A premeditated plan to burn Bangkok
By Thanong Khanthong
The NationPublished on May 26, 2010
The torching of more than 30 buildings in Bangkok last Wednesday in the aftermath of the red-shirt rally was premeditated.
The huge CentralWorld shopping complex was reduced to scorched rubble. Big C at Rajprasong was also badly damaged. The Centre One mall at the Victory Monument was burnt down along with the 300 shops inside, causing damage to the tune of Bt1 billion. The venerable Siam Theatre, which had stood for 44 years, was badly torched. The Maleenont Building on Rama IV, which houses Channel 3 TV station, was also damaged by fire, causing three days of blackout on that channel. The office building of the Metropolitan Electricity Authority was completely ruined by arsonists. About ten branches of Bangkok Bank around the city were smashed and set alight, and their ATMs outside were looted. Convenience stores were robbed. The violence also spread upcountry, where the red shirts came out to burn provincial halls.
Both Dr Panithan Watanayakorn and Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd have confirmed that the torching of central Bangkok, the provincial halls and other public and private buildings was part of a premeditated plot following the end of the red-shirt rally. The masterminds wanted to inflict maximum damage to the economy and the country as a whole.
From my understanding, CentralWorld was the biggest target for the reds, from the very beginning, if their rally failed. Burning down the giant mall would send a strong signal from the poor reds to the Bangkok elite. The owners and management of CentralWorld was aware of this possibility all along, of the building's vulnerability to arson attack. They tried to be friendly to the red protesters by allowing them to use the facilities, including toilets, in the basement of the building. After all, the reds were sleeping all around the "Ground Zero" of CentralWorld. The whole complex, along with nearby shopping malls, was closed down during the red rally from April 12 to May 19.
The reds used these buildings as if they owned them. They kept their arsenal of weapons and explosive stockpiles at CentralWorld, Big-C Rajprasong and in other buildings. Lumpini Park was where the reds' "Black Army" kept their weapons and explosives. Renegade officer Major General Khattiya Sawasdipol, who was killed by a sniper's bullet just days before the final crackdown, was responsible for defending the Sala Daeng barricades in the event of the military moving in. Khattiya said that if Sala Daeng were to fall, the Rajprasong rally site would be taken over.
Some time ago I overheard a red member saying: "We will never lose this battle. We have got strong backup. If the military moves in to hurt us, we will burn all the buildings. They will not dare lay a finger on us."
Going into the protest, the reds were almost certain that they would prevail. They thought that they would never have to use their weapons or explosives against the government's troops. By staging their rally at Rajprasong intersection, the reds were able to hold the entire country as their hostage. There were 2,000 to 4,000 reds, including women and children, at Rajprasong most of the time. This created a dilemma for Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. If he were to employ military force to remove the reds from Rajprasong, he would have to bear the consequences of the human casualties. The reds' armed faction would use heavy weapons to fend off any military attack, as well as kill their own supporters and burn the buildings in the area. The reds were assisted by snipers and black-clad extremists with military training. This "Black Army" would hit the security forces from behind the lines.
The reds would have put all the blame on Abhisit alone after the crackdown, especially if there had been a high number of casualties, particularly among the elderly, the women and the children. We would witness later on how the elderly, women and children feared for their lives when they were evacuated from the protest site to nearby Wat Pathumwararam, which is sandwiched between Siam Paragon and CentralWorld. Many did not know if they would be killed. They did not know what was happening around them. They cried as they walked out of the temple after the crackdown was completed with a minimum loss of life. It was like hell for them in the temple.
There is ample evidence, including video clips, to support the charges that the torching and destruction of Bangkok was premeditated. On January 27, Natthawut Saikua, a red leader, spoke to the red crowd at Khao Soi Dao, Chanthaburi. He said: "If they seize power, we'll start fires throughout the whole country. Burn them all, my fellow friends and brothers. I will assume the sole responsibility. If they want to find fault with someone, come and get me. If you seize power, just burn it."
On January 29, Arisman Pongruengrong, another hardcore red leader, told a red rally: "We'll have an appointment next time. If they are going to crack down on us, we don't need to prepare anything much. Just bring along your cups or bottles, which you can fill up with at least one litre of gasoline. If one million of us come to Bangkok, we'll have one million litres of gasoline. I can assure you that Bangkok will turn into a sea of fire."
CentralWorld was attacked and torched three times on May 19 after the red leaders caved in to the pressure of the military crackdown. About 200 reds were involved in these attacks. The first round of burning took place right after the red leaders announced an end to the two-month rally. The second attack happened at around five or six o'clock. The third occurred at around 9 o'clock.
I was told by an intelligence source that the reds also had reason to burn down CentralWorld because they wanted to destroy the massive weapons stockpile kept inside the building. They wanted to get rid of the evidence. As the government troops were about to advance to Rajprasong, the reds were left with no time to move the weapons out. The military started the operation to flush out the reds at four o'clock in the morning. After some fierce fighting, the troops managed to take control of Lumpini Park, and then broke through the Sala Daeng barricades several hours later. There was fighting in Lumpini Park, but we don't know the number of casualties there.
It also appears that there were behind-the-scenes talks to avoid a full-scale civil war. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Korbsak Sabhavasu, the secretary to the PM, and Korn Chatikavanij, the finance minister, worked hardest to try to resolve the crisis situation. The military did not want to inflict heavy casualties on the reds. And the reds were well aware that they would be killed en masse if they were to fight back.
The reds must have known about the crackdown in advance. Was this a leak from the military watermelon again? I have heard that some police officers managed to sneak out red militants from Lumpini Park on the eve of the crackdown. But there would still be enough red fighters to fend off the crackdown for a while. In the end, the half-hearted remaining reds, using M-79s, sniper rifles and other weapons, could not hold out against the military's advance.
By 1:30pm, the red leaders at the Rajprasong rally site knew their fate. They had received the warning to disperse. Natthawut was the one who made the announcement that the reds would end the rally in the face of the military crackdown. The reds would surrender themselves at the nearby Office of the National Police.
Reactions were mixed. Many reds felt great relief that the rally had finally ended. Others were confused by the swift change in the tide. But many others were angry. They felt they had been betrayed by their leaders. A bomb suddenly exploded behind the rally site, causing the red leaders to move quickly away. Police officers came to the red leaders' rescue. They escorted them out of the rally site before the military could reach them. This helped avoid the humiliation of being nabbed by the Army, and so the red leaders walked proudly as heroes to surrender at the Office of the National Police.
Then, as we know, all hell broke loose. The torching of CentralWorld began in earnest. Later in the day, the other targetted buildings around the capital would suffer a similar fate. Arson and looting were rampant. The riots would spread upcountry.
As the red extremists burnt CentralWorld during three phases, to destroy their weapons and explosives kept inside, some of their number became trapped inside. In the aftermath, some ten reds were found dead in the basement of the huge complex near the weapons they were trying to get rid of.
The reds were ungrateful to the owners and management of CentralWorld, who had given them shelter and the use of facilities throughout their rally there.
In the end, the reds acted in a way that can be described as "kin bon ruen, khi rod bon lang kha". Eat in a host's home, then climb up on the roof to shit on it.
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