Category: Bangkok

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Bangkok Thai politics Thailand

Red shirt protests: images from this evening

The latest news on the red shirt protests here in Bangkok is this: The army continues to enforce its blockade of the protest zone at Rajaprasong, in the center of the city. And demonstrators continue to attack the soldiers’ positions.

Here’s a recent AP story on failed talks between red leaders and the government.

I can now hear, off in the distance, pops and bangs coming from the Rama IV and Silom areas of the city, to the south of the protest site. This is, among other locations, where many of the clashes have occurred. Whether these sounds are from fireworks or gunfire is unclear to me.

In addition to other weapons, red shirts have been firing firecrackers and bottle rockets at the soldiers, and the army has been defending their positions with live fire.

For more on the situation, here’s a BBC gallery of images, and here are some photos at TIME.com from photographer James Nachtwey.

Also, this Atlantic piece sums up what’s happening in Thailand. And for an essay about the recent violence, I suggest checking out this NYT piece by Tom Fuller, who was near “Seh Daeng” when the rogue army general was shot last week.

On to the images.

I snapped most of these about five hours ago today (Tues.), just after 6 p.m. local time. I spent some time at the Rajaprasong stage — here’s what the crowd looked like at about 5:30 p.m. The numbers here have fallen over the past few days.

Stage at Rajaprasong, 5:30 p.m. May 18, 2010

Phloenchit Rd., looking up Langsuan


Standing from a barrier that the red shirts have constructed on Phloenchit Rd. to my right, here’s the view of Langsuan Rd.

Phloenchit Rd., looking up Soi Chidlom


Looking up Chidlom Rd.

Phloenchit Rd.: red shirt barricade and Wireless Rd. ahead


Looking up Phloenchit toward a second red shirt barrier on Wireless Rd. I was unable to identify the source of the smoke.

Phetburi Rd: barricade


A hastily snapped image of a barricade on Phetburi Rd. There has also been fighting in this area.

Phetburi Rd.: barricade


Another barrier on Phetburi Rd.

Phetburi Rd. -- army checkpoint


Approaching an army checkpoint on Phetburi Rd. and Nana.

Phetburi Rd. -- army checkpoint


Past the army checkpoint.

All of these images are in the full Flickr photoset.

As I noted at the time on Twitter, I later noticed that soldiers have set up a checkpoint with sandbags in the median of Phloenchit, near Mahatun Plaza.

More soon…

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Bangkok Thai politics Thailand

Map of Bangkok clashes as of Sat., May 15

Here’s a map that the Bangkok Post is running today. I couldn’t find this on their Web site, so I scanned it in.

It shows where the major violence took place yesterday. Click the image for a bigger version.

Bangkok map: red shirt clashes with army troops, May 15, 2010

Also, as a reminder, here’s the Google Map of protest sites, and here’s another map of red shirt-controlled areas.

The situation is obviously fluid; for real time updates, follow me on Twitter.

Map source: Bangkok Post.

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Bangkok Thai politics Thailand

Ongoing violence here in Bangkok

Still no time to blog, but I continue to post text and images to Twitter in real time. (Also, note that my list of Thailand Twitterers — 129 folks and growing — is here.)

Friends in the U.S. might hear a short radio piece I recently filed for ABC News Radio. And pals in Asia may see me on Channel NewsAsia.

More soon…

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Bangkok Thai politics Thailand

Today’s events here in Bangkok

Quite a day here in Bangkok. No time to write a detailed post at the moment, but you can see what I wrote throughout the day on Twitter.

Stay tuned…

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Bangkok Thai politics Thailand

Rogue army general Seh Daeng shot

Khattiya Sawasdipol — the rogue army general and red shirt leader better known as “Seh Daeng” — was shot in the head here in Bangkok last night. It’s unclear who is responsible for the shooting. He is in the hospital and is in critical condition.

Seh Daeng, whose nickname means “Commander Red,” is sympathetic to the red shirts and has been quite visible at the protest site, particularly near the bamboo barricade in Silom.

He has made provocative statements in the past, threatening violence against various figures and even recently falling out with and being marginalized by fellow red shirt leaders.

Tom Fuller of the IHT/NYT was interviewing Seh Daeng at the time the general was shot. Here’s the story. And here’s an accompanying photo gallery.

As you’ll recall, the government announced on Wed. that army forces would move to seal off the protest site at 6 p.m. yesterday. Authorities said that they would shut off power supplies, water, mobile phone service, and public transport at this time.

I was at Rajaprasong — where the main stage is set up — and toured Phetburi Rd., soi Chidlom, Sarasin Rd., and Silom between roughly 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. No army troops were visible then. (I posted a series of Tweets, and a few images, in real time last night.)

But soon Seh Daeng would be shot in Lumphini Park, on the southern edge of the protest site. And there further clashes broke out throughout the evening.

Afterwards, I made my back up to Rajaprasong, and although the power had been cut, the red shirt protests continued, thanks to electricity from generators.

For photos from the evening, check out Austin’s post, which includes an image of Seh Daeng not long before he was shot.

And for the latest info, here’s an AP story from today. And here’s a story from BBC News.

As ever, stay tuned. It seems likely that there will be additional clashes.

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Bangkok Thai politics Thailand

Images from red shirt demonstrations at Rajaprasong last week (and the latest news)

Below are some images of the red shirt demonstrations that I snapped on Friday, May 7. I haven’t had a chance to post these photos until now, but I thought they’d be helpful in providing a sense of how things looked at the red shirts’ protest site as of several days ago.

