Energy 91, Thailand's bright nights (part 2)

My Mumbai-Bangkok flight (Jet Airways) was delayed last February 12 due to some mechanical problems, delayed by about 3+ hours, it landed at Suvarnabhumi/Bangkok airport evening already. My co-participant at the Asia Liberty Forum (ALF) in Mumbai, Mai Tansakun from Thailand, was with me in that flight, I asked her to take photos of Thailand as our plane was descending because my cp was low-batt that time.

Mai took good photos of the areas around the airport, her camera phone is also more modern than my old Samsung phone. Thanks for these pics, Mai.

I am always fascinated by bright cities at night which for me is a good indicator of the material wealth and prosperity of a city or country. And Thailand's bright Bangkok and nearby cities is among them.

The main roads are easy to see, dotted with bright yellow lights for many kilometers. The secondary roads are also dotted with bright lights, not as bright as the main roads though.

Thailand has electricity output 2x that of the Philippines and they rely more on natural gas, followed by coal. Their natgas is mostly domestically sourced?

There is also better zoning in TH compared to the PH. The roads are generally more straight.

Meanwhile, I was lucky that I have a long lay over in Bkk airport so I was able to catch my Bkk-Manila flight that night.

This is from ADB's Key Indicators 2016. The most natgas-dependent ASEAN countries are Brunei (it is a big nat gas exporter), Singapore and Thailand. The more coal-dependent countries in the region are Indonesia, Philippines and Malaysia.

When I arrived Manila from Bacolod last Sunday night, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Manila is much brighter at night than a few years ago. Thanks to more stable, more reliable and cheaper power sources like coal. Also, energy efficiency is also kicking as more houses, offices and buildings are using brighter but lower electricity consumption lights and bulbs.
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See also:
Energy 45, Thailand's bright nights and nat gas power, October 19, 2015

Energy 88, Letter to ERC re petition by 3 wind companies for higher FIT, January 10, 2017 

Energy 89, DOE not concurring with PH's Paris agreement, good, January 14, 2017 

Energy 90, On having mandatory RES for contestable electricity consumers, January 28, 2017

Energy 45, Thailand's bright nights and nat gas power

When I went to Bangkok last week, my plane landed at midnight. I saw the huge, wide, extensive well-lighted areas of Thailand, even hundreds of kms. away from Bangkok proper. Very very few dark areas. They must have cheap and stable power sources.

This photo I got from the web, that's in Bangkok already. Even outside Bangkok, there are just too many lights, they do not economize on energy as electricity prices I think are cheap and affordable.

When electricity prices are high, like in the PH, aside from bad economic repercussions, there are two major social problems when many streets and roads are dark: More crimes and more road accidents. Criminals love darkness, they can see their victims well while potential victims can hardly recognize the criminals. There are many road accidents too.

Thailand heavily relies on natural gas, 68% of their total energy needs as of 2011. Other ASEAN countries that are heavily dependent on natural gas, a fossil fuel (WWF, Greenpeace, Al Gore, the UN, CCC, etc. hate fossil fuels) are: Singapore 78%, Malaysia 45%, Vietnam 44%. PH only 30% dependent on nat gas.

Source: ADB, Key Indicators of Asia and the Pacific 2014.

Is this "because of the oligarchs"? Well, almost all countries have their own oligarchs, some even have monarchies on top of the business oligarchs. So, the answer is No. The volume of power generation capacity matters a lot. See the above table, in 2011, TH electricity output was 156 B kWh, vs PH's 69 B kWh, or more than 2x ours.

They are also less affected by the climate alarmism of the WWF, Greenpeace, UN, Al Gore, etc. as they rely more on fossil fuel energy like natural gas. 

Darkness means more poverty and less business activities. 

Darkness means more candles and more fires. 

Darkness means more noisy and expensive generator sets running on fossil fuel diesel. 

Darkness means more crimes and more road accidents at night. 

The planet saviours and their hypocrisy think these are not crimes to humanity.

Geothermal is still there, contributes about 10% or so in total PH power supply.

Below are some reports how climate alarmism wants to kill any new fossil fuel power plant, they would rather have intermittent and unstable power, more expensive electricity, than have coal plant.

