Shana Kongmun
I won’t go into the politics of this entire thing
because, while I do have an opinion, in light of all that’s happened, here
(in Chiang Mai) and in Bangkok, it’s not appropriate to air. I think. I
will, however, share my experiences of late.
Bullet holes next to the front door of the hotel in
Bangkok, more than a little too close for anyone’s comfort.
My friend convinced me to fly down to Bangkok the weekend
of the 15th for a girls night out. Sure, there were threats of an imminent
crackdown but those have been ongoing for weeks. It seemed silly to put my
life on hold for something that may or may not happen. Unfortunately for me
and my friends, not only was that the weekend it did happen but we also
chose to stay in a hotel that had been, prior to this, in a safe zone; Soi
Ngam Duphli, just off Rama IV. The Kasikorn Bank that was torched was less
than 20 meters away. The day I arrived, things seemed to be changing, but
how were we to know that within an hour of my arrival bullets would start
flying? Hindsight is a marvelous thing, and I would have told myself, “Get
out now” had I realized.
I had gone to a friend’s place just down the soi, only to
find myself trapped inside the apartment, watching soldiers advance down the
road, Molotov cocktails being thrown, tires being burned. There were loud
cheers from the red shirt side of the street and while not terrified at the
time, it hit me later how really frightening it was, delayed shock my
friends said.
When the shooting died down a few hours later, I ventured
out in to the soi, to go back down, collect my trapped friend and get the
heck out of Dodge. On my way, several men leaning against their motorcycles
eyed me and said, “Hello, where you go?” I am used to the friendly, shouted
version of this oft used phrase in Thailand. This was not that version.
Perhaps they wondered what crazed farang woman would be walking down the soi
and to the hotel, but it unsettled me as it felt to me as an implied threat
of some kind. Perhaps it was the tear gas and flying bullets that made me
suspicious but I was much relieved to enter the hotel, albeit via the back
way since they had had to block off the now bullet riddled entrance. Red
shirts had attempted to enter the hotel so staff had blocked off the main
doors and someone had parked his truck across the car park entrance so they
couldn’t enter.
Smoke
rises from the burning tires on Rama IV.
Two days later the bank on the corner was torched.
As dusk approached and we frantically tried to figure out
a way of getting out, the option of walking out was offered and rejected, I
knew there was no way two single women were walking past those guys again,
taxis couldn’t get in, and we couldn’t get out. So, we stayed the night.
Waking up to the intermittent sounds of what could only have been some kind
of bomb, and sporadic gunfire, the whole thing was surreal.
We got out the next morning with two gentlemen who shared
their ride with us; they were headed to the airport, we to the higher
numbers of Sukhumvit to find our other friend, who had been, thankfully,
unable to return to the hotel after a day of shopping.
With a friend who was still trapped in his apartment on
the very same soi we had just escaped, I fretted until I learned that he had
finally managed to get out yesterday afternoon. Another friend was forced to
remain in his apartment off Sukhumvit, hopefully both of their neighborhoods
return to safety. Another Bangkok friend had had enough and left yesterday
for the beach, only to find out that the Tesco Lotus that he shops at in On
Nut had been attacked as the violence had branched out across the city.
Central World is destroyed, at the latest count, more
than 39 buildings were torched, and the Channel 3 building was set alight
with staff trapped inside, rescued by helicopters, thankfully. It seems the
troubles have come to Chiang Mai as well, albeit so far, on a much smaller
scale, with red shirts burning tires on Nawarat Bridge. A woman I know was
stuck in traffic on Sunday when the motorcycles came through, with people
pounding on car roofs and hoods. There are reports of attempts to enter the
Imperial Mae Ping Hotel, before being chased off, banks being attacked and
random fires during the night.
Curfew has been instituted in the province and an economy
already suffering from a lack of tourists will shortly see itself buckle
under if this continues much longer, for who wants to come to a city where
you aren’t sure if violence can erupt at any time? And now, as many
protestors return from Bangkok, what do we residents of Chiang Mai have to
look forward to? Can peace be kept? Can some kind of reconciliation come
about? Or will we see this city’s reputation as equally tarnished in the
eyes of the travelling community as Bangkok’s is now?
