The Asia-Pacific Journal | Japan Focus Volume 8 | Issue 18 | Number 1 | Article ID 3350 | May 03, 2010

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In Bangkok Many Reds Look Beyond Thaksin TowardRevolution

Andre Vltchek

In Bangkok Many Reds Look BeyondThaksin Toward Revolution: A PhotoEssay [updated]

Andre Vltchek from Bangkok

Imagine that you are Thai and poor, as mostpeople in this country still are. Imagine thatyou are aware of your social position, as mostpoor Thais are, and that you are educated andunderstand the complexities and hiddenmeanings of political life of your country, whichmost Thais do not. You have basically twoalternatives if suicide or emigration is not theoption: to support the outrageously elitistaristocracy and the army (many of whosemembers now paint themselves yellow) whosegoal i s to preserve soc ie ty ’s feudalarrangements, or support the business tycoonaccused of tremendous corruption (his peopleare painted red). If you can’t chose betweenthese two camps, you are out of luck – nothingelse is on the menu.

Applying Marxist logic, the natural evolution ofthe society is from feudalism to earlycapitalism, from there to developed capitalismand then, somehow, to socialism.

In Thailand, as in most of Southeast Asia,however, the hybrid of feudalism, royalism andcapitalism is now firmly in place. For theelites, the critical goal is to retain theirexclusive social and economic position in asociety with an enormous divide between therulers and the majority. It is not just money.Equally important is their exclusive status. Forthat they will fight, manipulate and even killthousands.

No writer, above all one who is based inSoutheast Asia, can publish a full and honestaccount of what is happening in Thailand – onefree of self-censorship. There are some figuresin this country that cannot even be mentionedin connection with anything negative, let alonebe criticized. Those who dared to speak andwrite ended up in this nation’s notoriousprisons, an outcome which guarantees brokenhealth.

It is a well-designed system, which guaranteesthat no citizen and no journalist living orworking here will dare to speak up. Thailandoffers great rewards to those who choosesilence – high quality of life, cheap food, cheapsex and glorious massages, luxurious andaffordable serviced apartments and white sand(although increasingly polluted) beaches. Noplace in Europe or North America offers suchbliss for so little cash.

Thailand as a service station for soldiers,business people, foreign press and foreignNGO’s – that was the design developed by thewest with Thai collaborators since thebeginning of the Vietnam War. The US helpeddesign the present system of power (earlier,the throne was becoming virtually irrelevant).

Thailand became an important base for USforces fighting in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia,with the Thai military dutifully serving itssuperpower patron. To serve US troops, tens ofthousands of poor Thai women were moved tothe brothels of Pattaya and elsewhere. Fiercerepression of communists and other leftistsfollowed.

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One coup after another devastated the country,but Bangkok was hosting an increasing numberof foreign international organizations, NGOsand press agencies. They came fully aware thatno criticism of the monarchy would betolerated, that Thailand as a staunch Cold Warally, would not allow fundamental dissent. Themanufacturers of public opinion (the media) aswell as NGOs operating in the region and basedin Thailand embraced the political mood fortheir own purposes.

With Thailand playing a signature role in theUS-Vietnam War, the nation was subject to anopenly undemocratic system, repeated coups,gross violations of human rights of itsminorities (some even denied Thai citizenship)and growing sacrifice of its – mostly rural –underclass.

Things began to change when business tycoonThaksin Shinawatra became Prime Minister in2001. His business-oriented pragmatism wasprogressive compared to the stale rule offormer elites. He knew that for Thailand tocompete with China, Europe or Japan, itneeded healthy and educated workers andfarmers. During his rule, the quality ofeducation improved dramatically and Thailandintroduced a 30 baht (lesser than US$1) pervisit medical care system – one of the best inthe developing world. Under his 4-year rule,rural poverty was reduced by half – atremendous boost for the majority but anunforgivable crime in the eyes of the ‘chosenfew’. Soon he was seen as a national hero bythe poor and as the archenemy by the elites.

It is not that Thaksin was a saint or even adetermined defender of the poor. He didn’thesitate to ‘clean’ the streets of Bangkokduring the APEC meeting (October 2003),basically deporting the homeless from thecapital to the military barracks. His war ondrugs cost at least 2.000 lives, allegedly manyof them innocent. During his reign, the conflict(or call it Civil War) in the predominantly

Muslim South escalated.

But he was popular and winning against allodds in the confrontation with ‘traditionalvalues’ (read: feudalism). And his country wasbecoming more egalitarian, scrutinizing itstraditional rules.

On 19 September 2006 a military junta callingitself the Council for National Securityoverthrew Thaksin's government while he wasabroad.

What followed is well-documented: militaryrule, ‘return to democracy’ in which the pro-Thaksin party won again, Thaksin’s brief returnhome and further exile, banning of his rulingparty by the Supreme Court, and on 26February 2010, seizure by the Supreme Courtof 46 billion baht of his frozen assets. Theformer Prime Minister became a nomad, livingin Dubai, returning to Southeast Asia viaPhnom Penh, allegedly holding Montenegrincitizenship.

But through it all, his supporters refused togive up, regrouping and rearranging theirbases and strategies, finally uniting under whatis now known as the Red Shirts.

