Even though the Red Shirt leaders surrendered, unrest and violent actions continued to take place all over Bangkok throughout the whole day yesterday. The protesters had been encouraged to go home, but many chose to defy their leaders and stayed behind. It appears that most of them were militant.
“These people are called Black Shirts, and up until now they have served as guards around the Red Shirt camp. They are organized by Seh Daeng. Now they have gone crazy,” says Thailand expert Marte Nilsen to VG.
These Men in Black belong to an organized military group that does not officially exist, she says.
Could spiral out of control
In order to solve the situation, Marte Nilsen believes that the government and the Red Shirts must write up a common agreement on how to proceed.
“If they don’t, it is going to be very difficult to stop the riots. They could spiral out of control,” she says and adds that the next 24 hours will be paramount in how the situation will develop. She explains that the lack of information from both sides could turn the situation more dangerous.
Have not given up
The riots have also spread to other parts of Thailand and according to the expert this is a reaction to the armed vehicles that attacked the Red Shirts in Bangkok Wednesday morning. According to the expert this is an expression of the fact that the surrender we experienced yesterday only applied to the camp in Bangkok. The whole movement has not given up, she says and predicts that the fight for more social balance and equality in Thailand will continue.
