The Burning of Bangkok, May18-20

Around May 18, the army started to tighten their force and surrounded the red zone, hoping to cut their supplies route. Protestors were allowed to get out but not go back in the protest area. At this time, the protestor numbers were significantly decreasing. Some of their leaders had even fled the stage. Only the hard-cores remained. In an attempt to open more battle grounds, they told their supporters to stage more protests around town, notably in Ramkamhaeng area, Victory monument, Dindaeng and Bongai districts. Many of the Reds in these new grounds were armed with deadly weapons. They had gathered piles of old tyres and burnt them in the middle of the streets, hoping that the black smokes would hide their operation from the soldiers. Then they started throwing molotovs and opened fires at soldiers and other innocent people. The soldiers fired back and Bangkok suddenly became a battlefield between, sadly, Thais and Thais.


Early morning of May 19, the army moved their tanks to demolish the barricades around the Reds zone. Around noon, the Reds' leaders announced the end of their rally, but somehow, during their final speeches, one of them trickily urged the protestors to continue fighting "at your own free will". The protestors screamed and shouted their anger and disappointment, then after the leaders fled the stage, all hell broke loose. For a long time, their leaders had brainwashed them with the statement "If We Lose, Burn Bangkok", now the mantra started working, and the mad crowd ran around town, burning everything within their reach. Gunshots and sirens were heard incessantly. It was more than a nightmare, it was like watching a never-ending horror film, in which people'd lost their soul to the demon. Bangkok's sky was dark with large clouds of smokes from the burnings. No words could describe my feeling. It was sad, very, very sad.

The fight and the burning of Bangkok continued until late afternoon of May 20. Then, the government started to take control of the situation. Things are slowly becoming, or at least looking, normal again. But who knows how long will the calmness last? The future still looks dark and forlorn, but I will go on hoping and praying, that one day our now deeply divided nation will be united again and that all the wounds be healed. Until that day finally comes, I will never give up, never, never give up.