There's Rioting in Our Streets, Part 2

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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Thanks! Back home. Easy to avoid the trouble areas actually. Before we left, I took these photos here, here and here from up on top of our 36-story building, of the smoke from the fires in the fighting over on Rama IV Road. They’re not that good; the 2bangkok.com website has a couple of better shots that are similar.

Six more dead today, including an armed bastard red shirt on top of a building across from troops, taken out by a sniper. Good work, soldier! I guess that was one of the armed red shirts that the rally leaders swear don’t exist. That makes 22 dead total these past two days. Unfortunately, Din Daeng district seems to be burning, and the Ratchaprarop area has been declared a free-fire zone, with anything moving within it a fair target to be shot. The authorities are mulling REALLY serious action if the red shirts don’t stop; see here.

Twenty-seven people arrested yesterday (Friday) during the rioting were sent before a judge today and sentenced to a year in prison. That was cut in half to 6 months, because they confessed. There was no lag time between sentencing and jail as is usually the case, but rather they were carted straight off to the pokey. Hope they enjoy their rest.

The prime minister was on air just a little while ago, saying the red shirts really needed to let the elderly and children in the rally out before the really serious action started. Offered not to hinder their exit. The reds generally try not to let anyone out of the rally though, selfish bastards.

We had to go to the Khao San Road area today, near where where the April 10 clash occurred, but it’s all clear there now. We took the river taxi from the Sathon Pier, and the Skytrain station above was shut down tight. I haven’t checked, but I guess Skytrain and subway services were cancelled today. I know yesterday the red shirts began threatening to shoot at the Skytrain cars as they ran past, because they suspected them of ferrying soldiers around, which was apparently why all service was cut at 4pm yesterday.

Khao San and its surrounds seemed a bit slow in the afternoon but picked up a little bit at night. It’s Bangkok’s backpacker ghetto, and the shops seemed rather empty. But again, nighttime seemed somewhat better. Still, I always like to get my sandals from there, if I need some and am in the area, and the shop I bought them from said I was their first customer of the day; that was late afternoon and right on Khao San itself.

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Last thing I’ve heard is that the… I don’t think protesters is the right name for this people anymore, is it? but I digress. They have taken three Skytrain stations, so I don’t see the service running again until they are removed.

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Rioters, I guess.

Found this notice on Skytrain and subway services stopped until further notice. I’ve not seen a report yet on station seizures.

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I really hope the explosions I’m hearing right now are just fireworks…

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There’s a time line of today’s events here. Lumpini police station, which is in the riot zone, and police aprtments nearby were bombed a couple of hours ago.

Looks like the reds in Pathum Thani province are threatening to seize government offices there. That’s just north of Bangkok and still in the metropolitan area.

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Don’t worry. If your building gets burned down, I’m sure the goverment will send bad thought vibes at the reds. :smiley:

Seems a number of Thai reporters have been wounded. The head of the local press association is on TV now, explaining that Thai reporters have never been trained for this sort of thing. They’re just wandering through there like tourists! Trying to interview people and take photos. :smack:

Oh, almost forgot a side note: I said we were in Khao San Road today. I was greatly amused while reading the menu at one place that “chili dog and French fries” was included in their breakfast section! :smiley:

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Just heard two more added to the death toll, so that’s 8 today for 24 since yesterday.

The US Embassy is offering to evacuate family members of staff.

When we returned home tonight, we took a taxi all the way from Khao San Road. We skirted around the trouble area, but I noticed Suriwong and Silom roads north of Narathiwat Road were sealed off by the army. I know the roads are closed from the other direction too, so that cuts the Patpong red-light area off completely. Not that I wanted to go there tonight, but won’t anyone think of the poor, hard-working bar girls? :frowning:

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Sam, I have a purely selfish question. I’ve mentioned to you that I work with an organization that supports orphans in Thailand. We haven’t heard from our partners for a while, which isn’t unusual, actually. The Bangkok facility is in Samsen Nai, Phaya Thai. Is this anywhere near the rioting? (The last time we heard from them, they said this was no big deal, and wouldn’t affect any of their work, or the DSDW processes. They seemed surprised that we were concerned.)

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Now the red shirts leaders are threatening to loot the area they are occupying if the government doesn’t back off.
I also just read reports of rioters trying to set a store on fire.

Nice guys.

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Not too far from some of the hot areas I’m afraid. There has been a lot of fighting about 2 or 3 kilometers north of that place in the Din Daeng-Vibavhadi intersection.

