It’s about to be Songkran again; the Thai new year when people gently splash water on the faces of their loved ones and sprinkle them with talcum powder. Or, in the modern version, spray foul iced water in an attempt to drown anyone who happens to be passing. It’s not gentle any more, and Pattaya will turn into an aquatic battleground for a week.
There is a designated day where everything stops and everyone comes out to play, and I have no problem with that. I will take some photos, either from a safe vantage point with my long lens, or down on the street with a waterproof camera; depending on how much she who must be obeyed wants to get involved.
But for the rest of the week it will be a matter of avoiding assorted morons, particularly the farangs in the beer bars, who consider everyone to be a target; even the little ladies on their motorbikes wearing government uniforms who are trying to get to work. Dickheads (the water-throwing farangs, not the little soaked ladies).
The other prominent feature of Songkran is the death toll on the roads. Many Thais don’t live where they were born. A large proportion of the population of Bangkok and Pattaya, for example, come from somewhere else; and they like to go home to that somewhere else for Songkran. And they also like to drink at Songkran and see no problem in combining the two activities. So the roads are stuffed with vehicles with drivers who are barely conscious and extremely pissed. The result is unhappiness and a sharp spike in road deaths in what is already a road death rich environment.
So the death of twenty one people on the roads in Bangkok on Saturday is hardly a matter of surprise, except these people died as the result of clashes between the red shirts and troops. Get pissed and drive your car into a wall and nobody cares. But a bullet in the head is likely to capture worldwide attention.
The government admitted that the troops had live rounds, but insisted that these were just for firing into the air as a warning and that only rubber bullets were used against the red shirts. This is bollocks. Why not just issue rubber bullets to everyone and fire them into the air as a warning instead? The red shirts insisted they were unarmed but there is video footage of weapons being used. Then there was the mysterious “third party”, with rumours of snipers on roof tops and images and videos like this being captured.
In spite of all the promises of investigations by both sides, I expect the truth will never be known. Just another tragedy in the development of this nation and an event that has pushed the sides even further apart. No idea what will happen next, but there is ample opportunity for things to get worse before they get better.
And yet, out of such an unpleasant incident, I found something that gave me some hope and reminded me why I love living here amongst the Thai people. A farang was on the streets during the fighting and made a video. The first thing that strikes you is that, before the shooting started, both sides were relaxed, listening to music and there was no sense of confrontation. Then, suddenly, someone starts firing and all hell breaks loose. There seems no reason for the shooting to start, could this be the mysterious “third party” kicking things off?
There then follows much confusion, bloodshed and eventually, cookies. In spite of the fighting you see soldiers and red shirts helping each other with the wounded, the red shirts protecting the farang, providing him wet towels to counter the tear gas, and eventually giving him some cookies when the fighting is over (whatever you are doing in Thailand, there always has to be snacks involved). Soldiers hiding in a personnel carrier emerge to find themselves in the middle of a sea of red shirts who have just had some of their friends killed. The soldiers are immediately surrounded by red guards who protect them from a rather angry mob and escort them back to the “enemy” lines. I have personally experienced the kindness and compassion of Thai people on many occasions, but it is quite something to see it shining through in such circumstances.
There are three videos. The first is here, with links to the other two. Worth watching.