Getting beyond the special interests

What we have all been hoping for is at last beginning to happen, and it’s good news for Thailand. Abhisit Vejajiva has put on a red shirt and announced we are all in this together, which we are. 

I can think of only one essential difference that separates the red-shirt movement from those who oppose it, and that is who killed those 94 people at Ratchaprasong in 2010. The majority of red shirts say it was Abhisit, whereas Abhisit says he doesn’t know. And that’s a difference worth examining.

There were indisputably guns on both sides – the photos, wounds, and trajectory of bullets prove that beyond a shadow of doubt. Abhisit swears he never gave the command to open fire on the crowd, and also points out, quite rightly, there were dead on his side as well. Most red shirts swear the Army did all the killing, but it’s much less clear who was in command of the red shirts at the time than who was in charge of the Army. In addition, the majority of red shirts claim they didn’t have guns on their side, and that their movement was for peace and justice. Most of the red shirts are trying to tell the truth, yet shots were fired from our side as well. 

Which makes me angry because, as a red shirt, I’m opposed to shooting anybody, yet I saw men hidden behind me with war weapons and grenades. And I’m convinced that we the people could get to the bottom of all this treachery and violence by working together more closely, and that means without the interference of the spin-meisters upstairs – whoever the bosses might have been, or for whatever purpose.

But on the really big stuff, we’re in agreement. We all agree that the gap between rich and poor must be addressed, that cronyism and graft are destroying the nation, that the education system is a mess, and that huge efforts must be made to create a society that is fairer, more democratic, with a brighter future for everybody equally. And no more coups, and no more cause for them. 

I’ve always wanted to have a list of the official red-shirt objectives. I’d love to hand it to Abhisit personally and ask him how many of our aspirations are different than his. Indeed, once we all stop pointing the finger and crying for blood, are there any real differences between us? I mean once we get beyond the special interests of the brokers upstairs? 

Lung Kip

Chiang Mai