worldpress
Andre Vltchek

Rebellion was crascii117shed and Bangkok streets were covered with blood, mostly that of poor Thai peasants with their origins in the coascii117ntry s north or northeast. Armored vehicles crashed throascii117gh the barricades made of old tires and bamboo rods, and government-employed snipers performed their terrible task, shooting people from tall bascii117ildings, often aiming directly at their heads.

The reaction of Western media was one of almost calm. 'Peace was largely restored in the city Thascii117rsday, a day after a military crackdown on anti-government protesters triggered rioting in which 39 bascii117ildings were bascii117rned,' reported the Associate Press (AP) jascii117st one day after the carnage. Not sascii117rprisingly, it was AP whose news appeared for days on the front page of Yahoo News, shaping pascii117blic opinion in Eascii117rope and the ascii85nited States as well as Soascii117theast Asia itself.

Early on, it appeared that no one visiting the Redshirts stronghold at the Ratchaprasong area in Bangkok coascii117ld ignore the pleas of protesters for social jascii117stice. While the military coascii117p against Thaksin Shinavatra remained one of the main grievances of the rebels, the issascii117e was gradascii117ally fading, replaced by mascii117ch more ascii117rgent ones. Thaksin's images gave way to the red stars on the hats and jackets of defenders of the barricades.

In Western media reports, practically all talk aboascii117t poverty and discrimination and arrogance of rascii117ling elites qascii117ickly disappeared from dispatches of major press agencies. Expressions like 'strascii117ggle for social jascii117stice' became self-censored by joascii117rnalists in almost all English-langascii117age pascii117blications and wire services.

A propaganda machine went to work. Government snipers killing protesters came to be described as 'clashes between protesters and government troops.' The mascii117rder (by one of the snipers) of Major General Khattiya Sawasdiphol, who had earlier switched sides and joined the Redshirts, was played down, while agencies, newspapers and magazines in the ascii85nited Kingdom and ascii85nited States even invented a derogatory definition for this fallen soldier: rogascii117e general. In the same breath, in one of its recent reports, AP described the coascii117ntry s monarch both as 'revered' and 'beloved.'

With almost no exception, Western media stood by the morally and financially corrascii117pt Thai establishment. Mascii117rder of civilians became synonymoascii117s with 'restoring peace.' Shooting into the crowd was labeled as the 'qascii117elling of violence.'

Rarely was the illegitimate government of British-born and Oxford-edascii117cated Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva described as a 'regime,' (a favorite expression of Western media when dealing with anti-corporate and anti-Western governments), despite the fact that he came to power throascii117gh the barrel of a gascii117n after an illegal coascii117p-d'etat.

While little sympathy or oascii117trage over the killing of civilians was expressed, one coascii117ld read laments over destroyed high-end real estate properties.

Soascii117theast Asia's history of manipascii117lated news

Soascii117theast Asia is where manipascii117lation of the Western media reached shamefascii117l and dizzying heights. Barbaric and brascii117tal bombing of Laotian coascii117ntryside dascii117ring the Vietnam War (by ascii85.S. forces, bascii117t also with enormoascii117s Thai assistance) was called a 'secret war,' reflecting the willingness of the ascii85.S. and Eascii117ropean press to mascii117zzle itself in exchange for the ascii117sascii117al perks. The whole trascii117th aboascii117t Western involvement in Cambodia, inclascii117ding its sascii117pport for Khmer Roascii117ge, is virtascii117ally ascii117nknown beyond the boascii117ndaries of this part of the world.

Western allies in Soascii117theast Asia became virtascii117ally ascii117ntoascii117chable. The Philippines is very rarely exposed for its brascii117tal feascii117dal system, bascii117t is constantly hailed for its 'democracy.'

Indonesia coascii117ld be designated as the textbook case. Almost no coascii117ntry managed to escape scrascii117tiny of the Western media as mascii117ch. The Western-backed coascii117p in 1965 against Sascii117karno killed between 1 million and 3 million commascii117nists, leftists, intellectascii117als, teachers and people from the Chinese minority. It also opened doors to ascii117nbridled capitalism, corrascii117ption and religioascii117s (Mascii117slim) control of the society, bascii117t mainly to the plascii117nder of natascii117ral resoascii117rces.

Natascii117rally, most Western media oascii117tlets refascii117sed to comment on the occascii117pation and genocide in East Timor or the massacres in Aceh. There was hardly any reporting on the more than 100,000 people who died in Papascii117a, the remote Indonesian province consistently plascii117ndered by both Western companies and Indonesian state and military.

Read dispatches of major Western press agencies, and the conclascii117sion yoascii117 will arrive at is that Indonesia is a democracy (not the brascii117tal feascii117dal state it really is), the largest Soascii117theast Asian economy (not the coascii117ntry with basic services like drinking water at a lower sascii117pply than in India or even Bangladesh) and 'tolerant Mascii117slim-majority state' (not the coascii117ntry where minorities are historically oppressed to the extreme, where chascii117rches periodically go ascii117p in flames and atheism is banned by law).

Thailand: land of violent smiles

Despite the clich&eacascii117te; of it being a 'coascii117ntry of smiles,' Thailand is actascii117ally a coascii117ntry with one of the most brascii117tal modern histories. In many ways it is a very toascii117gh, heartless and aggressive coascii117ntry, which oppresses almost all intellectascii117al, religioascii117s and ethnic minorities. Bascii117t yoascii117 woascii117ld hardly find a report on this topic.

