Nationalist yellow shirts invade mini-temple site
The People’s Alliance for Democracy didn’t manage to get all the way to Preah Vihear Temple about 10 days ago. That was embarrassing for the Democrat Party-led government and Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, especially as PAD were particularly aggressive and violent toward locals. Now with Hun Sen and Abhisit rattling sabers, and with Abhisit having begged PAD to back off, the PAD supporters decided to take over the mini-Preah Vihear Temple at the mini-Thailand deep into Thai territory at Samut Prakarn.
Prachatai (1 October 2009: “PAD vow to reclaim Thai soil at miniature Preah Vihear”; 30 September 2009: พันธมิตรฯ อ่านแถลงการณ์ทวงคืนแผ่นดินไทยที่เขาพระวิหาร [จำลอง]) reports that about 500 yellow shirts arrived at the Ancient City tourist site, read a statement, raised the Thai flag and sang the national anthem. It isn’t clear if they actually invaded, were invited or paid the admission fee. PPT imagines that the somewhat eccentric founder of this site, Lek Viriyaphant, who is said to have made his millions when he was, for many years, the exclusive Mercedes Benz dealer in Thailand, would not have been too put off by rabid nationalists.
The yellow-shirted nationalists, led by Veera Somkwamkid, who also led the violent rally at Srisaket, “vowed to do everything within the bounds of the law to reclaim the Thai territory surrounding Preah Vihear, and prosecute those responsible for the loss of territory and the intrusion.” They also “demanded the departure of the Cambodian people who had intruded onto Thai soil, and condemned the World Heritage Committee for distorting facts and being partial.”
The report also includes the interesting comment that just days after the violence in Srisaket, appointed senator Phaibul Nititawan, who leads a group of 40 senators, “suggested changing the name of the village where clash had occurred to a Thai name, because Bhumi Sarol is Cambodian, meaning ‘a fertile land’. So it is the fertility of the Cambodians, not of the Thais, he said.”
While this is a remarkable comment, it should not be surprising. These senators were appointed by the military and its government to control parliament on important issues. They are recognized as conservative, royalist and nationalist. Their support for PAD has been repeatedly demonstrated with many of them having joined PAD demonstrations from 2005 to 2008.
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