Photos: Thai Army Rout On Phra Pinklao Bridge

[bulmercke]

Some photos I took on Sunday 11 April depicting the aftermath of the events of the previous night.

Scattered army vehicles at the bottom of Phra Pinlao bridge on the Pata Department store side. Evidence of the chaotic and disorderly retreat.

Another shot of same army vehicles taken from pedestrian footbridge.

More abandoned military vehicles - this time located on top of the bridge.

Another shot of same - looking towards Bang Phlat side of the river.

What appears to be explosives and the remnants of a timing device. Located by the side of the road - in the middle section of the bridge. (I noticed a nearby policeman looking intently at something - and when he moved off after a minute or so I nipped in and took these two shots.)

Another shot from a different angle.

Photos taken between 6.15-7.00 AM - Sunday 11 April 2010.

Some more shots.

Edited April 14, 2010 by bulmercke

[Donnyboy]

thanks

[Tejas]

thanks

I can't see the images...........were they removed already?

[bulmercke]

thanks

I can't see the images...........were they removed already?

No. They're still up there.

[Carib]

Think the `explosives` are a battery pack. Good pics !

[draggons]

Same here, no photos.

[Indo-Siam]

You must be registered and logged in, to see photos.

[londonthai]

those vehicles stand against the traffic flow, so most probably placed there not by the fleeing soldiers, but by the protesters, already after the bloody shootings - to prevent more of the army vehicles coming to the area. They are sort of soft barricades.

[soundman]

Think the `explosives` are a battery pack. Good pics !

I would have to agree - definately not explosives - a battery pack for a radio or cordless tools.

[Gaccha]

those vehicles stand against the traffic flow, so most probably placed there not by the fleeing soldiers, but by the protesters, already after the bloody shootings - to prevent more of the army vehicles coming to the area. They are sort of soft barricades.

They were placed there by protesters but it was before the shootings. They were in place by Saturday 5pm several hours before the mayhem began. I am an eyewitness to this.

[gotlost]

Energizer Bunny Reject.

[needforspeed]

Nice pictures, Thanks

Wondering what where you thinking wen you tought it was a explosive device

going so close to make a picture?

[bulmercke]

[RogueExpat]

Those photos of the bus look like a bunch of hooligans and vandals have done the damage.

[HarriB]

Energizer Bunny Reject.

That's how rumors get started.

What appears to be an explosive....give me a break.

[Gaccha]

Those photos of the bus look like a bunch of hooligans and vandals have done the damage.

And how should they have 'done the damage'? Are there manuals out there for doing it in such a way as not appear as 'hooligans and vandals'.

I suspect you have not thought before writing your post.

They are attempting in a Rancierian sense to create a dissensus, they must perform acts that appear to delegitimise the state. Those words (hooligan and vandal) are all part of the statist discourse of control.

[gpdjohn]

That's an old duce and a half...

[RogueExpat]

Those photos of the bus look like a bunch of hooligans and vandals have done the damage.

And how should they have 'done the damage'? Are there manuals out there for doing it in such a way as not appear as 'hooligans and vandals'.

I suspect you have not thought before writing your post.

They are attempting in a Rancierian sense to create a dissensus, they must perform acts that appear to delegitimise the state. Those words (hooligan and vandal) are all part of the statist discourse of control.

I think you would have to agree that they should not have done the damage in the first place.

It only damages the cause of the reds, whatever that may be.

Yes, thugs, hooligans & vandals are the right words, no matter which side you are observing from, especially from where I am sitting.

Interesting that you would make comparison with Jacques Rancière's theories/works, however, not really the point of this particular topic.

[Gaccha]

Those photos of the bus look like a bunch of hooligans and vandals have done the damage.

And how should they have 'done the damage'? Are there manuals out there for doing it in such a way as not appear as 'hooligans and vandals'.

I suspect you have not thought before writing your post.

They are attempting in a Rancierian sense to create a dissensus, they must perform acts that appear to delegitimise the state. Those words (hooligan and vandal) are all part of the statist discourse of control.

I think you would have to agree that they should not have done the damage in the first place.

It only damages the cause of the reds, whatever that may be.

Yes, thugs, hooligans & vandals are the right words, no matter which side you are observing from, especially from where I am sitting.

Interesting that you would make comparison with Jacques Rancière's theories/works, however, not really the point of this particular topic.

Au contraire, I do not believe it damages their cause at all. What you are viewing is a drama, a play, a 'scriptwrite' that is materialised in these burnt out Humvees. The pictures create a frenzy of paranoia among the elite because they understand the state only remains legitimate so long as it can provide 'security'.

