A Tale of Two Riots: Coverage of the UDD Protests at Prem's House

I didn't cover the riots at Prem's house, because everybody else, notably Bangkok Pundit, has been doing a good job commenting on them.

Today, however, two stories caught my eye.

In the Bangkok Post, we got a story called Police Image Improves which I thought would be an article about the police reform package. Actually, the story was about how professional the riot police behaved in the face of an UDD mob.

Last Sunday's riot has done for the police image what years of talking about police reform has failed to accomplish. It has earned the men in uniform respect, and without doubt sympathy, for being gentlemen when duty called. So much has been said, heard and reported about police themselves ending up on the wrong side of the law and standing accused of countless misdemeanors and felonies, from extorting money from motorists to masterminding brutal extra-judicial killings. And not all the accusations appear to be groundless.

Of course, the Bangkok Post is traditionally a right-wing conservative newspaper, so junta propaganda rather than the truth is to be expected from Thailand's English language newspaper of record.


What makes this article so surreal is that for some reason the author, Kamolwat Praprutitum, thinks that the police force's reaction during the Prem disturbances will actually erase the sins of 75 years worth of police corruption and miraculously give the Thai police respect that Kamolwat thinks it deserves.


Here is Kamolwat's logic at work:

Then there is the popular impression of abusive policemen succumbing to the temptation of 'easy gains' and living off the patronage of influential figures. There are decent law enforcement officers around but the bad eggs have given the rest a bad name.

The desperation for police reform is being addressed in a policy guideline drafted by a government committee. But the policy has run into fierce opposition from former police chiefs who argue the proposed restructuring, which intends to distribute more power to regional jurisdictions, will invite political interference. Change can prove unnerving for many people and the police reform plan, it seems, has gotten off on the wrong foot.

Despite the change of names and supervisors from the Police Department under the Interior Ministry to the Royal Thai Police Office under the Prime Minister's Office, the police force has for years continued in a downward spiral.

But the civil unrest witnessed on Sunday may well have made some people change their stereotypical view of the average Thai policeman.

Now, you tell me, what does one thing have to with the other?

Anyway, after the Bangkok Post in this editorial and The Nation in this editorial condemned the anti-junta group's violence, I thought, well, maybe these groups are out of control.

Then, today, I read this article in the Asia Sentinel. Here are a few excerpts:

The UDD set up a makeshift stage in front of Prem's house on Sunday afternoon and made speeches for five hours or so, according to witnesses and news reports. But in the evening, after the protesters vowed to permanently camp outside the residence, riot police attempted to break up the gathering and arrest the leaders, prompting demonstrators to hail rocks, chairs, sticks, water bottles and pieces of broken flower pots at the police, who eventually retreated.

Police, whose numbers had swelled to about 2,000, then made two more attempts to arrest the protest leaders, charging at demonstrators with clubs, pepper spray and tear gas. Each time the demonstrators fought back with fists, rocks, sticks, bottles and anything else they could find.

The melee eventually broke up after tear gas grenades pushed the crowds away. Unsurprisingly, both sides blamed the other for instigating the violence.

“A source in the army told us that in the fourth round the military would bring in soldiers with guns to shoot into the air, so that’s why we withdrew from the place,” Weng Tojirakarn, a protest leader, said in an interview. “We didn’t want anybody killed from this event.”

Police said that 200 officers and 70 protesters were hurt in the clashes, several seriously. Authorities confirmed that six protesters were arrested and charged with “causing chaos, obstructing the work of authorities, and damage to state property,” the Associated Press reported. Police were also seeking arrest warrants for eight or so other UDD leaders, including Weng.

It’s unclear why authorities attempted to break up the protest this time as many similar protests had occurred earlier without incident. Some observers said the army may have been spooked by UDD statements that the group would camp out in front of Prem’s house — an unacceptable scenario for generals who swear allegiance to the royal advisor.

Now, this doesn't sound to me that the police were totally blameless for what happened.

Of course, the always excellent Bangkok Pundit notes of the discrepencies in all the stories about the riots.