"Democracy" by fire? Yeah-- if you want to live in HELL, assholes.

[kaiserkuchen]

Bangkok is burning.

I've been watching the news again since I woke up today and a lot of things have changed. The "good": As a result of the government finally moving to crack down on the protest zones at Ratchaprasong and Lumpini Park/Sala Daeng, seven Redshirt leaders have surrendered (though I am not sure if the ones that fled like the craven cowards they are are also included) and officially called off the protest.

The bad: Though some have taken the chances offered and have left the city or are about to, there are a section of the reds who are highly unhappy with this turn of events and have taken the chance to show what despicable scum they are by destroying and setting fire to various parts in Bangkok, as well as shooting around with their live ammo, homemade bombs/molotov cocktails and the M79s that seem to be sprouting up on fields given how often the Reds or the mysterious Men in Black have used them. The large shopping center Central World has been burning since 3PM this afternoon and is in danger of collapsing, the Channel 3 news building was attacked and there are still people stuck there, the first floor of the Thailand Stock Exchange was or still is on fire and it is the same with other areas. Firefighters and ambulances have been hindered at their jobs by the protesters who fire shots at them. The shops throughout BKK (even in our corner of town, which is really far away) were all closed at 4PM and there is now an official curfew from 8PM til 6AM the next day. All Thai TV channels have switched to special broadcasting.






...these are all different angles of Central World.

...a different fire, near the Victory Monument.


Here is a FB album with some stunning pictures of what has been happening today and the last few days.

"Don't blame Dan Rivers" ...not a weak apology for what many perceive as the biased reporting of Dan Rivers, CNN's Thailand correspondent and CNN's coverage of this in general-- but an excellent and interesting post about the differences between reporting a story when your language is not the same as the source language, and all the nuances that disappear from viewing material/footage and the dangers of getting your facts and your angle on things wholly messed up. It additionally gives a great overview of what happened before this all came to a head in Thai politics for the uninitiated or foreign.

Here is a clip of a Redshirt leader EXPLICITLY saying in a speech: "If you take our power, we will burn the country" ...iirc, he's one of the leaders who turned themselves in. Fucker better burn for this.

EDIT: CENTRAL WORLD HAS NOW COLLAPSED. I do not know yet to what extent, but still holy fucking nutballs this is insane. The property damage, the livelihoods lost! Are you happy now, you pyromaniac arsonists? Fuck.