The Seh Daeng Incident
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Here’s a line of thought though. Yes some say the red movement has reached its ideological & moral bankruptcy. The leadership is split. Veera according to, yes, Seh Daeng, who was shot soon after making the claim, has fled to the safe English exile with other red leaders reportedly resigning.
And now the Seh Daeng incident. And not much condolences from the red stage. Not to scare off the reds? Shot in front of journalists. A bullet from the left to the right temple. See here the CNN report. And not much solidarity from the red stage. Speeches just went on, as if no shooting took place. The assassination attempt could be as much as anything a payback for the officers killed/injured on April 10th? But what if … what if (sent in by a reader):
Seh Deang’s charisma and general persona have made him a folk hero with many reds. If it’s true that he is a front for someone much bigger he could be expendable. That the reds had been alienating themselves from him could be evidence. Being shot by a red (black) sniper … The hope is to make this the catalyst for the glorious, long-awaited uprising! Fanciful perhaps, but this being played out more and more as a B-grade movie script, how can you ever conclusively know?
Nah, am not an apologist. This is a too dire situation to be sarcastic.
Government and army are fully aware of the risk of such an operation. A signature Seh Daeng operation actually. Lived like a soldier, died like a soldier. Well not yet, in a coma, but his daughter reportedly told doctors if her father’s condition is beyond help, they should let him go.
Again, neither government nor army get benefit from such an action. And all possible weapons are freely available on the market, even high velocity guns. You just need the money. Army and government had many chances to get rid of Seh Daeng. And didn’t. Something just doesn’t make sense.
BTW, here’s The Nation’s take on who might have shot him. Here the Bangkok Post’s analysis.
My thoughts are with the general and his family. And all the other victims.
I think the suggestion Seh Daeng was killed by his own is way off base. Could it be? yes it could, but the fact the government and military would not benefit from this is wrong. They would benefit greatly because in Thailand, for the last three quarters of a century force has been the way to solve problems. At least when an opposition is concerned.
Personally I have always disliked this man. he has a dubious past and in a sense, this death fits right in with the idea of karma. He led elite killer troops to hunt down opposition members decades ago and killed them, probably just as ruthlessly as he himself was killed tonight. If indeed he dies.
But the government now going ahead and continuing their rampage of murder against the people is what should be exposed. April 10 was not what they government and military have tried to make it out to be; a Kafaesque suggestion of reds killing reds.
This government is ruthless and ready and willing to kill in order to make sure the status quo remains intact. As far as they are concerned, the poor can go back to tilling the fields and eking out a living for another 77 years.
Meanwhile Prem has joined Abhisit at the military base these “leaders” hide out at…
Thais now have divided into those that worry about business and profits, and the poor that worry about having a decent life with some integrity.
The people may not have specific platforms, and lack leadership. But rather than belittle them for this, it should be accepted as proof this is really the people, and not a herded bunch of sheep.
As the song goes: “Freedom’s just another word for ‘nothing left to lose’”.
These poor have nothing left to lose. They have nothing anyway now that even their democratic voice at the ballot box has been stolen.
They have finally though, had their first real taste of freedom in 77 years. Why? Because they have nothing left to lose. They have seen this truth. And it is liberating.
Thailand will never be the same…
Seriously? Internecine warfare inside the red demo? That’s a pretty big stretch to deny the likely source of anger towards Seh Daeng …
I think the pro-government line after April 10 was a denial of responsibility too. If we ignore how ludicrous the suggestion that no live ammunition was fired at the demonstrators by government troops on that day, I think we can find a very obvious explanation for what happened tonight. Seh Daeng, rightfully or not, has been regarded as the man responsible for the officer casualties on that day. He seemed in interviews to actually enjoy this noteriety. You may have seen the pictures of the well connected survivors of this attack recovering in hospital.
Many supporters of the current dispensation had a good reason to see this man removed from the scene and his role as a potential military counterpuncher has to be seen as a key factor in the government’s paralysis. Why bother speculating motivations are so plentiful and we can simply look at who benefits? It remains to be seen what will happen next but now that he’s neutralized the reds must seem a lot less potent to their adversaries.
Thomas Fuller of NYT has this to say about who shot Seh Daeng:
Source: PBS News
Doubt it was reds or government – again I think the notorious “third hand” was at work.
