After army assaults central Bangkok
Class struggle breaks out in Thailand
By
John Catalinotto
Published Jun 2, 2010 4:32 PM
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva kept one promise. The military-backed
Thai regime unleashed tanks and soldiers against thousands of “Red
Shirts” occupying a posh business district of central Bangkok to clear
the area of thousands of anti-dictatorship demonstrators. By May 20, the army
had killed another 57 protesters in its offensive, more than 80 in total since
March, and wounded 1,800.
Leaders of the opposition Red Shirts, also called the National United Front for
Democracy Against Dictatorship, or UDD, surrendered to the regime on May 19 and
pleaded with the demonstrators to disperse before the obviously superior
firepower of the army. But thousands of the protesters defied their nominal
leaders and set fire to luxury shopping malls, the stock exchange, government
buildings, pro-military media centers and banks.
After tanks pushed rubber-tire barricades aside, some protesters began setting
up new barricades. They fought running battles with soldiers before being
finally driven out of the capital.
Some experienced observers of Thailand say they are surprised, even stunned, by
the willingness of ordinary Thais to fight the way the Red Shirts did.
“It has surprised everybody. It is highly disturbing,” says Richard
Doner, associate professor of political science at Emory University and an
expert on Southeast Asia. “Nobody would have expected this two weeks
ago.” (PBS Newshour, May 19)
Few analysts agree with Prime Minister Abhisit that order had been restored as
of May 20. They believe instead that the battle for Bangkok was only the first
clash in a long struggle yet to unfold.
The questions that Marxist observers ask about Thailand at this point are: What
is the class character of the government and of the opposition? What political
leadership do the opposing sides have? What position does U.S. imperialism
take? How would a revolutionary leadership behave in a similar situation?
Class character of “democracy” movement
There is no doubt that the Abhisit regime, installed by a military coup in
2006, represents the wealthy elite of Thailand and the top officer corps of the
military. It also represents the interests of imperialist investors from the
U.S., the European Union, Japan — the source for 7,000 enterprises
operating in Thailand — and regional capitalist powers like Taiwan and
Singapore.
The UDD, too, has been tied to big capital. Most of its leaders have thrown
their support behind former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a
multibillionaire entrepreneur. Party leaders are from the educated and more
privileged sectors. Both sides defended capitalism and private property and
were willing to protect the interests of imperialist investors.
While Thaksin was prime minister, however, his government passed reforms
reducing rural poverty and offering nearly free health care to the poorest
urban and rural Thais.
Improvements for the poor drew popular support for Thaksin from farmers and
workers, especially in the Northeast. They aroused even greater hostility among
more privileged Thais. The latter worked with the top military officers to
overthrow Thaksin in 2006. They mobilized against his party in the 2007
elections and, with the help of the courts, made sure it couldn’t form a
government.
Frustrated by these anti-democratic maneuvers, the UDD called its rank-and-file
supporters into central Bangkok in March, demanding the Abhisit government
resign and call new elections. It apparently believed that mass pressure could
wring concessions from the government and that the opposition could then win
the election.
The masses of urban and rural poor came out in force and with enormous
determination to back the UDD’s call. Many in the end were ready to risk
their lives in the struggle against the dictatorship. They were taking a role
in determining their fate. According to all reports, the vast majority of the
Red Shirts’ ranks were workers and farmers.
U.S. imperialism in Thailand
The U.S. has been the dominant foreign political power in Thailand since World
War II. The Pentagon has been especially close to the Thai military, using
Thailand as its main airbase during the war against the Vietnamese, Lao and
Cambodian peoples.
Washington’s silence after the mass slaughter shows that the U.S. ruling
class much prefers a stable dictatorship in Thailand to an unstable situation
with the masses in movement.
As with Honduras after last summer’s military coup and the rigged
November election, Washington has made no complaints about the brutal Abhisit
regime. Nor has there been much protest from pro-imperialist “human
rights” organizations that are so vocal against Iran or socialist
Cuba.
While the UDD leaders in Thailand have surrendered, the people have fought on,
both in the streets and politically.
“We have been poor for hundreds of years, even thousands of years, and
they are living in fancy resorts and mansions,” said Srirasa Reungrat, a
woman from Chiang Rai in Thailand’s north, standing at the back of a
temple in Bangkok on May 20. “They have been doing this to us for a long
time.” (New York Times, May 20)
A revolutionary leadership in a situation like that would have the
responsibility of standing with the masses in struggle, physically if possible,
certainly politically. It would support the right of the masses to use whatever
arms they have at hand to defend themselves, their movement and their
demands.
Revolutionaries would also explore the possibilities of reaching out to the
rank-and-file soldiers and the junior officers of the Thai armed forces, over
one million strong, who are part volunteer and part conscript. There was
evidence that these ranks — many of whom come from Red Shirt strongholds
— were unhappy about being used against their class sisters and brothers.
Just before ordering the final assault, the army killed the one general who had
gone over to the Red Shirts.
Mass armed struggle and the possible collapse of the state power could open the
door to an outcome far beyond just moving from an Abhisit to a Thaksin
government. It could raise the possibility of a social revolution that would
change the relations between rich and poor and between Thailand and world
imperialism.
Since May 20, the army has pushed most in the mass movement — those not
killed or wounded or singled out for arrest — out of Bangkok. Many
returned to their home areas in the North and Northeast. Some reports indicate
that activists in this movement are looking for political leadership different
from the UDD and Thaksin, although he remains a popular political figure for
the masses.
In an interview with Al-Jazeera aired on May 22, a Thai political activist in
Chiang Mai, a Red Shirt stronghold, said that many of the Red Shirt members
were looking for new leadership and would participate in an underground
struggle against the Abhisit regime. Pictures on the wall of the political
office were of Thaksin, the late Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi and the late
revolutionary communist Che Guevara.
Ending her report, the Al-Jazeera journalist said that immediately following
the interview this organizer went underground. In Thailand, the struggle
continues.
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