ONE OF the more startling scenes in this lengthy Thai political crisis was to watch opposition leader Arisman Pongruengrong, a former pop star, being winched down by rope from a third-floor balcony, into the waiting arms of his cheering supporters. Security forces had just tried, and failed, to arrest him and two colleagues.
Thailand’s political stand-off keeps getting worse, and the face-off between red-shirted opposition supporters and the embattled government of prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva threatens to turn the Land of Smiles into a place of sorrow.
In another serious loss of face for the government, Thai security forces failed to arrest three protest leaders they hold accountable for last weekend’s violence which left 24 dead and more than 800 injured. It was Bangkok’s deadliest political violence in 18 years.
Security officials had to make their way through hundreds of red-shirted protesters as they tried to raid the SC Park Hotel near the protest site.
This part of town, which includes some of Bangkok’s prime real estate, is run by the red shirts now. Tens of thousands of opposition supporters are flooding into the Thai capital, after returning to their farms and villages for the Songkram new year holiday.
There are a lot of Liverpool FC jerseys – the club is popular in Thailand, but the team’s shirt colour is even more so. The people wander about in front of the city’s top malls, such as Centre World. There are soup kitchens – serving delicious tom yung goong – outside the Four Seasons.
One of the local news channels juxtaposed the footage of the portly Mr Arisman being lowered down the side of the hotel with images of Tom Cruise hanging from a wire in Mission Impossible.
The red shirts’ hero later appeared at the heart of the protest site. Behind him hung a banner: “Welcome to Thailand. We just want democracy”.
Hundreds of pick-up trucks are continuing to ferry more and more red shirts to the city centre, promising more weekend disturbances in a capital city that is getting weary of disruption.
People are fearful of a repeat of last week’s clashes between the red shirt opposition and the security forces, who are still supporting the prime minister, although a rumour swirling through this city of 15 million has it that their patience is wearing thin as the crisis continues. A coup may be in the offing.
No one has seen Mr Abhisit in four days and it’s hard to imagine how he can continue to rule under this kind of pressure. He blames “terrorists” among the red shirts for the violence at the weekend.
Many ordinary Thais have worries closer to home – the unrest is devastating the economy, especially the tourist industry, which accounts for 6 per cent of GDP.
Three million Thais rely on tourism for a living, and the political unrest is expected to shave up to 2 per cent off GDP growth this year.
In December 2008 after yellow-shirt supporters of the current government took to the streets to force the removal of Thaksin Shinawatra’s successors, they occupied public buildings and both of Bangkok’s airports, forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights. Again the tourism industry suffered.
“Unless we put an end to this and do it as peacefully as we can in the next few days or next few weeks, I think there will be a significant impact on Thailand’s prospects,” said Thai finance minister Korn Chatikavanij. “Growth may be shaved by one or two percentage points as the unrest may decimate tourist arrivals,” he said.
At the protest site, the red shirts continued to arrive. “We want democracy. And we have support,” said one red-shirted young man, wearing a bandana.