A friend commented that "bright nights are not always signs of better development and progress."

True, and if people want early darkness, no problem. They just turn off all lights in their house or office by 7pm and sleep early. Now some buildings, offices and houses need to have lights until 12 midnight, or 24 hours -- why should other people be penalized with frequent darkness, or expensive electricity?

Government should get out picking winners and losers via favoritism and energy cronyism.

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See also:

BWorld 15, The PH electricity market, August 15, 2015  

BWorld 17, More on the Philippine electricity market, August 30, 2015

Energy 41, On low global oil prices, September 05, 2015

Energy 42, DENR's anti-coal alarmism and PH power demand realities, September 21, 2015 

Energy 43, My paper on climate change and cheaper electricity at EPDP Conf. 2016, October 07, 2015 

Energy 44, Position paper on DOE circular re mandatory CSP by DUs of their PSAs, October 13, 2015

Thailand 4: Three Fingers vs. Martial Law

This news report quickly caught my attention this week. Huh? Thailand's new dictators, they are nuts?

The military being fully armed always, has a different mindset compared to civilians, like search and destroy, neutralize and disarm training. So when they deal with civilian movements like flashing three fingers, they become paranoid, onion-skinned, pikon. Why did they even consider arresting people who only flash 3 fingers?

A Thai friend, Jyoti, sent me this disturbing, BIG Brother/Government youtube clip by the Bangkok Post (BP) last June 01, 2014, in my facebook wall. 

"A woman was forced into a taxi by suspected plainclothes police officers after she allegedly flashed three-finger signs signalling her opposition to the military coup near Asoke BTS station this afternoon.

During the struggle, one of the people who tried to pull her out of the car was able to grab her purse. The woman's ID card was found in the purse. She was identified as Pairin Phuangsiri. Her fate is not known at this time."

(Bangkok Post video)

(3,867 likes, 9,382 shares as of 10:36am Manila time, June 05)

I thanked Jyoti for that link. One comment from the BP fb page that I like:

ခြန္ ဒီးယမ္ I'm from Burma ,your neighbor country.

Thai people, please please be very careful ..... when a group of men with guns got the taste of power, you guys are on the brink of hell.... Believe me, we had first hand experiences ...

As shown above, that video went viral somehow, so many people have seen and shared it. There was public outrage, so the Thai police was forced to admit that they indeed made that abduction -- yes abduction, but they did not use that term.

This news report from Bangkok Post is troubling.

Mystery coup arrest explained

Published: 2 Jun 2014 at 20.57

The Lumpini district police chief on Monday confirmed his undercover officers detained and forced a woman into a taxi after she staged a one-person protest against the military junta on Sukhumvit Road...

Pol Col Chaiya Kongsub said the woman was taken away because she acted aggressively to the undercover police, who took her to the police station to “calm down”.

He identified the woman as Sunanta Puangsiri, 50. She was the first of six people arrested for violating martial law regulations during Sunday's anti-coup protest rallies held at various locations in Bangkok.... All six were still held Monday at Crime Suppression Division. 

Ms Sunanta was caught by photographers and video cameras as she was subdued by at least four plain-clothes policemen, who said she resisted arrest

The video drew wide criticism from social media users, who said the officers overreacted and never told her what offence she had commiited. Some questioned the identity of the men in the video, but Pol..Col Chaiya confirmed they were his undercover officers. 

The Lumpini police chief said Ms Sunanta’s behavior appeared to be “more violent than other protesters” and the officers took her to police station.to calm her down and to prevent her from “violating NCPO orders too much”. After that, she was taken from the police station by military officers for questioning, he added. 

Military officers said they had yet to press charges against Ms Sunanta and five other protesters. 

And another spying by the new police state:

Charges of corruption, abuse of power by the civilian government, are not justified for the power grap and Martial Law by the military government. There are constitutional processes to be followed, like proper succession of leadership and the job of the military and police is to implement that constitutional process, not grab power on their on their own.

As societies modernize, political leadership should rely less on guns and tanks, more on reason and public discourse. When men with guns rule, paranoia and irrationality dominate.

