si baju merah

"Sawadee ka"  =  Hello

rasa terpanggil nak post pasal riots yang berlaku kat Bangkok hari rabu lepas.  itulah insiden terburuk since Red Shirts began their protest in mid-march even though clashes has only started on 13 may.  does it ring any bell?

Photo courtesy of www.theage.com.au

initially diaorang ni protest secara aman, ronda-ronda sekitar bandar menaiki truck ataupun motor sambil kibar bendera merah.  tapi tension dah mula on 14 may bila diaorang mula berkampung sepanjang 3-sq-km kat Ratchaprasong business district.  train station pun depa belasah.  depa buat camp dengan tayar & barb wire blockades.  meanwhile, army pulak sealing off certain areas.  civilian nak pergi kerja pun susah sebab jalan dah blocked.  nak naik train pulak service dah shut down.  lebih baik tak payah pergi, tak selamat.

Photo courtesy of www.disclose.tv

kemuncak nya bila protesters set ablazed in 20 locations on 19 may which included the Thai stock exhange, Metropolitan Electricity Authority, and CentralWorld Plaza, Southeast Asia's second-biggest department store & a symbol of wealth.  yang heran nya, top protest leaders ni dah surrender dah masa tu, tapi anak-anak buah yang terlebih suda.  tak tau lah kalau itu memang taktik diaorang.

dari gambar-gambar yang kita boleh tengok kat newspaper & internet, bangkok dah macam war zone kan?  macam ghost town pun ada.  what used to be an area bustling with tourists had turned into solemn empty streets.  selama 6 hari of chaotic street fighting between protesters and troops, jumlah kematian je dah 45.  tu belum kira yang injured lagi.  yang mati sebelum 14 may pun dah berpuluh-puluh dah, termasuk orang awam.

Photo courtesy of www.timesonline.co.uk

"democracy cannot be built on revenge and anger,"  Veera Musikapong, Chairman of the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, better known as the "red shirts", said in a televised statement after he was taken into police custody ~ The Sun, 21 May 2010.  hello, look who's talking?

tak sangka negara yang popular dengan tag 'Land of Smile' boleh jadi macam ni.  from our experience, orang thai memang peramah.  walaupun tak boleh bertutur dalam Ang-lik {English in thai} dia cuba jugak.  janji sama-sama faham.  same-same, driver taxi tu cakap.  nak ketawa pun ada. 

Photo courtesy of www.telegraph.co.uk

masa kitaorang ke sana dulu, Thaksin was already ousted by the junta for about 3 months.  tapi keadaan takde lah macam war zone.  takde askar sana-sini.  ok je, rasa selamat gak lah.  tapi lepas balik KL about a week, ada bombing kat sana.  alhamdulillah, nasib baik.

Photo courtesy of www.sun2surf.com

aku tak faham apa yang bagus sangat pasal thaksin ni.  ada gak baca pasal dia sikit-sikit.  adakah sebab dia banyak tolong orang miskin, or reduce the poverty rate in the country, or create job opportunities, or etc, etc, yang buat rakyat sayang benor kat dia.  tapi takkan depa tak nampak satu pun kesalahan dia.  now, he's living in exile.  takut kena tangkap kalau balik thailand.  kalau tak buat salah, kenapa nak takut?  ntah lah.

"we can immediately fix the roads but we do not know how long it will take to fix the wounded hearts and minds of the people," Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra ~ The Sun, 21 May 2010.