On the evening of Wednesday 19th May I went to visit the Ratchaprasong Rally Site again. I was there the other day before the 3 p.m. deadline to leave and I wanted to see how many people had stayed. And also to see what the mood was like. I stayed until about 1 a.m.
I parked my car near the train tracks just before the expressway entrance. Last time I had parked under BTS Phloenchit in “no-mans-land”. When I came out that night at 3 a.m. the soldiers said that they thought it was a car bomb!
This time there was more soldiers milling around underneath the station. It looked like they were preparing to move in soon.
I saw them taking sandbags up to the sky train station above as well as something that looked like they would put on the skytrain tracks. I got the feeling that they would advance on the rally site via the tracks. I went up to the ticket level to take pictures but they wouldn’t let me go up to the platform level.
Beyond BTS Phloenchit it was pitch dark. At Phloenchit Intersection there was a little street lighting by Home Pro. The outer barricade is here. It was dead quiet. As I went in I nearly stepped on a crouching red guard that made me jump. This picture shows another stretch of light in front of Central Chidlom. Beyond in the darkness is the inner barricade.
The actually rally site is always very brightly lit. I was surprised to see nearly the same number of protesters in front of the stage. Their spirits were high as they cheered the speeches and took part in sing-alongs.
Near the stage I also found these young children sleeping. Most of the older women and children had moved to Wat Pathum so I was surprised to see these children.
The government were supposed to have a blockade of the rally site but they had plenty of free food and water for everyone. There were also street vendors there selling a variety of food. There were also a few vendors selling other items.
At about 1 a.m. I got a message from someone that the army might come in at 4 a.m. I didn’t want to risk things as I don’t have a flak jacket or a helmet. I got home by 2 a.m. just in time for a live interview on the national television in Canada.
- Posted from my iPhone
better than KFC and McDonalds lol but the name...