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Red shirts at Central World in Bangkok
CENTRAL WORLD AND SIAM PARAGON IN BANGKOK CLOSED FOR A SECOND DAY.
Red shirt protesters have continued to occupy a central Bangkok shopping district for a second day despite stern warnings of stiff penalties and up to a year in prison. Ignoring warnings in the press to stay away, we decided to go along on Sunday evening and have a look for ourselves.
The red shirts have set up their main stage at the Ratchaprasong Junction, next to the upscale Gaysorn Shopping Plaza and close to the Erawan Shrine. Most of the protesters are camped out on Ratchadamri Road between Gaysorn Plaza and Zen at Central World, with densely packed crowds going back as far as the second footbridge (the one that links Big C and Isetan at Central World).
There were very few protesters on the paved area in front of Central World, although some were obviously ready to camp out for the night.
Access by car or taxi to the Arnoma Hotel appears to be impossible from Ratchadamri Road, although looking at our map there may be an alternative route from a back road. President Tower and the Holiday Inn on Ploenchit Road appear to have similar problems.
Between the second footbridge and Petchaburi Road there were far fewer protesters, although things started to pick up again around the Pratunam Intersection and along Ratchaprarop Road where there appeared to be a carnival atmosphere with blaring music and [what appeared to be] ladyboys (or “kratoeys”) dancing on the back of pickups.
Although mostly closed to traffic, taxis were able to reach the Indra Regent Hotel via Sri Ayutthaya Road and the Makkasan Intersection. Not surprisingly, the stalls that usually line Ratchaprarop Road selling fake football strips and other knock-off goods to tourists were all closed. Usually busy with foreign visitors, I saw just three or four western tourists all evening.
Following the route of the BTS Sky Train from Ratchaprasong Junction towards Siam Paragon (passing the Police Headquarters en route) there were very few protesters, and those that we met were mostly taking a break from the crowds or having a nap (it was already 11.30 p.m. by the time we got there). With the general lack of protesters, we were left wondering why Siam Paragon had been closed for two days, although we do have one or two ideas that for legal reasons cannot be discussed here.
Overall, I was impressed by the numbers of protesters and how orderly they were. Despite the complete lack of police and army personnel, the crowds showed respect for the area they were occupying and there were no signs of damage or looting.
Despite what I had read in the foreign news media, I did not see any protesters sleeping (or otherwise occupying) the doorways of hotels and there was no sense of danger by being in the area. Without exception, the crowds were very friendly and I was offered free food and drinks on several occasions. I certainly had a good time and if I get a chance I may go again.
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Thai authorities struggle to end mass street protest
Thai authorities struggle to end mass street protest
Sun Apr 4, 2010 10:19pm EDT
By Pisit Changplayngam
BANGKOK, April 5 (Reuters) - Thai authorities will seek a court order on Monday to arrest leaders of tens of thousands of protesters occupying Bangkok's main shopping district, hoping to derail an increasingly bold four-week rally to force elections.
Despite repeated warnings they could face up to a year in jail, the red-shirted protesters occupied the area of upmarket department stores and luxury hotels for a second night on Sunday.
Thai stocks .SETI, which have climbed 81 percent over the past 12 months, looked set to open weaker in response.
"The impact on retail, hotel and tourism-related sectors seems unavoidable and we should see selling pressure in these sectors," said Chakkrit Charoenmetachai, an analyst with Globlex Securities. Tourism supports about 5 percent of the economy.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has called the rally unlawful, but there has been no sign security forces would disperse the mostly rural and working class "red shirts", who say they will not leave until parliament is dissolved.
Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said the government would seek a court order on Monday to arrest leaders of the rally, which he says violates Thailand's tough Internal Security Act imposed last month to maintain order during the protests.
"We have tried our best to be patient," he said.
The "red shirts", supporters of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, have hinted they may expand their rally to another area of the city. They now occupy two areas: the shopping district and Phan Fah Bridge in Bangkok's old quarter.
"We will retain our current two protest stages. Whether we set up another will be dictated by the situation," Nattawut Saikua, a protest leader, told reporters on Sunday evening.
A decision on the next stage of the protest would be made at 10 a.m. (0300 GMT), he said.