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Samsen Nai is a subdistrict of Phaya Thai district. It’s centered along Phahonyothin Road and just to the west of Din Daeng district. Din Daeng seems to be burning, but I don’t think any part of Phaya Thai district north of Victory Monument, including Samsen Nai, has been affected … yet. The trouble is spreading, however. Can you tell me the name of the organization? Here or PM em if you want, and I can try giving them a call.

The red-shirt leaders have announced if a crackdown occurs where they are now, then everyone is to break up and spread out into new areas and protest there. It will be like trying to squeeze a water balloon: Mash down on one part, and it pops up somewhere else.

Authorities are about to meet to decide on a curfew soon but not for all of Bangkok. Mainly the affected areas, I think. There appear to be too many free-lance gawkers coming out; I know of at least one lady without the sense to stay inside getting shot accidentally while she was trying to watch.

Certain no-entry zones have been declared, which will hopefully help prevent people and supplies from getting into the reds. These tires they keep buring were all trucked in in large vehicles; I have no idea why those could not have been prevented.

I took a few more photos from on top of our building about an hour ago. You can see them here, here and here. The photos may not be that clear, I need to get a better camera, but there’s smoke coming from three distinct areas in the first two: Rama IV Road/Lumpini Park (small plume to the left of the tall white building in the foreground), Ratchaprarop Road (the big main cloud) and Din Daeng district (far left).

There’s a time line of today’s events (Sunday) so far here.

I have heard further confirmation from a source in a position to know that the Seh Daeng shooting was what I speculated earlier.

I’ve mentioned before that the wife is with the government. Her office is within the trouble area, and she’s had to stay home a lot lately. Maybe only went in once this past week, possibly twice. Looks like it’s no go for her tomorrow. She’s lucky though, because unlike all of the private employees thrown into a forced vacation by all of the hotels, shopping centers etc within the area shutting down, at least she can be assured of drawing her paycheck. The government has asked private businesses to continue paying their staff and has even set up a fund to assist employers with that, but who knows if they will.

Ah, and speaking of looting, a report just popped up about a 7-Eleven on Rama IV Road being looted at 9am this morning. Story here.

I’ve also heard reports of red shirts dressed as police and soldiers in the protest area. Whether these are actual police and soldiers or run-of-the-mill red shirts dressed as them to cause confusion is anyone’s guess. Both scenarios are plausible.

As bad as it’s getting, talk of “civil war” is still a stretch. The red leaders like to keep crowing about it, because it plays well in the international press and helps undermine government efforts to quash them. It really is a bit too soon yet to be talking of civil war. and I must say I’m somewhat dsappointed in BBC’s coverage. They have focused too much on the rich-versus-poor aspect; while there is that, it’s a very small part of the whole problem, but again the reds know this plays well and so keep emphasizing it. Believe me, there are a bunch of well-off middle-class supporters supporting the reds, too. And BBC never seems to ask who is paying for all of this, although they did finally mention Thaksin again this morning. Rather than “oppressed poor,” it seems to be more “people who dream of getting rich quick,” regardless of how poor they are. During Thaksin’s administration, it was hoped his success could magically rub off onto them.

Oh, Jesus Fucking Christ! This is really too much! Now it seems local news is reporting that a red-shirt leader has been spreading the word throughout the crowd they should NOT leave like the government has asked, because … get this … an American Navy ship is waiting right offshore with 6000 American soldiers waiting to come in and help the red shirts, because “the U.S. government has accepted that Thailand is no longer fair and has to intervene.” What a bunch of malarkey!

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An interesting report here: Inside the Red City.

Excerpts: “When asked how they could live in the open, a middle-age man who came from Si Sa Ket by bus to the rally with his wife and daughter replied: ‘This is what we are used to in our village, so we feel at home. In fact, it is better here because we get free food and drink and can go around Bangkok during the day and see places which we couldn’t normally otherwise. At night we listen to the speeches’.”

(This is what I mean about the BBC. It’s been pointing out the “hardship” the protesters are voluntarily enduring by camping out like this for a couple of months, prompting my wife to say: “That’s crazy! They do this in the village anyway!”)

And:

“It was disturbing to see some red shirt vendors selling caps bearing five-pointed red stars and clothes with the image of the late communist revolutionary Che Guevara. Some red shirt guards and other people were even wearing them. When Spectrum told them that Guevara was an Argentine-born Marxist revolutionary who sought to overthrow Latin American governments by force and replace them with communist regimes, they heard it for the first time. However, some guards said that some of their leaders had links with the communists.”

