For more than five months the protest movement has been trying to oust Prime Minister Yingluck, but the government is still in power, although it can do little because it has been outgoing since the dissolution of the House of Representatives.
A month ago, protesters retreated to Lumpini Park after six weeks of occupying key intersections in Bangkok. They have set up a tent camp and are waiting with about ten thousand men for the definitive end of the 'Thaksin regime'. Two settings can ensure that end: the Constitutional Court and the National Anti-Corruption Commission.
'We are one big family,' says Piyavidee Boonmak (50). 'Everyone has a job. We're all here for the same reason: to get rid of that liar and swindler bastard Thaksin.' Two months ago, she left her comfortable home and quit her job as a civil servant to join the protest movement. She now sleeps in a khaki tent and has the task of keeping the mobile toilets clean.
The camp in the park is divided into six 'villages', equipped with showers, mobile toilets, washing machines, a medical center and even a part-time school. To keep unwanted visitors out, 2.300 volunteers take turns keeping watch. Anyone who wants to enter is checked for possession of weapons and other contraband. There also is a rapid deployment team formed of elite guards that spring into action in case of trouble.
While waiting for what is to come, the Lumpini villagers try to make their stay more pleasant in the evenings with entertainment. "People get stressed out listening to protest speeches all day long," said Akanat Promphan, spokesman for the protest movement. "So it's important that we provide some light entertainment."
The villagers like to listen to it, to the folk music from their native region. That is the Northeast where most campers come from, although the anti-government movement is mainly supported by Bangkok's middle class.
Residents of the park complain about the noise nuisance. Thaworn Senniem, a protest leader in charge of security, has little consolation for them: "We'll pack up and leave when we win." And as if that has anything to do with it, he adds: "The joggers get all the space they need."
It's not all roses and moonshine in the camp and it can't be. With so many people crowded together, problems sometimes arise that require the intervention of the guards. In fact, some guards have been accused of rough behavior. Piyavadee, the toilet attendant, is a little worried about her 18-year-old daughter. "I told her to be back before dark, because some of the guards can't control themselves."
(Source: Spectrum, Bangkok Post, Apr 14, 2014)
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Thaksin good guy who ran the country in a business way without any nonsense. Hope he comes back one day and pushes the elite back to just like all other Thais. A small group that benefits from the majority who are very poor can no longer survive in this day and age, whatever the Thai environment says
@ Marcus, Do you know how many business deals he has done to sponsor his own phone company? He quickly sold Manchester City for almost half a billion, he has frozen 2 billion in Thailand, he still has a prison sentence of 2 years in Thailand. He did tell his sister how to run Thailand (if it is possible to his advantage, see amnesty law, etc.). Do you want one like that back? I think as prime minister you can at least have integrity towards your own people! Very good guy that Thaksin…..
He is the only one who has done something about abuses. 30 baht for a doctor's visit, we should take that as an example in the Netherlands. The hard crackdown on extremists in the South is a good thing. And his busness he first offered to Thaiklsn, the Thai, no one was interested, so he sold it to Singapore. The rest are all jealous fables of the ruling class.