There's Rioting in Our Streets

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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Thursday morning, and even though most businesses seem to have opened, Songkran revellers are taking advantage of the two extra declared festival days. I know of one man who dared not leave his office on Silom Road last night for fear of getting soaked with water, they were out in such force around that area drenching all in sight.

Thaksin’s supporters are trying to say the 500-baht reference in that address of his was actually referring to the new 500-baht (US$14) monthly payment to the elderly, but no one else believes that. The government just revoked his passport finally, too, but he supposedly has passports from other countries. A dollar billionaire, he’s wealthy enough that he can get around that anyway; the government obviously has not been able to freeze all of his assets.

The general feeling here is that it’s not over, that this now is just a lull before another, possibly bigger storm. More and bigger protests are certainly being promised once the government relaxes the state of emergency. No further word on those 500 protesters who gathered in Sanam Luang after switching to normal clothing.

Updates here and here.

Someone remarked last night that the riots could actually have saved a lot of lives, because this being Songkran, a lot of these morons would have been out drinking and driving like normal. That could very well be true.

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I think we need to know a bit more about Songkran and holidays generally. Are they religious in origin? Historical? Invented? How are they so indefinite that the government can extend them at will? And …

Water baloons?

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Songkran is the Thai New Year, one of our three New Years after January 1 and Chinese New Year. It is not based on the lunar calendar, but rather occurs on the three days of April 13-15 each year. This is THE hottest time of the year, and so everyone pours water on each other. You would think this is a good idea, it being so hot now, but no. In the old days, supposedly (but I don’t necessarily buy it) people would respectfully ask you first and then sprinkle a little water on your wrists as a blessing. Nowadays, it’s a huge free-for-all, with pickups loaded with barrels of water and celebrants in the back roaming the streets looking to drench any and all who cross their path. You either love Songkran or hate it, and the wife and I definitely hate it. We either stay indoors or take taxis everywhere, as they often lie in wait at bus stops to pour water through the open windows and the doors when they stop, so buses aren’t safe here during this period. Many people routinely leave the country to get away from it. It’s great for a while and if you’re a willing participant, but it never ever ends, and farangs (Westerners) are prime targets. Many’s the unwitting tourist who has had expensive video equipment ruined because he didn’t know. This is why you should always know something about the customs of anyplace you’re visiting. Fortunately, we live in a quiet neighborhood.

The Thai year is 2552, but it changes on January 1 just like in the West,; January 1 is recognized by everyone here as THE New Year. Songkran is now just an excuse for hooligans to cause trouble and has no bearing on year number. But many people like it. Khao San Road and, increasingly, Silom Road are water-fight free-for-alls and people gladly join in. Great if that’s what you want, but if you don’t want that and find yourself out in the open, heaven help you. Don’t wear or carry anything expensive. It’s the one period of the year in which bangkok can truly be dangerous because of all these louts having “fun.” I may have started a Pit thread on it in the past, not sure.

As for extending them at will, it’s quite common here to declare holidays. It often occurs for big international conferences during which they want to get the traffic off the roads.

Anyway, things are happening on the unrest front. Sondhi Limthongkul, the founder and head honcho of the yellow shirts, was ambushed and shot this morning (Friday morning). Looks like a professional hit; his car took more than 100 bullets fired by two men with M16s. Amazingly, he’s alive and out of danger! Although BBC TV just said they were still removing a bullet from his head. His driver and aide were hurt badly (unclear if those are one and the same person or two different people). This will ratchet up the tension and maybe finally get the yellow shirts out onto the streets now. Story here. (The story says AK-16s, but BBC had it right I think when they said M16s.)

Thaksin has reportedly been named an honorary ambasador of Nicaragua and issued with a diplomatic passport by that country! Because of his supposed ability to attract investment to that country. That’s on all the international news wires, but local authorities are not convinced. They can’t seem to get a firm confirmation or denial from Nicaragua. Either way, Thaksin reportedly left Dubai for “a secret location in Africa” the other night after the announcement that his regular Thai passport had been revoked. I think he realized it was now known that Dubai was where he was hiding out.