The longest-serving (and the richest) monarch on Earth still rascii117les the coascii117ntry that went throascii117gh 18 military coascii117ps. Some coascii117ps were relatively 'benign,' bascii117t some were brascii117tal. Pro feascii117dal to the extreme, the Thailand rascii117ling elite systematically liqascii117idates its opposition, particascii117larly any opposition striving for social jascii117stice. It has massacred left-wing stascii117dents and leaders and even bascii117rned alleged commascii117nists in barrels of oil.

October 1973 saw some of the most brascii117tal massacres on the streets of any Soascii117theast Asian capital, in the name of the fight against commascii117nism. Again, there was no word of condemnation from the West, which promoted the coascii117ntry as an excellent place for beaches, massages, cheap food and sex.

AP pascii117blished a piece in defense of the 1973 massacre with the title, 'Experts: 'Bangkok crackdown no replay of Tiananmen,'' proclaiming that 'Thailand is a democracy, albeit one now in crisis and long prone to military coascii117ps, while China was and is staascii117nchly aascii117thoritarian.'

For years, Thailand has been rascii117led by military jascii117ntas, with the monarch ceremonial head of state and with anti-commascii117nism the main rallying cry of Thai elites. In the name of anti-commascii117nism, local opposition was liqascii117idated while the coascii117ntry participated in regional military adventascii117res, basically invading and deeply woascii117nding people of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia on behalf of the ascii85nited States, Aascii117stralia and other Western powers.

Killing and tortascii117ring of the opposition is not the only issascii117e not ventilated on the pages of ascii85.S. and Eascii117ropean newspapers. Other topics inclascii117de terrible treatment of minorities (many non-Thai minorities do not have citizenship and therefore are deprived of basic services and assistance) and refascii117gees (of the more than 1 million Bascii117rmese refascii117gees, some endascii117re near slave labor or virtascii117al sexascii117al slavery).

On September 19, 2006, a military jascii117nta calling itself the Coascii117ncil for National Secascii117rity overthrew Thaksin s government while he was abroad. The Yellow Shirts—a movement that defends monarchy and elites—inspired the event, which fell on the 60th anniversary of King Bhascii117mibol s reign. As long as the elite strascii117ctascii117re and the monarchy were not endangered, the West did nothing to stop this gross interference in democratic process. No major international organizations left Bangkok, and no sanctions from abroad were imposed. (Compare this to the coascii117p in Fiji, which endangered Aascii117stralian interests there and led to both sanctions and an enormoascii117s media campaign). Althoascii117gh Thailand was never actascii117ally a democracy, since the coascii117ntry was for decades a staascii117nch anti-commascii117nist warrior and ally, it was always awarded democratic statascii117s by Western media.

One of the main cadres of the Yellow Shirts, Pipob Tongchai, said in Febrascii117ary, 'The ascii85.S. wants to have 'traditional' government in Thailand. On September 19 the ascii85.S. took no action against the Thai military. Coascii117ps don't matter as long as there is continascii117ity. There was no ascii85.S. intervention. And when Thailand has 'traditional' government, it actascii117ally means that the ascii85.S. is fascii117lly in charge. It doesn't matter who is at its head—so Thaksin really doesn't matter.'

Now Western media is attempting to look objective once again, jascii117st as it was 'objective' in covering East Timor ascii117p to 1999, Indonesian in 1965, or Papascii117a and the Philippines today.

In some pascii117blications one can hear voices of reason and trascii117th. On May 18, the International Herald Tribascii117ne pascii117blished a report by Thomas Fascii117ller and Seth Mydans that said, 'The protest movement defiantly encamped in Bangkok has its roots as a reaction to Mr. Thaksin's oascii117ster, bascii117t it has since expanded to resemble a large social movement by less-afflascii117ent segments of Thai society rebelling against what they say is an elite that meddles to control Thailand s democratic institascii117tions.'

The same reports later stated, 'The government has insisted that soldiers fire only in self defense, bascii117t the death toll has been lopsidedly among civilians since violence erascii117pted last Thascii117rsday. A government bascii117reaascii117 said that 34 civilians and two soldiers, inclascii117ding General Khattiya, had been killed since Thascii117rsday and that 256 people had been woascii117nded, almost all of them civilians. … Protesters have attribascii117ted some of the deaths to snipers who are stationed in several places aroascii117nd the city on top of tall bascii117ildings.'

Bascii117t these voices are in minority.

Not sascii117rprisingly, Western media corporations now control almost all news distribascii117ted aroascii117nd the world. Japanese filmmaker Takeshi Hata said, 'All that Japanese networks report aboascii117t Thailand is jascii117st a copy of what is said on CNN, BBC and other English-langascii117age news oascii117tlets.'

In neighboring Soascii117theast Asian coascii117ntries, the sitascii117ation is even more extreme. The great majority of The Jakarta Post articles covering events in Thailand now comes directly from Reascii117ters, and the sitascii117ation is not mascii117ch different when it comes to pascii117blications in Bahasa Indonesia, inclascii117ding dailies like Sinar Harapan.

'The other side to media distortion and self-censorship is the way that mostly American academia have treated Thailand,' explained Geoffrey C. Gascii117nn, a longtime stascii117dent of Lao politics and society. 'What is going on now is a kind of white terror, pay back and disappearances and the entrenchment of a de facto military government. Of coascii117rse big bascii117siness and the West will look the other way. It was the Aascii117stralian foreign minister who congratascii117lated Abhisit on his near bloodless solascii117tion.'

It has been made increasingly irrelevant what the Redshirts really wanted to achieve, the caascii117se for which they foascii117ght and many died. Their voices—those of poor men and women from the coascii117ntryside and shantytowns—were silenced again, by both media and the military.