I’ve got a ticket to BKK for three weeks in May. Please make sure this is all resolved by then.
Thank you for your time.
I’ll do my best. 
No rioting again yet, BUT … It promises to heat up soon, and I don’t mean the temperature, which is soaring now. Today (Thursday), the red shirts are trying to assemble 35,000 protesters to lay siege to Government House starting today. See here and here. The red shirts are vowing a major action, and an Australian reporter has told me the authorities are expecting violence.
Of course, these red-shirt actions have all petered out to date, they just don’t have the momentum the yellow shirts had, but there’s a desperate feel about this one. Could be something’s going to happen again.
The crowd at Government House has reached 40,000 by some estimates. Last year, when the yellow shirts stormed Government House, the police and/or army were outside, did not like the government anyway and so let the situation deteriorate. This time the the army and police like the government and have set up inside the compound. I believe any attempt at a takeover will be repulsed.
Worryingly, though, the red shirts are starting to make noises about seizing the airports themselves. But again, this time I don’t think that will be allowed to happen. But you never know.
I like this: “red shirts” and “yellow shirts”. Makes it easy to tell the players.
And now there are some blue shirts who are getting ready to help defend the airport. It’s a rainbow!
As this story relates, the crowd is indeed turning nasty. But no move on the airport yet. Personally, I think the crowd realizes that this time, the army may actually damn well shoot them!
Fugitive ousted Prime Minister Thaksin addressed the crowd for more than an hour last night (Friday night) by video from an undisclosed location. Story here. He was reportedly somewhere in Africa earlier this week. He came out and directly accused a very senior statesman – senior as in personal adviser and right-hand man to the king – named Prem of being a mastermind behind the September 19, 2006, coup that overthrew him. Actually, he’s almost certainly correct about that, but accusing him in such a public manner will guarantee his continued flight for a while. That’s just simply not done.
Well, it’s showtime again. Today (Wednesday) will be a pivotal day. The red shirts are massing for a major anti-government rally, helped by Thaksin, who will be on standby all day to provide moral support via telephone and video link from wherever his “secret” location is, which by all accounts is Cambodia.
The red shirts say there will be 300,000-500,000 massed at three points in central Bangkok, including outside the home of the king’s main adviser, who is alleged to have been behind the September 19, 2006, military coup that ousted Thaksin. He denies this (but he almost certainly was). Red shirts have been swarming into Bangkok since yesterday. But their numbers are always lower than they say they expect, and some estimates put the probable number at as low as 80,000.
Also yesterday, a car containing the prime minister himself, Abhisit Vejjajiva, was attacked by red shirts in the seaside town of Pattaya. When his people tried to transfer him to another car, they attacked that one, too, and by some accounts (although this isn’t clear) beat up the driver. This seriously calls into question the state of security for this week’s Asean meeting there. (Asean = Association of Southeast Asian Nations.)
Securty officials have been told to brace themselves today for a general uprising, as it’s feared the red shirts may try to besiege or overrun provincial halls upcountry. The yellow shirts are threatening to turn out and show the red shirts what’s what.
We seem to be closer to civil war at this point than we have ever been.
Oh dear.
Thursday now, and yesterday’s events seemed to go off not too badly. The crowds have been estimated to number a combined 50,000-100,000, much less than what the red-shirt leaders had hoped for but still sizeable. Thaksin, many of whose close family members have fled Thailand in recent days, was exhorting the country by video link to rise up. I’d heard the government was going to block his broadcasts; not sure why that isn’t happening. The yellow shirts set a dangerous precedent last year; this is what happens when you don’t crack down on that sort of thing.
My girlfriend is right now all alone at her office (a full floor in a very large office building), everyone else fled afraid of the protests going on right now on the streets of Bangkok.
Last I heard the traffic has been stopped with barricades at some of the busiest intersections of the city.
How lovely of this idiots to wreck panic and unrest at the beginning of Songkran, the most important Thai festivity.
Yes, Friday morning now, and yesterday evening was total chaos in central Bangkok. The red shirts took over Victory Monument and the roundabout (traffic circle) surrounding it. Taxi-driver sympathizers blocked all four points leading into it, resulting in a complete traffic stoppage over the entire area. They blocked other intersections, too, but that was the main one. Stories here and here. I hope your girlfriend got home okay, Ale. I’m assuming she did, as there was no outbreak of violence. (The yellow shirts talk a good game, but I notice they’re not showing themselves.)
