Yeah I just woke up, this real-life real-time drama on TV kept me awake the whole day from 5am to 5pm. I’m a big fan of 24 (the series), and this was just like that, and the only difference was that this was not in HD (high-definition) on Fox. Yeah, there were commercial breaks and people who appeared to cannot have been touched by the law (at least for now) were there, just like Jack Bauer.
The following events began happening at 5am.
The day started off with what appeared to have been armed protesters storming the NBT television. NBT is a government-owned television station viewed by many as nothing but a (serious) voice box for the current government, i.e. PTV funded with tax payers money. The local television appeared to show the police detaining the people who broke into the station just after 5am. The group of around 80 appeared to be armed with golf clubs, a few guns, a few knives and some drugs.
But if someone was going to be breaking into a compound to try and take it over, why would they bring drugs? And for the drugs they had, a few bottles of red bull would have done the same job anyway? So I think they may have been additionally staged by the Royal Thai Police (who are famous for doing things like that). Surely, they don’t represent the PAD protesters who are mostly middle-class 45+ years old? (See this). The NBT reporters at first appeared to be shaken as the struggle between the protesters for the control of the station began. After they felt they were safely broadcasting from an ‘undisclosed location’, the news readers appeared to be critical of the protesters again.
The rest of the day was then filled with those 45+ years old storming different key locations in Bangkok and are finally now camping in the gardens of the government house(!). Now, this is funny. Imagine protesters climbing over the fence into the white house to protest, because effectively, that’s what the government house is. I can’t see that happening with George Bush coming out to foreign media and saying “please, have sympathy for me, you see what I’m going through?”
The events yesterday showed many things. To the pro-Thaksin supporters, this was yet another attempt to bring down a government who are attempting to save their beloved Thaksin who is being trialed for unfairly (in their view). To the pro-democracy advocates and the west, this was yet another attempt to bring down an elected government by the more right-wing protesters not through democratic means, being pick-and-choose with democracy. To PAD, this was a major attempt (they call it whistle blow) to bring down the incompetent Samak government after 90ish days of constant protesting (and making their voice more heard). To the rest of the country, it’s another day in the deeply divided country.
To me, this showed that the government is really losing its grip and control and is actually really weak. What will happen now is quite unpredictable as Samak is known for his hot-tempered knee-jerk reactions, though the government keeping their patience so far is an odd but commendable act on their behalf.
Maybe Samak has been taking anger management lessons?
EDIT 1: Riot police have been geared up since 3am according to Matichon, some blood has been shed it says.
Tags: NBT, Samak, Yellow Shirts
[...] notes that Bangkok protesters who stormed the government house were mostly 45 year-old middle class [...]
[...] notes that Bangkok protesters who stormed the government house were mostly 45 year-old middle class [...]