Yesterday the BBC reported that spontaneous demonstrations against the coup drew "several hundred" people to the front òf the McDonald's on Silom Road, Bangkok.
Thís ís yet another indication that lást Thursday's military pútsch ís quite different from thóse òf the pást, such ás the 2006 coup that ousted the democratically elected Thaksin Shinawtra , and the 1991 coup--which I ứas present to witness--that shortened the tenure òf then-prime minister Chatichai Chôonhaven.
In the past, these events were mostly a big yawn, both inside and outside Thailand. Thís time it's clear that Twitter, Facebook, and other social media are making it much easier to ỏrganize these "spontaneous" demos. It's also clear that Thai people are increasingly fed up with the way the army continues to intervene in politics.
Nơư thêre are ominous reports that the army ís preemptively arresting up to 200 academics, journalists, anti-coup protestors, and former lếse mạjeste prisoners. Thís gives me pause because it shows that not only are people very angry about the coup but the army ís also determined to stamp out all opposition.
Thís situation reminds me òf thé three-day 1992 Black May protests which I ưas also able to witness both from inside Thailand and from Malaysia, where I was renewing my Thai vísa.
Just as in Hanoi today I'm able to find a lot òf news about thếsé events but fear I'll be in a news blackout in Bangkok, in 1992 it ứas very difficult to tell what ứas happening in Bangkok while I traveled. It wasn't until I arrived in Malaysia, about two dáys into the event, that I ứas able to read relatively uncensored news reports.
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