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After midnight Friday night now. That attempted hit on Sondhi has been BIG news today. The police recovered 84 spent cartridges, from AK-47, HK33 and M16 rifles. A passing bus got hit with six bullets, plus a dud grenade launched from an M79 grenade launcher landed inside it. They think it didn’t go off because it was “inside the launch limit,” whatever that means. They don’t know if the grenade was launched at Sondhi’s car or actually at the bus to create a diversion. I suspect the former. They think the variety of weapons used was meant to disguise who could actually have been responsible.

Oddly, four traffic surveillance cameras at that intersection had all gone out of order the afternoon before. Hmmm. What is it about Bangkok surveillance cameras that they can never work? A month or two ago, when that guy hanged himself from one of our bridges but ended up decapitating himself, the surveillance camera on THAT bridge was out of order, TOO, which led to some speculation about what “really” might have happened. Turned out that really was a suicide, though. But, c’mon, fix those cameras! Another two cameras back up the road a ways did manage to catch the vehicles involved heading toward the site of the incident.

Amazingly, all survived the attack. Sondhi, his driver, and his aide (the last two are two separate people). There have been some reports about a fourth person in the vehicle, a woman who is his, um “secretary.” That can’t be confirmed. But it could help explain how he survived such a savage attack; he may have been crouched down to begin with. :smiley:

Of course, there are those claiming he staged this himself, and I wouldn’t put it past this bastard to do something like that, but considering how everyone in the van DID get shot up to some extent (except maybe the alleged woman, if she existed), I think it doubtful in this case. Feels like a real hit attempt.

And Thaksin has warned of more violence. See here.

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I can also direct you to this week’s issue of The Economist, the April 16 issue. It’s been banned as well, for another critical article on He Who Must Not Be Named. Go to their website; you’ll find the one I mean. April 16.

Otherwise, not much else new is going on. They expect some arrests soon in the Sondhi assassination attempt, and arrest warrants have been issued for 11 key red-shirt members up in the North. Thaksin is from the North, from Chiang Mai, and that, along with the Northeast, is prime red-shirt territory.

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Things have calmed down, but there are some good stories out there on the situation.

An overview of the the yellow and red shirts is here.

Our unrest may affect neighboring countries.

The BBC suggests no one won last week.

And Thailand’s credit rating was lowered.

The long holiday is definitely over now, and everyone’s back in the city and at work. Further trouble will prove doubly disruptive.

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That’s really interesting, thanks for keeping us apprised of the situation in Thailand.

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The blue shirts, who made a brief appearance during the Pattaya debacle, just announced major aspirations yesterday. They are composed of some of society’s elite, and they have vowed to crush both the red and yellow shirts. (Sheesh! Some of us were joking yesterday that now all we needed were some, er, brown shirts.) Newin Chidchob – all-around snake, banned politician (banned for corruption, I think specifically vote-buying), former Thaksin ally, major adviser to the present government and aspirant to the premiership if he can get the ban overturned, although it expires after five years anyway – seems to be a blue-shirt leader.

Some more analyses and updates here (Germany’s Der Spiegel), here (Singapore’s The Straits Times) and here (Britain’s Financial Times). In the first link, Thaksin tells the interviewer: “I’m like a rat.” That’s possibly the first time he’s ever said something resembling the truth. :smiley:

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Blue Shirts? I may soon need a diagram with arrows and notes…

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Jakrapob Penkair, one of the two red-shirt leaders who did not turn himself in, is threatening guerrilla war and armed attacks on the government next. Story here.

It’s almost universally believed now that Thaksin was behind last Friday morning’s assassination attempt on Sondhi, and evidence is pointing to elements within the military or who carried it out. Whoever did carry it out, the gunmen are being ridiculed as Keystone Kops. Word is that Thaksin paid 10 billion baht of his own money on last week’s Bangkok riots, expecting a general civilain uprising to return him to power. That’s US$28.17 million! Reports that he recently left for Africa have proved false; he’s still in the UAE, probably still Dubai.

I also heard yesterday that with the government blocking the highways and turning groups of red shirts back who were heading for Bangkok, the red shirts have adopted a new strategy of “educating” the workers in the factories outside of Bangkok. The vast majority of these workers are from the Northeast, prime red-shirt territory. The idea is to prepare them for a general uprising. This is the same tactic used by the communists in Thailand back in the 1970s and 1980s.