(The Che Guevara theme has been a popular one for as long as I can remember, especially among truck drivers, as have images of Al Pacino as Serpico. Both were especially prevalent on large trucks in the 1980s, and I’ve always figured they think it’s one and the same person.)

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A red-shirt leader has told the crowd they can leave if they feel unsafe if and when the government announces a curfew, especially families and the elderly. A curfew has not yet been announced but is widely expected.

Thaksin’s family have all left Thailand for parts unknown. Former prime minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, a high official of the opposition Peau Thai Party, the latest incarnation of Thaksin’s now-banned Thai Rak Thai Party, has reportedly fled to southern China.

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Amazingly, the authorities have decided against a curfew but have given the red shirts a deadline of 3pm Monday afternoon to remove all women, children and elderly from the rally. The authorities say after that, they cannot be held responsible for what happens to them.

Red shirts are reportedly gathering in the Samyan area at this moment, which is near the intersection of Rama IV and Phaya Thai roads. Apparently because there’s a bunker of soldiers there. Some sort of activity is expected there soon.

All Skytrain and subway services remain suspended through Monday. They’ll decide on Monday whether to resume operations on Tuesday.

The time line for today’s activities has been updated here. Death toll up to 25 now since Friday.

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So, the protestors being paid money… any of them vanishing?

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Some buildings on fire, seems that the red shirts are making good on Arisman’s (one of the main leaders) threats before moving into Bangkok.

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Sam and Ale, thanks for the information, although it isn’t what I wanted to hear. Sam, I may PM you. I need to talk to some other people first.

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I’ve heard nothing further about the Samyan area, but earlier tonight the reds were trying to storm the four-star Century Park Hotel on Ratchaprarop Road and threatening to burn it down. They think there are army snipers up there. Not sure how that’s turned out.

A new main rally site has sprung up on Rama IV Road by the Klong Toey slum. Perhaps more disturbingly, there’s also a new one on Nakhon Sawan Road, meaning a return to the Phan Fah Bridge/Democracy Monument/Khao San Road area. It’s that squeezing-on-the-water-balloon effect.

The red-shirt filth has offered to negotiate if the army stops shooting and a neutral party like the UN acts as a middleman. Good luck with that! I’m afraid the reds squandered their last chance at negotiations when they reneged on accepting the election deal.

There is speculation the army has been gradually ratcheting up the pressure since Friday, increasing the level of force used bit by bit, in an attempt to persuade many of the protesters to leave before launching a true crackdown. Raising the temperature degree by degree. Now that they’ve set the deadline of 3pm Monday that I mentioned earlier, saying they can’t be held responsible for what happens to any women, children or elderly left at the site after then, it’s thought the crackdown could come as soon as tomorrow night, Tuesday at the latest. We can only hope!

Meanwhile, the government tonight announced the bank accounts of 106 people and companies suspected of funneling money from Thaksin to the reds have been frozen pending a thorough investigation. Hehehe. Hit 'em where it hurts, right in their pocketbooks! Story and full list here. I see it includes all of Thaksin’s relatives and the red-shirt leaders. Good! Take that and fuck you, people! Ten more to be added tomorrow.

Three more photos here, here and here that I took, late in the afternoon this time. More of the same really, smoke from burning tires, but these are taken from inside our 6th-floor unit, not from on top of our building. The smoke should be coming from Rama IV Road by Lumpini Park.

Death toll up to 29 now since Friday, with 221 injured. Updated time line here.

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Be my guest. I’m turning in soon, it’s almost 1am here, but I’ll be home in the morning until the afternoon.

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Monday morning, and the death toll has risen to 34 since Friday. It’s been rather quiet since 4 or 5am, but earlier in the wee hours tourists in the luxury Dusit Thani Hotel came under fire. It’s right across from where Seh Daeng was shot; I’m wondering if the reds think snipers are there.

The government has declared today and tomorrow holidays. This could be to reduce traffic for a coming crackdown. Less than six hours now until the deadline expires for removing women, children and the elderly. Also, I mentioned earlier that Thaksin’s family plus Chavalit had left the country. That’s definite, and Banharn Silapa-Archa is rumored to have left for Hong Kong or Singapore. Banharn, an ex-prime minister himself, is actually the head of a party that is in the coalition government, but he’s such a snake that he is suspected of working with the reds too, in case they happen to return to power. The rats deserting the ship like this is traditionally a sign of big trouble being imminent. It’s always as if they’ve had a quiet word of warning slipped to them.