May 21, 2010
CLIFFORD COONAN
Irish Times

Rumours swirl in the capital. Many say the Black Shirt hardcore rioters were made up of Khmer mercenaries from Cambodia. I witnessed one fighter with elaborate Khmer style tattoos on his neck and arms, but these are also popular in Thailand.

AS TROOPS hunted down the remaining anti-government protesters, Bangkok’s citizens came out of their homes, where they had hidden for safety during Tuesday’s violence, and gasped at the damage done to their city.

The Thai government said it had mostly snuffed out 10 weeks of violent protests in the capital. However, burnt-out buildings dot the streets of the capital and finding your way around is difficult because of road blocks and occasional ramshackle barricades of spare tyres that still smoulder.

The government response has been restrained considering that the city centre has been occupied for 2½ months, but there are deeper problems to be dealt with. Many Thais believe the country is being polarised, and that the ultimate price could be civil war.

A curfew has been imposed from 9pm in Bangkok and in other provinces where unrest has been reported. It will be continued for the next three days. However, the streets are largely empty, as people stay close to home – no one quite believes this is over. Die-hard protesters are still to be found in the city, but the impetus behind the fight has largely gone.

There are differing reports of casualties, but the official toll from the fighting on Tuesday is 15 dead and 96 wounded. The total death toll since the occupation began is probably 83.

Large parts of Bangkok are scorched by insurrection, piles of tyres smoulder beyond razor-wire perimeters where police and soldiers still monitor comings and goings to make sure no fresh supplies of weapons reach the Red Shirt resistance.

The list of buildings hit by arson attacks reads like a tourist guide to the city. Some 39 buildings were set on fire on the day of the riots, including the stock exchange, the main electricity provider and various banks, including a branch of the Siam City Bank. Top tourist draws like the Central World mall, Center One, Siam Theatre and Big C Rajdamri were so badly damaged that they may have to be demolished.

Red Shirt leader Veera Musigapong pleaded for an end to the violence, saying the course the struggle was taking would not help the opposition’s interests. “Anger is destructive and the advancement of democracy can never happen by being angry and vengeful,” he told local media.

He insisted that the Red Shirts were patriots who loved their country’s institutions and wanted to support democracy by demanding the removal of prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s government and the holding of fresh elections.

Mr Veera was one of three more Red Shirt leaders who surrendered to authorities yesterday. Five leaders gave themselves up the day before and were flown to a military camp south of Bangkok for interrogation.

Once the Red Shirts stepped back yesterday, the violence that followed was carried out by a hardline faction, marked out by their black shirts.

On Tuesday, the violence appeared orchestrated, and many in Bangkok believe that ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was behind their actions. While Mr Thaksin is not loved in Bangkok – his power base is in northern Thailand – the exiled leader does have support among the urban poor in the capital.

Rumours swirl in the capital. Many say the Black Shirt hardcore rioters were made up of Khmer mercenaries from Cambodia. I witnessed one fighter with elaborate Khmer style tattoos on his neck and arms, but these are also popular in Thailand.

A group of police escorted more than 1,000 people – many of them women and children – away from a Buddhist temple in the heart of the former Red Shirt protest zone. Six bodies were found in its grounds. One woman died after an asthma attack during the melee.

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: A Bleeding Victory

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: The Reconciliation Plan

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Thailand Weary, Divided After Military Crackdown On Red Shirt Protesters

A monk drags a chair with his belongings past the burnt out Central World shopping mall in Bangkok, 20 May 2010 (Photo: AP)

Brian Padden, VOA
Bangkok 21 May 2010

Bangkok is now recovering from 10 weeks of anti-government demonstrations that shut down much of the city. The Thai army removed the protesters by force Wednesday, in a military operation that left at least seven people dead and 88 wounded. While the government arrested most of the protest leaders, the divisions in Thai society that help create the protest movement remain.

An estimated 5,000 protesters, known as the "Red Shirts," occupied a three square kilometer area of Bangkok's business district for two months. Their leaders said they were a non-violent democracy movement representing poor and rural people.

But Naruemon Chabchumpon, Political Science Director at Chulalongkorn University, says the Red Shirts organization damaged its public image by its actions. For example, the leaders escalated their original demands for new elections to include arresting some Thai government officials, she said.

"Their demand is asking for early election and then the government proposed like a November election and they accept in the beginning, and at the end they are changing their demand every day," said Chabchumpon. "At that time I think the public in Bangkok feel that, start to wonder, what is their real demand."

When the military finally moved in to disperse the protesters they encountered armed resistance. Protesters shot at advancing soldiers and set buildings ablaze. The violence and destruction further alienated many in the city. Now, the camp is being dismantled and the area swept clean.

But Thai society remains divided.

Chabchumpon says to prevent unrest from reoccurring, the government needs to hold new elections and direct more economic assistance to the rural areas.

"In terms of the economic policy I think Thailand might have to start thinking about welfare state, to put more welfare to the rural areas because right now the rural people might feel that most of the budget go so much for urbanization," Chabchumpon said.

She adds, without political reconciliation, life in Thailand will never really return to normal.