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See also:
Thai politics and the Monarchy, December 04, 2008
Killings in Thailand and Military Crackdown, April 16, 2009
Rule of Law 4: On Thailand Crackdown, April 18, 2009 

Thailand Politics and the Monarchy, Part 2, January 14, 2014

Thailand Politics and the Monarchy, Part 3, February 3, 2014

Thailand Politics and the Monarchy, Part 3

A friend, Dr. Amado "Bong" Mendoza, Prof. of UP Political Science, wrote a brief but good analysis of the Thai political crisis. He gave me permission to post it here; photo from his fb wall. My comments below his article.
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Oh, Thailand

Dr. Bong Mendoza

February 01, 2014

While we had delightful face-offs in Manila's Chinatown, there are dangerous ones going on in Bangkok.

Thais cast their ballots in polling stations today hopefully to form a new government after Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra dissolved parliament in the face of vociferous opposition last year.

The cause celebre?

Yingluck's parliamentary majority rammed through an amnesty bill that, among others, would allow Yingluck's older brother, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to go home from exile in Dubai.

The proverbial straw that breaks a camel's behind!

Elections in democracies are supposed to settle rivalries between political factions; that is, decide which camp will lead a nation. However, these elections may not be able to accomplish that due to several complications.

The opposition's strategic objective: the ouster of the "Thaksin regime"

Opposition tactics: blocking of major Bangkok intersections; occupation and paralysis of government ministry buildings; calls for Yingluck's resignation; calls for take-over by a reform council before elections are held; election boycott; blocking of candidate registration--all resulting in failure of elections and failure to constitute parliament and a government.

This latest crisis is part of the continuing struggle roughly between pro-Thaksin and anti-Thaksin forces. Said contest started in 2006 when then prime minister Thaksin was ousted by a royally-endorsed coup. A few decidedly inept military men (including one, General Samak, who cannot decide what his job was: general, prime minister, or television cooking show host?) were at the helm until a civilian politician from the Democrat Party took over.

Thaksin fled the country in 2008 to avoid cases filed against him in court.

However, he retains strong support and loyal Red-shirts clashed with pro-government Yellow-shirts in 2010.

In 2011, the rival political factions arrived at a modus vivendi upon the election of the Pheu Thai government led by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Eventually, the peace was roiled by the railroaded amnesty bill.

Thus in Thailand, we have minorities who try to impose their wills. We have majorities abusing their numbers. King Bhumibol, who had influentially shaped the course of Thai politics for several decades, is old and sickly. The military top brass can mount another coup. Question is how long can the generals man the household before the civilians assume power once more.

The eventual death of Bhumibol will be a game changer. His heir apparent is a wastrel. The Crown Princess is respected but she has to hurdle the gender bias before she could be named head of state and monarch of Thailand.

Bhumibol is also a very tough act to follow. The 1932 Revolution may have ended absolute monarchy in Thailand. In the early years of his reign, during the government of a military dictator, Bhumibol may have had little power and was no more than a ceremonial figure. However, military rivals for leadership begun to seek his blessings.

The English academic Duncan McCargo have noted the active political involvement of Bhumibol through a "network monarchy" working through the Privy Council. The network's political cachet was supposedly threatened by the rise of Thaksin. The network's capacity to exercise power is based partly on Bhumibol's popularity and strict control of his image.

Bhumibol's power is largely based on mystique. He is reputed to do things. We will never know how these are done since he works behind the scenes.

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The Thaksin camp has its set of sins and corruption, so does the anti-Thaksin camps, from the monarchy to the traditional Bangkok-based political elites. The problem of the anti-Thaksin camps is they can NOT win any election. Since 2006 ouster of Thaksin, all four elections including the last 2011 elections were won by the Thaksin camp. That is why the opposition including the Democratic Party, campaigned for mob rule, bring down the Yingluck Shinawatra government without elections, and their unelected "People's Council" will rule for two years without election. 

Mob rule, no respect for the rule of law, the Thai constitution. The problem with mob rule policy is that assuming they succeed in bringing down the Yingluck government without election, the next months, if the Thaksin camp can also mobilize millions of supporters, there will be another round of paralyzing rallies and change of government. Mob rule is ugly and not advisable.

