Dear nettimers - here's an email which I have just received from a friend in Thailand.
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!! please do NOT forward this email without deleting my name and email address, foreigners are ending up in jail here right now for innocuous offences
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heavily armed troops and fascist paramilitaries are attacking workers across Bangkok.
I was at the major demonstration today site and saw tens of thousands of pro-democracy activists - men, women and children - enjoying a political festival whilst grimly aware of the hundreds of troops who were already attacking and killing their brothers and sisters in other parts of Bangkok. Back home I hear that troops are entering the entirely peaceful compounds set up to protest against the current government (led bizarrely by Boris Johnston's public school buddy). Media coverage here is dire and is painting a malign picture of red mobs attacking troops and burning vehicles (when it is not encouraging people to purchase mobile phones or passively consume reality tv). This is far from the truth. From what I have seen this is a mass non-violent protest pushed to its limits by state aggression and a general sense that there is nothing left to do but resist. As one middle-aged demonstrator said to me today, "We have nothing left to lose, they have taken everything else."
What we can see on the international news channels is far from up to date and seems to be heavily influenced by state managed media (including massive internet censorship). The red shirts have asked all foreign supporters here to work the networks and spread the truth ... a brutal attack on democracy and its champions is unfolding here in Thailand. People are being beaten, killed and terrorized for simply saying that enough is enough and democracy is possible. Please encourage others to check the truth at sites like http://rspas.anu.edu.au/rmap/newmandala/2009/04/12/crackdown-on-the-reds/comment-page-1/ and raise the issue in their organisations/ networks.
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cheers mate and don't forget to delete my details, a long spell in a hot prison is not the top of my wish list at present