Backed by Thailand's powerful military and royalist establishment, Abhisit said holding a peaceful poll now would be difficult, given the tensions, and he repeated his offer to dissolve parliament in December, a year early.
Analysts say Abhisit would probably lose an election if it were held now, raising investment risks in Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy following a $1.6 billion surge of foreign investment in Thai stocks .SETI over the past five weeks on expectations he would survive the showdown.
Economists also caution that continued political turmoil could hit confidence and investment, and might force the central bank to delay an expected interest-rate rise.
RETAILERS HIT
Raising fears of a blow to retail business, Central World, the second-largest shopping complex in Southeast Asia, and half a dozen other big malls remained shuttered for a second day.
Central World usually attracts 150,000 people a day, said Sakon Thavisin, a spokesman for its parent company, Central Pattana Pcl CPN.BK.
"The hardest hit are restaurants and food shops with stranded fresh food and persishable raw materials because the blockade is preventing vehicles from going in to pick them up," he said.
The "red shirts" say Abhisit has no popular mandate and came to power illegitimately, heading a coalition the military cobbled together after courts dissolved a pro-Thaksin party that led the previous government. Abhisit says he was voted into office by the same parliament that picked his Thaksin-allied predecessors.
At the centre of the impasse is Thaksin, a former telecoms tycoon seen as authoritarian and corrupt before he was ousted in a 2006 coup but a rallying symbol for the poor as the first Thai civilian leader to embrace rural voters in his 2001 election win.
Some fear a rippling impact on tourism ahead of Thailand's April 13-15 Songkran holidays. "This has affected the normal way of life," said Apichart Singka-aree, director and former president of the private Association of Thai Travel Agents.
"Out of some 100 previously booked flights for Chinese tourists to fly in for the Songkran festival, over 60 have been cancelled. We are trying to save the remaining 30-something flights," he told Reuters. (Additional reporting by Ambika Ahuja and Vithoon Amorn; Writing by Jason Szep; Editing by Alan Raybould)
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSGE63401G20100405
Central shopping district closed for a third day
Urgent business meeting today on rally crisis
By Business reporters
The Nation
The Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking has called an urgent meeting today to assess the political situation after the red-shirt protest moved from Phan Fa Bridge to Rajprasong, Bangkok's prime shopping and tourism district.
"We don't know when the demonstration will end. The joint committee will sum up the impact of the protest on business and issue its announcement," Phongsak Assakul, vice chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said yesterday.
Almost all of the shopping complexes and department stores in the area said they would stay closed today. That would make it the third day in a row that CentralWorld, Central Chidlom, Gaysorn Plaza, Siam Paragon, Siam Discovery and Siam Centre have been shut.
Phongsak said the gathering of the red shirts, in fact, would hurt all business groups, including grass-roots businesses. Rajprasong is considered the main shopping and tourism area. If shops there cannot open as normal, it will affect not only shop owners but also workers.
"We would like all the parties to speed up solving the political conflict so the country can move on," he said.
The three main private organisations making up the joint committee are the Board of Trade of Thailand, the Federation of Thai Industries and the Thai Bankers' Association.
Wicha Han, CEO of Siam Paragon and executive vice president of Siam Piwat, developer of Siam Discovery Centre and Siam Centre, said the three malls would be shut today for the third day. "After considering the protest situation, there is still no safety and convenience for our shop tenants and customers," he said.
However, the MBK Shopping Centre on Rama I Road and Big C superstore on Rajdamri Road were open for business as usual yesterday and would operate again today.
Although CentralWorld was closed, its basement toilets were still available for protesters. The shopping mall has raised its security level and estimating the damage.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand said in a statement that it would open as usual today. The seven brokerages located in the Rajprasong area could use the back-up system of other branches for their orders, SET president Patareeya Benjapolchai said.
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/2010/04/05/business/Urgent-business...
Are the closures unnecessary and politically motivated?
However, the MBK Shopping Centre on Rama I Road and Big C superstore on Rajdamri Road were open for business as usual yesterday and would operate again today.
It's interesting to note that Big C remains open despite Central World (on the opposite side of the road) remains closed for a third day. Could it be the reasons for closure are politically motivated?
