Strong Pictures From The Protests

[george]

http://webboard.news.sanook.com/forum/?topic=2759201

[LivinginKata]

Excellent. I'd like to see more of these images posted on the blogs and international news sites. Brings back the famous LOS image.....

[PhilHarries]

Yes, sadly those images will never make it onto the front pages of the international press.

[hhgz]

Great photos that reflect the true spirit of Thailand.

[Chaimai]

I am fairly certain some of those are firing blanks

[BigSnake]

The Guys in green firing water instead of bullets, great fun for all, Yahoo you tube ASAP.

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

no mercy, shot her right in the face.

[Who, me ?]

almost passed out ;-)

[lost_in_space]

OMG, so many non-bodily fluids everywhere!

[shriah]

We need more of these guns and ammunition ! Love it !

[Carib]

DISGUSTING PICS !!!

[barrybike]

happy happy

[Valentine]

Great to see & I certainly could not agree more that this type of thing should be posted all over the place to counter the current negative image.

The core of the current government, the Democrats, have never had a good publicity machine & it baffles me they do not use all available means to promote their cause. Even putting out the pros & cons between reds & yellows, in a balanced format the local populace can easily identify with, could help with the so called reconcilliation they keep talking about.

[londonthai]

around the world very few understands a concept of songkran, but everybody knows about cocsequences fireing live ammunition into a crowd. Songkran passed - military remains on the streets.

2 dead and 150 hospitalised (with many more injured not seeking medical care or going private, afraid of being repressed by the state) shows, that not all was about sanuk.

during the military coup there were as well flowers on the tanks - but it was still a military coup and not abolishement of military dominance in a thai political life.

I do think the government understands this and it's propaganda mashine doesn't use those images

[iRawr]

Haha, i lol'd in real. I agree with PhilHarries, those pictures deserve to be on the front pages of the International press. ;]

[HagenvonTronje]

around the world very few understands a concept of songkran, but everybody knows about cocsequences fireing live ammunition into a crowd. Songkran passed - military remains on the streets.

2 dead and 150 hospitalised (with many more injured not seeking medical care or going private, afraid of being repressed by the state) shows, that not all was about sanuk.

during the military coup there were as well flowers on the tanks - but it was still a military coup and not abolishement of military dominance in a thai political life.

I do think the government understands this and it's propaganda mashine doesn't use those images

strange pictures, aren't they. without uniforms would they are the most normal pics of the songkran fun. with the uniforms and the context given are they somewhat disturbing, confusing.

i want add another photo that came to my mind when i saw those songkran pics.

don't know the actual source, it's floating around in the web at many places. i don't think it was used as propaganda image by the nazis, but if than it wasn't the typical one. and i don't want compare the german army with the thai soldier or rewrite history and belittle the crimes of the SS. we know what happend. that is not the reason why i post the pic.

a cute little kitten, surrounded by grown up men who play with the cat, a meadow flower in the hand. a little bit silly situation because grown up men normally have other group activities and don't act like little girls. but why not. i love kittens too. but for other reasons it is still an uneasy picture to look at.

the context,the knowledge about history, the uniforms spoil the fun, and on the second thought it are maybe rather sad pictures than "happy happy". shit happens if you put people in uniform and doesn't matter if it's camouflage or a plain colour like feldgrau, or the 2-3 choises of colour we had seen recently the last couple of months in bangkok. and i am pretty sure, the humans under the red and and yellow shirts did enjoy songkran water play activities as well.

what makes those pictures uneasy is the complex outside of the pictures, that what is not shown, but as a shadow still there, represented and symbolised by the uniform. if you ignore it, doesn't see it,  negate it,- that what is outside of the pic, than is the pic a lie.