The Thais express their pride in having never been colonised by European powers with the phrase, “land of the free”. Tourists too seem to associate the phrase with the country but not quite accurately so. As is the misconception of the existence of a democracy for the LGBT community, Thailand is in fact not free from fights and its politics not free from protest. With no intention of undermining the sacrifices and significance of the history of protest in Thailand, but with every purpose of enlightening, here’s a mini description of the events that took place.
It began with Thaksin Shinawatra's Thai Rak Thai party (TRT) winning a landslide victory in the 2001 election. He was very popular among rural farmers and the urban middle class because he initiated policies that benefited them such as funding for health-care and education. Despite accusations of conflict of interest due to his family’s continued holdings in a telecoms business, Thaksin's re-election in 2005 had the highest voter turnout in Thai history.
The People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) soon gathered supporters including socialites, the Royal Thai Army, and members of the Thai royal family against the claim that Thaksin frequently insulted King Bhumibol. PAD’s movement only grew as Thaksin’s family sold their share in the business holdings. This was followed by protestors demanding for Thaksin to pay additional taxes although the SEC and Revenue Department saw no wrongdoing on Thaksin’s part. The protests escalated and in 2006, a coup was executed. The junta cancelled the elections, abrogated the Constitution, dissolved Parliament, banned protests, censored the media, declared martial law, and arrested Cabinet members. The PAD voluntarily dissolved after announcing that its goals had been accomplished. On the flipside, UDD and Thaksin supporters eventually began their mass protest to topple the ‘Elites or Nobles Regime’ (Amatyathipatai), accused of meddling with politics. This is considered a controversial issue for the monarchists or royalists as they saw the ‘anti-monarchists’ movement and ex-communist party members as an ‘anti-royalist’ movement.
So, at this point there are three key players: The ‘Yellow Shirts’ (PAD), with the group specifically choosing yellow, the colour of the King, to show their loyalty. Then there is the ‘Red Shirts’ made up of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) and Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship (DAAD). The ‘Red Shirts’ strongest support comes from the North of Thailand from where Thaksin originates. Finally, we have the Army of Thailand meant to stand on neutral political ground while having sworn allegiance to the King.
As a response to the overblown conflict, Thai soldiers in full combat kit used tear gas and fired rounds from automatic weapons to clear protesters from the Din Daeng intersection near the Victory Monument in central Bangkok, injuring at least 70 people. Human Rights Watch confirmed that there were some cases where the Army fired live ammunition directly at protesters, but that this only occurred when military forces approached protesters throwing Molotov bombs and improvised grenades, firing slingshots, and shooting guns at the troops.
Military action was not the end, though. The government ordered the blocking of a satellite news station and the shutdown of several community radio stations. This created a lot of inconvenience for protesters and by 2009, many protest leaders voluntarily gave themselves in to police, ending the violence. This, unfortunately, is not the end of political unrest in Thailand due to events in 2010 that led to a more critical situation. The current political situation in Thailand will be further described on Day 7.
As a final note, though the history of political protest in Thailand may be baffling and made overly complex, worry not about putting on red or yellow coloured shirts while exploring Thailand. Most locals are interested in the updates of this ongoing protest but are satisfied with their country without the intervention of the Red Shirts and Yellow Shirts. And I’d think that in this situation, the Thai people would say, “sabai sabai”.
Lee Jun-Elle, 21 is about to complete a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in Writing and Communication. She is very keen on visual stimulants and anything rusty with history.
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