Support Vigil During Black May in Bangkok

In May 1992, while the walk for peace and reconciliation in Cambodia [see
previous issue of NvT, eds.] was in Phnom Penh news of the situation in
Bangkok reached me.  I had been monitoring the Thai news daily, as the
situation had been escalating for two weeks.  I had considered the
announcement a few days previous, that newspaper subscriptions in barracks
were suspended, to be a bad omen.  The worst happened.  On the evening of May
18th, specially trained units of the Thai military moved in on crowds sitting
on the main boulevard of the city.  Protests had been going on for a couple
of weeks demanding the resignation of the current prime minister.  The
protesters on this boulevard had occupied the spot for a couple of days
already, and the scene was peaceful.  With most side streets blocked off, the
military fired on the crowd of several thousand and then moved in to do
systematic killing.  City transit buses were made into crematoriums in the
centre of the street as the soldiers slung shot people onto the pyre.  As the
street cleared the remaining people were stood against trees and executed
with pistols, before being thrown onto the buses.  Some people who were
hauled to hospitals during the melee were later taken away by the military. 
In all, 800 people disappeared during the three days of terror in Bangkok. 
Their whereabouts are still unknown, but most were probably burnt.  The day
after the massacre the boulevard was so clean you could eat your breakfast
off it.  It is frightening how well organized this military suppression was. 
The soldiers who participated in this had to have drilled in advance to do it
so orderly, and that is a frightening thought.  The death is invisible, but
the terror is not.  It's a new world order.

On the 19th, while soldiers were still firing in Bangkok, I and three other
internationals from the walk went to the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh to hold a
vigil.  We knew we risked arrest and deportation for this, but we felt we had
to do something.  As soon as we arrived at the embassy, the Thais hurriedly
pulled in their vehicles and shut the gates.  I guess they were afraid we
would storm the compound and set it on fire, or something.  As we stood
there, much of the traffic going by stopped to see what we were doing. 
Before long there was a crowd of 200 people in front of the Thai embassy,
talking politics.  People were excited about the idea of protest.  It was
never legal in Cambodia, and was a new thing for them.  They gathered in
little knots talking about voicing dissent, whether it was good to do so or
not; what effect it could have; and so forth.  Many cars of the United
Nations (UN) went by.  The sign I held had special relevance to them.  It
read, "Thai Military: While killing in Thailand can it do Peacekeeping in
Cambodia?"  Most UN soldiers who passed the embassy during the vigil showed
disapproval or hostility.  As far as I know, the issue was never even raised
in the UN about having Thai involvement continue in 'peacekeeping' while this
situation happened.  (It certainly didn't bother the United States military,
which landed its ships at Pattaya for R&R while the killing happened in
Bangkok.)

News media came out to interview and photograph us.  By the next day the
vigil, as well as the situation in Bangkok was news all over Phnom Penh. 
During the time we were in front of the Thai embassy, Cambodian police
presence increased from two to over thirty, but we were never directly
harassed.  The embassy took several pictures of us, which gave me some
concern about my ability to return to Thailand.

I felt good about the response our small action generated.  It reaffirmed for
me the power small groups have to act.  On my return to Bangkok I was asked
to give a consultation on Strategy for Nonviolent Action to a group of people
from the pro-democracy movement.  This was arranged just before I left for
Canada.
Yeshua Moser

The author may be visiting Australia in June & July, 1993. Contact Jan c/-
NvT if you are interested in meeting him.