The elite should be worried

Pravit Rojanaphruk at The Nation has a story that won’t cheer the government and its supporters and backers. He says the elite should be worried that its campaign of repression, censorship and brute force has failed.

He says: “One year after the bloody military crackdown on the red-shirt protest that ended on May 19, its unintended consequences that still reverberate today. Those among the established elite who thought a bloody suppression of their opponents – which led to 92 deaths on both sides, but mostly red shirts, and left more than a thousand injured – had succeeded should rethink.”

Why? Pravit observes that red shirts “are now even more critical, energised and full of angst against the old established elite who they believe have orchestrated all the political manipulations from behind the scenes over the years, but especially since the 2006 military coup.”

We think the story is well worth reading in full, not least because, having just returned from Rajaprasong, one of our correspondents tells us that red shirts are gathering in very large numbers.

Our very hot and sweaty observer says that two hours before the official beginning of the anniversary rally, Rajaprasong intersection is closed and packed with red shirts. Because it was so hot, it was difficult to assess the numbers. Most sensible people were crowded into shaded areas and in shopping centers nearby that would let them in. Of course the ritzy malls of the capital’s rich and pampered were closed. McDonalds was packed, as was Big C before it closed. Our colleague thinks there were more than 10,000 there and others were streaming in.

PPT won’t be surprised if the mainstream media reports 15,000 total; they always seek to under-estimate the red shirt support.

Back up Sukhumvit Road, red shirts arriving in small convoys of pick-ups were being cheered on by vendors and workers, some of them dressed in red shirts while they worked.

At the rally, our correspondent observed that the old village fair atmosphere was still there, but tempered by pictures of the dead and stalls full of VCDs that detailed the crackdown and deaths. Speeches by red shirt leaders were also readily available. Some of the red shirt merchandise was fascinating. A Truth Today clock for 290 baht, a Thaksin as Rambo t-shirt for 50 baht, a cartoon t-shirt celebrating those who manned the barricades was 100 baht.

PPT believes that Pravit has it right. These people are determined and convinced that they will eventually triumph. As he says, a “year after the deaths [in April and May 2010], not a single case has been solved. Not a single person has been put on trial. And frankly, nobody expects the end of impunity any time soon, with the military now carving a greater role with a bigger budget in its self-appointed task of defending national security and the monarchy.”

Further, “with red-shirt leaders such as Red Power editor Somyos Phrueksakasemsuk and Surachai Sae-darn in jail under the lese majeste law, many red shirts, rightly or wrongly, have become fully convinced that they do not truly enjoy equal political rights or the right to express their views and convictions.”

While Pravit claims he “has never witnessed so many people exhibiting such a level of anger and hatred against the established elite…”, PPT’s correspondent reckons that there remains a determination to vote, yet again, and get the government they should have had all along. If that happens, PPT is sure the elite will again work against it. That promises a grim struggle for some time to come.

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