Taxi drivers are now trying to disrupt traffic in the city again. They’ve blocked a couple of main roads now.
And the army has just asked the public not to panic if they should happen to see soldiers being deployed. See here. That reads: “The Army spokesperson warned the public not to panic if they happen to see the employ of army forces as the military will start employing their forces and send them to various places. He said the state of emergency allowed the officials to step up measures to deal with the protesters.”
Fortunately, the wife and I are home for the day. And I’ve got to go finish the balcony cleaning, so will check back later.
Brief update: Army tanks are now rumbling through the streets of Bangkok. They’ve been deployed to protect the Foreign Ministry. (The foreign minister was a big yellow-shirt supporter and thus has always been a target; he addressed the PAD while they were holding the airports late last year.) 1000 police armed with tear gas are at this moment headed for Government House, the site of the main red-shirt rally. And the red-shirts early this afternoon, I guess during the riot at the Interior Ministry, captured one of the prime minister’s security officials; they’ve been displaying him and the guys big-ass rifle, which the took off of him, before the press.
Friggin’ worthless soldiers! TV news is reporting that some red shirts “easily” just now made off with some sort of military vehicles that the army had set up near Siam Paragon shopping center. Details are still sketchy, but it seems they just walked up and drove them off!
The red shirts have now commandeered some city buses and are using them to barricade certain streets against the police and army.
EDIT: They’ve also positioned at least some of the buses on a rail line on one or more of the streets in a bid to block train traffic, too. This is not too far from the main Hualamphong train station, and so now scheduled trains out of there are at a standstill.
Fuck, but the red shirts took a tank! It’s not clear if they actually drove it off, but they are in full control of it. TV just showed them all on top of and inside it, waving their red flags. Hope they can’t actually fire it!
We’re in a quiet area. Should be tucked in and safe for the night.
Seems the red shirts up in Nong Khai province threatened to blockade the Friendship Bridge with Laos if that leader who was arrested was not released by 5pm. It’s now after 6:00, but I don’t know what’s going on with that. Other red shirts in Chanthaburi province, along the Eastern Seaboard and near Cambodia, have cut off the main highway.
At the main rally site near Government House here in Bangkok, the red shirts have issued a public plea to kill the prime minister upon sight.
Seems the protesters also took over some other armored vehicles besides that tank, but it’s still not clear if they’ve actually driven them away or are just occupying them.
Sam, thanks for the frequent updates-- you’re a far better news source than the Nation or Bangkok Post!
I’m actually in Luang Prabang for the week of Pii Mai. I was having a fantastic time anyway, but now it is even better by virtue of not being in Bangkok. (Let’s see if I can actually get back into Thailand next Friday…my experience last November makes me wonder!)
Seriously, though, be safe (Ale and his girlfriend too), and may getting splashed by obnoxious Songkran revelers be the biggest worry you have this week.
Thanks. I hope you can actually get back into the country. I believe the Friendship Bridge to and from Laos actually has been sealed off by red shirts, but if you’re in Luang Prabang, I imagine you’ll be flying back. I’d recommended flying straight into Bangkok and not to, say, Chiang Mai. Who knows how long this is going to play out.
BTW: An interesting little hike out of Luang Prabang is to the “lost” crypt of Henri Mouhot, the French explorer who rediscovered Angkor Wat. (Never mind that it had never really been lost and that 1000 monks were living there when he “rediscovered” it.) On that same trip, he was trying to find a backdoor trade channel into China up the Mekong River, but died there in Luang Prabang from malaria, in 1861. The crypt was not widely marked when we went looking for it and so almost could not find it. The whole scene looks like a crypt landed in the middle of the jungle in Time Bandits or something. See here. I can almost guarantee no problems with land mines.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Abhisit was on the air at midnight, about 50 minutes ago. He said police and army are in place and not to believe all the rumors flying around about dissension in the top ranks. That’s usually a bad sign and means you should worry very much about it. And I understand the protesters are still right in place, too. The PM is saying this really is the very last chance for security officials to redeem themselves, no kidding this time. See here. Also: Unfazed red shirts brace for bloody showdown.
