Today's Thai Thought

Here are some final random thoughts for today on Thai protests:

1) Thai people don't seem to be so accepting any more. By that i mean the old idea of knowing your position on the ladder is giving way to 'why can't I ....?'

2) Don't try and tell me that closing Siam Paragon, CentralWorld, and my favorite mall, Gaysorn, hurts everyone in Thailand. The wealthy always try to fashion some 'trickle-down' argument. Does your average Isaan farmer care about Marc Jacobs or the next MenInTrend fashion competition? There are probably gay Isaan farmers, yeah?

3) A couple weeks ago, Prime Minister Abhisit appeared in live televised talks with the Red Shirt leaders. In the first episode, Mr. Abhsit sat in harsh lighting and the age spots were visible on his skin. He looked tired and disinterested. The next day, Mr. Abhisit's face was much whiter, much more clear. He looked less tired, but rarely (only if he was talking) made eye contact with the red shirt representatives. After those meetings, the red shirts began traveling Bangkok, causing havoc and ultimately taking another major intersection downtown. Did Mr. Abhisit also lose popularity?

4) After those talks, the situation has deteriorated. As of today, 19 people are dead and hundreds injured after the weekend's violence, now supposedly caused by 'terrorists' as some people say.

5) The Bangkok Post can no longer continue to paint the red shirts as purely unreasonable rebel rousers. The foreign media is beginning to take interest after the violence and killings over the weekend. See cnn.com, reuters.com, npr.org, and nytimes.com.

6) To me, the Bangkok Post has lost all journalistic integrity. Its stories are consistently slanted against red shirt protesters. Moreover, stories never seem to question the Prime Minister's leadership. Peaceful solution? Ok. Talks? Sounds good. Raid the protest site? You had to do it. It also gets me that their stories on the current conflict never have an attributed writer. Everything is done by Bangkokpost online. Why is that?

7) There does always seem to be some good reason that the government could not adequately address the red shirt 'nonsense,' as my bus attendant so put it. No one asks why soldiers were supposed to fire live bullets in the air (!). No one wants to know why the red shirts were ready to fight. The Bangkok Post seems to believe, as cited by the Foreign Minister and Red Shirt leaders, that there was some kind of terrorist killing people downtown. This does seem to be a convenient way to explain a pitched battle that could border on civil war. I mean if there were terrorists, foreigners and Thai would be alot more secure investing here, right?

8) I love how the Thai Foreign Minister, Kasit Piromya, blames all the countries that have 'harbored' Thaksin for the violence that occurred over the weekend. What am I supposed to tell my students the next time they blame someone else for their performance?

9) Is there anyone out there that can brainstorm? Can someone come up with a political solution that addresses the impasse? Elections now, sixth months from now? Is there another idea? I'll try one for you, then if you want, come up with one yourself. If Abhisit resigns now, elections in sixth months (no law changes), while the King serves as Prime Minister for the sixth month period.

10) I keep thinking about that scene near Khao San Road last weekend. I wasn't there, but I think about the people that lost their lives.