THE CONTRAST could not have been greater on the streets of Bangkok, as anti-government protesters marched away from Government House watched carefully by thousands of troops and riot police. The stand-off at the heart of Thailand’s worst political crisis for years was over.
The 34-degree heat had protesters and riot police alike reaching for their water bottles. Children gathered by the roadside to celebrate Thai New Year, or Songkran, by throwing buckets of water at passing cars and tuk-tuk taxis, oblivious to the turmoil which had transfixed the capital for weeks. This is the hottest time of year in Thailand and a dousing with water by a group of grinning children is greeted with smiles and kindly nods from the victims, including this correspondent.
It’s a far cry from the barrage of stones and petrol bombs thrown by the red-shirted protesters a few hours before, and the live rounds fired by the army to disperse the angry crowds.
Buses had been set on fire, and sent careering down the avenue around the government district, straight into lines of police and army.
Running battles left more than 100 injured and two dead on these wide thoroughfares and the whole city of 12 million was geared up for more violence. Rumours were widespread and intense – taxi drivers said the soldiers would go in at midnight, then dawn.
In the end, the protest fizzled, as the demonstrators simply ran out of options. The speed of their collapse was dramatic. Many slipped away overnight, while several thousand were surrounded at Government House by similar numbers of troops.
The “red” leaders opted to stand down in the face of overwhelming firepower so as to avoid bloodshed.
The red-shirted supporters, of both sexes and all ages, waved their little plastic red hands and tried to garner support among the soldiers, but the government had clearly won this stand-off, so it was only a question of how long the demonstrators could hold out.
In the end they filed out peacefully, watched by phalanxes of soldiers and riot police. There were tears of frustration, and defiance too as they passed through the checkpoints and headed for home.
While the protesters lost this battle, they felt they had made a point – they had forced the abandonment of an Asean summit in Pattaya after all, and caused a major loss of face for the government. They had nearly captured the prime minister himself at one point.
The treatment meted out to the red-shirted supporters of exiled ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was in marked contrast to the approach taken to the “yellows” last year, who went so far as to occupy the airport for a week.
The “yellows” represent the elite and have the backing of the monarchy and the army; the “reds” are largely composed of the rural poor. The populist Mr Thaksin’s corruption-tainted rule was, for them, something worth fighting for.
The protesters walked past burnt-out barricades and piles of debris lying around. Local residents gathered to start the clean-up after the latest mess left by the political wrangling that has turned Thailand from a rock of stability in Asia into a politically charged country constantly on the brink of serious unrest.
After they left, the streets of the government district were quiet yesterday. Large sections were still sealed off by riot police.
“They go home now. You go home now too,” said one smiling policeman, blocking my access to the area closest to the section where the demonstrators had been camping out for three weeks.
The throwing of water at Songkran is meant to bring good rainfall for the rest of the year ahead, washing away bad luck. While the immediate danger has passed in Bangkok, the lingering political issue remains and you feel that Thailand needs all the good omens it can get in the next few months if it is to ride out the political storm.