Fri, 21 May 2010 8:06a.m.
By Mike McRoberts
While the clean up around Bangkok is going to take some time, and a considerable amount of money, there are clearly a few deeper issues this country is going to have to address in the near future.
I’m heading home tonight and can’t help but feel for the millions caught in the middle of this. From hotel staff to taxi drivers and market stall owners there’s real concern about their future.
It was reported here that tourist numbers into Bangkok over the past month dropped to a third of what they would normally be, and it’ll take some time before international travellers start coming back again.
The story of what happened in Bangkok these past few days is far from over, but for now the breaking news aspect of it has eased.
The bigger, more in depth and harder to tell story of why this confrontation ended the way it did – and what the people of Thailand can expect in the future – is yet to be told. I’d love to come back to tell it.
I spent some time with a Kiwi family the other day who have been long term residents of Bangkok. They had some interesting thoughts on how the majority of the world’s media has put the conflict down to a simple breakdown between rich and poor. “That’s bullshit” is how the husband succinctly described it. Hard to disagree with, inevitably like most wars it’s more about power and who has or hasn’t got it.
You do get a sense though, that the people of Thailand are finding their voice.
While no one could justify the violent way this most recent protest ended with the loss of so many lives – remember the red shirts started with a peaceful occupation similar to the yellow shirts sit-in that closed the international airport two years ago – these sorts of public demonstrations and acts of defiance would have been unthinkable a few years back.
I’ve been tweeting while I’ve been in Bangkok which is a new thing for me. It’s amazing how much reporting of major events like this is changing, and for the most part I’ve enjoyed the experience.
Someone posted some photos on my Twitter page (3 News photos) which are a pretty sobering account of what happened on Wednesday. Quite a few of the photos were taken from the area where I’d been reporting.
I think I tweeted in response that it’s amazing how much fury can be captured in an image.
They’re images I’ll remember for some time.
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