An Open Letter To The Red Shirts

[webfact]

OPINION

An open letter to the red shirts

By Somtow Sucharitkul

Special to The Nation

I am writing you this letter because in the past six weeks I have often been angry. I've often been disappointed, disillusioned and frustrated. But there was only one moment in this entire agonising sequence that moved me to tears. That was when your leader, Veera Musigapong, surrendered to the authorities and spoke of his dreams, his disappointments and his enduring hopes.

As the smoke dies down, you are going to be told that you were lied to, duped, tricked, bought and betrayed; that you were tools of evil men who did not truly care about your fate; that you are terrorists, arsonists, destroyers of our culture, king-haters. It will be said that you destroyed the country's international image and obstructed its economic recovery. Worst of all, you will be told that you are all ignorant people who have misused your political voices because you didn't understand democracy.

I am afraid that in many cases, the people who say these things will be telling the truth. The instant rebirth that you wanted for our country has turned out to be more of a false dawn. Many crimes have been committed and both sides have hidden important facts from each other.

Even though these things are in many cases true, I want you to know that they have not invalidated other truths: The truths that you carried in your hearts when you set out to air your grievances in a peaceful demonstration. The doors that should have opened for you years ago, when this country became a democracy, have opened too slowly. The education that you need to become equal participants in society has been withheld too long. The voice that you have always had has been discovered too late, and because it was so long pent up, it has been expressed destructively. And the worst destruction was not that of a few shopping malls and banks; it was the destruction you wreaked upon yourselves.

But I want you to know that when it comes to the liberation of the human spirit, history is on your side. The road towards a more perfect democracy may be difficult, but it is unstoppable. You did not lose this war. But I hope you will have learned from it. The question is not whether the war will be won, but how it will be won: Through mayhem and bloodshed, or through slow, painful discussion and compromise - through evolution - the civilised way.

It may be hard for you to believe this, but many people who have been painted as your enemies share your most cherished dreams. For example, I sincerely believe that Prime Minister Abhisit comes philosophically closer to those dreams than a number of your leaders. If he did not - if his mindset had been that of some of the military dictators Thailand has had in the past - the carnage of the last few days would have been unconscionable.

I also believe that many of your leaders, like Veera, share the hopes and dreams of those not affiliated with your movement, because they are, by and large, the hopes and dreams of all Thais: To live in peace, not to spend your life in a mindless struggle to survive, to have the same chance as anyone else at realising your aspirations and becoming fulfilled human beings.

It may be too soon to hope for this, because the mutual anger and distrust are still too great. If Veera is found guilty of any crimes, justice will have to be served, just as much as if Suthep were found to have abused his authority. But it would be a beautiful thing to see idealists like Veera playing a role in an Abhisit government. Such a compromise occurred in Italy decades ago, and it saved the country from a potentially disastrous internecine struggle.

You have changed Thailand forever by discovering, and showing your fellow citizens, that you have the right to think, and to speak, and to act. I urge you to go further. Keep thinking. But think for yourselves. Don't think what you're told to think. Speak what you think, not what you are told to speak. And act with your minds as well as your hearts, and in the interests of all, even those whom you disagree with.

Not many people in Bangkok would feel grateful to you at this moment. But I do want to thank you. What you did was really important, though perhaps not for the reasons you think. And I want to explain why.

When you build a road, you will sometimes come to a mountain. To get to the other side, you may have to go around it. You may have to dig a tunnel. Or you may have to blow up the mountain. Thailand has come to that mountain. But for at least two decades, no one has been willing to go around, dig, or blow it up. Yet everyone knows we must get through. The mountain is in the way. Some past governments have stolen your money to build golden hot-air balloons so that a few individuals could get across, not caring if the rest were stranded. Others have talked and talked, but the mountain is still there. Of course you are impatient.

You didn't blow up the mountain, but the tragic events that have unfolded have convinced everyone that it is time to move on. Your people - and the soldiers, too - did not suffer and die in vain. Though we seem to be in darkness and chaos, a fuller democracy is closer today than it has been at any time during the Thaksin administration and all its successors. There will come a time when people will realise that you opened their eyes, that you all contributed to this major turning point in Thailand's history. In time, the rest of the nation will understand it, and come to acknowledge it, and even embrace it. For in embracing those we thought our enemies, we really embrace ourselves.