Revenge for Colonel Romklao, and if we follow that trail it leads to …
tha reds on stage were careful in marking Seh Daengs shooting, I think because they want to keep their people peaceful and unarmed and his influence was undermining this.
it is so easy for people, like the military and those that call for the reds to be dispersed “by force” or “eliminated” etc to fall into solving problems by force rather than by discussion and agreement
this approach suits the military which has ruled Thailand since the 1940′s relying on this approach
ther government and the PAD have been captured to the cause of the military and are therefore unable to deal with the issues of Thailand except through the superior aggressive approach rather than treating all Thais as peaceful equals
the military and those that live off them need to be brought under control, banned from any involvement in business and politics, restricted to their only role, defending the kingdom against external enemies!
This is perhaps a relatively new dark chapter in Thai politics … assassination of leaders of opposing camps. But the Thais can be very quick understudy in this new dark art. And we only have to look at neighbor the Philippines for inspiration (where massacres of entire clans of the opposition is standard fare).
David what you say (and others basically) rings true. The military has had a free hand for 3/4 of a century and total control over media and the flow of information.
The latter has changed and now they must try to play in such a way as to make it appear they are not the bullies pulling the government along or propping it up.
But the military will never be confined to barracks because the situation has been (d)evolving for so many decades their grip on the nation is very tight.
The poor though have finally started seeing things the way they are, and not the way state propaganda has been sticking down their throats for 77 years.
The poor may not yet have been able to put together all the pieces nor able to accept everything they see, but they can no longer be controlled like docile sleepwalkers. They have seen a reflection of truth and want more.
Thailand has two roads it can now go down.
1) It can go down the fragile and evolutionary road of democracy, no matter how flawed in its infancy, or;
2) It can go down the road of more overt oppression and join its neighbors to the north and totally trample the poor without even bothering to make it look good.
I fear for the worst.
No matter how much you guys hate Sae Daeng, shooting a person who was giving an interview (with NYT/IHT) is bad taste.
However, try to ask the opinion of our Oxford-educated PM about this kind of shooting and he will certainly use his Oxord logics to justify it.
There will be a lot of people in the red/PTP/red army organization resting a lot easier now or as soon as death is confirmed. There is no doubt about that. Sae Daeng was never shy about speaking out.
As to who did it just look to the comment by the confused NYT journo which although maybe innacurate in part certainly concludes correctly IMHO.
I could find a myriad of reasons why the government or the police or the army or some faction of each or the PTP leadership or Thaksin or the reds or some faction of would benefit. IMHO I don’t think it makes much sense to speculate as every partisan only makes a case for one of the groups they oppose, usually without even the nuance that there are far more than two groups at play here, while finding absolutely no benefit for the group they favor. There are some very vicious power crazed people at play here on every level and spread across divides and there are a lot of armed violent people on the streets both in and out of uniform.
Many in the red camp weren’t happy with the negotiations with the government. I don’t think the government was all too happy with the peace solution and the yellow shirts were definitely not happy with new election. It’s anyone’s guess who pulled the trigger and why but this will certainly be a game changer.
The interview given by Gen. Khattiya with Asian Wall Street Journal on May 5th, 2010, was chilling to recall:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703866704575223772181634604.html
Forgive me if I don’t cry any crocodile tears for this very dangerous General Khattiya. General Khattiya is probably now recuperating with glee cheered on by sounds of gunfire and bombs aplenty audible from his hospital bed … the “civil war” erupting as both General Khattiya and Thaksin Shinawatra exactly envisioned not very long ago in Dubai.
MARIT: You are absolutely right, this man in a sense has become the sort of victim he turned others into in decades gone by. He was a ruthless hunter of opposition members. A sort of karmic end (if it is indeed the end) for him.
But that is not the point. The point is governments cannot go around assassinating people. There are ways in civilized societies for governments to act which set examples for the people.
In Thailand the governments, one after another almost, are corrupt and ruthlessly oppress the masses of the people whenever they strive for more freedom or democracy.
I have always advocated the people distance themselves from Seh Daeng and those of his ilk, but in no way does this condone the way the government/military and “their” invisible hand have dealt with him.
And please, do not try to convince us he was murdered by another red shirt.
I see the video linked here:
Red scum attacks, shoots & helps soldier @ BKK Vids (via BP)
and must admit it is scary stuff. But for every video showing this kind of thing fifty showing how the soldiers murder people have disappeared.
Anyway, to argue as do the anti-red commenters, this was probably yellow shirts dressed as reds to blame it on them.
