Red vs Yellow, the colour dispute goes on

The Star Online, 24 April 2011
URL:http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/4/24/nation/8490635&sec=nation


THERE’S a sense of deja vu in Bangkok with the tents, tee-shirts, souvenir stalls and a stage with loudspeakers set up in the middle of a busy street disrupting traffic.

This time, though, the colour is yellow instead of red. The Yellow Shirts have been camping out on the street since Jan 25.

This time last year, the Red Shirts, supporters of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, occupied Rajchadam noen Street near the Democracy Monument and by the Phan Fa Bridge as they tried to force a dissolution of the Thai parliament and early elections.

But that never happened. Negotiations failed and concessions offered by appointed Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiya were not accepted by the Red Shirts.

Ironically, the Yellow Shirts have also picked the same street, Rajchadamnoen, to camp out. The difference is their “camping area” is by Makhawan Bridge (instead of Phan Fa) and around the Government House (instead of the Democracy Monument), which is only a 15-minute walk from where the Red Shirts were a year ago.

The Yellow Shirts, who are anti-Thaksin, are now urging people to vote “no” to all political parties in the ballot box.

They used to be strong supporters of Abhisit’s Democrat Party but have had a major falling out with the Democrats. They are now calling Abhisit all sorts of names and accusing him of corruption.

Elections are due by December but Abhisit is said to be considering dissolving parliament in May.

The Yellow Shirts, formally known as the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), are calling on their 83-year-old king to step in and appoint a “virtuous” leader instead.

Some are even open about backing a coup. Thongchai Manpadungkit, 60, says he is “100% for a coup”.

“We expected Abhisit to be a good prime minister but three years later, we are disappointed. We cannot support the Democrats any more and none of the existing political parties is good. We want to return the power to the king and let him select a new leader,” he says.

The Yellow Shirts argue that Abhisit is too “soft” in dealing with Cambodia over the border and the 11th century Preah Vihear temple which both countries lay claim to.

Thongchai insists that he and other Yellow Shirts will not leave the protest site until they get back their land from Cambodia.

But the Red Shirts have dismissed this talk as sheer nonsense, claiming it does not make sense for the Yellow Shirts to be up in arms over the Cambodian border issue.

They suspect there is a hidden hand and the motive is to stop elections and use it as an excuse for a coup.

The Yellow Shirts were behind the 2006 coup which forced out Thaksin.

In 2007, when Thaksin’s allies were returned to power, the Yellow Shirts refused to accept the results and started street protests.

In November 2008, they occupied Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang airports in Bangkok, causing hundreds of flights to be cancelled and travellers to be stranded.

The courts then ruled against the two pro-Thaksin prime ministers, forcing them out of office and installing the rival Democrat party in power, with Abhisit appointed as Prime Minister.

Last month, the court ordered Yellow Shirts leaders to pay US$17mil plus interest for closing down the two airports and disrupting travel in December 2008.

Thongchai insists that the Yellow Shirts should not be held responsible for the closure.

“Yes, we went to the airport. We were at the car park and the lounge area but we didn’t take control of the tower. We didn’t stop the flights flying in. It is the director of the airports who ordered the closure of the airports.

“Without going to the airport, nobody would have paid attention to us. Unlike the Red Shirts, we didn’t loot or burn down the airport,” he says, referring to the May 19 military crackdown on the Red Shirts at Ratcha­pra song. A number of shops were looted and burnt down, including Central World, one of Bangkok’s biggest shopping centres, in that crackdown.

A year ago, everyone blamed the Red Shirts for burning down Central World. But today opinion is divided.

The Red Shirts claim the fire at Central World started only after the army took control and asked all the workers to leave.

“The building wouldn’t have been burnt if the workers, including fire-fighters, were not forced out. Why didn’t the army allow fire engines to enter the area to put out the fire? The fire engines were allowed in only the next day. By then, the damage had already been done.

“It suggests that something dirty might have been going on,” says Mac, a Red Shirts supporter.

As elections loom, uncertainty remains and the blame game between the Red Shirts and Yellow Shirts continues.