Somtow Sucharitkul is a renowned Thai novelist and composer.

-- The Nation 2010-05-25

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[SomTumTiger]

Great writer - lousy musician. Keep the blogs coming Somtow. They are far better than your operas lol

[animatic]

Well stated, and kindly thought.

Maybe he has the cross generational, regeonal and cultural reach to be heard by both sides.

He sees Veera somewhat like I do, as angry man, but a thoughtful man.

At least he knew when it was going beyond his limits and made efforts to slow

the inexorable slide into chaos. At least he showed he HAS limits.

I can't see in a cabinet chair, but maybe if his situation is found, different in fact, to the

other Red leaders, he might be goven a seat on a bipartisan reconciliation committee or something similar.

His voice there might bring in more disaffected Reds to actiually listen and participate rather than

wage war from frustration.

[Ulysses G.]

Excellent!

[brahmburgers]

Putting tinsel on a pig's head and calling it attractive.

[Trev]

He puts my exact thoughts into words a lot clearer and more eloquently than I could. His words carry a lot more weight as well, coming from a Thai.

[Puwa]

Initially I felt the same way about Veera, but then I saw the footage of him onstage calling for the burning of Bangkok along with all the other UDD leaders.

[ParrotHead]

That's all well and good- nice sentiments.

But weren't there a great many red protesters there for the sole purpose of getting Thaksin back? And they knew it. "Why are you here?" - "THAKSIN!"

Surely there was more than 1 silly Thaksin mask among them.

All that other drivel doesn't compute.

Am I right or wrong?

[Slaps]

Excellent Post Somtow

Respect!

[Lizard2010]

It was a interesting article.

Now if we did not have the big Market Crash in the USA.

I do not believe we would have had this trouble.

Thailand was just starting to go ahead with some of its policies.

It will now take decades to rebuild the economy and the Tourist Industry.

Unfortunately there are too many people in need, that the Government can not halp everyone in these times of need.

It is hard to say all that i want t say as i may offend people.

Keep the smiles coming to the Thai people.

[schuimpje]

Initially I felt the same way about Veera, but then I saw the footage of him onstage calling for the burning of Bangkok along with all the other UDD leaders.

And that: makes you guilty as hel_l, call it by association or silent approval or anything, but those red leaders on stage did not speak up when others went too far. Guilty for each of the Red Leaders. Innocent for the people fed with lies, hatred and half truths.

[jayboy]

I don't agree with all of this at all but in this instance we are being addressed by someone smart, articulate,humane and totally devoid of arrogance.The tone is measured and and there's no hatred here.So in my case, notwithstanding some reservations, I keep my thoughts to myself and just want to express respect for a Thai like Somtow.

[chainarong]

Unfortunatley the damage has been done , within Thailand and International, to pick up the pieces will take a long time , Though it proved to me , what I believe from the start, 1980 , That not all smiles are welcome one's in the land of smiles.

[whybother]

I sincerely believe that Prime Minister Abhisit comes philosophically closer to those dreams than a number of your leaders. If he did not - if his mindset had been that of some of the military dictators Thailand has had in the past - the carnage of the last few days would have been unconscionable.

Great article.

[hawker9000]

Workers of the world unite. yaddida, yaddida, yaddida... You've got it; we want it; standby for heavy seas.

[hammered]

Well written and argued

[vinny]

Cooperation is better than conflict.

[Who, me ?]

Now, Reds leaders should show a bit of regrets for what has wrongly been done in the name of their alleged fight for democracy...They should really apologize and agree that the whole thing was about one man only. Should they agree on this, and regret what they have done, what they have pushed innocent and sincere people to do, then a lot of things become possible.

My 2 cents

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Slightly patronizing, but overall probably well meant and stating several obvious truths. Nice break from the usual hate speech in that publication.

