It started as a normal day. We woke up, got ready, and wandered down Thanon Rambuttan for some breakfast. We then decided to get the bus for the weekend market so headed for Ratchadamnoen road. Walking along here was strange, because you knew you were in the middle of something huge. There were big tents set up everywhere, which people had been camping in for weeks, There were people sleeping and cooking food and there was washing hung up everywhere.
Most people were dressed in red and striding the streets holding flags and clappers, anda big tanoy was booming loudly across the City. We walked down this street and realised we weren't going to get the bus today.
I had a red t-shirt on (not intentionally) and a man walked passed me smiling, saying "be careful".
We wandered on, getting closer and closer to the tension and crowds, we stopped to look at a map. There were men smashing bamboo sticks into long poles, maybe for flags, but probably as weapons. We took a left turn to try and get out, and this ended up being the street just off from our hostel. We walked along having no idea what to do for the day, and as we did we heard yells and screams from the reds. People in the street came out of their shops and with worried looks on their faces started shutting up shop. We looked up the street and saw tanks, big buses and lots and lots of soldiers with full riot gear and shields on. We were literally in the firing line (if there was to be one) and were caught in the middle of the battlefield. We ran back to the hostel and I changed my t-shirt (to a neutral blue). As I was changing there was a very loud BOOM, which could have been one of many things and was quite nerve wracking.
We walked to the end of our alley among many other Thai people and along the street (we had just been on) were masses of soldiers and big big buses and trucks etc. all moving slowly in the direction of the Reds. The Thai people started making blockades with tables and chairs and gates in the alley ways we were in.
(note about the alleys we were in: There were 4 paths, 3 of which were connected to the road with the fighting and one was a dead end. So we really were trapped behind the fighting with no where to go, and the chances that the fighting could spill into these alleys seemed quite likely. Leaving us not a lot of options if it did happen)
We just stood there amongst all this craziness listening to yelling and watching the soldiers move further and further down the street. All the shops had closed their doors and shutters, and many people watched the commotion behind the safety of their iron bars.
There was tear gas floating back from the fighting and people had masks over their mouths. One of the soldiers gestured for me to keep my mouth and nose covered.
After a few minutes there were soldiers being dragged here from the fighting, and being dumped at the end of the alley. They were completely knocked out, and people were taking their helmets, shoes and shirts off and pouring ice cold water over them. The air was filled with the stench of smelling salts that were being used to try and wake the soldiers, but the ones I saw weren't even stirring. The heat was incredible and the uniforms that the soldiers were wearing, along with the energy used to fight, must have been intense. Other soldiers were also coming back with eyes clenched presumably because of the tear gas, and holding desperately on to people to lead them away.. The floor was being littered with all sorts of clothing, debris, bottles, cotton wool. The tanks and buses were constantly honking, and a helicopter was flying over head creating loud noise everywhere.
We decided to move down the alley way to see what was happening from the Red's point of view. Here we went over the blockades built by the people and went to join the reds thirty seconds down the alley way. We spoke to an English man, who told us that when the army came down the street, the Red's jumped the vehicles, popping the tyres and hitting the soldiers with bricks and (bamboo) poles. completely smashing up the cars, and people inside them. The evidence of this was all over the floor; bricks, sticks, stones, bottles, glass, and debris everywhere. Everyone had masks on and people were shouting and cheering as the smashed up army vans were being pushed back by a mixture of Red's and the army. This was the spot where me and Boonie had been stood about two hours before when we saw the army coming down the street. It had transformed into chaos. The army was moving back and the Reds were roaring and cheering. We were passed bottles of water and cold flannels. They were very friendly and smiley towards us, and happy for us to be there (as a gesture of support maybe). There was a barrier holding a lot of the Reds back including a pick-up truck holding the loud speakers and flag bearers. A few Westerners, guards, and a group of monks in the middle before a crowd of Red's in front of another barrier. Then another large gap in the road, before a wall of riot shields and the soldiers behind them edging slowly back. The tension seemed to be distilling briefly, a man with a bloody bandaged head seemed to be controlling things. The monks were all in another corner frowning and looking very concerned. The loud speaker was still booming, and people would clap and cheer at his comments every now and again.
At this point we decided to try and get out and did so with a lot of ease, without any danger. Khao san Road was deserted, quite a contrast to how we were used to seeing it. There seemed to be more backpackers with big rucksacks on than usual, getting out of town presumably, as the rumours are there are to be more riots tonight.
A few hours later in the late afternoon we approached the "war zone" again, intrigued about what was happening. The army had been pushed back from Ratchadamnoen Road road and they were sat around eating and waiting for the next move....