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva addressed the nation on television last night and declared today a public holiday. Monday through Wednesday of next week are already holidays – Songkran – so with the weekend, this makes a six-day holiday period. Abhisit also vowed to prosecute troublemakers, but talk is cheap in Thailand. Story here.
The Asean meeting runs from today to Sunday in Pattaya, an hour and a half away on the Eastern Seaboard. The heads of state of the 10 Asean members plus China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand will be there. The red shirts have vowed to disrupt it, and I just heard on the news that they’re heading there at this moment, so stay tuned. If this is true, we’ll see how the government responds. (Actually, this is exactly what I would do if I were the red shirts; enough of this Mickey Mouse bullshit in Bangkok.)
There were also red-shirt rallies in 21 or 22 (depending on the source) provinces yesterday. That’s almost a third of the 76 provinces. Story here.
The red shirts have promised not to take over any airports like the PAD did last year, and yesterday’s traffic chaos appears at this point to have been spontaneous without the sanction of the leaders, so it’s probably still safe to come here right now. I would avoid central Bangkok, though.
Just to be on the safe side, I surveyed the Patpong red-light bar area last night. The girls all seemed safe. Next I should probably check that everything is okay in the live lesbian sex shows. 
BREAKING NEWS: BBC TV is reporting that red shirts have just broken through army barricades at the Asean meeting venue in Pattaya. It said it was not clear how many but that “hundreds” were involved. Thai news is reporting on it live, and it still seems largely orderly at this point, or at least as orderly as it can be when you’ve just broken through army barricades, but the situation is tense.
I must go out into the city soon – Bangkok, that is, not Pattaya – so I can’t update this further until later.
After midnight now, and it was another surreal day in the neighborhood. Protesters managed to force their way into the actual compound of the resort in Pattaya where the Asean meeting is being held. They finally left after delivering a letter of demands to an official of the Asean Secretariat. The demands were the resignation of the prime minister and his government and the stepping down of certain Privy Council members, including Prem. But as they left, local residents and other opponents pelted them with sticks and water bottles, so now they’re threatening to return tomorrow and cause a ruckus. One red-shirt leader is now calling on all supporters everywhere in the country to besiege any building and take whatever action they deem appropriate as revenge. Updates here and here.
The red shirts finally vacated Victory Monument about 5pm today. That’s good. But it frees up more to travel to Pattaya, which they’re doing. That’s bad.
They tried to block other roads and intersections today, too. One, the Sathon-Narathiwat Intersection, is close to where we live. I went throught there about 2pm, not knowing about the incident just two or three hours earlier. But when red shirts and taxi-driver sympathizers tried to block the intersection, pedestrians on a bridge overhead started shouting “Get out! Get out!” in unison, and they and some motorcyclists pushed the barricades back. The on-duty police had only stood by and watched the protesters. Friggin’ worthless Thai police. Story here. I love the first sentence: “Red-shirted people’s attempt to block the Sathorn-Narathiwat Intersection Friday was foiled by unity of normal people on the road who happened to be there.” A great 2-1/2 minute video of the incident is here; looks like some of the people on the pedestrian bridge were throwing things, too. Good on them!
:d :d :d
Saturday afternoon, and it’s been a day of high drama. The red shirts invaded the resort buildings and have forced the cancellation of the summit. A state of emergency has been declared for the Pattaya area, but states of emergency have been declared before to no effect. Supposedly, now gatherings of five or more people will not be allowed, but the authorities are usually impotent or even unwilling to enforce that sort of thing.
This is a major embarrassment for the government and a huge victory for the red shirts. Actually, I figured they were making a mistake going ahead with the summit, but I thought if it was shut down, it would take more protesters than this! An incredibly small number of red shirts has shut down this international conference of leaders from Australia, New Zealand and East, Southeast and South Asia. That’s really pathetic when you think about it.
I feel something really, really big is about to happen. There’s speculation the police allowed all of this to happen out of sympathy to Thaksin and the red shirts. The army, however, backs the government. We may see some drastic action soon. I’m taking the unusual step now of advising people not to come here at the moment. If you already have travel plans, at least try to stay out of Bangkok, and maybe Pattaya too.
Stories here and here. Some red-shirt photos here.
And Thai news just reported that the red shirts are hunting Prime Minister Abhisit and his family. A mob went to his home here in Bangkok, baying for their blood, but no one was there.
This was bad when the PAD were doing it, and it’s getting worse under Thaksin’s goons. I hope Thaksin shuffles off this mortal coil sooner than later so that his toxins will quit infecting the Thai people. Unfortunately I don’t think he’s very old and probably in great health (just checked, he’s only 60). This guy’s unrepentant greed and lust for power has really screwed up Thailand.
