Embedded above and on YouTube here: the Thai Navy’s version of PSY’s “Gangnam Style.”
I miss Thailand.
(Via @Journotopia.)
UPDATE: Phuket Gazette has the backstory.
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Category: Thailand
Events in Bangkok yesterday provided a reminder of ongoing political tensions in Thailand, with rival red shirt and yellow shirt supporters involved in street clashes.
The Bangkok Post reports:
Confrontations between the red- and yellow-shirt groups are likely to intensify after yesterday’s clash outside the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) left scores of people from both sides injured.
The clash erupted around noon during a stand-off between red shirts and yellow shirts who had gathered outside the CSD.
Tensions escalated about 11am when a group of yellow shirts smashed the windshield of a truck belonging to red-shirt radio station FM90.25.
An ensuing scuffle left red-shirt member Visorndaeng Traisuwaan, 35, with a head injury.
A yellow-shirt member, Chatchai Sutheesopon, 48, who was accused of carrying a hand gun by the red shirts, also suffered a head injury after he was hit in the back of the head during the scuffle. Police who searched him later found no weapons on him.
The Post says the unrest began when yellow shirts gathered to support an ex-teacher who had accused a prominent red shirt, Darunee Kritbunyalai, of lèse-majesté. The red shirts, meanwhile, had assembled to support Darunee.
The story continues:
The ugly confrontation carried on for about two hours before supporters of Ms Manasnant began to retreat to nearby department stores, seeing they were outnumbered by red shirts whose numbers grew with new arrivals.
The stand-off ended about 3pm after the area around the CSD compound along with most of Bangkok was hit by heavy downpours.
You can see some photos and a video of the clashes in a Thai Rath video, which is embedded above and on YouTube here. Things heat up a couple of minute in. Thai Rath also has a story (in Thai) here.
A brief ABC Australia report puts the numbers of protesters at 200 per camp.
Elsewhere, a Bangkok Post editorial headlined “Minor clash, strong message” says:
The confrontation, which culminated in a clash, appeared to be intentional. Both sides used their social media to advise their members for days about a scheduled meeting between a lawyer of the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) and Crime Suppression Division (CSD) officers on a defamation case.
And:
“The situation was contained, but what will happen if the situation goes out of control next time,” said Thawee Surarittikul, a political analyst at Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University.
“Both sides are waiting for an issue which could be a trigger point leading to a bigger protest,” he said.
The clashes seem notable to me in part because they involve red shirts and yellow shirts in direct confrontation. We often see these factions rallying separately, without engaging one another.
(Thai Rath links via BP.)
Bloomberg interviewed Thailand’s former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and has run two stories that are worth a look.
The pieces are here:
Former Thai Premier Thaksin Shinawatra said his sister’s government will avoid conflicts like those that led to his ouster in a 2006 coup, even as it presses ahead with efforts to curb the power of the courts.
…and here:
Any changes to a Thai law that protects Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej and other royal family members from insults should come from his advisers, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said.
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Will Bangkok Flood Again This Year?
It’s possible, says one expert in Thailand.
But a look at water levels in Thailand’s dams reveals that they seem to have plenty of capacity at this point.
A story in today’s Bangkok Post says:
Bangkok is at risk of flooding from heavy downpours caused by an unusually lengthy monsoon trough period and an imminent storm early next month, an expert has warned.
Run-off from the North, which last year left parts of the capital submerged, will only worsen the flooding because the real threat this year is rain that may overwhelm the current inadequate drainage system in the capital, said Thanawat Charupongsakul, a disaster and geographic expert at Geology Department of Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, yesterday.
The city has so far not released enough water from canals to the extent done back in 2006 when canals were left with plenty of capacity to hold floodwater, he said.
“To make things worse, City Hall has still not stopped quarrelling with the government over flood management,” he said.
(Indeed, during my reporting on last year’s inundation, some experts told me that a major problem was a lack of coordination between government agencies.)
And:
Mr Thanawat is most worried about October because that is when run-off from the North and high tides increase the water level in the Chao Phraya River.
The city’s river embankment is about 2.5m above mean sea level, but provinces upstream, especially those with industrial estates, have built and increased the heights of their levees and flood walls, so the run-off will be blocked and eventually move toward Bangkok
I understand that substantial work has, in fact, been done to fortify flood defenses around some industrial estates. So it makes sense that areas farther downstream could be at risk as water is displaced.
Meanwhile, Bangkok Pundit has an extensive post today on water levels in Thailand’s various dams.
(Some say a problem in 2011 was that not enough water had been discharged from such dams earlier in the year, meaning they were largely full when the heavy rains started and could not be used to retain excess water.)
The conclusion:
Simply put, while we still need to keep an eye on heavy rainfall which can cause flash floods, we don’t have the level of water entering the river system from the North and the Central regions that we did last year. Until this happens (which BP thinks is still very unlikely for this year), the risk of severe flooding is very low.
Ultimately, water management is a complex issue. But Bangkok drainage mechanisms, coordination among agencies, and water levels in dams seem to be key components.
(Bangkok Post link via @kmorit.)
Remember my Wall Street Journal story about all things vintage Thailand?
If you’re interested in hearing more on the topic, you can listen to me being interviewed by Terry Travis, host of the Azumano Travel Show (AM 860 KPAM, Portland, Oregon). We chatted not long ago for a segment that ran last weekend.
