Protests and Prawns: Welcome to Bangkok!

Unable to participate in whatever electoral debates and intrigues are going on back home, we today had the perfect opportunity to get in involved in some Thai politics. A few streets from Koh San Road (the gaudy yet obligatory destination for untrendy Western travellers such as ourselves) we came across an enormous encampment of protesters, covering a whole complex of streets. They were mostly wearing red and were fully set up with tents, stalls sound systems - a party political conference in Blackpool this was not.

We got in amongst it, trying to decipher their message and aims. The few posters written in English were largely quite general ‘Stop Corruption!’ ‘Dissolve the Government!’ but occasionally amusingly concise:


Finally we found someone who could speak enough English to fill us in on what was going on – a rickshaw driver dressed proudly in a red top, red cap and wearing some badges. He explained that the red shirts believed that the Government was corrupt. Their demands were that the Government be dissolved and democracy restored.

Despite the unrest suggested by these remarks, the mood was upbeat – more like a festival atmosphere than anything else. Many of the protesters snoozed on the pavements or clacked their clackers enthusiastically to the music and speeches being relayed by loud speaker every few metres. Even the riot police were taking it easy, sat in the shade taking pictures of girls sashaying past. There was a lot of eating going on and stalls lined the streets selling everything from fried squid to knickers.

In spite of the protest’s proximity to Bangkok’s busiest tourist area, we didn’t see any non-Thai people for the duration of the hour or so we mingled through it. Koh San road is like a bubble of Eastern trinkets and Western fashion crammed between guest houses and bars memorising tourists into venturing no further.