Instant charges have been laid against the UDD leadership (whereas the PAD leaders have suffered months of torment waiting to know what they will be chargedwith) and some of them are being held without bail (whereas the PAD leaders have the worry of having to walk about in public places not knowing what dangers lurk out there).
The rank and file red shirts were surrounded in their protest outside Government House (a strategy that was cruelly never afforded to the PAD who, although they were encamped inside Government House and hence easier to surround, were blatantly unprotected against repeated attacks by their opponents). They then voluntarily surrendered to the military, who allowed them to leave after photographing them with their ID cards (whereas the ordinary yellow shirts have had to suffer the humiliation of complete anonymity in their valorous protest occupations; not all of them have the opportunities for self-publicity that a Foreign Minister can muster).
These measures taken specifically against the reds but not the yellows, and especially not the blues, have led some misguided people to assume that there will be some kind of retribution against the UDD and everything red. It is difficult to understand how anyone, under a state of emergency when reds have been declared by the Prime Minister as ‘enemies of the state’, could doubt the magnanimity of such statesmanlike leaders as Deputy PM Suthep Thaugsuban and his able non-official non-politician assistant strategist, Newin Chidchob.
But reports are coming in to Prachatai of red t-shirts being quietly assigned to the back of the drawer, of pictures of Thaksin being turned to face the wall, and of red heart or foot clappers being sent off as gifts to some kiddies’ home or other.
Whether motivated by a desire not to be associated in the public mind with the violence of the recent protests, or out of fear of recrimination, a number of bodies have been giving serious thought to this question.
The Thai Red Cross is apparently considering a change of name. The management is reportedly undecided about whether to offer the Board the replacement of yellow or green. One is reassuringly royal, though with suspicions of jaundice; the other might be welcomed by Muslims and is already used by a number of private hospitals, but does carry unfortunate connotations of gangrene.
The Post Office is similarly worried about its post boxes, which have traditionally been painted red, but which have recently acquired an elongated white ‘swoosh’ (apparently to signal the added efficiency that privatization has brought to mail collection and delivery). Officials are apparently toying with the idea of white boxes with a red swoosh as a way of accommodating both tradition and political safety.
Traffic police seemed to face a more difficult problem in dealing with the call to change the colour of red traffic lights. As it is an internationally recognized symbol, it was thought that any change (blue is supposedly in the running) would create road chaos, since foreign drivers may not recognize it. However, it was then pointed out that since very few Thai drivers stop for red lights anyway, the anticipated additional chaos would be negligible.
Local residents of Din Daeng district have been canvassed on a name change and it seems that the street signs will have to be changed to Din Muang.
As expected, the private sector has moved with greater speed. Krathing Daeng will be marketed from now on as Krathing Si Namtaan, a not unreasonable change since red gaurs are in fact more brown than red. A number of kab khao shops have chosen to go a bit lighter with the artificial colouring and changed their menus to include khao mu chomphu. And a number of individuals with the nick-name Daeng have also been busy picking new monickers.
But the National Blood Transfusion Service faced perhaps the most difficult challenge. Their publicity materials encouraging donations had as much red in them as if they were printed by Thaksin himself. They were beginning to think that they would just have to suffer the guilt by association until one of their officials thought of the answer. From now on, they will advertise that they provide only the best blue blood.
When asked where he got the idea from, the creative official shyly explained that it wasn’t in fact difficult. He was watching the PM on TV and it just sort of came to him.
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About author: Bangkokians with long memories may remember his irreverent column in The Nation in the 1980's. During his period of enforced silence since then, he was variously reported as participating in a 999-day meditation retreat in a hill-top monastery in Mae Hong Son (he gave up after 998 days), as the Special Rapporteur for Satire of the UN High Commission for Human Rights, and as understudy for the male lead in the long-running ‘Pussies -not the Musical' at the Neasden International Palladium (formerly Park Lane Empire).
And if you believe any of those stories, you might believe his columns.