On the monarchy. Its "holiness" should be damaged by now among many rural residents who are mostly pro-Thaksin. The monarchy and Thaksin are both populists, giving away various subsidies and freebies to buy political support, bloating the Thai public debt. But it seems that Thaksin was the better populist than the monarchy, his family and business cronies.

Not that I am pro-Thaksin and his corruption and populism. I am for the rule of law, in Thailand and elsewhere. If a government is corrupt, then bring it down and change it via constitutional processes like elections or impeachment or similar schemes. Mob rule is rule of men and the opposite of rule of law.

The snap election was held yesterday. Here is one news story, it is ugly. Preventing other people to vote, and still call themselves as democrats, people's representatives? They are mini-dictators who are not in power yet, and they want to be in power sooo bad.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/79951/thai-protesters-block-voting-in-chaotic-election

BANGKOK - Opposition protesters prevented voting at thousands of polling stations in Thailand on Sunday, triggering angry scenes in the capital over an election that plunged the strife-racked kingdom into political limbo.

Despite weeks of mass street demonstrations aimed at forcing her from office, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was widely expected to extend her billionaire family's decade-long winning streak at the ballot box.

But the disruption to voting means that the results are not expected for weeks at least, and there will not be enough MPs to convene parliament and appoint a government until new elections are held in the problem areas….

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See also: 
Thailand politics and the anti-globalists, November 20, 2008 
Thai politics and the Monarchy, December 04, 2008 
Killings in Thailand and Military Crackdown, April 16, 2009 
Rule of Law 4: On Thailand Crackdown, April 18, 2009 

Thailand Politics and the Monarchy, Part 2, January 14, 2014

ASEAN 4: Some Economic Data on PH, TH, Vietnam and Cambodia

A friend asked me to give an informal discourse about politics and economics in Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines. I am not following closely politics in those two countries, I can only gather a few macroeconomic data. And since Cambodia is sandwiched between Thailand and Vietnam, I also included it in the list that I gave him today.

Please note that those data refer mostly to the central or national government. I think local government units (provinces or regions, cities, villages or barangays) and government enterprises data are not included there, at least for the Philippines.

Thus, both government revenues/GDP and government spending/GDP ratio for the Philippines do not include those by LGUs and by some government corporations and financial institutions. So public contribution to PhilHealth, SSS and PagIBIG (housing) are not included in government revenues; also public payment to various local taxes and regulatory fees by LGUs. Governments almost anywhere are BIG and expansive.

Note Cambodia's public debt, only 28.5 percent of GDP, a lot lower than those in the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. I wish the Cambodian government will not follow the heavy fiscal irresponsibility of its two neighbors.
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See also:

ASEAN 1: Asian regional bureaucracies, November 08, 2006

ASEAN 2: Regional Meetings, Indonesia's Military Businessmen, September 13, 2007 

ASEAN 3: On Myanmar, Letter to Sec. Romulo, October 05, 2007 

Business 360 8: TPP, RCEP, SAARC and Free Trade, June 17, 2013 

EFN Asia 25: The ASEAN Economic Community in 2015, July 23, 2013

Thailand flooding, October 2011 (part 2)

Here are photos of flooding in Bangkok, Thailand, as of yesterday and today. Photos taken from news.yahoo.com.

Flood map as of October 26, 2011. Not all of Bangkok is in danger of inundation but certain areas like Don Muang and its surrounding districts are under the direct path of huge volume of flood water.

A condo, a gas station, a street under the skyway. People are lucky to be transported by huge trucks.

Improvised elevated walkways have to be constructed to spare the people from getting wet feet for long. Leptospirosis is a common disease among people exposed to dirty flood water.

Flooded runway and airport is clear reason why all flights and landings have to be cancelled.

Monks have to endure walking the flooded streets.

More scenes of flooding.

 

Before and after the flooding.

Here is the sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly as of today. The Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, have warmer than normal temperature, which probably explains the lack of rain, though at times cloudy sky over Metro Manila and surrounding provinces.