However, the elite can rely on people like you. The dominant narrative of the state in portraying its opponents as a mob, as hooligans, vandals, heck, now they are terrorists, is dutifully passed on by you through this forum. You need to 'dis-entrap' yourself from either sides' discourses and look for the deeper issues.

When I see the photos of the crowds I don't see vandals, and when I spoke to crowd members I heard a deep sense of injustice that needed to be corrected.

And this issue is exactly the very essence of this post. Inferring the photos as a materialisation of these years of a suppressed narrative is one of the most exciting things a third party observer can do. This is political anthropology par excellence. And as Ranciere may have said, this is a scene of revelation, where the dominated can break the "partition of the sensible".

Edited April 14, 2010 by Gaccha

[10027586]

I love it when people who are obviously lacking in clue try to pretend to be intellectual on the internet. It never fails to crack me up. Parroting someone else's ideas doesn't make you an intellectual, forming your own ideas does. Thank you for the laughs Gaccha.

[tw25rw]

I love it when people who are obviously lacking in clue try to pretend to be intellectual on the internet. It never fails to crack me up. Parroting someone else's ideas doesn't make you an intellectual, forming your own ideas does. Thank you for the laughs Gaccha.

Pot, kettle, black I think.. Another for the ignore filter.

[slapout]

My first thought was typical maintenance and upkeep that reflects the expected in some circles of society. The hood up while vehicle is parked in traffic lane does fit the pattern of many of the northern drivers. Loaned a motorcycle out to one of Thai family once and it was returned in similar condition. Come to think of it vandal was the polite term and it went downhill from there.

[Sunderland]

those vehicles stand against the traffic flow, so most probably placed there not by the fleeing soldiers, but by the protesters, already after the bloody shootings - to prevent more of the army vehicles coming to the area. They are sort of soft barricades.

They were placed there by protesters but it was before the shootings. They were in place by Saturday 5pm several hours before the mayhem began. I am an eyewitness to this.

Where did they get them from before the mayhem started?

[Gaccha]

those vehicles stand against the traffic flow, so most probably placed there not by the fleeing soldiers, but by the protesters, already after the bloody shootings - to prevent more of the army vehicles coming to the area. They are sort of soft barricades.

They were placed there by protesters but it was before the shootings. They were in place by Saturday 5pm several hours before the mayhem began. I am an eyewitness to this.

Where did they get them from before the mayhem started?

The army started to set-up its pushback operation very early in the afternoon on teh West and North side of the protest. The Redshirts pre-empted their attack them by rushing up towards the bridge. They had captured prior to the shootings a fair amount of the 2nd army regiment inventory...

[Gaccha]

I love it when people who are obviously lacking in clue try to pretend to be intellectual on the internet. It never fails to crack me up. Parroting someone else's ideas doesn't make you an intellectual, forming your own ideas does. Thank you for the laughs Gaccha.

Pot, kettle, black I think.. Another for the ignore filter.

Thanks tw25rw. I suspect 10027586 (are you a SpamBot?) thinks Ranciere is a type of wall sealing gell.

Some of 10027586 ideas include:

"Until there is substantial reform of the police and the army there will be no functioning government in Thailand." >Groan<

"governments of any colour cannot command either the police or military, so maybe it's time to disband both?" >Eh??<

"There is no government it seems." >oh dear<

"not sure democracy works anywhere to be honest" >yawn<

Ad nauseum.

His comments are on an intellectual par with the insubstantial nonsense found on the Daily Mail comments page.

Dear 10027586 when you perceive yourself as bright and then come across something you don't understand the brain suffers from an immediate cognito dissonance. Your brain computed that since you are bright it must be my argument that is 'pretend', rather than you not being able to understand. There is life beyond the simple arguments of A-Levels you know.

[chadintheusa]

If you really want to see traffic related carnage wait for Songkran.

[bulmercke]

FLASHBACK: Very strange feeling walking over that bridge on the morning of the thirteenth April - a Sunday - just after dawn. Unusually quiet and quite eerie.

A moment in time that I won't easily forget.

Passed over Pinklao bridge recently and there is - not surprisingly - no evidence remaining whatsoever that anything ever took place there - April 13 is not that long ago.

Strange how this and all the other events of April and May appear to have largely been erased from the public consciousness - or at least that's how it seems to me.

Edited September 5, 2010 by bulmercke