Wasu Suriyakansai, 59, was beaten unconscious by soldiers during the military crackdown on the red shirts on the afternoon of 10 April at Ratchadamnoen Rd. He regained consciousness three days later in hospital. The People’s Information Centre (PIC) visited him and his wife at their home in Klong Luang district, Pathum Thani.
Wasu and his wife Kulkij, 58, used to work in a local textile mill and retired about 10 years ago. He makes balm and ointment for sale and offers a traditional massage service at customers’ houses, earning sufficient income.
Kulkij told the PIC that both of them were against the coup in 2006, and they vowed to each other before the household shrine that the husband would join any anti-coup protests. They were angry with the activities of the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), particularly their use of used sanitary pads in their ritual at the King Rama V statue at the Royal Plaza and the closure of the Suvarnabhumi Airport.
Wasu always joined the red shirts’ protests in Bangkok, including those in April 2009, and nearby provinces with his neighbour who owns a pork restaurant, but Kulkij has had to stay home due to an allergy developed during her work.
He and his neighbour went to the April-May rallies this year in Bangkok as usual, joining other red shirts from Buriram and Srisaket in the northeast, who set up tents near the Khok Wua intersection on Ratchadamnoen Avenue. On 8 April, upon hearing the news of a possible crackdown on the demonstrators, Kulkij decided to go to join them, and was given the task of cooking.
On 10 April, while Kulkij was cooking at the tent, Wasu and others who had come to know each other during the protests went to observe the situation and came back at noon. After lunch, they ventured out again in front of Satree Witthaya School at the Democracy Monument.
At about 5 pm, as the situation was growing more and more tense, Wasu’s friends ran back to the tent, and Kulkij asked them ‘Hey! Where is my husband? You went together, but why haven’t you brought him back with you?’ They answered, ‘How could we? Each of us had to flee for our lives.’
Although Wasu cannot remember the exact place, he still remembers and told the PIC about the moment when he walked up to some soldiers to ask them not to use violence to disperse the demonstrators, because he thought that they would not harm an old man like him.
Right after he pleaded with them not to hurt their fellow Thais, he was beaten, and he thought that he would die.
He fell unconscious on the spot, and was sent to Klang Hospital at about 6 pm. He regained consciousness three days later.
According to the hospital’s diagnosis, his head had been struck by hard objects, affecting the left side of the brain, and there was a blood clot in the brain which needed an operation. As a result, his right arm and leg cannot function normally.
The hospital issued a document on 11 June confirming his disabilities in talking, learning, and moving his arms and legs, and recommending him for an official identity card as a disabled person.
Kulkij filed a complaint with Nang Loeng Police Station about the incident on 18 April, but no progress has ever been made.
Wasu was discharged from Klang Hospital in late April, and continued to receive medical treatment at a local hospital under the social security programme. One doctor there told his wife that he would not treat a red shirt.
Now he can speak, but cannot use his right arm and leg. He needs his wife’s support or uses a wheelchair to move about.