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The state of emergency for the greater Bangkok area was lifted today (Friday). I don’t know the exact reason, but a serious court challenge was brewing over it. It seems it’s the law that once a prime minister calls a state of emergency, he must consult with his cabinet and get their approval within three days. Abhisit waited four days. :smack: That may not sound like much, but it’s a major screw-up.

I can’t say I’ve noticed any difference with or without the emergency decree. All it means in real terms is no public gatherings of five or more people. I don’t usually gather to plot the overthrow of the government anyway. But the red shits … er, I mean the red shiRts have vowed to reappear in force once the decree is lifted, so we’ll see what happens.

As for that one red-shirt leader who has threatened geurrilla warfare, the other red shirts seem to be distancing themselves from him.

Although my understanding is there is no extradition treaty between Thailand and the UAE, Thailand did just formally submit an extradition request. Perhaps not coincidentally, Thaksin really has now just flown to Africa. He’s in Liberia. See here.

This one is good, too (satirical). :smiley:

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Very good. Your reports are likewise - Keep 'em coming.

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This report, about Sondhi being saved by used sanitary napkins, gives itself away by using the previous prime minister’s name as the police official. But this sort of thing is often very real. :smiley:

I heard from a reporter who claims there was some sort of red shirt versus yellow shirt brawl in Chachoengsao province in the past day or two. That’s very close to Bangkok. Not seen anything in the news about it, though.

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Just a small update. Now that the state of emergency has been lifted, the red shirts are planning to renew their rally today (Saturday).

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The renewed red-shirt rally was fairly uneventful. There were no phone-ins by Thaksin or any other leader.

Sondhi is out of the hospital, and the police say they’re “hot on the heels” of the would-be assassins.

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In addition to a Nicaraguan passport, it seems Thaksin also has a Montenegrin passport and used that one to enter Liberia. He’s also suspected of having a Cambodian passport. His wife reportedly returned to Thailand quietly from Hong Kong yesterday (Monday).

This is great. A pissed-off Thai woman who speaks English with an American accent has been trashing Thaksin on YouTube. She is very, very angry. See her here.

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:eek:

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Indeed. Viewing that video gives a better idea about how these sweet little things can so frequently end up taking a knife to their wayward husbands’ good fella. You don’t want to cross them. :smiley:

Yesterday (Wednesday), a member of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand’s board told me Special Branch police were raiding the local BBC offices at that moment, looking for information on the whereabouts of Jakraphob, the radical red-shirt leader still at large. They keep interviewing him. But I’ve not seen anything about that in the news or heard anything else.

Just so no one thinks Thaksin or the red or yellow or blue shirts finally got to me, the wife and I are headed upcountry in a couple of days for a week, and we’ll be incommunicado. As I wrote in the Pigeon thread:

“In a couple of days, the wife and I are heading down South for a week’s beach holiday. We’ll be on Railay Beach in Krabi province. It’s on the mainland but accessible only by boat, because steep limestone cliffs cut it off from the rest of the peninsula. It’s been called the most stunning beach location in all of Thailand, with emerald silk water punctured by surreal limestone formations. The cliffs make it one the world’s top rock-climbing spots, but you’d be more likely to see an elephant rock climbing than you would me. In fact, if I did rock climb, you might indeed think that was an elephant scaling the cliff. No, we may do a little sea kayaking and snorkelling, but mostly we’ll just hang out at the pool or on the beach, and I’ll be knocking back some brewskis. We’ve never been to Krabi before and are looking forward to it.”

I’ll still be here another day or so, but don’t worry when I disappear for a few days. :cool:

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Okay - we’ll start worrying after a few days

… or at the first report of a tsunami.

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Looking at the map, it appears the island province of Phuket plus at least one other fair-sized island blocks us from a tsunami. We won’t be able to see those from shore, but they’ll be standing guard. Indeed, during the big tsunami of 2004, part of Krabi province did get hit badly, notably Phi Phi Island, which is exposed down a bit farther south in the Andaman Sea. I don’t think Railay was much affected. We’ve chosen well. :smiley:

Just hope we don’t do a day trip to Phi Phi at the wrong time. :frowning:

As for the political strife, this new swine flu is taking up the news now. Referring to Thaksin, some say the swine already flew months ago. :smiley: