Clarity, justice remain elusive

As red shirts began marking the third anniversary of the April 10 to May 19, 2010 protest which ended in blood and the loss of more than 90 lives, mostly on the red-shirt side, there exists no consensus on whom to blame and whether reconciliation is still achievable. Those from different sides interviewed concur, however, that finding out the truth is important and paramount in achieving closure and reconciliation.

“Clarity [about what happened] is most essential,” said Tul Sitthisomwong, leader of the multi-coloured-shirt group.

“What red-shirts and Thaksin Shinawatra fear most is clarity. I’m not opposed to amnesty. We must see who has been misled. But we cannot forgive the masterminds until they have been punished,” he said, referring to red-shirt leaders, and to ousted and fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, whom he considers the culprit.

Tul said that since there’s no agreement on what really took place and who should be held responsible, Thailand has been “lost” over the past three years.

“[Can there be] forgiveness? I say ordinary red shirts were mere pawns and political victims,” said Tul, who insisted that soldiers did not indiscriminately shoot at protesters but were provoked and attacked by the mysterious so-called “men in black”.

Red Sunday group leader Sombath Boon-ngam-anong, meanwhile, agreed that the debate on who is to be blamed for the deaths and violence is still far from being resolved. Sombath added, however, that he thinks the feeling of mutual hatred has subsided somewhat over the past three years. Although Sombath was detained for weeks after protesting against the crackdown in the immediate aftermath in 2010, he said he is now personally no longer easily agitated as before.

“It will take time. The incident [in 2010] was complex and I personally thought both sides were victims and offenders. The judicial process is still ongoing. I believe the passage of time will help clear up many issues and lead toward eventual acceptance of the truth.”

Sombath urges all sides to strive towards unveiling the truth and to seek justice. “The search for truth must continue. But let’s not stall the country [due to political division]. It’s a different matter,” he said, adding that issues like who committed the Central World arson are still not resolved.

Puangthong Pawakapan, co-editor of a book detailing what happened in 2010 and key member of the People’s Information Centre, agrees it will take more time to unveil the truth. She said it may take another five to 10 years before people will be open-minded enough to recognise at least two sets of narratives about what happened in 2010. “By then a new round of searching for the truth may resume.”

Unlike Sombath, Puangthong said emotions still run high and the level of mutual animosity may, in fact, have deepened over the three years as people like then prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva have still not been made accountable, she said.

What’s more, 18 red shirts are still being detained with little or no assistance from the Pheu Thai government of Yingluck Shinawatra, leaving some red shirts bitter with the government it helped to elect.

“When I joined the red-shirt protests, I could sense their anger against the Pheu Thai government as well.”

At the same time, Puangthong feels that royalists who oppose the red shirts and the government, and who currently oppose the move to amend the charter, may never be at peace because they are simply running against the tide of democratisation.

“They may end up being full of hatred for the rest of their lives.”