Now It Begins...Or DOES It?

Graphic from the Bangkok Post

It's nearing dawn in Bangkok on Monday the 13th of January. Without getting into a re-hash of posted news and without joining in to spew my own opinion on what may or may not happen I offer this graphic from the Bangkok Post as reference for you folks around the globe. It shows where street closures have been scheduled; many of you will recognize familiar spots on the map. 

I'll be anxiously watching the news feeds myself over the next 24 hours - at least. I suspect a while longer than that, actually. 

To my friends there: steer clear of the protest sites, if possible. There will be enough daredevils out gathering stories and photographs.

D.O.M.A. Is Dead, And Congratulations From Bangkok Prompt A Follow-up

Coming clean on a minor white lie: these were the actual subjects. Although I had their permission to post it, I didn't want to identify them, so I'd altered a couple of details 

Nearly two years ago I posted a story about a young motorcycle taxi driver and his boyfriend. It was really more about taking a walk in the area of the (then) new BTS stations, but seeing a firsthand example of how being gay is accepted by so many there made my short interaction with the two guys above the highlight of the afternoon. 

Normally I wouldn't comment here on a news story that didn't have some sort of tie to Thailand, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruling today giving great hope for equal rights to those who happen to fall in love with someone of their own sex provided a tie-in, and in a most unexpected way.

I almost always give my email address to people I meet and visit with in Thailand; new friends and interviewees, of course, but also folks who seem at all interested in photos I take of them. If I hear from them, I'm happy to send their images along.  Less than ten per cent of the time do I hear from anyone - probably more because of a language barrier than anything else - so it's always a nice surprise.

About 15 minutes ago I happened to check the account I use for these contacts, and there was a new item in my "in" box: a short email from the motocy guys, using one of their accounts. It was the same account the picture request had come from, so I was wondering why I was hearing from them past that initial exchange when I'd sent them the picture and asked if it was OK to post on the blog here. That got a quick "OK", but nothing past that since.

It appears as though some news travels through channels we wouldn't expect. I don't know how, but they had heard of today's news regarding equal rights in marriage. Their email message - probably mangled by an online translator - was very short. There was a tiny bit about them and where they were currently living, but the key part was this:

"Happy day gay news america! Gay marry good happy!! Happy You?"

They'd attached another photo of the two of them, this time with one kissing the other on the cheek... something they would not have done on the street when the first one was taken. This shot looked like it could have been taken in their room or the room of a friend, by the background. They both looked happy, too, and it made me feel good to think they were still together, and also to think that good news can travel fast, too... to people and places you'd think less likely to hear it.

As overjoyed as I was to see the news broadcasts this morning, I was even more pleased to receive the email from E & M.  Yes, guys... Happy Me.

Cambodia, Pt 4: Faces At The Genocide Museum

Seemingly endless rooms of victim's identification photos were eerily lit by the light coming in from outdoors.

[Note 1: There are images today that represent man's inhumanity to man, and some of them may be a little disturbing to a few of you. Fair warning.]

It was a pleasant morning, the day my Thai friend and I visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. We were staying in rooms just a short ride from the museum grounds, and we chatted happily away as I snapped pictures from the back of the tuk tuk, bumping along the streets of Phnom Penh.  We arrived at the front gates, paid our driver, and I soon noticed the faces on many of the people coming out of there.

The sun was shining and there was a gentle breeze blowing, but there was also something else in the air; a feeling that there was still somewhat of a pall over the entire place. Walking along beside me my friend was laughing as he related (for the fourth time that morning) something that had happened to us while we were out having dinner the night before.

Turning to him I put my hand firmly on his shoulder and whispered "I think we should be quiet now," and nodded my head in the direction of the people leaving the grounds; some of whom had obviously been crying recently.  He sobered up immediately, and we headed onto the grounds.

Entering through the front gate opening in a wall topped by wide loops of razor wire we stopped for a moment to take it all in.  It seemed kind of strange to think that a place that looked so peaceful - and yes, even kind of pretty - could be holding such terrible secrets.  We followed the signs over to the first buildings, where there were photographs of those who had (unfortunately) passed through this place.

Some couldn't withstand the torture and died in their "interrogation" rooms, some found a way to end the misery by their own hand.

Upon arriving at the camp, each man, woman, boy, girl and infant were photographed - most tagged with a number - although the people brought there had such an infinitesimally small chance of every leaving the area alive that it seems strange to keep paperwork.  Regardless, it was overwhelming.

Wired to another prisoner one young man stood with a defiant look as he came into the camp. I'd guess he didn't walk out of there alive, the poor soul.

Hundreds of pictures, thousands of pictures... room after room of them in displays 30 feet long, and more. Large images, 11" by 14", all the way down to 3" by 5". Even if you believed the low-ball figure of 15,000 souls lost in this place it meant that what were on display were only a tiny fraction of the images that must have been on file there at one time.