I wonder how those soldiers would have acted had they outnumbered these people and had their weapons ready. Maybe a few more would have to be counted among today’s dead.
I do pity the foot-soldiers though who have little desire to be involved in this melee at all.
To see this soldier shot and to see Seh Daeng shot is basically the same on a human level.
What I find annoying is the title of “red scum” which, in fact, is the very attitude that helps ignite this violence.
Until the reds are seen as people (just like Seh Daeng (again, whom I dislike very much) and that soldier) until that happens those that have claimed the moral high ground for themselves and justify attacking the people are in fact closer to what can be termed “scum” than the red shirts.
Tim Johnston of Financial Times had this conclusion of Friday’s violence:
Let’s try coming up with a conspiracy theory by asking who will benefit most by the killing of this guy. As we all know, the man does not like to keep his mouth shut and is obviously a foolhardy and arrogant person. This kind of individual is unlikely to be able to keep any secrets and that could jeopardize those with whom he openly or secretly associates. His assassination could help to achieve a dual outcome: to shut him up permanently and to exacerbate the situation.
An interesting clip of him giving an interview to someone (in Thai):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxz9j9HW4Yc
Blue, would as well write “yellow scum” if it would be yellows, no color-distinction intended, but they’re reds and what is wrong is wrong. To not further inflame the situation I took the clearly defamatory term down.
BangkokDan
I don’t know about Blue but every time I see those reds (whether in or out of their favored color), I see flesh and bones.
What do you see guys???
Blue’s melodramatic plaintive (again!) poster:
Well not quite. Bet not one in 1,000 trained with a rifle could make that shot maybe as high as one in 10,000 in the waining light conditions of a hot day. Anyone that’s hunted can tell you how hard it is to pull on an animal and a human is millions of times harder, especially in cold blood.
This was an incredibly well trained snipper, probably a sniper team who have spent countless hours learning how to regulate his heart rate and respiration. This was a professional hit, by a professional, on a professional. The only people in Thailand with that capability are the army.
With a foreign witness to the whole thing from the shot from the Dusit, to the military officers smiling and shaking each others hands. to the get away in a black police van – the mystery is not that big.
VICHAI you are very capable at turning things upside down for the non-attentive reader.
Your suggestion I do not see flesh and bones is ludicrous. But I would prefer not to enter into a confrontation with you, albeit your misleading provocations are well structured.
Thank you BKDAN. you are right of course, the incident is scary. Saddening.
I would actually not refer to the yellows as scum, as much i think them to be thugs, selfish, profit-oriented self-delusional people who have not yet realized that 1.7% of the vote (in the most recent poll) is proof enough they do not represent many.
I write frequently in blogs and newspapers and never use de-humanizing terms. I leave that to the anti-reds who have somehow managed to monopolize the verbal dehumanization process.
It should be noted I wish the violence would end. But as long as the red shirts do not want to return to tilling the fields and working in the sweatshops as they have done for three quarters of a century in so-called modern Thailand, I will support their cause.
I they choose to leave I will be happy to see lives spared.
Even if deprived of their dignity (in the eyes of the defeated) they will be the ones that can consider themselves more like what human beings can be, while the selfish and smug ridicule them for their failure to accomplish what they set out to do. The latter will be the ones who have lost their dignity.
But the killers are the military, government and wealthy few who think profit and possessions are worth more than human dignity and lives.
SURIE: Financial Times …??? Give us a break. Not exactly the pinnacle of objective reporting.
Thailand is at a crossroads. With Abhisit and Prem hiding out in military barracks while the soldiers do the killing, they sit and wait to reclaim their feudally inherited positions.
Who are the real cowards …???
RICEFIELD you are absolutely right. One problem is the media is so tightly controlled in Thailand that Thais hardly get anything other than official versions which twist almost everything to suit their short, and long term goals.
Even my tv cable has had ALL six previous internal news medias taken off a couple for weeks ago, including the BBC.
Not that these other media outlets are perfect but they do show somewhat more accurately what is really going on. I guess the Thai authorities have ordered providers to make sure the public is left as much in the dark as possible about events.
Lots of cartoons, cooking shows and soap operas though for people to fall asleep by.
(BD: People are fed what they want, if people would wish for more information Thai media would feed more information. You wouldn’t seriously suggest that the government was eagerly censoring information during the past few days.)