Red Shirt Protest in Thailand

I can constantly hear the thrum of megaphones in my office – 100 meters away from the main protest site of the red shirts in Bangkok, Thailand. Over the past weeks I’ve been able to see their tent city grow. While red shirt leaders provide hyperbolic commentary on the Thai government, poles, awnings, and sleeping areas have been established. The skywalk area has also been fenced off by the reds and protestors drying their laundry along the area’s railings is a common sight. As I jump next door for lunch in a cavernous shopping center, almost all stores are shut. I eat at the food court while office workers continue to patronize Starbucks and the red shirts can be see milling about in McDonald’s McAirConditioning. Despite the tension in the air, there is a certain cling to normalcy to be found.

The protest has demonstrated it’s staying power and the protest site has become a village with everyday routines. Tensions have been increasing daily. With the army now occupying the Silom business district and Bangkok citizens starting to express their anger and frustration, a peaceful, non – violent solution continues to slip through the fingers of Thailand’s leaders. Caught in a “who will blink first situation,” it seems the willingness to use force has become the only viable option as each side has upped their rhetoric. Prime Minister Abhisit has done no favors by labeling some protestors ‘terrorists’ (although yes, there are paid thugs in the group), and the red shirts continue to spew invectives against the government. Although there are pleas for Thai unity (a laughable one being screened before movies in some cinema chains), more often than not each site prefers to dehumanise each other and criticize viewpoints through satire and dismissal. The two sides are no longer able to listen to each other due to personal biases and poor leadership which has painted both sides into a corner. The politics of compromise have succumbed to a zero sum game, and the people on the streets are likely to suffer as a result.

There are a few lessons to learn from this whole episode.

First, is that Thai politicians never die. The last week has seen a host of former prime ministers and politicos come out of the woodwork offering their help and looking for opportunities (or notoriety). Chavalit, Somchai, Chamlong, Chuan, et al. offering mediation, solutions, threats make me reflect that regardless of the outcome, 5 years from now, the same politicians and leaders that have caused the current mess will be well available to create future messes as well.

Thai unity is a pipe dream. I don’t want to be overly academic, but Benedict Anderson’s idea of imagined communities is spot on in the case of Thailand. The carefully crafted notion of one Thai has never stood scrutiny. Nation, religion, and king still play a major role in Thai identity, but as people express their individuality (or at least regional identity within Thailand both in the Southern conflict and the current protests), the government needs to find new ways of being inclusive. The non red shirts of Bangkok have successfully co opted the symbols of flag and king, but at the expense of the ideas of unity and compromise. The current impasse requires a political solution, but even the short term solution of House dissolution fails to address the cultural divide between forces in Thai society. Although the red shirts are continued to be regarded as an aberrant force paid for by ex – prime minster Thaksin, many have legitimate grievances about the current state of power in Thailand.

Every night as I go to sleep I find myself hoping that nothing will happen at night to either the protestors or soldiers currently calling Bangkok’s streets home. I find it troubling that the leadership on both sides of the divide lack the courage and imagination to find a peaceful resolution. As a school teacher in a past life we used to give time outs to angry students in the hope that their senses would prove the better of them. Unfortunately, real violence looks likely. It’s sad to see that the transfer of power in Thailand is becoming rooted in street protest and civil unrest. However, judging by the heated conversations, protests, counter protests, twitter feeds, and facebook, civic engagement is at an all time high.