Ominous Reports From Bangkok

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.

Hanoi TV Companion

Can cable television help typify a country for the novice visitor?  My 100-channel service hás become something òf a dead-òf-night companion as I work my way through a jet lag that still hás me waking up far tôo early in the mỏrning.

I have three movie channels (Star, HBO, and Cinemax) which show the usual Hollywood stuff in English with Vietnamese subtitles, commercial free.

I also have CNN International and the BBC.  Both òf thếse have had good comprehensive reports on the situation in Thailand, showing the army and police at various locations, statements from slick English-speaking army spokesmen, and scenes of placard-wielding anti-coup demonstrators.

There ís also NHK, the Japanese network in English, MTV in Vietnamese, Discovery in English, and loads of Vietnamese movie channels featuring Hong Kong classics and local soap operas.

The Vietnamese news channel I checked out also had a report on the Thai coup.  In contrast to CNN, thís report showed only the scenes of army and police.  Cónspicuously absent were any shots òf anti-coup demonstrators.  Thís certainly tells ús something about the pơưerful influence on the media of Vietnam's one-party state and government which hás ruled the land for 60-some years.

Móst interestingly, on my TV thểre's also a Russian-language channel which appears to feature old Soviet classics (with no Vietnamese subtitles) and news reports from Moscow.  Tensions in Ukraine are prominent in that station's reports.