Flash Protests in Bangkok Oppose the Military Coup

Analysis

Amid the growing tensions following Thailand's coup, Bangkok witnessed a series of flash protests over the May 24-25 weekend. These appear to be organized largely through social media, enabling the protesters to rapidly assemble at key monuments and landmarks across the city for a couple of hours and then quickly disperse after that. A Stratfor analyst in Bangkok reported almost being caught up in one May 25.

On the streets of Bangkok, Stratfor's analyst encountered a quickly assembling protest of a thousand or so people as truckloads of soldiers arrived on the scene. The troops were heavily armed -- not with riot gear, but with Tavor TAR-21 assault rifles, extra magazines, and tactical radios. By and large, these protests seemed less connected with the Red Shirt movement in support of the deposed government but rather they reflected a cross section of anyone among those opposing the idea of a coup and ruling junta in Thailand. The view emerging from conversations with some participants in these flash protests is that they do not like the idea of the coup/junta in Thailand. Participants reject the coup on principle and support civil rights and free media.

The more general mood and public consensus however -- at least in Bangkok -- appears supportive of the coup.

People are fairly tired of the constant protests and political clashes, and the military has astutely fed into this by projecting an image that it simply wants to clean up politics in the name of "unity" and ultimately eschews any desire to seize power. A crackdown on Facebook and the other tools of social media enabling these protests is likely to follow soon.

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