Bangkok Protests (Red Shirts vs. Government)

Thai political tensions are flaring up again. At the end of last year, yellow-shirted protesters flooded Bangkok trying to force the resignation of the then-current government which had the support of former prime minister Thaksin and the red-shirt protesters. The yellow-shirts succeeded and now that a yellow-shirt supported government is in power, the red-shirted pro-Thaksin protesters have taken to the streets trying to get the now current government to resign. Confused yet? I am. Here is a video from YouTube to give you a little bit of the flavor of what's currently going on in Bangkok. There is no explanation of the images in the video unforunately, but I can tell you that the first segment is the red-shirt protesters trashing cars at the Interior Ministry, including one car in the Prime Minister's motocade. The situation is constantly changing so, see the Bangkok Post website for the latest. CNN also has an article giving the recent background and possible outcomes of the current situation. We are following the events through our local Thai TV news and the Bangkok Post Breaking News RSS feed.



For those who are not familiar with Thai geography, our family is not near the situation in Bangkok, as we live two hours distant in the town of Phra Phutthabat, Saraburi province. We do, however, know many people who do live in Bangkok much closer to the current events.

The history of democracy in Thailand is extremely complicated, filled with coup d'etats, new constitutions, and changes of power through means that not everyone would call democratic. For language study, I am currently reading a Thai novel about the history of democracy in Thailand. It is a historical fiction book which follows the (fictional) lives of two men, one a policeman, one a revolutionary turned bandit, through the convulsions of the development of democracy in Thailand from its inception in 1932 through to the early 1990s (Thai edition: ประชาธิปไตยบนเส้นขนาน / English edition: Democracy, Shaken and Stirred). I am finding this book to be particularly fascinating as it helps me to get a bigger picture of what's going on in Thai politics, especially the years of background that have contributed to the ongoing political situation. The author provides an appendix at the end of the book informing the reader which characters were fictional and which were real, which is helpful. Lots of information but done in a really interesting format with plenty of action and dialogue, making it far more interesting than a history text book. I doubt that reading this book will help me to "figure out" who are the good guys and the bad guys in Thai politics (as if were that clear) but at the very least, I expect that reading this novel will give me greater insight into the expectations, trials, hopes, disappointments, and attitudes of Thai people towards their leaders and towards the political process in general.

The more that I can understand people and their situation, the more I would hope to be able to speak the Gospel with accuracy and appropriacy into their lives. Looking at the Gospels, it seems that Jesus always knew people's starting point and worked from there in applying the truth that they needed, whether it be a word of rebuke for self-righteous Pharisees or a word of forgiveness and healing for a crippled outcast.

Thai Political Crisis

The Thai political crisis continues to worsen as protesters try to bring things to a head in Bangkok, shutting down both the new Suwanaphum airport and the old Don Muang airport, effectively closing the country off to much of the world. The protesters demand the resignation of the government and the government says no, but refuses to do anything other than riot police containing the crowds. The news is constantly changing here so if you want latest, I would recommend looking at the website for the Bangkok Post (www.bangkokpost.com) or the International Herald Tribune (www.iht.com). The Bangkok Post will have more up to date information although the IHT will have a more readable summary of the events and the context of the current crisis.

Our family lives two hours north of Bangkok, and thus plenty far away from any of the disturbances. Everything seems to be confined to Bangkok right now. However, after I preach in Ayuthaya this Sunday, we'll head down to OMF's Mission Home in Bangkok, which is not far from the Don Muang airport, one of the sites of mass protests and some violence. We will drive in to the mission home the back way, using the outer ring road and Expressway from the north, so we won't have to drive past the airport. We wouldn't plan on going to Bangkok at this time except that our visas expire this coming week and need to be renewed before December 3rd. The immigration office, as far as I know, is not near any of the hot spots but we will be watching the news for any changes. Pray that we would get accurate updated info to avoid any trouble spots and wisdom to know whether to change any of our plans. Hopefully the tensions will decrease instead of increase although that seems somewhat unlikely right now.

