For the last week, Bangkok has been the site of a large, continuous anti-government protest that has managed to shut down one of the city’s main thoroughfares, and claimed the job of a top government official. For those who don’t follow Thai politics (me, included): the group that has organized the protests, the People’s Alliance for Democracy [PAD], was behind the 2006 protests that set off the military coup against former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. This time the PAD is targeting the resignation of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej who, they claim, is a puppet of the former prime minister.
Yesterday, in a particularly extreme back-and-forth, Prime Minister Samak threatened to use force to disperse the protesters, and then backed down from the suggestion. Whatever his intentions, as of last night, there were more than 1000 riot police at the protests, and the protesters themselves were arming themselves for a defense.
Anyway, I don’t pretend to have any particular expertise in Thai politics (or culture), but I’m here (on something totally unrelated), and the protests are a mere fifteen minutes from my hotel. So, I went down to the demonstration.
I’ve seen all kinds of estimates for the size of this gathering. Some are as small as 1000, some as large as 10,000. The difficulty is compounded by the fact that the protest has been transformed into a small tent city that extends for several hundred meters on the medians that run the length of the boulevard that the protesters have shut down.
My rough estimate is that there are at least three hundred tents in the area. But there could be more. In either case, it’s difficult to photograph them in a line. So take this image and multiply by twenty. That’ll give you a rough feeling for what’s going on:
In the next image, note the pallets of water being unloaded and distributed to the “campers” for free. I have no idea who is paying for all of this (yes, of course, supporters of the PAD – but who are they?), but they aren’t being stingy, that’s for sure.
Further evidence of someone’s generosity: the free kitchens operating at a full-clip, serving food – for free – to whomever wants it.
In the next photo, note the bags of rice and the styrofoam coolers full of meat.
And, in the next image, even more vegetables …
Toward the back of the protest, a group of roughly twenty monks are arrayed around two television sets, watching coverage of the event.
Programming was provided courtesy of the monk’s very own satellite dish and power generator (housed in the back of an SUV). For what it’s worth, they were the only organized group in the area with such a set-up.
The protests are taking place beside the United Nations building. A group of protesters has taken advantage of this convenience, turning it into a gallery of anti-Samak Sundaravej banners.
A representative example:
If this all appears to add up to a festival more than a protest, well, that’s what it looked like to me, too. The lack of fear among the protesters was palpable. It’s no exaggeration to suggest that most people appeared to be having a genuinely good time. From my reading, though, this appears to be in stark contrast to last night when the crowd was prepping itself for an invasion by riot police. This afternoon, at least, the police presence was obvious, but very much removed from the heart of the protests. Here, a line of police behind a fence positioned directly behind the impromptu stage that is the protest’s focal point.
[The police didn’t mind my presence, but I wasn’t in the mood to test my luck by shooting a close-up.]
The Prime Minister’s office has announced today that it will require the protest to move, but that they no intention of forcing that move. It’ll be interesting to see how – or if – that resolves itself. It’s readily apparent to me that, with all of the “infrastructure” that the protesters have mustered to support themselves, a forcible dispersal would be ugly (what happens to all those tents, and the people in them?).
Adam – aren’t you supposed to be finishing a book?