Some of the people in the pictures appear confused, some look dazed, some already bore evidence of beatings and injuries. There was obvious fear on many of the faces that looked directly at you as you passed bulletin board-type mass-framed pictures of people who would soon enough end up in mass graves not all that far away.

This young man managed to kill himself before he was slaughtered by the Khmer Rouge.

Stunned and slightly numbed by the visuals now behind us we left the display rooms and made our way to the interrogation rooms themselves. I don't know how I could have thought that the worst was over...  because it wasn't. The images today aren't the ones that have stayed with me since that morning.  Some of those will be in the next part.

Children were completely expendable, and I'm told 99% of them were put to death.

I don't understand how a child of this age could be guilty of any political crimes, do you?

I've edited the selection of photos today to be as gentle as possible, but there's no real way of candy-coating torture and murder on such a scale as that visited upon the people of Kampuchea. If the upcoming images are rough I'll warn readers at the start of the post.

[Note 2: The black and white images today are pictures of photos in the museum itself. I've adjusted and monkeyed with them a little, but there are still reflections and imperfections from the original prints. Best I could do. ]

Cambodia, Pt 3: The Genocide Museum In Phnom Penh

The barbed wire remaining on the site of "S-21" is no longer electrified, but can still raise unpleasant images.

Just as a fair warning: the posts over the next few days may be unpleasant for some of you to read. I thought perhaps this introduction might be a way to ease you into it, if that's possible.

Man's inhumanity to man is often difficult to face, but it's something you can't avoid when visiting a site such as Tuol Sleng, one of over 150 "interrogation" centers the Khmer Rouge used as what were, in essence, really nothing more than torture chambers and murdering sites while they ran roughshod over the men women and children of Cambodia (then Kampuchea) from 1975 until their fall in 1979.

Not perfect, but a pano showing part of the inner courtyard of the S-21 grounds

Tuol Sleng was a high school until the Khmer Rouge won the civil war in Cambodia in 1975, and in August it was converted into a prison and interrogation center, housing as many as 1,500 prisoners at a time. Estimates as to how many actually passed through Security Prison 21 (aka S-21) differ, but the number lies somewhere between 15 and 20 thousand. You can bet only a few handful walked out of there as free citizens.

Open office windows at S-21

When they began their reign of terror in 1975 the Khmer Rouge justified such centers as merely a means of locating and prosecuting those from the previous Lon Nol regime, but their means of gathering information began brutally and degenerated from there.

Most of those brought to S-21 ended up at Choeung Ek sooner rather than later; Choeung Ek being the site better known to the world as the Killing Fields, where over a million met their deaths in some of the most brutal ways imaginable. For the first year S-21 was open for business the bodies were buried on the grounds and nearby area, but they ran out of room.

A tourist comes out of a torture room on the second floor of one wing. 

If you take that figure of a million and break it down for the roughly four years of the regime's reign that comes to over 680 human lives snuffed out per day.  I suppose "snuffed out" is too gentle a term, as most of them came to a far more unpleasant and violent end, but that's a story still to come. Let's just say for now that ammunition for a quick kill was both expensive and in short supply, so they used whatever they could lay their hands on to do the job.

Although it's a tourist stop the current government endorses visitors to see - if for no other reason than to say "never again" - it was, naturally, a very somber and quiet place.  

For the boorish there were signs like the one above, advising visitors to show respect for the carnage wrought there by refraining from joking and laughing. I personally saw nothing but groups of somber folks - Western tourists, but also small school groups - moving slowly and quietly from room to room and display to display, each more disturbing then the last when you followed the course suggested by the arrows on the walls. 

Next we'll see some photos used by the Khmer Rouge to document the people who passed through Tuol Sleng, and then in the next post we'll move on to the actual processes themselves.

One young man who passed through the Tuol Sleng interrogation center. May he be at peace.

Happy Birthday, Your Majesty

He's still a handsome man today - but King Bhumibol was really an adorable infant. He's front center in this picture.

From where I sit, in another six hours or so the sun will rise on a day of celebration in Thailand - December 5th - the day we in the West would call Father's Day, but more importantly for the Thai it will be the 85th birthday of His Majesty Bhumibol Adulyadej. For the detail oriented out there his full title is Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poramintharamaha Bhumibol Adulyadej Mahitalathibet Ramathibodi Chakkrinaruebodin Sayamminthrathirat Borommanatbophit.

Some of you may have already read the other posts about the King here and elsewhere, but newer readers can reference HM Bhumibol Adulyadej - The King As A Younger Man, and/or the post from his birthday last year, Happy Birthday To His Majesty if they wish.

The love the Thai have for their king borders on profound reverence, and only a fool would voice an unfavorable thought about him while visiting Thailand. That's your traveler's tip for today.

His Majesty's health hasn't been the best for the last few years (and that's carefully worded right there) but he has made some public appearances. Just a couple of weeks ago he granted an audience with President Barack Obama, below:

President Barack Obama and His Majesty Bhumibol Adulyadej - 18 November, 2555

Having been on the throne since June of 1946 he is the only ruler many Thai know, and it will be a long, difficult period of mourning for the nation when he passes away. I wish him many more happy and comfortable years in the meantime.

