“Anarchy in Bangkok”

3 Responses to “Anarchy in Bangkok”

1. Gabs says:

   May 21, 2010 at 12:43 pm

   I don’t understand why left-wingers have been so glad to jump on this.
   Y’all realise it’s pro-democracy?
   At least with a dictatorship the bourgeoisie doesn’t pretend you have a choice.
2. @ndy says:

   May 21, 2010 at 5:52 pm

   I don’t think that the reasons why leftists have expressed an interest in the Red Shirts are that obscure. I mean, their protests have been remarkable (in the literal sense of the term), and so too the crushing of this dissent by the Thai military. To pay attention to mass movements of this sort is not the same as claiming that their ideological content is especially radical; further, all of the reportage from leftist sources I’ve read conclude with the usual caveats about how looking to one or another faction of the Thai elite is not going to solve their problems.

   In terms of the rank and file, the Red Shirts are not the dangerous “terrorists” and conspirators against the monarchy portrayed by the government. They are ordinary people. The product of systematic brainwashing from the cradle, they are mainly of religious, nationalist and royalist sympathies [14]. That is what makes this political movement different from the previous revolts in 1973, 1976 and 1992. For the first time, it is ordinary people from the provinces, the peasants, workers, the poor and also the less well off middle classes of Bangkok who are mobilising. The basis of the movement extends to a part of the middle classes who have become aware of the high cost that the coup has represented, whether in political or economic terms and now support a movement which seeks to re-establish democracy. Many inhabitants of Bangkok have come to show their support for the Red Shirts or to join them.

   And of course, numerous popular revolts have been sparked by conflicts over relatively mundane questions, which is precisely why state authorities — especially those who have to rely moaron violence than ideology to quell dissent — usually respond in a rapid and brutal fashion.

   But yeah: it’s complicated.
3. lest we forget says:

   May 25, 2010 at 9:26 pm

   the left would support a bunch of nazis if they were protesting the jewish treatment of palestinians. moral opportunism

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