But first, the latest news: The government said today (Wed.) that at midnight tonight, it will cut off water, electricity, phone services, public transportation, and food deliveries to the Rajaprasong area in order to force red shirt protesters to disperse.

Here’s an NYT story with more details. And here’s a story from the BBC, as well as one from Reuters. For some analysis, I suggest checking out this post from BP about the current state of affairs.

On to the images from Friday. As I noted on Twitter at the time ((Yes, I also tweeted a Seh Daeng sighting…)), the red shirt protesters appeared as dug in — and as resolute — as ever. You get the sense, walking around, that — as they’ve shown — they’re there to stay, at least until they get what they (or the red shirt leaders) want.

The protest site, as I’ve told others, resembles a massive tent city. It is a demonstration site, yes. But it is also a village in and of itself. There are facilities for sleeping, bathing, eating, and sanitation. There are red shirt “guards” who control roads leading to and within the site (see image below).

There are tents with TVs and DVD players set up, where footage of the April 10 clashes are played on a loop. There are foot massage services. And in addition to every manner of red shirt merchandise being on sale, there are even mobile phone charging services (see image below).

The bamboo barricade, near Silom, wasn’t heavily manned when I was there; most demonstrators had pulled back several hundred meters away, toward Rajaprasong. Below are several photos; there are a few more in the complete Flickr photoset.

Stage at Rajaprasong

Shelter in Rajaprasong

People in Rajaprasong, outside CentralWorld mall

Improvised shelter at Rajaprasong, outside CentralWorld mall

Sign at Rajaprasong

Mobile phone charging service at Rajaprasong

Food deliver at Rajaprasong

Red shirt "guards"

Barrier in Silom

Barrier in Silom

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Bangkok Thai politics Thailand

Red shirts and Thai government: still at an impasse

Red Shirt leaders say they won’t leave the Rajaprasong protest site ((Again, Bangkok protest site maps are here and here. And my photos from Rajaprasong and elsewhere are here (May 1), here (April 6), and here (April 4).)) until an exact date for potential new elections is set. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva earlier proposed Nov. 14 for a new poll. ((Interestingly, I noticed earlier today that there is already a Wikipedia page called Thai general election, 2010.))

But the red shirts say they want to ensure that the Democrats’ coalition parties are on board with the plan, and the reds point out that only the election commission, not the PM, can call new elections. Red Shirt leaders also say they want to know the exact date that Parliament will be dissolved, which would determine the date for a new poll.

Meanwhile, the PAD — the yellow shirt group that shut down Bangkok’s international airport for a week in Nov. 2008 — have voiced their displeasure with Abhisit’s plan. They say he should step down if he cannot enforce the rule of law, and that he shouldn’t give in to the Reds’ demands.

Earlier, there was a sense that the red shirts might take the deal, and that it would be a few days until they dispersed. Not anymore.

Here are stories about the current state of affairs from the BBC, WSJ, and Reuters.

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Bangkok Thai politics

Bangkok’s red shirt protests on Google Maps

Here’s a Google Map of red shirt protest sites. The map (embedded below) also includes the locations of various clashes and blasts that have occurred here in Bangkok over the past weeks.

I can’t vouch for the accuracy of the points or the descriptions of the various incidents, but the map is helpful in gauging the scale of the space red shirts have occupied.

The map was created by Bangkok resident Richard Barrow, who has also been posting his observations about the protests on Twitter.


View Bangkok Dangerous – Red Shirts Rally March-April 2010 in a larger map

(Cross posted to TopicThailand.com.)

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Bangkok Thai politics Thailand

Explosions in Silom

Here are my images from the time I spent at Silom last night. I arrived not long after what authorities say was an M79 grenade exploded near the Dusit Thani hotel, in an area where pro-government demonstrators had been rallying.

This area is across an intersection from the red shirt barricade that I wrote about previously. (Compare this image from April 21 with this one from last night.)

The blast that happened here was one of a series of explosions that killed at least one person and injured at least 75. (Various sources are providing different numbers at this point.)

You can find more details by searching Google News or by checking out this story in the Bangkok Post.

I was concentrating on TV and radio work, so I didn’t have much time to snap many images. But these photos should give you a sense of what the scene looked like in the hours after the blast occurred.

For commentary on the evening, I suggest checking out this blog post from Andrew Marshall, who was there last night.

UPDATE: As Andrew points out, you can find some images from last night in this New York Times slide show.

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Bangkok Thai politics Thailand

Red shirts and pro-government demonstrators in Silom

Red shirt protesters, supporters of the government, and army troops have converged on an intersection in Silom, at the mouth of Bangkok’s financial district.

No violence has taken place, though when I was there, earlier this evening, there was some tension in the air. The red shirts were dancing to loud rock music, while the pro-government crowds across the intersection were themselves chanting and cheering

The red shirts with whom I spoke told me they are “defending” their main protest site, at the Rajaprasong intersection, after the soldiers were positioned in Silom. This came after red shirts leaders announced their plans to march to the area.

The reds have constructed a large barricade made of bamboo and automobile tires on the Lumphini Park side of Silom.

The demonstrators with whom I spoke said they did not possess guns or bombs, and that — as many of them have said to me in the past — they are fighting for democracy.

The anti-government “no color” demonstrators, meanwhile (see the last image below), were positioned on the Silom side of the intersection. They expressed their dislike for the red shirts, and collected money among themselves to buy water and food for the troops.

These “no colors” told me they love the king, and that Thaksin and the red shirts want to create a Thai republic.

Here are some images from tonight. And here’s the full photoset.

As a reminder, you can follow me on Twitter for real-time updates.

Update — April 22: fixed link to full photoset…