Time red-shirt thugs acted a little smarter

Time red-shirt thugs acted a little smarter

Chiang Mai's red shirts, known as the Rak Chiang Mai 51, have once again lived up to their infamous reputation for being the street enforcer dedicated to protecting the northern city's most well-known son, Thaksin Shinawatra, and the government.

Hence, they cannot tolerate any protests against the government held in Chiang Mai. Last Friday, about 100 Rak Chiang Mai red shirts faced off against about 50 anti-government white-mask protesters in front of a convenience store on Nimmanhaemin soi 13.

As always, the Rak Chiang Mai red shirts started to provoke the protesters wearing white Guy Fawkes masks, hurling abuse and garbage at them, causing the gathering to degenerate into fisticuffs. Outnumbered, the masked protesters retreated. There were no serious injuries among the two groups.

This was not the first time the Chiang Mai red shirts had resorted to thuggish ways to intimidate their perceived opponents. The latest incident was during the World Water Summit in May when they rallied at the summit venue to prevent civil society groups from staging a rally there to protest against the government's 350 billion baht water management megaproject. The reds appeared to be encouraged by Deputy Prime Minister Plodprasob Suraswadi who labelled the civic society groups as "garbage".

The list goes on about the red shirts' thuggish exploits dating back to 2008 _ the year when the group was founded. What is more troubling than the group's uncivilised conduct appears to be the hands-off policy of law enforcement officers in Chiang Mai, hence allowing the group to act at their whim with total impunity.

Why can't the white-mask people protest peacefully in Chiang Mai if the red shirts are really guardians of democracy as they always claim to be? A similar question can also be directed at the Pheu Thai Party for its opposition to the holding of a press conference at parliament last Friday by the three founders of the Thai Spring movement. The party's spokesman, Prompong Nopparit, lashed out at the three men, saying they showed disrespect for parliament by using it to attack the government.

Mr Prompong seems to have forgotten that parliament symbolises democracy, a venue where free expression is not only recognised but is exercised to the fullest by MPs.

So, if Pheu Thai and opposition MPs can use the parliament to trade accusations against one another, why can't the Thai Spring co-founders bad-mouth the government? The parliament was also briefly turned into a boxing stadium when former Pheu Thai MP Karun Hosakul showed off his martial arts skills by launching a flying kick at a Democrat MP some time ago.

Mr Prompong also may have forgotten that parliament was built with taxpayers' money. It belongs to the people, and any individual is entitled to gain access to the premises provided that he or she complies with the rules.

The Pheu Thai MP was reported to have asked: "What would happen if the red shirts wanted to use parliament [like the Thai Spring co-leaders]?" The white-mask people in Chiang Mai would be happy if the red shirts chose to use parliament to vent their fury against them or opponents of the government instead of taking to the streets to harass them. Likewise, the Ratchaprasong traders and residents would probably cheer and dance if the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship moved their protest venue to parliament next May 19 when it marks another anniversary of the military crackdown on red-shirt protesters in 2010.

The Thai Spring press conference at parliament to announce the launch of the so-called online rallies _ a new form of protest against the government through online social networks _ did not pose any threat to the coalition government. The Thai movement is merely following the example of the Arab Spring phenomenon in its use of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, among others, to incite rebellion against governments in the Middle East and northern Africa.

The battleground is gradually shifting from the streets to cyberspace.

How successful it will be remains to be seen. It will be, indeed, welcoming if the red shirts adopt this approach rather than taking to the streets every time they want to flex their muscles.

This will give many Bangkokians peace of mind.


Veera Prateepchaikul is a former editor, Bangkok Post.

Veera Prateepchaikul

Former Editor

Former Bangkok Post Editor, political commentator and a regular columnist at Post Publishing.

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