Thai Rak Thai II

I continued to maintain an active communication with my brother in Thailand. I am deadly worried as I really know how bad the situation could turn out to be when military and police are less than committed. Four days period asked by PM Abhisit, perhaps, are too short a period for normalcy to return when I was told that there are at least 50,000 more people are coming down to Bangkok this week.

I was told that hundreds of soldiers advanced against the crowd at a major road junction close to the landmark Victory Monument, also at Din Daeng intersection – the first serious clash after weeks of mass protests. Live rounds were fired.

There have been 18 coups since World War 2 and closer to my memory were (i) 1976 when the army unleashed the paramilitaries, and used the resultant orgy of violence, in which hundreds of students were tortured and killed, to suspend the constitution and resume power and ones (ii) the Bloody May of which Suchinda brought military units personally loyal to him into the city and tried to suppress the demonstrations by force, leading to a massacre in the heart of the city in which hundreds died. The Navy mutinied in protest, and the country seemed on the verge of civil war.

In my view, the current saga in Thailand is a continuation of episode in September 2006 when the then prime minister Thaksin in New York for a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, Army Commander-in-Chief Lieutenant General Sonthi Boonyaratglin launched a successful coup 'd'etat. The political crisis will continue as I would not be surprise if one could not see peaceful resolution until the King Bhumibol intervened like the conclusion of bloody May’s episode when the King summoned Suchinda and Chamlong to a televised audience, resulted in Suchinda's resignation.

Lets face it, there’s not much love in Thailand for Prime Minister Abhisit or his government at the moment. All the innuendo and political debate aside the new government is in a very precarious position. The government while wanting to show that it is willing to hear the peoples concerns has also shown it’s weakness in doing so. The longer this goes on the chances that the violence between these two groups will escalate again is a given.

No matter what is the outcome, I will defend my family. At time of writing, I have made necessary contacts and arrangements to get my brother out of this predicament. Monetary losses are secondary, and it remains a challenge to mobilize all possible resources in times of uncertainty. Airports across the country, key roads leading out of Bangkok will be closely monitored and best case scenario is moving south with minimal entourage. God bless Thai!