This week marks the 15th anniversary of the military crackdown on protests in Bangkok and elsewhere in Thailand.
In 2010, the red shirts blockaded parts of central Bangkok. The crackdown on 19 May saw the military use live fire to quell the protests. The dead included a Japanese journalist. Numerous buildings were set alight, including Central World shopping complex near the centre of the protests.
In the lead up to the crackdown, the protests made travelling through sections of Bangkok such as Rajprasong intersection, parts of Rama IV Road and the streets around Lumphini Park near impossible while life continued as normal in other parts of the city.
With parts of Rama IV Road blocked by tyre barricades and protestors, nearby residents including those over on Sukhumvit were woken each day to the sound of gunfire and grenades.
At the time, I was working on a telecom project and was in the loop on Government requests for shutting down mobile phone cell sites for the Rajprasong grid. So we had some idea of the timing for a possible crackdown.
In the previous month, the CEO of the Government entity we were negotiating with was kidnapped for a few hours. He later laughed it off but when 300 red shirts on motorbikes come looking for you what options do you have? They had mistakenly thought he could reactivate forner PM Thaksin's TV station which had been suspended by the Government.
19 May was probably the only time a colleague would ring me early in the morning to let me know that she wanted to go to work that day but there was a tank outside her home. I told her to stay home.
The linked article from 2010 by the BBC provides a good summary of some of that day's events in Bangkok.
Clashes, fires and fears for future in Bangkok
May 2025
© PELEN 2025
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