D’oh! :smack: I forgot to mention the odd twist: The crypt of Mouhot, who was touted as the rediscoverer of the “lost” Angkor Wat, was itself lost in all the confusion of the Vietnam War and the communist takeover, swallowed up by the jungle. It was rediscovered by an aid worker in 1990.
I also neglected to mention TV reports that the red shirts had set up at leat one checkpoint upcountry, to check vehicles. When the army came through, they ejected the soldiers and took their vehicles! What a bunch of pussies the Thai military is. The red shirts have a total of two tanks here in Bangkok now that they commandeered.
This is exactly why they should have cracked down on the yellow shirts last year. Instead, they were allowed to set a dangerous precedent. But it was a huge blunder on the part of the prime minister not to have cancelled the Asean Summit this weekend. Supposedly, it was a face issue, having already been postponed once from last December, because of the yellow shirts. Postponing it a second time would probably have been too embarrassing. But still, it should not have taken a genius to understand the risk of continuing it this weekend. For someone who is Oxford-educated, the Thai prime minister is kind of stupid.
I second the thankyous for frequent updates. I’ve learned WAY more here in this thread about what’s going on in Thailand than I have from US news outlets.
One question about the royals. I know the king and queen are revered by the people, and the king has been on the throne for over fifty years. What is the succession situation like? Does it go to the oldest son? I don’t suppose that women are in line for the throne, but how many princesses are there? I seem to remember an article in the National Geographic, from years ago, that there was a younger female royal who was well regarded but her brother would come before her. No idea what their names were.
I cannot answer any questions about the royal family. If I said the wrong thing, i would be liable to 15 years in a Thai prison. Due to the strict lese-majeste laws here, this is definitely a case of if you have nothing nothing good to say, then don’t say anything. And believe me, I have NOTHING good to say about certain people.
I can direct you to the December 4, 2008, issue of The Economist magazine. There are two interesting articles. That week’s issue was banned in Thailand. You’ll see the stories I mean if you look that issue up online.
Monday morning, and the situation is growing much worse. I went to bed last night half-way expecting army action. BBC even said if there were no military strike last night, the PM’s position would become untenable. But no, it’s being allowed to grow worse. Seems the army did push one mob back in Bangkok’s Din Daeng district with tear gas, but they commandeered two gas-cylinder delivery trucks! So now the army has to leave them alone by some reports, while others say they do have control of that area again. Story here.
Red shirts have told reporters they cannot guarantee their safety anymore after some red shirts announced from the stage that reporters hould be beaten for not reporting the news “correctly.” So reporters have moved out.
All train service out of and into Bangkok is cancelled.
The UK Foreign Office is advising Brits not to travel to Thailand. See here.
The protesters are supposedly getting 1000 baht a day to protest, which would represent a raise from 500 baht before. But all sorts of rumors are flying around. One is that Thaksin is on Koh Chang, a Thai island near the Cambodian border, and ready to lead a march into Bangkok. Another is that Somchai Wongsawat – the previous prime minister and Thaksin’s brother-in-law – just returned from Dubai, where they’d thought Thaksin was, pesumably bringing cash back for the protesters. Who knows what’s true.
Normally the eldest son should succeed the King. There has been some agitation for a change to this, since the eldest daughter is much beloved, but I don’t believe that there is any, at least recent, precedent for this, and it would (probably) require a change to the Constitution to allow it.
Here’s a Wiki link to King Rama IX. The King and Queen have three daughters and one son, born between 1951 and 1957. The son is the second oldest of the group.
For perspective, when I lived in Thailand, almost 10 years ago, the average monthly wage was about 4000 to 7000 baht for most jobs. Not sure what would be accurate now. 1000 baht is currently equal to about USD 28.
