Shameless Self-Plug: Al Jazeera's Listening Post on Media Coverage of Thai Protests

This is not going to help ending my continuous praise for Al Jazeera English's regular and good coverage on Thailand and the current protests in particular. The channel's media magazine Listening Post examines the media's role in the anti-government protests and how both sides are battling each other on the airwaves and online. Also, yours truly makes an appearance on the Global Village Voices segment where I give my opinion about the media coverage of the protests, beginning at the 8:15 minute mark - followed by Chiranuch Premchaiporn, webmaster of the embattled news site Prachatai.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIqkTX_FKDU&playnext_from=TL&videos=WLUBzJqT_jI&w=600&h=360]

:)

Further Reading:

• Christian Science Monitor: Biased TV stations intensify divides in Thailand protests

No End in Sight - Some Personal Thoughts

Democracy Monument draped in red cloth (Picture courtesy of @Ohochita)

I was glued to my computer, scrambling through websites, Twitter messages and live streams, trying to get the latest updates on what is happening in Bangkok at the very moment. Reports of violent clashes, gunshots and absolute chaos were spreading from the capital. Next to my desk was the television set to the news channels, either struggling to give a clear overview of what is going on or (in case of German TV news) just blubbering sheer nonsense. To see this all unfolding from a very far distance in an office chair in Germany was utterly frustrating. This was in April 2009 during the Songkran riots.

Fast-forward to April 2010, same chair, same emotions.

Both sides, government forces and red shirt protesters, were showing hardly any sign of giving in. In fact, defiance on both sides was growing more and more each day. With each successful action of the red shirts, such as the storming on the parliament compound or at the satellite TV station, their confidence grew. In the beginning though it appeared the government had the upper hand, with their non-violence tactic catching the red shirt leaders off guard and thus leading them to pointless ad-hoc stunts (like the now infamous symbolic blood spilling). But with each day the red shirts were roaming and occupying the streets of Bangkok, the government was pushed with its back against the wall more and more.

All the more vigorous were the violent clashes on Saturday, killing 21 people and injuring over 850. There is no other way to describe the crackdown as a catastrophic failure. It was a chaotic mess, with soldiers and red shirts fighting each other, a mysterious 'third force' also contributing to the casualties and reporters, civilians and tourists caught in the crossfire - this was worse than last year! Last Saturday marks yet another dark moment in the recent history of this country.

What many like to neglect is that the red shirt movement is now more than just a proxy mob of Thaksin, not just a tool of anyone to overthrow the current government. It is a true unavoidable force in Thai politics with legitimate claims, with a sound political consciousness that is now haunting the political elites and bureaucrats for failing to recognize the sign of times. The problems cannot be solely linked back to Thaksin (as he is trying to promote himself as the beacon of freedom and democracy, while there is no doubt that he is not) - it is a collective failure!

When the situation was calming down in Bangkok and the first moments for me to cool down from the hours of constant information bombardment came by, I had not the feeling of horror or shock, but sheer frustration. Frustration about the inevitable fallout, about the at times idiotic coverage (or even the lack thereof) by some 'news programs' again, about the helplessness over the situation, but mostly about that we are not back to the status quo of four weeks ago - we are now even further away from it!

Both sides are even more defiant than before, even less unwilling to give in, even less likely are the chances for any peaceful, non-violent and political way to end this stalemate. To see Thailand going backwards each day with no end in sight is just discouraging - the distance from where I'm witness this happening does not make a difference anymore, it is equally frustrating.

Note: This commentary was written shortly during the aftermath of the violent clashes, which explains the more emotional tone of this article. That are, after all, my personal thoughts.

So, I have a blog now...

After much thought and even more procrastination, I decided to start my personal blog. Though it might be an obsolete idea to launch a blog in the year 2010, where most internet-savvy people prefer to express their opinions bite-sized on platforms like Twitter. Even though I have been a vivid Twitter user (@Saksith) for some time there are many issues that can not be boiled down to 140 characters. This leads into the main purpose of this blog: The last few years have been tumultuous for Thailand. A military coup in 2006, a new constitution, four different Prime Ministers, two color-coded extra-parliamentary oppositions and many other different complicated and intertwined layers of issues. The one common thing overshadowing these is an apparent one: it's about the future of the Kingdom. Only how it will look like is the bone of contention of many fractions each, with their own agenda.

But what also the recent events in Thai political history have created is a different perception of politics of the Thais. The people, who were not interested in politics before, slowly realized that it has indeed an effect on them and with it comes a growing desire to turn the table in order to increase the influence on decisions that were previously only exclusive to career politicians and the 'bureaucratic elites'. One inevitable side-effect is also the increase of volume in perspectives, opinions and standpoints in sheer numbers and loudness alike.

As a Thai citizen who grew up in a different country, it is at times very difficult to comprehend or simply keep up with the developments that come and go (but mostly stay). What the recent years have also shown is really nothing is predictable at all. Nevertheless, inspired by political blogs like Bangkok Pundit and the Tumbler Blog, I hope to add my voice to the ongoing debate about the direction our country is heading and also encourage a constructive discussion. On the other hand, I'm well aware (as should you, the readers) what can and can not be said. As a consequence, the comments will be moderated and I request you to avoid any comments that can put me into trouble as the owner of this blog.

Enough for now, let gets started!