Click through to listen. The interview lasts just under eight minutes.
I know I said I wouldn’t be posting anything until next week, but I wanted to break my brief radio silence to point out that I have a story online and in the print edition of today’s Wall Street Journal Weekend Journal.
It’s called “Exploring Thailand’s Taste for Nostalgia,” and features some excellent photos by Luke Duggleby. Check it out online here, or grab a copy of today’s WSJ Asia Edition.
Here’s a reminder — as if any were needed — of how influential (and controversial) Thaksin Shinawatra remains here in Thailand.
Apparently national police chief Priewpan Damapong recently paid a visit to the exiled former prime minister in Hong Kong. Priewpan was reportedly on holiday and wanted to visit Thaksin — his ex-brother-in-law — on the ousted PM’s birthday.
Priewpan is now taking heat for the one-day trip, with Thaksin critics saying the visit was unethical — and that Priewpan should have arrested Thaksin.
The Bangkok Post reports today:
National police chief Priewpan Damapong has come under fire after leaving the country to meet fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in Hong Kong.
Anti-Thaksin critics said Pol Gen Priewpan either breached the law or seriously violated professional ethics in failing to arrest the former leader.
As national police chief, Pol Gen Priewpan had to arrest Thaksin when he met him, they claimed.
Thaksin is in self-imposed exile to escape a two-year prison term for helping his wife purchase a plot of state land in Bangkok during his stint as premier.
Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung Wednesday responded to the criticism saying he did not think Pol Gen Priewpan violated any law by meeting his former brother-in-law, who is celebrating his 63rd birthday in Hong Kong today.
“Why was it inappropriate?” Mr Chalerm shot back when asked to comment by reporters.
He said Pol Gen Priewpan had taken leave to travel to Hong Kong, and could not be considered to have failed to perform his duty because the national police chief had no duties to perform overseas.
“Our laws do not apply in Hong Kong,” Mr Chalerm said.
There’s more from The Nation.
There are stories on this news today from The Bangkok Post:
The yellow-shirt People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) has warned the government that it will stage a mass rally if the reconciliation bills are not withdrawn when the parliament reconvenes on Aug 1.
…as well as The Nation:
The People’s Alliance for Democracy Tuesday called on Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and Parliament President Somsak Kiatsuranon to withdraw the contentious reconciliation bills to ease the political tensions.
“If the bills are still on the agenda for the next Parliament session convening on August 1, PAD will stage a rally,” PAD spokesman Panthep Puapongpan said after a meeting of the group’s leaders.
…and MCOT:
Yellow Shirt activists of the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) threatened Tuesday to rally unless the reconciliation bills currently before Parliament are withdrawn within seven days.
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Fabio Polenghi Inquest Begins
The AP reported yesterday:
An inquest began Monday into the death of an Italian photographer killed two years ago as troops quashed a protest by anti-government “Red Shirts” who had occupied a central Bangkok intersection for several weeks.
The sister of slain photojournalist Fabio Polenghi was one of two witnesses to testify in the effort to see who was responsible for the killing on May 19, 2010. Elisabetta Polenghi has visited Thailand several times since her brother’s death to try to secure justice.
Polenghi was shot as he tried to take pictures of the army’s assault on the encampment of Red Shirts, who wanted then-Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to step down. At least 91 people were killed during two months of political violence that swept through the Thai capital. They included two journalists, Polenghi and Reuters cameraman Hiroyuki Muramoto.
And:
Several investigations, including some by police, determined that many victims were probably killed by soldiers, but no definitive legal findings have been made. Separate public and private investigations into the deaths of the journalists found that evidence suggested they were killed by government forces, but they were not conclusive.
Meanwhile, AFP has a story saying a police official told the inquest he thinks Polenghi was hit by gunfire from the army:
Government troops are believed to have shot an Italian photographer who was killed during mass opposition street protests in 2010 in Bangkok, police told an official inquest in Thailand on Monday.
Police Colonel Suebsak Pansura, who is heading a team investigating the case, said they had questioned 47 witnesses and experts over the death of Fabio Polenghi and gathered evidence to submit to prosecutors.
“The conclusion found that the cause of his death was believed to have been a gunshot from the authorities on duty,” he told Bangkok’s Criminal Court on the opening day of the inquest.
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Thein Sein in Thailand
Bloomberg says:
Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said her government was committed to seeing “concrete progress” in the development of the $8.6 billion Dawei port and industrial zone in neighboring Myanmar.
Thailand and Myanmar agreed to hold ministerial-level meetings starting next month to push forward with the project, Yingluck told reporters in a joint briefing with Myanmar President Thein Sein today in Bangkok.
Developer Italian-Thai Development Pcl (ITD) has found it difficult to secure funds for the project at Dawei, which sits about 350 kilometers (219 miles) west of Bangkok. The company is courting Japan to secure $12.5 billion in loan agreements this year to build the port, roads, power plants and a railway, Chairman Premchai Karnasuta said on Dec. 26.
And:
Thein Sein arrived yesterday for a three-day trip and visited Laem Chabang port, near Thailand’s biggest industrial zone that companies such as Ford Motor Co. (F) (F) and Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) use as a production base. Thailand and Myanmar plan to link Laem Chabang with Dawei, and may open three more permanent checkpoints on their shared border, Yingluck said.
There’s also a story today from The Bangkok Post. And the AP had a piece yesterday.