absolutelyBangkok archive · News & Media
Originally published March 10, 2010
Can’t count the cancellations of events for this weekend anymore. Everyone’s postponing. Parties, receptions, trips, they have to wait. The Thai capital is in the grip of the red shirts without them yet being here. Parts of Bangkok will be deserted, others rather not. Speculation is the government will issue a curfew from Friday onwards, but that would show that they don’t have the ability to control the masses.
The red protest is no longer a protest. It’s a mobilization of hope for some, victory seems near, of utter discomfort for others. Maybe we have never seen as many reds united, but they’re not here to make new friends. Make no mistake. This is no protest per se. The Shinawatras have fled the country already — flown out for business as papa Thaksin’s said on Twitter -, and Newin’s in London to see his kids.
Thaksin’s foot soldiers — how many?! — are marching, some of them unsure and scared themselves, while many people’s color of the day is no longer red or yellow, but white, the color of peace, purity and cleanness — illusory concepts in current Thailand. There is so much rumor, speculation and uncertainty all around, nobody has a clue what’s going on and what will happen. If this confusion is an intention of the red shirts, then well done, you won your first battle.
Seems like the army is moving heavy gear from Kanchanaburi toward Bangkok, while the kingdom’s newspapers on Tuesday published a photo (see the Bangkok Post ’s below) whose significance only Thais can truly feel and understand: Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva not only briefing His Majesty the King, but with the prime minister at the same head height as the king. A very clear message.
What the Post didn’t print:
Here’s the full video:
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