2010 Thai political protests
The 2010 Thai political protests were a series of political protests that were organised by the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) (also known as "Red Shirts")[3] in Bangkok, Thailand from 12 March–19 May 2010 against the Democrat Party-led government. The UDD called for Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to dissolve parliament and hold elections earlier than the end of term elections scheduled in 2012. The UDD demanded that the government stand down, but negotiations to set an election date failed. The protests escalated into prolonged violent confrontations between the protesters and the military, and attempts to negotiate a ceasefire failed. More than 80 civilians and six soldiers were killed, and more than 2,100 injured by the time the military violently put down the protest on 19 May.
Overview[edit]
Popular opposition to Abhisit Vejjajiva's government rose throughout 2009, due to the controversial 2008 "judicial coup" that banned the Palang Prachachon Party and "silent coup" that allowed the Democrats to form a coalition government.[4][5] In February 2010, Abhisit tightened security in anticipation of the Supreme Court's ruling to seize former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's bank accounts, frozen since the 2006 military coup. The UDD did not protest, but announced protests on 14 March in Bangkok to call for new elections. Abhisit further tightened security. Censorship was heightened, and radio, TV stations and websites sympathetic to the UDD were closed.
Estimates of the number of protesters on 14 March ranged from 50,000 (by the government) to 300,000 (by the UDD).[6] At the beginning, protests were mostly peaceful, and initially centred at Phan Fa Lilat Bridge. Many protesters came from outside Bangkok, including from numerous provinces in the North and Northeast.[7][8] After initial UDD unilateral demands for an early election were unsuccessful, dozens of M79 grenade attacks occurred far from Phan Fa, but there were no injuries and no arrests. In April, protesters shifted to Ratchaprasong intersection. A state of emergency was declared in Bangkok on 8 April, banning political assemblies of more than five persons. On 10 April, troops unsuccessfully cracked down at Phan Fa, resulting in 24 deaths, including a Japanese journalist and five soldiers, and more than 800 injuries. The Thai media called the crackdown "Cruel April" (Thai: เมษาโหด).[9][10] Further negotiations failed to set an election date. On 22 April, grenade attacks suspected to have been launched from Chulalongkorn Hospital killed one and wounded 86. UDD members invaded Chulalongkorn Hospital in an unsuccessful search for the attackers, drawing widespread condemnation from the Thai press, as the protests started to become substantially more siege-like, with barricades and armed guards creating a UDD fortress in the Ratchaprasong vicinity. Forensics expert Pornthip Rojanasunand later indicated that the hospital might or might not have been the origin of the grenade attacks. No arrests were made for either the grenade attack or the invasion of hospital.[11] A UDD proposal for elections in three months was rejected by Abhisit. On 28 April, the military and protesters clashed in northern Bangkok, wounding at least 16 protesters and killing one soldier. The UDD moved out of Phan Fa and consolidated at Ratchaprasong. On 3 May, Abhisit announced a reconciliation road map and elections on 14 November. The roadmap was tentatively accepted by the UDD, but after they included additional conditions, the government cancelled negotiations.
By mid-May, the Ratchaprasong protest site camp was surrounded by armoured vehicles and snipers were positioned in case they were needed.[12] On the evening of 13 May, General Khattiya Sawasdiphol ("Seh Daeng"), security advisor to the protesters and leader of the armed "Ronin" guards known as the black shirts, was shot in the head by a sniper's bullet while he was giving an interview to press. It is unclear who fired the shot; speculation was it was ordered either by the army, by Thaksin to keep him quiet, or was simply a stray bullet. Thereafter, a state of emergency was expanded to 17 provinces and the military cracked down, dubbed by the Thai media as "savage May" (Thai: พฤษภาอำมหิต). An additional 41 civilians were killed (including one Italian journalist) and more than 250 were injured by 20:30, including soldiers.[13][14] One military death was attributed to friendly fire.[15] The government claimed that the civilians killed were either armed terrorists or were shot by terrorists, and insisted that some civilians were shot by terrorists disguised in army uniforms.[16] The military declared the area a "free-fire zone", in which anybody, be they protester, resident, tourist or journalist would be shot on sight, with medics banned from entering.[17][18][19][20] On 14 May, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon encouraged protesters and the government to reopen talks.[21] On 16 May, UDD leaders said again they were ready for talks as long as the military pulled back, but the government demanded the unconditional dispersal of the protesters.[22] A state of emergency was declared in five northeastern provinces on 16 May. The government rejected a Senate call for a ceasefire and Senate-mediated negotiations. On 17 May, Amnesty International called for the military to stop using live ammunition.[23] Armored vehicles led the final assault into Ratchaprasong in the early morning of 19 May, killing at least five, including an Italian journalist.[24] Soldiers were reported to have fired on medical staff who went to the aid of the shooting victims.[24] By 13:30, UDD leaders surrendered to police and told protesters to give themselves up. Dozens of arson attacks soon broke out nationwide on Red Shirt targets including the CentralWorld building, various banks and civic buildings and government buildings. People arrested and charged for arson included a number of Red Shirt supporters. A curfew was declared and troops were authorised to shoot on sight anybody inciting unrest.[24] An undisclosed number of arrests and detentions occurred. Fifty-one protesters remained missing as of 8 June.[25] The government claimed the protests cost 150 billion baht (approximately US$5 billion) to organise.[26]
Investigations[edit]
A government-ordered independent investigation exonerated the military and security forces of all blame in the killings. Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban claimed that the soldiers did not attack the protesters, but blamed them for running into a military unit.[141] The government claimed that unidentified "Black Shirts" fired on protesters.
A Human Rights Watch investigation found that Black Shirts were often well-trained active duty and former soldiers claiming that their objective was to protect Red Shirt protesters, but their real job was to terrorise the soldiers, and some actually wore military uniforms.[142]
On 17 September 2012, the Truth for Reconciliation Commission of Thailand (TRCT) released its final report on the April-May 2010 political violence.[143] According to US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, "...the TRCT's final report seems to give a balanced treatment to both sides involved in the political violence two years ago—alleging that both the UDD and government security forces, including the military, were responsible for escalating the situation."[144]
2011[edit]
Protests continued, as both the Red Shirt UDD and the Yellow Shirt PAD scheduled protests for mid-February 2011. CAPO (Center for the Administration of Peace and Order), first established in August 2009, was re-established to supervise imposition of Chapter 2 of the Internal Security Act (ISA) in seven districts of Bangkok, from 9 to 23 February, to control rallies planned by the PAD and the UDD;[148] the local reaction to the Cambodian–Thai border dispute forms a background to the revival of the CAPO.[149] These protests continued in Bangkok and other cities until July, at times drawing hundreds of thousands of people, but rarely involving violence or conflict otherwise.[150]
Continuing protests in early-2011 drew condemnation from the Ratchaprasong Square Trade Association, which claimed that the protests breached the constitution by infringing upon the rights of others, whereby the ongoing gatherings closed streets in the Ratchaprasong area. Since the July 2011 election, political gatherings in public abated.