The Standoff

Returning again to Thailand, including severaldays in Bangkok and long hours sharing spacewith the Red Shirts, my instinct, not hardevidence, dictates that I write these lines: theprobably inevitable show-down that is nowapproaching, probably in a matter of days,perhaps even hours, is not about ThaksinShinawatra. His name and his image are justamong the rallying cries and they arediminishing rapidly.

The people of Thailand - men and women - whocame to risk their lives, blocking majorintersections in the commercial district, arehere to demand justice. Their color is red andred stars now decorate their hats. There are

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more red stars on the streets controlled bythem than images of the deposed PrimeMinister. This is another fact widely ignored byforeign media.

Protesters may not know it themselves, butwhat brought them here are the samegrievances and hopes that brought people tothe streets of Santiago de Chile in 1970,celebrating the victory of Salvador Allende; thesame hopes and grievances that brought HugoChavez and Evo Morales to power a fewdecades later.

They want free medical care and free qualityeducation for their children. They wantsubsidized housing. And they don’t want toprostrate at the feet of superiors as they werelong forced to do.

There is nothing more powerful than to seeThai peasants camping in front of Chloe, Dior,Gucci and other luxury stores, to claim theirspace and offer their lives for this badly definedbut spontaneous revolution.

This rebellion may be crushed tomorrow,coloring Bangkok’s river and canals red withprotesters’ blood, but it can also change thecourse of the history of all Southeast Asia, aregion where neo-colonial interests combinedwith brutal and feudal inertia held entirenations in thrall – a state of affairs supremelycomfortable for expatriates, representatives offoreign companies, sexual tourists and a servilepress, but degrading for the majority ofinhabitants.

When Franco’s fascists encircled Madrid,Czech troops that joined the Republicans usedto say: “In Madrid we are fighting for Prague.”There is no doubt that any fight against fascismis international, it is global. Today, Red Shirtsare standing guard at their makeshiftbarricades, built symbolically in front of thecountry’s major luxury malls. They are here,and some of them may die soon, for theircountry and social justice for their own people,

but without realizing it they may also die forManila and Jakarta.

What was triggered by a pragmatic, oftencynical Prime Minister and business maverickaccelerated and gained a momentum of its own.Today, many Red Shirts are ready to fightagainst feudalism, not for the return of acapitalist tycoon.

Several years ago, in Montevideo, the greatUruguayan writer and icon of the LatinAmerican Left – Eduardo Galeano – told me:“The most terrible crime that could becommitted against the poor is to steal theirhope. It is even worse than murder. Becausehope is often all that poor people have left.”

In the last years, hope was stolen from the Thaipoor on several occasions. And the Day ofJudgment for that crime is approaching.

Red Thailand: a Photo Essay

I The Red Shirts Defenses

Red Shirts control several key streets incommercial district. This is one of the

entrances to their territory, near new ArtCenter.

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Checkpoint erected by the Red shirts.

Makeshift barricade - bamboo and barbed wire.Visible are sharpened bamboo spears that

could be used as weapons.

The barricade.

II Life on the Streets

At the entrance to the closed Siam Paragon –Thailand’s most luxurious mall.

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Elites fume - this posh Sukumvit Street haslong been their playground.

Red women and men bathe in the middle of theonce luxury street.

Red Shirts squatting at night in front ofLoewe’s.

Watching a film about state brutality.

III Media War and Propaganda

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Crimes allegedly committed recently by thestate .

The current Prime Minister as a vampire.

The current Prime Minister as Adolf Hitler.

Elephants join the fight for democracy too - RedShirt poster attached to the tail of elephant

statue on Siam Square.

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Official program of the Red Shirts.

Thai cameraman ready for action.

The main rallying cry of Red Shirts - PeacefulProtesters Not Terrorists.

IV The Military

Hoping not to be ordered to shoot his ownpeople.

Searching for enemies.

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Soldiers at key intersections.

V The Red Shirts/The People

Buddhist monk shows allegiance in fashionableSiam Square.

Natthawut Saikua, a leader of theRed Shirts on the night of 28 April.

Red star - not Thaksin - a portrait of arevolutionary.

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Memories of times past - hat with Viet Namworn by Red Shirt protester.

Thai helps Thai - Red Shirt medic treats ayoung girl.

2 May 2010

VI. Red Shirts

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VII. The State

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Andre Vltchek is a novelist, filmmaker andjournalist, presently residing in and working onAsia and Africa. His latest book, Oceania, wasrecently published by Expathos and can ber e v i e w e d a n d o r d e r e d h e r e(http://www.amazon.com/Oceania-André-Vltchek/dp/1409298035/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272631168&sr=8-2). His website ishere (http://andrevltchek.weebly.com/).

He wrote and photographed this article for TheAsia-Pacific Journal.

Recommended citation: Andre Vltchek, "InBangkok Many Reds Look Beyond ThaksinToward Revolution," The Asia-Pacific Journal,18-1-10, May 3, 2010.

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For another report from inside Thailand see

Joshua Kurlantzick, It’s Not Just Red andYellow (http://www.newsweek.com/id/237214).

(http://www.amazon.com/Oceania-André-Vltchek/dp/1409298035/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272631168&sr=8-2)

Click on the cover to order.