Edited May 25, 2010 by WinnieTheKhwai

[mrdjt]

A truly wonderful piece of writing, but more of a prayer. Won't make any impact on the terrorist mindset, nor on those on either side who are soncerned solely with personal power whatever the cost.

I do believe though that it expresses the heart of the majority of decent Thai people and maybe it can serve to give them a voice.

As a Farang, the only thing I've learned about Thai politics recently is how little I know ! But I do know a bit about N.Ireland back in the early 60s you had a catholic majority denied power by a rigged electoral system. They demonstrated, they got shot by the British Army, this spawned decades of IRA terrorism (apologies for simplistic analysis)

Terrorism is an animal that feeds itself. It only delays the achievement of the goals it purportedly fights for.

Whatever Abhisit does to address the grievances, it must be done quickly lest the cycle starts again.

If he can achieve that miracle he'll be a hero.

Articles like these deserve maximum exposure in the media.

[bangkokeddie]

I sincerely believe that Prime Minister Abhisit comes philosophically closer to those dreams than a number of your leaders. If he did not - if his mindset had been that of some of the military dictators Thailand has had in the past - the carnage of the last few days would have been unconscionable.

Great article.

Here, here!

[NaiGreg]

Putting tinsel on a pig's head and calling it attractive.

Ah, yes. My first wife.

[triffid]

Good hearted but, as another post remarked, a somewhat patronizing piece. It's in the power of the ruling plutocratic elite to start now to take big steps to bring those others to the 'other side of the mountain'. But to do that they would need to shed some of that 'gold on their balloons', which they don't want to do. So the disadvantaged are expected to be patient and wait forever and a day.

[nikster]

I sincerely believe that Prime Minister Abhisit comes philosophically closer to those dreams than a number of your leaders. If he did not - if his mindset had been that of some of the military dictators Thailand has had in the past - the carnage of the last few days would have been unconscionable.

Great article.

Yes... this is spot on. But since it's printed in the Nation, no reds will read it. Or listen to it. This and other newspapers have played their part in the divide in this country by being very one sided. Especially the Nation. Polarizing public opinion is good for politicians; good for the news media; good for selling stuff in general - but bad for the country. Same thing in the USA right now, perhaps it's a world wide trend driven by economics. If you are a politician, it's much better 50% love you and 50% hate you than 100% being so-so about you. The only way to win elections. Same for the media.

What's needed is a huge PR offensive by this government - an intelligent PR campaign that avoids vilifying the crooks and instead focuses on getting on with life; start a sincere dialog with the reds, get those reds leaders that can be talked to on your side, and their people too. This PR offensive must be 10 times the size of the army offensive on the ground. They own the TV channels so they pretty much can do this, the question is whether they will be clever enough... Abhisit has so far prevailed under almost impossible circumstances so maybe he can do it...

[NedKelly]

I would like to ask Somtow if closing the airport is 'civilised' or not ?

[scorecard]

That's all well and good- nice sentiments.

But weren't there a great many red protesters there for the sole purpose of getting Thaksin back? And they knew it. "Why are you here?" - "THAKSIN!"

Surely there was more than 1 silly Thaksin mask among them.

All that other drivel doesn't compute.

Am I right or wrong?

You are 100% correct.

There is great danger that the mask will be believed when in fact all of this has been nothing more than a smokescreen over getting thakin pardoned, and the return of a constitution which made vote buying easy, and then a return to the old style corruption and old style politicians in control of ministries etc.

The red shirts war cries have been:

- Pardon for thaksin, nothing more and nothing lerss, all stated upfront. That didn't work so they suddenly changed to...

- No double standards, but refused to recocnize their own and thaksins double standards. That didn't work so suddenly they changed their war-cry to....

- The champions of democracy, but in reality not one of their leaders has ever given a presentation about the reasons for / the processes of / the pillars of democracy. They conducted 'democracy schools' across Essab, now proven to be nothing more than venues for more hate speeches and rants, not one word ever spoken about the processes of building and maintaining democracy. That didn't work so they changed their war-cry to...