We headed for an Internet cafe for about two hours, to get some peace. When we came out, it was dark and there was definite tension in the air. We headed for the street market that we planned to eat at, but as we walked closer to it, more and more shops were closed, shutters down and gates locked. The night market wasn't there and at the end of the street, that would have usually been bustling, was dead except for tanks and big buses pulled back from before, and hundreds of troops resting waiting. It was very tense and felt like something was going to happen any second. We turned around to walk back down the street and within about 30 seconds we heard another big BOOM. This time everyone jumped and a few people screamed with shock. Everyone was tense and another battle had started. There were only a few cafes open in the middle of Rambuttri, where everyone that was left was eating. Everyone seemed to have worried looks on their faces and were looking around with unease. Ambulances and police cars with their sirens on kept racing up and down the street. Everyone seemed silent, watching. We started hearing the rat-tat-tat-tat that sounded quite delicate from where we were sat, but later found out they were the sounds of machine guns. The left over restaurants were packing away and as soon as customers were leaving, their tables and chair were put away. The waiters rushed around with worried looks on their faces, serving people without the usual smile. At times we saw rushes of people hurrying, a girl and her mum had rushed from the end of the street, and stopped by our table, the girl was crying. As we drank we sat in almost silence, anxious, expecting anything to happen at any time, shutters were being pulled down, and tourists were disappearing. The sirens were mostly coming to and from the direction of our hostel.
We finished our meal and left, to walk up Khao San Road was surreal. A place that would normally have been at its peak with music being pumped from every bar, street sellers making pad Thai and pancakes, clothing stalls with hundreds Thai people welcoming you and asking you to look around, souvenir stalls, and people everywhere drinking and having fun was transformed into a ghost town. All the lights were out, all the shops were shut and locked, there were no sellers or music, all you could hear were sirens and yells from the protesters.
As we neared the end of Khao San Road, there was a blockade and ambulances everywhere,a hotel had been made into a temporary hospital where all the injured people were taken. There was a crowd gathered at the blockade, looking at the commotion and the people lying on stretchers. Three or four ambulances drove away while we were there and with them people bandaged and bloody, one from head to toe. We could see the end of the street there was people, but it seemed to have subsided and broken off since we arrived. Very shaky and wondering whether we would even get back to our hostel tonight, we decided to have a beer. And so for half an hour, we sat in a rooftop bar, trying to make light of the situation to make ourselves feel better. The Bee Gees song 'Staying Alive' came on and we both laughed, thinking how apt it felt.
A few minutes later we had a much more sobering experience. We passed the blockade and headed for the street that we had been standing on with the Reds about 5 hours previous. It was a mess then, but now it had been transformed into a war zone. The first thing we noticed was the glass on the ground as we neared the end of the road. Then we saw two big pick up trucks (one with loud speakers attached. The same one we saw earlier in the day) completely smashed to smithereens. They had bullet holes all over them, their tyres were blown up, all the windows were smashed, they were dented and flattened, and battered. Apparently the Reds had used the vehicles to create a blockade in the street, and had driven them at force towards the approaching army (although I don't think anyone was in them when they did this as no one was killed here). There was also a tuk tuk and motorbike in the same state, all covered with a layer of yellow dust (which I presume was the tear gas). The ground was completely covered with rocks, bricks, glass, bottles, sticks, shoes, rags, clothing, flags, ten times as bad as we had seen it earlier in the day. There was a man talking to groups of people, and in his hand he had five or six big bullet shells.
The devastation was incredible, parts of buildings, tables, chairs, and metal bars had been used to blockade the street. There were rags with broken glass around them, and the smell of petrol everywhere (petrol bombs thrown by the Reds). There were bullet holes everywhere, in shop shutters, the walls, the cars, the floor; the place had been completely littered with them, and they had been shot while we were eating tea, literally around the corner.
Yellow gates had been set up around certain places and as we moved closer we noticed the mass of blood on the floor within them, and the shoes placed neatly beside them. Here a man had died and the medic was examining everything. Notes and coins had been thrown into the blood as offerings to the dead man's family. A Thai flag was put up and a guard stood by. People crowded around and some took photos.
There were about five, yellow gated areas altogether. Each with blood splattered on the floor with coins congealing in them and most with shoes. We found out that most of these people had been taken out by snipers, hiding on the roofs of the buildings. Only one didn't have offerings, and we heard it was where a Japanese photographer had been killed in the crossfire.
Nearby, more glass, more wood, bricks, rubbish, rags and the smell of petrol.
The reds were still on the tanoy, the loud speaker never stopped
booming. Nearby, a shop door had been brutally smashed down, and it was now covered with tarpaulin with a guard stood by. We heard stories that one of the snipers had been caught and tortured and we figured out this was the place. There were bullet holes high up in signposts, and two people were shot dead below.
We walked along Radjmoen Road, the main road that the protesters had
taken over. The Red's were everywhere, some were sleeping, some showering, some drinking and chatting. The atmosphere was tense, but after the night's battle everyone was more sober. We saw the democracy document draped in the reds flag, people surrounded it cheering. Many people were also cruising around in their pick up trucks, holding the flag high.
We walked back through the debris to get back to our hostel. Passing shops ridden with bullet holes. You could look through the bullet holes in the shutters and into the shops to see the devastation they had caused inside. Many of the owners of the shops were away for Songkran (Thai New Year) and wouldn't be back for the next few days.
Finally
The next day we moved hostels, to be further away from Radjmoen Road.
Songkran had started, and instead of shooting guns at each other, there were water pistols. It felt strange to be celebrating in a time when death was so visible.
The Red's were not backing down, and the next couple of days when Songkran was on there were no clashes. Then we caught the train to Chiang Mai....
