On 5th day of Thai protests, a carnival atmosphere

by amyjudd | August 30, 2008 at 02:33 pm | 88 views | add comment | 0 recommendations

Thailand #05 - News : airports shut down - 30_08_2008

Today the atmosphere around Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's compound was relaxed and described as a 'carnival' with singing, clapping and even some smiles.

A contradiction to the day before when the protestors clashed with riot police.

"It's like a carnival," said Kit Amorn, 55, who owns a Bangkok chemical company.

As the demonstrators frolicked in the sun, Samak repeated his vow not to leave office. But as the protests entered their fifth day, nobody in the crowd seemed to believe him.

"Sooner or later, he'll have to resign," Amorn said. Amorn and most other members of the People's Alliance for Democracy are drawn from Bangkok's affluent, educated class and believe Samak is too closely tied to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed in a 2006 coup and fled to exile in Britain to escape trial for corruption charges.

The crowd included stockbrokers, financial analysts and entrepreneurs, many carrying expensive cameras and mobile phones. And nearly all of them wore yellow to honor Thailand's wildly popular king, Bhumibol Adulyadej.

The protest has been going on for five days already, but the group of people have been taking care of their surroundings, and have been seen sweeping up the trash and cleaning the sidewalks where they are camping out. Portable toilets are even available and showers have been brought in.

Protest organizers distributed bananas, apples, boiled eggs, sticky rice and various Thai dishes. They even passed out free underwear to people who did not have a change of clothes.

Police tried to evict them on Friday and that is when some violence ensued, but today was described as having a much lighter atmosphere as demonstrators saw that they had achieved a victory over the police yesterday.

That remains to be seen however.

Note: None of the videos show today's atmosphere of the protests, and are past media reports focused on the violence.