- Class war - the poor against the Bangkok Elites. In reality many Thais would agree that there is inequity and it's taking too long to gain a better quality of life for all, equal justice for all. But did the Abhisit government create this situation? NO they did not, in fact blame for this situation must be directed back to many previous corrupt governments (including thaksins) for not developing and implementing overriding policies to share the wealth, massively improve education and therefore better work opportunities, more attention to decentalized industrialization and a lot more.

Other points that should also not be forgotten are:

- Every capitalist country (and communist countries also) has inequity across society (even Japan has a sizeable poor and homeless population, also USA,and more). That doesn't mean it's Ok, it's not OK, it should be addressed. It's also true that Thailand's inequity is nowhere near the scale of many other countries and is not at a point where mob violence is the only way forward. But I'm not saying that inequity should not be addressed.

- The Abhisit government has already, many months ago introduced overriding policy directives aimed at gaining a better sharing of the wealth, ensuring much better quality of education, a long-term plan to made Thailand a welfare society. Somehow very few of the so called journalists have even bothered to bring these facts back into the discussions.

[jayboy]

- The Abhisit government has already, many months ago introduced overriding policy directives aimed at gaining a better sharing of the wealth, ensuring much better quality of education, a long-term plan to made Thailand a welfare society. Somehow very few of the so called journalists have even bothered to bring these facts back into the discussions.

The disparity in wealth is only part of the problem, but to the degree to which it is, there's an awkward fact for some that the efforts being made by the Dems referred to above would not have even been on the agenda without the impact of Thaksin.

[quiksilva]

I would like to ask Somtow if closing the airport is 'civilised' or not ?

I see that the spirit of reconciliation is alive and well.

Bringing the perpetrators of the airport closure to justice is taking far too long, and is clearly a part of that process but they have at least been charged. (They are currently out on bail).

Take the article in the spirit in which it was meant; a well composed , balanced piece of writing which reflects the views of many moderate Thai and impartial foreign observers alike.

[montrii]

Now, Reds leaders should show a bit of regrets for what has wrongly been done in the name of their alleged fight for democracy

Agreed. One of the many things that disturbed me about the reddies was their complete unwillingness to admit they had done anything wrong in the least. Where is the Thai spirit of เกรงใจ (krengjai, being aware and considerate of the feelings of others) in what they did. Did they say to the 60,000 whom they'd put out of work for two months "sorry, we feel your pain, you're people like us, just please bear with us because we have to do this?" No. They committed a sort of psychic rape on the city and the country, and none of them has yet expressed any sense that this was wrong in any way. Why not put the leaders in jail for years and make them listen to their own hateful speeches from early morning till late at night, the way they did with their followers and everyone else in that district?

However, Somtow has said exactly the right things, I also agree completely with him, and I don't see how his remarks are "patronizing." Beautifully expressed. But I don't have much hope that they'll find much resonance among the redshirts or their leaders--they're too full of themselves and their trumped-up anger. They will, if they read those words, probably see them as soft, the product of an elitist upbringing, not fit for consumption by the masses. Now THAT would be patronizing. Ironic that Nutthawut was wearing a Ghandi T-shirt when taken away. I wonder if he knows anything about Ghandi at all.

Edited May 25, 2010 by montrii

[Old Man River]

- The Abhisit government has already, many months ago introduced overriding policy directives aimed at gaining a better sharing of the wealth, ensuring much better quality of education, a long-term plan to made Thailand a welfare society. Somehow very few of the so called journalists have even bothered to bring these facts back into the discussions.

The disparity in wealth is only part of the problem, but to the degree to which it is, there's an awkward fact for some that the efforts being made by the Dems referred to above would not have even been on the agenda without the impact of Thaksin.

I agree. Completely. This is the legacy of Thaksin. He put the poor on the board. In the past, it was who could pay the most during election time, but after Thaksin, you had to have actual, real programs in your policies to help the poor. The Dem's have been doing that, but it all fell down when Thaksin decided regaining his power and control over the country took precedent over anything being done to help the poor.

Going forward, we will have to see what affect this all has on the normal democratic process.