Red Shirts Rally On

The largest artery of Thailand, Phahonyothin Road, filled with red shirted demonstrators on March 15th. Hoping to spur the dissolution of parliament to bring about new and “fair” elections, the Red Shirt Movement pulsed through the heart of Bangkok towards the 11th infantry base near Kasetsart University where the current Prime Minister, Abhisit Vechajiwa was taking refuge.
Abhisit appeared on television this morning to clearly signal he had no plans to bow down to the Red Shirt’s demands. The Red Shirts began to march towards the base and by 11 a.m. one could hear the horns and festive music from a short distance near the intersection of Phahonyothin and Ratchayothin Roads. The procession of Red Shirts came slowly, at first, but soon began to pick up pace and numbers.
The message during the march was clear. The Red Shirts wanted to have a non-violent demonstration to bring about the following changes: a new constitution, the dissolution of parliament, fresh elections, Abhisit’s removal from office, a “fair” democracy, and most importantly, Thaksin’s return to power. The Red Shirts, who are also known as the United Front for Democracy (UDD) or นปช. (Nah-Bah-Chah), paraded down Phahonyothin for three or four hours before reaching their destination at the 11th infantry Army Base.
Their morale was high and the atmosphere of the procession was definitively festive, reminiscent of Songkran (the well-known Thai water festival). We were greeted by many Thaksin supporters who expressed gratitude when we took their pictures.
Hundreds, thousands, and then tens of thousands drove by the giant Elephant towers which seemed poetic given that Thailand is often represented by the auspicious white elephant (an animal that is said to be highly revered here). Each truck, car, taxi, tuk-tuk, motorcycle, and van was jam packed with Red Shirts who shouted slogans like “Get out, Abhisit!” (“ออกไป!”), and “No more mafia.” The slogans were sometimes heard in Thai and sometimes in English.
The protestors, who had earlier in the morning given Abhisit and his government an ultimatum to dissolve parliament by noon, seemed to be unscathed by Abhisit’s refusal to step down. As the clock passed 12 p.m. the Red Shirts continued onward to their destination. By nightfall, there had been unconfirmed reports of shootings, and later there were confirmed reports of M179 grenades injuring several infantry soldiers; although the details of the latter occurrence seem unclear. Clearly, the Red Shirt plans to dissolve parliament were not yet successful, and so by Monday evening their leaders had announced a plan to gather 30-40 cc of blood from each demonstrator in order to douse Government House with the blood of the movement. The act, they proclaimed, would be symbolic of their united actions against the current government.
By Tuesday evening, the Red Shirts had gathered and spread the blood over the entrance to Government House. Soon after, the blood was cleansed with bleach and other chemicals and removed with water. It seemed that by the end of the day (March 16th) the Red Shirts had been thwarted in their efforts to overthrow the government and humiliated by the Thai media. Many people were asking the question: “Why throw blood on the government house? What good will that do?” By the end of Tuesday evening, the Red Shirts were probably asking themselves what they are going to do next and what effect their actions have had on effecting change in their favor. At this point it is unclear if they have had any real effect at all on the current government.