Protesters Turn Up Heat in
Protesters Turn Up Heat in Thailand
By THOMAS FULLER
Published: April 4, 2010
BANGKOK — Dancing jubilantly in the streets to the beats of blaring pop and country music, anti-government demonstrators on Sunday defied calls by the government to disperse from Bangkok’s affluent commercial hub in a major escalation of three weeks of mass demonstrations.
Supporters of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra shouted slogans during anti-government protests at a tourist hub in Bangkok on Sunday.
“There’s not a jail big enough to fit us all,” said Nitipong, a protester who stood beside one of hundreds of pickup trucks blocking one of the country’s busiest intersections.
On Saturday, the protesters surrounded the national police headquarters, the Four Seasons, Hyatt, Intercontinental and other hotels and six major shopping malls, which are connected by an elevated “skywalk” and together have five times the floor space of the Mall of America, the famed shopping center outside of Minneapolis.
The provocative move to shut down the area infuriated many Bangkok residents and elevated what was major annoyance for the Thai government to a full-blown national crisis.
The protesters, known as the red shirts, are demanding that the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva call new elections.
But some of the protesters, who are largely from Thailand’s rural hinterland, also said they were trying to prove a point by blocking such an economically important part of Bangkok: 15 months ago, their archrivals, the generally more well-heeled protesters known as the yellow shirts, blockaded Bangkok’s two international airports for a week, stranding hundreds of thousands of travelers. None of the yellow shirts have been convicted for shutting down the airport, including Kasit Piromya, the current foreign minister who took part and reportedly said the protest was “a lot of fun.”
After four years of political turmoil in Thailand, including a military coup and three other changes of government, political movements are engaging in a kind of street-protest brinkmanship, each staging their own variations of publicity-seeking mass demonstration.
Analysts say the demonstrations are a reflection of the failure of the parliamentary system to repair the fractures in Thai society since the administration of Thaksin Shinawatra, the former prime minister removed in the 2006 military coup.
Red-shirted protesters on Sunday said they were on the street because their voices had been squelched by the coup and two court decisions that removed prime ministers that represented their interests. One former prime minister, the late Samak Sundaravej, an ally of Mr. Thaksin, was removed from office two years ago because he received income from a cooking show, which judges ruled violated the Constitution.
Among the protesters Sunday was Samai Suporn, a 50-year-old rice farmer from northeastern Thailand, who said she had come to Bangkok for the protest because she remained upset at the coup.
“We’re here for a long time,” she said of the protest. “Until they dissolve Parliament.”
She came with 10 other people in a pickup truck still caked with the red dirt of rural Thailand and has never been inside the shopping malls that surrounded her.
Protest leaders have portrayed the current political troubles in Thailand as rich versus poor, but Mrs. Samai, who clears the equivalent of only $300 a year from her small rice farm and fruit orchard, said she had nothing against the rich.
“There are good and bad people among the rich and the poor,” she said. “I’m not jealous of the rich.”
She says she is upset at the government, especially because news reports on government television stations play down the strength of the red-shirt movement.
Although many people at the rally appeared to be from rural areas, there was also a sizable contingent of Bangkok residents.
Mr. Nitipong sells computer equipment and is a graduate of Thammasat, a prestigious university in Bangkok. Another woman, Nan, is a chemist who has a master’s degree from Chulalongkorn, another prestigious university. Both declined to give their full names, underlining the fear by some protesters, despite their defiant words, that the government could follow through with its threat to arrest them.
Mr. Abhisit, who is under pressure to end the protests, said Sunday that he would proceed cautiously. “I want to tell those people who suggest that the government deal with the demonstrators decisively that, supposing we do, a riot could take place, and there would be losses.”
Mr. Abhisit vowed “legal proceedings and prosecution” for anyone who broke the law. The government over the weekend said that anyone who did not leave the area would be subject to a year’s imprisonment, but it did not detail how it would force the protesters to leave.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/05/world/asia/05iht-thai.html
Have the red shirts moved on?
Although it probably is true that many of the red shirt protesters do support Thaksin Shinnawatra, it's interesting to note how few are now wearing shirts or bandannas proclaiming their support for the ex-prime minister. I have visited several red shirt rallies over the past two years (at City Hall, Government House, and Victory Monument) and there has been a distinct change in the movement away from Thaksin and towards overthrowing the government and creating a fairer Thailand for the underprivileged majority in Thailand. Interesting times indeed.
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