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From : newlifeinbangkok
Added: May 20, 2010
At the main stage the army is breaking down the headquarters area, the familiar accoutrements of the last few weeks in this area are being cleared away: the powerful floodlights that once searched out possible snipers, the musical instruments (including a full drum kit) that had set the beat for the thousands of demonstrators' dancing and singing, the labyrinth of cables, computer desks, assorted PA equipment, and TV cameras that served brought the action on the stage to all zones of the camp, and over the airwaves Reds' television station Peoples TV before its signal was cut, even the still-simmering hot water urns and cooler buckets, all were abandoned intact when the army moved in. The vast netting strung above the stage all the way up as far as the first footbridge to stop anything being thrown down from above, is being ripped down by soldiers, its almost-sinister feeling acres of black mesh sag messily onto the ground, almost perfectly symbolising how the life has finally been extinguished from the camp. The headquarters area is being methodically ripped apart as soldiers look for possible booby traps or incriminating evidence. The dilapidated box-back truck that the leaders of the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) used to huddle together in during the final days of the dispute, hunkered down and surrounded by guards, lies empty. Inside it is tatty, the wooden linings scuffed from years of use, there are just a couple of folding tables and a handful of plastic chairs that provided simple furnishings for the protest group's key meeting point where its top-level decisions were hammered out. Scattered on the tables are a handful of framed silhouette images of the Reds' top leaders, including Jatuporn Prompan and Nattawut Saikua as well as their idol, ex-Prime Minster Thaksin Shinawatra, all in bright red-gloss colours, showing these leaders as they imagined themselves: Thaksin, smiling and benevolent, Nattawut, striking a boxing pose, all tough and moody. Down Ploen Chit Road towards the Henri Dunant intersection and the camp remains almost intact, the living and sleeping accommodation that the protestors erected still untouched, although silent and empty. Wat Pathumwanaram, which has hit the headlines today due to the unexplained deaths of six people including a nurse in this supposed "safe haven", is a totally chaotic scene. There is dried blood in the entranceway and jettisoned possessions are scattered haphazardly across the temple courtyard along with a cluster of abandoned pickup trucks that have been torn apart. Also of note in the temple yard is a crumpled pile of "Black Shirt" guards' uniforms, one of which has been neatly laid out complete with black leather boots. Further down the road there is yet more devastation in the shadow of Siam BTS Station, the building on the corner of Henri Dunant Road has been torched as has another and several ATMs before the Siam Cinema, the small independent cinema in Siam Square, comes into view. It's been gutted, just a skeleton remains rising out of the piles of ash, a mass of twisted metal and the charred remains of its escalators. Other shops here have been targeted, the Dunkin Donuts has had a window shattered and a tourist kiosk outside Siam Paragon on the other side of the road has had its pane-glass windows broken, although the giant mall, along with its sisters, Siam Discovery and Siam Center has been left unscathed. At this end of the camp there are clusters of left-behind weaponry laid out on show, boxes stuffed with bottles of the popular M-160 energy drinks that had been converted into homemade Molotov cocktails, the screw-down lid sliced to allow a rag to be fed through, ping-pong bombs, nasty looking nail bombs with 4 inch nails taped around an explosive charge, Chinese-labeled firecrackers, slingshots with bags of marbles and nuts, hammers and other domestic tools, while there are also toy guns and home-made medieval-esque shields (as well as a few opaque plastic riot shields captured off the police) that, along with the cobbled together barricades, give a feel that the Reds were preparing to fight middle ages era battle, certainly these meagre weapons and rudimentary fortifications were to be no match for the army when it decided to move in. At the sprawling intersection of Ploen Chit Road and Phraya Thai Road the tyre barricades that denote this end of the camp have been left completely untouched, the violence and confrontation didn't spill right to this end (the same went for the makeshift barricade thrown up a hundred metres or so down Henri Dunant Road, it too was untouched although there were sporadic clashes there). Opposite the wide intersection bags of rubbish have been stacked up in piles all the way across the lanes between the MBK Center and the Bangkok Arts and Culture Center to form an additional barricade.
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