Violence was lurking just beneath the surface at yesterday's red-shirt rally by the Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship (DAAD) in front of Bangkok Bank's headquarters on Silom Road.
Shortly after 2pm, a group of 100 red shirts and security personnel ran towards the Silom-Narathiwat intersection, apparently chasing some people. Some onlookers said a yellow-shirt People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) member attacked a red car and ran away. Another said a group of PAD supporters attacked a red-shirted man. But nobody, police included, seemed to know for certain. The anger and hatred for the PAD and the old elite was very visible.
One man, wearing a red necktie abusively ranted against the yellow shirts and Privy Council president General Prem Tinsulanonda, with words too rude to be published. By the same token, the PAD also cannot stand the red shirts. A columnist at ASTV-Manager Daily newspaper, under the pen-name "krong leb", wrote in yesterday's edition that people in the Silom area and elsewhere should chase away the red-shirt demonstrators with water. "May I advise [readers] to use peaceful methods. Those in high-rise buildings or on pedestrian bridges should simply splash water on those who are causing trouble to the nation without having to curse them."
Water, by the way, is often used by Thais to splash against felines or canines caught in a vicious fight.
Bangkok Bank was targeted by the protesters yesterday for its supposed link with Prem, against whom the red shirts have a major grouse. Prem is honorary chairman of the advisory board of this old and influential bank.
Red-shirt leader Weng Tojirakarn told the 2,000 or so red-shirt demonstrators in front of the bank yesterday afternoon that Prem, being the chief adviser of HM the King, should resign from all posts in various companies such as the bank and the CP group. He said these are profit-maximising corporations that looked after their own good and ran counter to the spirit of the privy council.
"All they do is profit maximisation and how can you just sit there?" Weng told the crowd through the loudspeaker.
Senior Bangkok Bank executives have also been accused of encroaching on forest-reserve land in Khao Soi Dao forest in Chanthaburi province that is now a golf course. Even magazines like Thailand Tatler flaunt the special relationship between Prem and the bank's owner. In its latest list of 500 famous hi-so people, Prem is listed as enjoying "the backing of his friends, including [Bangkok Bank] banker Chatri Sophonpanich".
The bank, along with at least three other banks in the Silom Road strip from Soi Convent to the Narathiwat-Silom intersection were shut along with other businesses. However, one Bangkok Bank staffer, by the name of Vorajit, did not appear disturbed by the rally. He stood in front of the main entrance to the bank, heavily guarded by police officers and security guards, to chat with his colleagues while observing the protest.
"They don't really threaten us. They're just on stage," Vorajit said. "I'm not afraid. They're not really pressuring us. It's more like a show of force for them."
With nearly 3,000 demonstrators gathering by late afternoon, the show of force was not that impressive, but the hatred and risk of violence is there, lurking just beneath the surface as the crowd and its leaders gear up towards Thaksin Shinawatra's judgement day next Friday.
Meanwhile, Santi Vilassakdanont, president of the Federation of Thai Industries, said he did not expect the red shirts' rally outside the bank's head office to turn violent. He viewed peaceful street protests as an indicator of Thailand's democratic progress.
Thira Abhaiwongse, vice president of Bangkok Bank, insisted that the bank's management had no connections with the Khao Soi Dao golf course in Chanthaburi as alleged by the red shirts.