Thailand, China have colder than normal SST. Which should partly or largely explain the heavy rains and flooding in Thailand, the monsoon rain coming from the north.

 

Again, I hope that people will not argue that "global warming caused this global cooling and flooding in Thailand and many other areas". The sooner that people will realize that man-made warming (AGW) is a scam, the more prepared they are in dealing with global cooling which is projected to last for 2 or more decades.

Then all those endless junkets in global climate meetings and large rent-seeking activities like more climate loans, more renewable energy loans and subsidies, should finally stop.

Thailand flooding, October 2011

The recent flooding in many areas of Thailand, also in Cambodia and Vietnam, was too wide. I myself was surprised by the extent of flooding.

All photos here are from Denverpost.com, http://photos.denverpost.com/mediacenter/2011/10/photos-flooding-in-thailand-has-killed-at-least-224-people/#26

Water everywhere.

Many Buddhist temples were simply inundated with brown and muddy water.

Rescuers and the rescued, people and dogs...

Being submerged is almost similar to your house and other properties being burned.

I am not sure how often Thailand would get this big amount of rainfall, but their experience was similar to Philippine experience during typhoons Ketsana (local name "Ondoy") and Parma (local name "Pepeng") two years ago.

Evacuating houses and factories.

A car manufacturing plant with hundreds of newly-manufactured cars ready for shipment become useless.

Here is one bad news. From the most recent Ensemble forecast of Pacific Ocean's Nino region 3.4, the current La Nina will stay much longer. Projected temperature anomaly by around April 2012 will be almost 3 C colder than normal.

And is projected to stay beyond 2012, until 2013?

In more and more places and countries, nature is becoming more insistent in saying that she has no fever; that tis s not global warming but global cooling.

Rule of Law 4: On Thailand Crackdown

Rule of law is perhaps the single biggest assurance of individuals to protect their liberty. This is because the principle explicitly specifies that "the law applies to everyone, rulers and ruled, no exception". The law applies equally to unequal people. So when the law says "no stealing", then no stealing should be allowed, either by a destitute and hungry man or by the President or Prime Minster of a country. When the law says "no killing", then no killing should be done, either by a hardened criminal or an ordinary man or by the military and the police, if there is no direct threat to them.

This makes the rule of law a dangerous principle and policy – dangerous to thieves and robbers, tyrants and dictators, liars and demagogues. Because whatever regulations and prohibitions they create will also apply to them, will also restrict them.

The continuing political instability in Thailand is another example of trampling of the rule of law principle. Of rulers and law implementers having discretionary power to decide whom the laws and prohibitions will apply, and to whom the laws will be relaxed and not implemented.

A few months ago, anti-Thaksin groups, particularly PAD and the Democratic Party who are now in government, blockaded some major roads in Bangkok for several months to force the government of former PM Samak to step down. The road blockade continued even after the Samak government was replaced by the short administration of former PM Somchai. PAD demonstrators also camped outside the Parliament and Government House for many days, and the worst action they did, they forcibly occupied the international airport which caused endless misery to stranded passengers, both local and foreign. PAD succeeded in bringing down the Somchai government and installed the current PM Abhisit government.

What you sow, you will also reap. Tens of thousands of supporters of former PM Thaksin also went to the streets of Bangkok late last month and blocked some roads, also to force the resignation of current PM Abhisit government. This is essentially doing what the last group of demonstrators did. But there is one big difference here: the current Thai government implored the "rule of law" and launched a military crackdown to implement “the law”.

Disrupting the ASEAN summit was a bad move by the “red shirts”, but my source in Bangkok said that prior to such action, the red shirts were attacked on April 11 by plainclothes security force, many were injured and there was no government action and investigation for the incident. Nonetheless, even for the sin of disrupting the ASEAN summit, killing ordinary civilians is not an appropriate response.

While the government of PM Abhisit said that there were no casualties during the April 13 military crackdown, my friend in Bangkok said scores were killed. On that day, troops north of Bangkok moved in and opened fire at a small group of red-shirts, killing instantly some people there. When the "red-shirts" fought back, more people were shot dead by the soldiers and many more injured. My friend added that armed gangs organized by government politicians roamed the streets and beat up any red-shirts they met and several were beaten to death.

