Like going to the movies

OK, this is the new blockbuster, that’s Thaksin on the right. Seh Daeng (I think) on the left, the others Reddo leaders. The Thais are passing this poster around on the internet. A loose translation of some of the poster text is below.

GARBAGE
An Alliance of Offal

Evil by nature?
Or did they become sociopaths just because of the one man, Thaksin?

Good questions. These will be presumably be answered if we just stick around and watch the movie. I expect to do just that.

Things are finally getting cleared up in Bangkok, and we’ll be back much closer to normal soon, that seems likely. How long it will last is another issue, depends on 1) whether the Reddies cook up another opportunity to hold up the stage and 2) whether the government is savvy enough to head ‘em off at the pass.

I have to say I’m impressed with Aphisit. Cool under pressure.

Here’s an indication: Take the moniker CRES, it’s short for “Center for Resolution of the Emergency Situation.” In Thai it is shortened to ศอฉ, pronoucned “saw aw chaw,” short for ศูนญ์ – อำนวยการแก้ไขสถานการณ์ - ฉุกเฉิน. The Thais who were sick of Aphisit waiting so long to move against the Reddies changed the meaning of the initials to ศูนญ์ – อภิสิทธิเ - ฉย, or “Center For Aphisit Just Sitting There.” But he just hung in and took the body blows, knew how long it was going to take even if they didn't, and in the end, hey, it got done, and done right.

One of the editorials they had us read in Intensive Thai was about how Aphisit kept asking the people to have patience, while nothing happened. The title of the paper is really untranslateable, but would be something like “The Government Does SomeNothing!” Asking for patience and repeating “trust me” isn’t enough, they were saying. The Reddies had been calling for his head forever. Then the Yellers joined in. And people from some of the little parties jumped on the bandwagon with “resign, resign!”

I was as itchy as anyone else to get those squatters out of there. It was like having a bunch of hoodlums and con artists move into your living room and saying, “there’s a problem with the deed on this house, and we’ll stay till it’s cleared up and you’re gone.”

But Aphisit was thinking. He said repeatedly that while getting the Reddies out was necessary, the most important thing was the welfare of the whole country. So he waited until they themselves were getting quite uncomfortable from sitting outside every day in the heat, and then offered them a way out, which gave them more than he wanted to give, but would have allowed them to save face . . . see my earlier post. This was statesmanship. It would have solved the local problem and allowed the differences to get sorted out in an election, and everyone could have come away feeling they’d gotten something.

He knew also that if they didn’t take it, he’d have to move. But the game was clear: they’d try to get the government to kill people, then scream bloody murder. It had already happened on April 10. So he took no chances. He made a plan and made the military rehearse it again and again.

His “roadmap” plan was received well by everyone, and for a few minutes everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The beauty of it was that if the other side turned it down, they couldn’t claim to hold the high ground any more.

So what happened? In the end, the Reddies turned it down (by attaching conditions, see earlier posts), and because there was no fresh blood, they screamed murder about April 10 once more. It’s true that the world press was, by and large, fooled by this charade, but in the end, the Thai army behaved with great discipline, the only ones hurt as far as we know were Reddie thugs and people the Reddies themselves killed. The forensic scientist/medical examiner on the case is Maw Phonthip, a flamboyant personality well known as a whistle-blower, and in my mind above reproach. You can trust what she says about the deaths, just wait for the report. If the government says something untrue, you can bet she’ll jump all over it.

Meanwhile, Aphisit was on TV often, carefully explaining his case. And CRES was on every night, showing a very human face. I was glad I understood Thai, it made all the difference. It seemed pretty obvious that the journalists of the world press weren’t watching. As Somtow pointed out, that press doesn’t speak Thai, and the government doesn’t do much PR in English.

What impressed me is that these people (CRES) came across not with the face of officialdom going through the motions of providing dry facts, but as real people. Serious and earnest, they gave detailed information about what the rules of engagement were, what had happened recently, what they were encountering, and how the other side was reacting, but they were also emotionally moved by the situation, and tried hard to reassure the Thai people that they were being and would be careful. You could see it in the deep “wai” some of them would give before and after the address, or in a little jump in the throat when they talked about bringing harmony back to the country (“which is home to us all”), anyhow it all resonated with me. I just hope most people all over the country, of all political beliefs, were watching.

The leaders had told the three thousand or so remaing “peaceful protesters” (the ones whose duty it was to sit in front of the stage and clap all day every day) that when the soldiers came they would be killed, so to take refuge in a temple (wat) near the protest site. When the soldiers finally came they had to take several hours to get in because the peaceful ones that had guns started a firefight with them. And when the troops finally made it in they found 6 corpses. Rumors flew that the Reddie guards had shot them when they’d tried to leave the compound, but let’s let Maw Phonthip do her work, we should have an idea soon. The troops sent unarmed women soldiers into the wat to reassure the people that nothing would happen to them, then escorted them out to the waiting fleet of air-conditioned busses that would take them back to their home towns.

It was especially sad to see an old lady crying, between defiant assertions, “We haven’t lost. We can’t lose. We’ll rise again.” Again, I had thoughts of cults and true believers. Well, these folks had been getting forced indoctrination, the same lies drummed in day after day after day.

So, were there heroes here? I think so. What do you think? And villains?

Oh, BTW, here’s the sequel to “Garbage.” That’s Thaksin in front, with the gun. The official title on the poster translates something like “The Brutal Lizard Face.”
It's actually worse than that, as calling a Thai guy "lizard face" is just about the worst thing you can say to him.

So since Thaksin thinks he’s such a great nonviolent, spiritual leader of the people I think I’ll offer an idea for another title/subtitle: “Gandhi II: He’s Back! And This Time, He’s MAD!” Weird Al never made the movie, right? So why not?

But seriously, folks, this has been a good five-day rant. I may take a break tomorrow, or . . . who knows? If the air is fresh, and the spirit sings . . . we shall see! I still have to tell you about the Communist Conspiracy! Required reading is what pops up when you click on the link. But for now, class dismissed. Next post, What really happened?