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An outstanding performance

I wonder if anyone in this country can claim they are totally innocent and purely committed to peace. For me, the Democrat Party rally crowd on 23 June is an example of this.

Out of the four speakers on the stage in front of Central World, Suthep Thaugsuban, the Democrat Party Secretary-General who also happens to be the country’s Deputy Prime Minister, seemed to have the most interesting information to share (although I’m not sure about its authenticity). 

He claimed that no one died at Ratchaprasong on May 19, 2010, except four people and that of the six people shot dead in Wat Pathum, two were found to have gun powder on their hands thus implying their involvement in violence (and those who died have no chance to defend themselves now). 

He also said that the military operation ran so smoothly that no one died until the MIB fired at the soldiers and the people with M79s. Even Seh Daeng (Maj Gen Khattiya Sawasdiphol) may also have been killed by these MIB, so Mr. Suthep said. 

I could go on and on repeating Suthep’s account of what happened. But I’m a bit bored of reporting hard facts.

For me, the interesting point the Deputy Prime Minister made, was that the MIB who he said were responsible for the killings were protected by the Red Shirt demonstrators. In the Red Shirts’ protest site, I can quote his words; no one could get in because the Red Shirts screened everyone carefully.

According to Mr. Suthep, the Red Shirts’ guards, the UDD, controlled entrance to the area and anyone they didn’t want could forget about entering the Red Shirt zone. This has become enough evidence for him to say that the MIB were backing up or even becoming a part of the Red Shirts because they could have been stopped if the Reds didn’t want them. 

Well, I have a little information to contradict him. I and other people who worked in that area could get in and out any time without anyone checking us at all – surprise, surprise. May be the Red Shirts wanted to add a few more to their small number? 

At another time, Mr. Suthep said the burning of places in Bangkok that night was not an outraged reaction by the Red Shirts to the violent crackdown but rather a well-prepared plan to cause damage (of course the Red Shirts would say, if we planned it so well, why was the burning so limited since we could have done much worse and the argument can go on forever).

The point is, Suthep has implied again and again in his speech that the ordinary Red Shirts were as guilty as the MIB – they were the ones to be responsible for all the bad things because they supported it – although at the same time he repeatedly said he had no intention of implicating ordinary Red Shirts in doing all those bad things. A bit of a contradiction, wouldn't you say?

But granting the Democrat Party’s situation I think we can understand his confusion. His supporters cheered almost every word when he associated the Red Shirts with violence and even more when he told them that together they should become the country’s saviours - from the Red Shirts and violence (thank god we can be saved from violence in Thailand!).

“Pheu Thai in power means terrorists in the parliament” is the new slogan of Suthep and the Democrats, I guess.

Support us, the Democrats screamed, because only we can stop the demons. We have proved it. We brought Thailand back from the brink, they boasted.

Here the Democrats and their supporters brought themselves up to the next level of doing good deeds – they suffered the consequences of what they had to do, something against their morals, but they withstood it because they knew it had to be done.

Mr. Abhisit cried half the night of the crackdown but finally overcame the urge from within to resign and stayed on to bring the country back to stability.

This was the mother of all sacrifices, I’m impressed.

And the crowd was more than ready to believe Suthep that only four died and they all died because of the MIB. I guess sometime when you want to believe something so much you are ready to take anything in. I looked around when Suthep repeated his statements and I saw supporters nodding their heads and clapping their hands in approval. We were on the right side – they probably thought.

Ending their rally, the Democrats asked their supporters to play their part - voting for the Democrats. Mr. Abhisit told the crowd he knew many people were not happy with his performance, especially on economics, but, for the sake of political stability, they have to go out and cast their votes for him again and he promised next time he’ll try harder.

The fans love the Democrats’ explanation for the crackdown. They oohed and aahed and cheered. Smiles on their faces. Of course this crowd would vote for the Democrats, I have no doubt. For them, the Democrats possess goodness above the normal level of goodness and it’s an easy choice when compared with Pheu Thai, Thaksin’s proxy and representatives of the violence-loving Red Shirts.

But I was more impressed with the party's fans – I feel they were extraordinarily outstanding for being able to believe the party line that no one died at Ratchaprasong and that the killings were done by the MIB and the MIB only and that the military had nothing to do with it.

The sentence that now comes to my mind is one from the brother of Kamonkade – the nurse shot dead in Wat Pathum – that reconciliation is not easy; ‘it’s not a conflict among politicians,’ he said, ‘but it’s a conflict among the people.’

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