There will be observances throughout Thailand for his day this year, including a scheduled appearance at the open amphitheater of Benjakiti Park, next door to the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center.

The King will travel from his hospital residence to the park via motorcade, guaranteeing a record-breaking traffic jam along the way from Point A to Point B. I'd suggest not planning to get anywhere in a hurry in that area from the afternoon onward.

Happy birthday to His Majesty, and here's wishing him many more returns of the day.

Trip Report, Part 25: Khuk Khi Kai

The road-side view of Khuk Khi Kai

While on a long weekend getaway this last trip I had the opportunity to stop and see Khuk Khi Kai, a remnant of the French-Thai unpleasantness at the end of the 19th century.

An internet image of Siamese mounted artillery in 1893

The Franco-Siamese War of 1893 was a conflict between the French Third Republic and what was then known as the Kingdom of Siam. The Thai naturally didn't care for the attempted occupation of Chantaburi, and some rebelled. As punishment, those who did were rounded up and put into the small (4.4 meters/14.4 feet across and 7 meters/23 feet high) brick building above.

If you don't already know, Thai culture believes the top of your head is the closest to heaven, and therefore the most "holy" part of the body, and your feet are the most base parts. It's common knowledge that you don't touch the top of peoples heads unless you've been given permission to do so, and that you don't point your feet at someone, step on them, or, indeed, even step over them. 

With that in mind, here's what made this holding facility most odious to the Thai: the French put a slatted roof on the building and kept chickens in a coop up there. The chickens would eat, scratch about as chickens will, and, naturally, poop - and their droppings would fall with no warning on the heads of the captives below. It wasn't a physical torture, per se, but one that was a great insult psychologically.

"Well, that was kind of a chickenshit thing to do," I commented while taking these images, and my friend blushed - he would rarely use such a crude term himself - but agreed. I had to push to get an answer as to how that would be said in Thai, and since I didn't take note of it I can't share it with you today. Probably just as well - there's plenty of that very behavior still going on today, anyway. Man's inhumanity to man, and all.

Being uncomfortable about the whole idea I declined to go inside myself, but you can bend down and enter a 3-foot high doorway, if you visit there.  It's history, but it's not history at its finest.  Still, an interesting stop.

The back side view, with the entrance door on the right

MORE Than Enough, Thank You

The situation in Bangkok has exploded out of control. Skytrains and subways are closed down, as are many embassies. The military is returning live ammunition fire as tanks and water cannons are clearing some key protest areas, even as some of the protest leaders continue to encourage their followers to burn the place down.

Truckloads of tires are aflame along many streets, as are fires in some shops, stores, portions of major malls, a major television station, the Thai stock exchange, a movie theater and many other spots. It is, in my opinion, an undeclared civil war zone.

There are also reports and rumors of bombings, burnings and demonstrations in many other areas of the country - some documented, some not. Most would agree this is a long ways from being over.

There's nothing more I can offer here today than some images and a prayer that cooler hearts and minds prevail before too much further suffering occurs. My fear is that the violence will be on-going for a while, even if a deal is struck.

There are a half dozen friends entirely too close to the hot spots as I write this - and although they probably can't see this post today, they're in my thoughts and prayers.

Really, people... there MUST be a better way to settle this. Enough.

All of today's images were taken by journalists over the past 24 hours, to the best of my knowledge.

Enough. Please.

It's half past midnight on Saturday morning in Bangkok, and the Bangkok Post has already confirmed 7 dead and 101 injured for the past 24 hours - increasing as this post goes live - with seven hours left to go before dawn.

Postured machismo and big talk have given way to panic and pandemonium over an entire square mile of the Big Mango tonight; rubber bullets, rocks and slingshots replaced by live ammunition, molotov cocktails, M79 grenades and home made bombs. It's a train wreck in slow motion, it's just getting started... and already it's enough.

Enough. Please.

Politics: Flitting Around The Flame

Thousands of flying insects attending "BugFest 2010" at ArcLight Stadium, Udon

While it was very tempting to reply at length to a comment this morning asking how things are in Bangkok now, I did not - but it brought up something that probably ought to be addressed.

Opinions are like noses, and everybody has one - barring a birth defect, accident or surgical procedure. I certainly have my own feelings about conditions as they currently are in many areas of Thailand, but it is the intention here to remain apolitical.

Much like the insects in the picture above it's just too much of a temptation to fly too close to the flame, so rather than risk scorching wings (or worse) we're going to stay away from all political topics and comments that might offend anyone in the Land of Smiles that follows the blog or others who might come across it. Submitted comments that I feel cross the line will not be published.

There should be no doubt that I wish for a peaceful conclusion to the matters at hand in Thailand now, but I suspect it's a wish that will not be granted.