I include below a news video of the Thai situation that I found on YouTube. Hopefully, you can view it more easily than I can, with our miserable excuse for a DSL connection (really, sometimes our DSL is no faster or more reliable than dial-up). If you search on YouTube or the news sites (Reuters, Associated Press, etc), you can probably find some more videos. As you watch the video, make note that the yellow shirts are the anti-government people and, although they don't show up in this particular video, the red shirts are the pro-government people.

Just now I got an SMS news flash from the Bangkok Post saying that the Prime Minister announced on TV that he is going to send in the police to take care of the protesters and has warned the mob to stop holding the country hostage. This will be very interesting to say the least and potentially violent. May God bring peace to the nation and turn the hearts of many to Him as Christ is the only one who can bring true peace and reconciliation between God and man, and between people. May the LORD tear down the dividing wall of hostility.

Bangkok Protests Turn Violent

Anti government protests are heating up in Bangkok, which is not good news for the nation. Our family is not anywhere in the vicinity but recent news is a cause for alarm and a reason to pray for the nation, not only the government but the people in general. It is an historical fact that God often uses times of unrest and instability to change people's hearts to trust in the only One who can bring true rest and stability. This world is twisted and evil but God is the one who can give people hope as they look forward to perfection and peace in the kingdom of heaven.

I include below links to two articles - one from the Bangkok Post as it has more details and pictures of recent events and one from Reuters as it gives a better birds-eye view of what's happening for the reader outside of Thailand.

Bangkok Post - PAD Mass Protest Special Coverage
Reuters - Thai Protesters Seek Revenge After Clashes

More Political Upheaval in Bangkok

It seems like big news always happens when I am out of the country. Tsunami. Coup. And now this. It remains to be seen how big this will become but large scale protests that threaten to shut down a part of Bangkok's infrastructure seem big enough to me. I am including below the link to the article in the New York Times.

This news doesn't change our plans to go back to Thailand, however. We are currently wrapping up our time in the States and will depart for Thailand on September 30th.

International / Asia Pacific

Thai Leaders Face Challenge in Streets and Courts

By SETH MYDANS and THOMAS FULLER

Published: September 3, 2008

Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej called on the military to stop a battle between supporters and opponents.

Thailand Coup

It looks as if the coup in Thailand is going to be a bloodless overthrow of an unpopular prime minister. I went to pick up some Thai food tonight from our favorite little Thai place down the street and asked the folks there what they thought about all that's going on in Bangkok. There consensus was that it is good for Prime Minister Taksin to be out of power. I don't know enough of Thai politics to give a definitive opinion about whether this is a good thing for the nation or not but I do know that despite his repeated electoral victories, he was quickly becoming a heavy handed, and thus unpopular figure in the country. As a related side note, when I was in Thailand in July 2004, I was told that Taksin's unofficial policy to deal with the illegal drug problem was this: Hire off duty policemen to covertly assasinate drug dealers.

In any case, Sun and I are hoping and praying that things will settle down in Thailand and return to relative normalcy (and democracy as well), and that God will use this coup to speak to Thai hearts about the lack of peace and security in this world, and drive them to seek the peace that only Christ can give. And since there are so few Christians in Thailand (less than 1%), we pray that those whose hearts God is changing will encounter those who can share the Gospel with them. In that vein, we are hoping that this coup will not preclude or delay our anticipated departure for Thailand this coming November. Besides the obvious security issues if the coup turns for the worse, if schools, banks, and government offices are closed down then that would seriously slow down the processing of our visas (i.e. our visa request could be sitting in the inbox in some government office that is closed until further notice). All things are in God's hands so we wait and trust in God. We will arrive in Thailand at the appointed time, if indeed the Lord sees fit for us to be there.

Despite the Adminstrative Reform Council's (read "Thai military") clamp down on domestic and foreign media outlets, I've found help updates about the changing situation in Thailand on the website of The Nation, an independent English language newspaper in Bangkok