Bangkok tries to recover from recent upheavals

Traffic has returned to the streets of Bangkok. Just a week ago, the city's skyscape was filled with plumes of smoke as buildings and cars burned and gunfire sounded.

The military crackdown against anti-government Red Shirt demonstrators on May 19 came after five days of rising violence as security forces moved to curb the protests that had gone on for two months.

Gangs that were allegedly linked to the protesters launched a wave of arson attacks in response – the government has estimated the cost of the damage at one billion US dollars.

Clashes also erupted near the homes of the Klong Tuey slum community at Bon Kai. Protesters set up rubber tire barricades across the main roads here.

Local business people were frightened

Across the city, over 40 buildings – from cinemas, to malls and banks – were targeted.

Mrs Marulee, the manager of a travel agency who has been there for three decades, witnessed the arson attacks and was very scared.

"There were many police officers and soldiers here," she recalls. "Some were shooting and burning tires. Others burned banks and 7/11 stores. Watches were also stolen," she recalls.

Two of her colleagues stayed on the premises but were scared the rioters would break in and set fire to the buildings.

Miss Suriyang explains that crowds of protesters filled the avenue and soldiers occupied the main road nearby: "There were so many but I did not know if they were Red Shirts. They created a lot of trouble by using so-called small ping-pong explosives. There were many injured people but I am not sure how many were killed."

Slum community directly targeted

Catholic priest Father Joe Maier explains that the slum community of 140,000 in the port of Klong Toey was directly targeted by rioters who wanted to set the slums on fire.

He adds that community leaders rallied locals to keep the rioters out and put out any fires quickly. Additional security was provided by troops.

Normal business was halted by the violence and many of the poor community members were badly affected.

They are still reeling from the effects, says Father Maier. "People are upset. They’re angry at the Red Shirts, at whoever it was. They’re angry that people wanted to burn their homes."

He also adds that many of them, who are very poor, supported the protests initially and were paid by the organizers to do so but they were horrified as violence erupted. "When they saw that people couldn’t get out and saw the mob they did not know what was going on and asked what they had done."

Human rights lawyers have called on the government to provide a full and transparent report into the violence. They have begun to interview people affected by the violence and the two months of protests, including shop owners and Red Shirts.

Author: Ron Corben (Bangkok)
Editor: Anne Thomas