When the PAD demonstrators blocked several important streets of Bangkok for several months, when the PAD demonstrators occupied the Government House and the international airport for several days, moves that were clearly violent and disruptive, they were never attacked or killed by the soldiers. PAD was even rewarded for such violent acts by awarding some of their leaders high positions in the current government.

It never fails. The rule of law is always "name-dropped" by politicians and political groups whenever it suits them. When it does not suit them, it's always easy to do unconstitutional, violent means, in the name of "people power" and "fight for democracy".

So, what's next for Thailand? I guess another round of street demonstrations and occupation of government buildings, or disruption of another high-level regional or international event in that country. Some of the leaders of the anti-Thaksin groups that occupied the international airport by force are in government now. Their mere presence there can re-ignite another political vendetta anytime.

The Abhisit government can do several ways to help reduce the tension and the desire for another political vendetta. One, by asking all PAD leaders, other political leaders who were closely associated with the half-year street occupations and take-over of the international airport, who are currently in government, to resign and leave their posts. This way, impressions of double-standard in the application of the law can be dispelled. When it's the anti-Thaksin group occupying airports and blockading streets, they get rewarded with government posts.

Two, make the responsible soldiers and their officers be held accountable for the killings. Killing ordinary and unarmed civilians in is a shameless and ruthless act that any government can do. And three, the government should refrain from media censorship, allow media and independent investigation on what really happened on the crackdown on April 13. The Thai government needs more transparency and accountability to avoid being compared as similar to the military junta governing Myanmar.

Countries that do not ensure the promulgation of the rule of law tend to suffer from continuing political instability.
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A related note, I wrote this last December 01, 2008:

Bombay and Bangkok

The attacks in Bombay, I hope it can be a reminder to the Indian government, and all other governments around the world, that they must stick and focus on their most important function as government -- to protect the citizens' right to life, right to private property, right to dignity and expression.

Governments should over-regulate killers and terrorists, over-spy criminals and robbers, over-persecute rapists and kidnappers. And they should under-regulate and under-tax business and entrepreneurship.

The PAD demonstrators in Bangkok, it's very sad for Thailand's economy and tourism. I want to see a fellow Asian economy and country prosper more. Because when they prosper and grow more, they will import more from my country, they will invest more in my country, etc. And for Filipinos who are travelling to Europe or South Asian countries (and Europeans and S. Asians going to the Philippines), Bangkok airport (along with HK or Singapore airports) is a typical transit point for their final destinations.

Now people will rethink of flying to Thailand, or landing in Bangkok as transit point, because of the stand-off by the demonstrators. I think the Thai police, if they really understand their duty to the Thai constitution and the rule of law, should have dispersed those demonstrators at the airport on the first day they occupied it. Coercion by the minority demonstrators should be neutralized by the State's bigger coercive power, which is the police and the military.
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See also:
Rule of Law 2: Property Rights and Lefts, March 02, 2009
Criminals 1: Killings in Thailand and Military Crackdown, April 16, 2009

Criminals 1: Killings in Thailand and Military Crackdown

My friend from Bangkok made this observation. I cannot give his name because of security reasons due to the continuing military crackdown in Bangkok until this week.
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The Democrat government came into power in December 2008 by rigging Parliament. About two week earlier, the People's Power Party (PPP) was disbanded by the Constitutional Court on the charge of election rigging, resulting in PM Somchai being disqualified and his cabinet dissolved. This happened amidst the seizure of the Government House and the two international airports by PAD. And even before that, in September 2008, PM Samak of the PPP was disqualified by this same Constitutional Court for a wrongdoing (i.e., making a cooking TV show!!!). The logic is clear: You win the election, but I use the judiciary power to destroy you and negate the will of the majority of the people!

Just days after the dissolution of the Somchai government and two days before the King's birthday, PAD abandoned the Government House and the airports.

