The streets remained empty and all was quiet when thousands of people gathered last Wednesday night to protest against the government's Single Gateway proposal. Protesters weren't, however, down at major landmarks like Asoke or Ratchaprasong intersections, but simply in front of their computer screens. By merely punching the refresh button, these protesters let their resentment known to the authorities by crashing at least six government sites, including the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology.
When October arrives, we are inevitably reminded of two historical demonstrations, which continue to give us chills despite the decades that have passed: the massacres and uprisings of Oct 14, 1973 and Oct 6, 1976. These two events are historic, horrific and unparalleled in nature, context and magnitude. But with the Single Gateway incident, the new public rally law announced in July, and especially the protests by various sides and colours in our political divide in the past decade, it's worth looking back on how the anatomy of political protest has evolved over the years.
Virtual protests may be an effective alternative, but physical protests still produce the loudest voices, as exemplified by the Red Shirt gathering of 2010 and the People's Democratic Reform Committee's (PDRC) mass street shutdowns in 2013 and 2014.
Janjira Sombatpoonsiri, lecturer at Thammasat University's Faculty of Political Science, and author of the recently published Speaking Mirth To Power: Humour And Nonviolent Protest, observes the shape-shifting form of street protests and dissent through many case studies, Thai and international, with the emphasis on how humour plays a part in the activities.
Her book questions acquiesce under any type of authoritarian rule, citing examples of peaceful protests in Poland, Serbia and Thailand by the Red Sunday group, and points out how powerful creativity and a sense of humour in such movements can be.
Janjira was first drawn to the subject because by observing Thai protests in recent years, she noticed that most ended in violence even though they claimed to be peaceful.
"These gatherings originate from anger, anger towards the opposite side," said Janjira. "I'm interested in the means which make these movements no longer based on anger and when humour is injected into them. You can have a sense of humour and criticise the authority, at the same time."
Janjira cites Orange Alternative, a Polish underground movement against the authoritarian communist regime established in 1980, which was known for peaceful protests and employed absurd and nonsensical elements. Janjira said an example of these activities included dressing up as dwarfs and dancing in the streets. When suspicious police would arrest them, the arrest was followed by an uproar as they hadn't done anything wrong. Similarly, peaceful protests in Serbia in 1996-97 against electoral fraud by the regime of Slobodan Miloševic employed the disguise of a carnival parade and play-staging.
"These were peaceful means and the atmosphere of hostility lessened greatly," said Janjira. "If these groups' forces were armed, they would have been stamped out right away."
Before, with the Oct 14 and Oct 6 incidents or later major mass protests, Janjira said the entertainment activities, though visible among protesters, were completely separate from the political messages. The earliest example of movements similar to those in Poland or Serbia was the Red Sunday group in Thailand, led by Sombat Boonngamanong after the 2010 crackdown. Janjira said it was a time of fear and anger for the Red Shirts and the group showed people that they could express their opinions in other ways.
"They held seemingly irrelevant activities like aerobics, shopping at department stores or cycling at Rot Fai Park," said Janjira. "But all the activities were conducted wearing red shirts, sending a clear political message and the meaning of a daily life activity was completely upturned."
Janjira said that the activities can be categorised into three groups: "protest without protesting" activities like aerobics or a gathering for a meal; commemoration events like play-staging or dressing up as ghosts [to remind society that people died in the crackdown]; and festival events like Loy Krathong or National Children's Day in which these activists tweaked the very essence of these festivals.
"Political gathering is about communication and creating pressure," said Sombat Boonngamanong, prominent activist and leader of the Red Sunday group. "In Thailand, the way we have been doing it in the past was stiff, not colourful and outdated. In other places, they have long moved beyond that."
Sombat said that the tactics he employed correspond well with the nature of Thai people. The sense of humour, amid grave situations, could create space for communication.
One of the early campaigns he did was inviting four girls for a coffee, all wearing red shirts. This technically complied with the law prohibiting the gathering of more than five people.
Later he invited people for lunch at a food court at Big C. They were all wearing red shirts but were just having lunch and Sombat didn't join the group. One of the most notable incidents was when he called for a meeting at McDonald's at Ratchaprasong intersection and the authorities were met with people wearing masks of his face, not him.
"This slowly started to work," said Sombat. "We fought fear with a sense of humour. These actions can be justified. It's not like standing naked, displaying your penis in public. And most importantly, these activities got the interest of the media."
Looking at the other side of the political camp, the mass protest by the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), which preceded the 2014 coup, was more traditional in form, though protesters also had entertainment activities and even DJs on stage. Takerng Somsup, director of Bluesky channel, which broadcasted the PDRC movement, said that the key to the movement's success was information provision to the people, coupled with Yingluck Shinawatra's government's prolonged bad performance.
"Before, there would be one centrestage," said Takerng. "But the PDRC went everywhere, reaching out to the public. With Bluesky broadcasting and social media doing its work, the movement was accessible. The PDRC was about giving information to the people. No playful campaigns."
After the Red Sunday group, one of the most active anti-coup groups is Resistant Citizen. Beside being active online, releasing campaign videos, one of these shows a masked mime actor dancing around a mock-up ballot box in front of the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre. The box was later taken away by security guards. Takerng said that these groups have to rely on such means because Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's rating is still high.
"Yes, they have to rely on such means to avoid being caught," said Takerng. "But society is sick of protests. These campaigns didn't work because the government and National Council for Peace and Order are still doing well. Despite being under military rule, if the government's rating is really bad and people are in trouble, they will definitely come out."
Regarding the new public rally law, which stipulates that protesters must notify the authorities at least 24 hours prior to the gathering, Sombat of Red Sunday Group said that it's a good measure in terms of safety. Still, he said it may be too soon to know its real impact because the law has never been put to use before.
Oct 14, 1973 uprising.
A group of people, led by Sombat Boonngamanong, tie red cloth around the intersection signpost and hold signs that read 'People have died here' in support of the red shirt protesters who were killed by security forces at the Ratchaprasong intersection.