The wife was beside herself with anger yesterday. She actually tried to call Democrat Party headquarters – they’re the main party in the ruling coalition – to demand to know why these bastards weren’t being shot down in the street like the dogs they are. But all she got was a recording saying the offices were closed on weekends.
Since both the police and the army refrained from intervening in the red-shirt invasion of the conference venue, especially by such a small number of protesters – only a few hundred of them – rumors are rife this morning (Sunday morning) of a fresh military coup in the works. Imagine if this sort of thing had happened at the G-20 meeting in London earlier this month; that’s how important this meeting was to this region. A Who’s Who list of Asian leaders was forced to scramble for the roof of the resort to be airlifted by helicopter! Philippine President Gloria Arroyo reportedly seemed especially distraught. The Australian PM had not arrived yet, though; his plane was still two hours away from Thailand when it got word of the cancellation. Story here. Excerpt: “Wives of certain Asean leaders appeared horrified when the protesters entered the hotel lobby, according to a Foreign Ministry source. They comforted one another, and one of them burst into tears.”
The state of emergency has been lifted for Pattaya and it’s province of Chonburi. That’s just as well, since the red shirts all headed back here to Bangkok after their victory. Incidentally, the BBC and other foreign news services badly mispronounce Pattaya. It is NOT pronounced Pot-TIE-ya. It is POT-ta-ya. Accent on the first syllable, NOT the second. There is no “I” sound; the Y is strictly the start of the third syllable and has nothing to do with the second. I cringe each time I hear BBC try to pronounce it, and I’ve noticed an unusual number of Thai restaurants around the world named Pattaya, so this must be widespread. Pattaya is basically a sleazy sex-tourist city, and I’ve always found it amusing that so many restaurants worldwide are named after it.
Further updates here, here, here and here.
Whatever happens, I can’t see Thaksin returning and taking power. If nothing else, that alone would be the spark to actual civil war, which we seem on the brink of now anyway. This is usually a festive period, too. April 13-15 is the dreaded (to sane people) Songkran holiday, the Thai New Year. Dreaded because you have to be careful where you go lest you get soaked with water. Water fights are prevalent, and you either love it or hate it. We hate it and keep indoors, because they just never let up. Many’s the unsuspecting tourist who has had expensive video equipment ruined. Many people leave the country rather than deal with it. But at least it’s a party! It may be rather subdued this year.
Bangkok and at least parts of five nearby provinces are now under an official state of emergency. This is not martial law, but except for being unable to gather in groups of five or more, I’m not sure what that entails. Good luck breaking up the red-shirt rally outside of Government House! It’s still going on. Story here.
One protest leader has been arrested, and upon hearing this, the red shirts blocked the roads near the court where he’s been taken. Story here. What the story does not mention is that according to TV reports, he’s been arrested on a charge of attempted kidnapping of the prime minister, based on his statements yesterday that he was going to “hunt down” the prime minister and his family. He cannot be charged with anything regarding the Pattaya debacle, because the body issuing the warrant in Bangkok has no jurisdiction over Pattaya. :rolleyes: And I’m no lawyer, but this Mickey Mouse so-called “attempted kidnapping” surely isn’t going to hold up. The TV is saying another warrant has been issued for another leader who is now still on stage at the main rally site.
And the red shirts have now invaded the Interior Ministry in their hunt for the prime minister. Gunfire has been heard, and both protesters and police are reportedly among the injured. Some ministers are reportedly still in the ministry building. It’s not clear if the prime minister is still in there or not, but his official car seems to have driven right through the red shirts, injuring many while they smashed the car windows in. That could have just been his driver without the PM himself inside. The protesters seem to be running rampant through the building at this moment. Stories here, here and here.
It’s heating up here, folks, and I don’t just mean the temperature.
Slight correction: There is no second arrest warrant. The other leader I mentioned simply volunteered to accompany the one who is arrested to the court or police station and then after a while left to return to the rally. He has announced to the rally not to be worried about the guy arrested, because, and I quote: “The police there are on our side.”
And it seems to be true, because now there are reports of red shirts in the northeastern province of Khon Kaen massing at the local NBT station – that’s government television – and the police there are simply letting them in. The police seem to blocking the front entrance for form’s sake but allowing them to climb over the fences.
At least three other northeastern provinces now – Khon Kaen, Chaiyaphum and Udon Thani – are reporting red shirts massing at provincial offices.
And it is now a full-fledged, certifiable riot inside the Interior Ministry. They’re running amok. Update here.