The former PPP members tried to regroup and set up a new party, namely Peur Thai (For Thai) Party (PTP). But the military intervened and forced a large shunk of former PPP members to split and gave support to the Democrat Party Chief, Abhisit. So he became PM. And the PTP became the opposition. This was a 'silent' coup d'etat. The Abhisit government is a mere puppet, backed up the military under the skin of parliamentary democracy.

The Abhisit government is actually the PAD government. They gave support to PAD in taking over the Government House and the international airports. The Democrat Party members were part of PAD. One of PAD leaders is a Democrat member of parliament (MP). Three of PAD leaders got high-positioned jobs in the Abhisit government, one of them being Foreign Affairs Minister! The Democrats provided finance, personnel and mobilizing networks for PAD throughout, whereas both PAD and the Democrats, like the military and the judiciary, are just the arms of autocracy! You will NEVER see the prosecution of PAD leaders for all their crimes.

The red-shirts' originial intention of going to Pattaya on Friday 10 April was to present a message to ASEAN leaders that the Abhisit government was illegitimate. But, on the way back downhill from the hotel, the red-shirts were ambushed by a blue-shirt gang organized by government politicians and the Democrats in Chon Buri. Several red-shirts were hurt from beating and slingshots, two of them seriously injured by a pingpong bomb. The news reached the red-shirts in Bangkok. Everyone was angry. So more red-shirts were mobilized from Bangkok to arrive in Pattaya in the early morning of Saturday 11 April. They went back to the hotel and demanded that the government took responsibility for the attack. But there was no answer. The red-shirts became even more angry. They stormed the hotel and broke up the ASEAN summit. The red-shirts in Pattaya were unarmed. Of course, they picked up some sticks and stone when they encountered a blue-shirt gang again on the way back from the hotel that
same afternoon.

The Abhisit government, losing face and credibility, decided to use force to suppress the red-shirt protest in Bangkok. So Abhisit declared the state of emergency in the area of Bangkok and five surrounding provinces on Sunday 12 April. The violent crash at the Ministry of Interior on that day happened AFTER the declaration of the state of emergency. The red-shirts went to Ministry of Interior because they knew that Abhisit was there. After shouting, pushing and shoving by the red-shirts, the black car (NOT Abhisit's), trying to move away, accidentaly hit one red-shirt. The red-shirts were angry and began to attack the car. Then, a security guard open fires and at least two red-shirts were severely injured. More crashes in Ministry's compound followed.

The troop started to move in from the North of Bangkok in the early morning of Monday 13 April. At around 4:30 am, the soldiers open fires at a small group of red-shirt guards at Din Daeng. Several people were killed instantly and several dozen were injured. Then the troop drove the red-shirts towards the Victory Monument and beyond. Several crashes followed. The soldiers kept shooting at those red-shirts. Many more were killed and injured. Red-shirts gradually retreated and finally regrouped at the main protest venue in front of the Government House. The armed gangs organized by government politicians roamed the streets and beat up any red-shirts they met and several were beaten to death.

The troop surrounded the red-shirt protesters in front of the Government House from all sides. Behind them were armed blue-shirt and plaincloth gangs organized by government politicians. TVs and the media showed hate messages and negative reports against the red-shirts throughout 13-14 April. They planned a remaking of the 6 October 1976 Student Massacre in the afternoon of Tuesday 14 April. At the last minute, there were around 8,000-10,000 red-shirts in front of the Government House. But, at 11:30 am of 14 April, the red-shirt leaders announced to "suspend" the protest and negotiated with the police to allow red-shirt people to go home unharmed. Five leaders were arrested immediately and are now jailed in military compounds around Bangkok. Around 20-25 arrest warrants have been issued to wipe out the whole lot of red-shirt leaders in one go. They are now seeking the charge of "high treason" (punishable by death) against the whole group. They expect the red-shirts, without leaders, will not be able to launch a new movement in the future. Then provincial red-shirts will be dissolved by the security network later on.

One point must be emphasized. The press and the media, particularly TVs, have been strictly censored and controlled by the government as a result of the state of emergency. So all reports are one-sided and are mostly propaganda. The government's insistence that there were no serious casualties is a lie. Soldiers are still stationed in the streets. The situation now is like a rule by a military government with the face of Abhisit on it. It is actually another military coup.