…a small demonstration is under way.  A group of about fifty people stand on the steps.  A few of them have small placards.  What they are doing is completely illegal under the martial law regulations…

The King of Thailand is old and frail.  The govermnent is venal and unpopular.  The people are angry and hungry for change.  The generals see an opportunity, and they jump on it. 
‘We’ll be the change you want to see’ they cry.
Nobly they seize the reins of power from the noisy rabble of intellectuals in the street.  Men who stand unarmed on street corners and shout about freedom are dangerous. 
‘Put soldiers and tanks on those corners.  Secure the city.’
In a paroxysm of self sacrifice, the generals disavow television, late night bars, social media and messy long winded debate.
‘Go back to your homes.  We have the situation under control.’
The schools are closed.  The borders are closed.  Open minds are contained by indefinite custody.
Bangkok.  2014.  It’s a classic coup d’etat, but not Thailand’s first.

(Above and top: street art on Khao Sarn Road.)

(Below: the Khao Sarn sideshow carries on.)

Despite Thailand’s political turmoil, the party is uninterrupted on the tourist strip, Khao Sarn Road.
Amidst the noise and grunge of the Khao Sarn side show, it’s easy to forget Thailand is now under a miliatary dictatorship.

(Below: the king.)

Two blocks away from Khao Sarn Road, is the Democracy Monument.  It was built to commemorate the occasion of Thailand’s ‘revolution’ in the 1930’s.  In fact, the 1932 revolution was much like the current Coup.  The story goes that the then King had gone out of the country for a holiday, and the army seized control in his absence, supposedly, without a single shot being fired. 
I want to see what a democracy monument looks like in the midst of a coup, so I go and do some sight seeing.

(Above: Bangkok’s Democracy monument.)

I’m lucky.  Since the army took control they have banned all protests and public gatherings.  But when I arrive at the Democracy Monument, a small demonstration is under way.  A group of about fifty people stand on the steps.  A few of them have small placards.  What they are doing is completely illegal under the martial law regulations.  They are risking arbitrary detention. The protest lasts only ten minutes.  A few other photographers and myself take hasty pictures, and then the group disbands. 

(Above: the illegal protest.)

(Below: when the police arrive, the protest quickly evaporates.)

The monument is decorated with miliatary motifs, depicting Thailand’s soldiers as champions of freedom.  The irony is unintentional, but is not lost on the protesters, I’m pretty sure.

(Below: a relief on the Democracy Monument.)

(I saw local kid skating outside my hostel.  Future avant garde artist?  What sort of Thailand will he live in?
Buy this photo as a poster or canvas print from the Raw Safari Print Shop.)

 


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