•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   

I thought I’d devote this article to notes a friend has been sending me from Bangkok. She has been there since the beginning of the bloody siege that has turned the city into a war zone. Her words convey her grief for a country that will never be the same again. Each day that passed, her messages took on a more urgent tone.

“Daylight breaks on Day 4 of Bangkok Under Siege,” she wrote last Sunday. “My hands shake as I type this — not from fear for my safety as fighting rages on around me but from rage at the Thai media, which consistently refers to the protests as an act of rebellion that must be suppressed swiftly and decisively.

“There is about as much press freedom and independent thought now in this painfully beautiful capital as there is in Burma. Thousands of Web sites have been shut down. Print media parrot the government line, and the TV is filled with nausea-inducing imagery of patriotic Thai soldiers saving the nation. This is in contrast to the images of rioting protesters, the barbarians at the gate who pose an existential threat to the Thai state and must be stopped at all costs.

“Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva went on TV last night for the first time since the crackdown to say ‘there’s no turning back’ from the military operation. I sit stunned and helpless, wondering how such brilliant minds cannot see the implications of their actions. If this is the only way forward, Mr. Abhisit, the Thai people may soon find there’s no turning back from a far broader and more devastating conflict — one that would haunt the nation for generations to come.”

My friend attached a photo of protesters who were fired on. One was killed, she wrote, and the others were injured trying to help. She also sent a picture of an armed soldier and sniper peering down from a roof. “There are your ‘red terrorists’ lying dead in the street. And this is the military which, according to the government, is not carrying ‘weapons of war’ and only shooting in self-defense. In self-defense from the rooftops of buildings with high-velocity sniper rifles?”

An hour later she sent an update. “The prime minister has announced that most of those killed were the victims of ‘terrorist attacks’ or Red Shirt protesters that had turned upon each other. This defies every fact on the ground and is beyond shameful.”

Another photo showed thick black smoke amid the high-rise buildings in Bangkok. “Many sections of Bangkok now burning as Red Shirts set up barricades and burn tires to keep military at bay. This is now an uprising.”

T hen the tone of her message took on a note of appeal. “Indonesians need to start talking about this,” she wrote. “They need to have a voice and say no to this outrageous state violence against the Thai people. This is a fundamentally undemocratic state controlled by the military monarchy and elite who support them, and they will kill many people to maintain their power and privileges.”

On Wednesday, after fighting had claimed dozens of lives, she wrote that Natthawut, a Red-Shirt leader, had brought his fellow leaders “to surrender to save lives. In an emotional address to supporters still at the protest site, he says too many have died today and begs them to go home to save themselves. Many scream and yell and refuse to leave. He tells them today there is no victory for democracy.

“Today they lose the battle. But history is on their side and they will win the war. He holds back tears and tells his people his heart will be with them always, and though they be born slaves, they will one day see justice.

“Troops have closed in on the stage. Huge columns of smoke billow into the sky. Fires burn around the protest site. The government insisted on complete suppression today. This is the end of the beginning of the struggle — and the beginning of the end of Thailand as we knew it.

“Even until now, the army is unable to contain the site of the main protest. One thousand women and children protesters have taken refuge inside a temple adjacent to what was the protest stage. The military is shooting on one side, and tall buildings — specifically Central World — are burning on the other. They refuse to leave as they fear being shot or swept up by the military, which is still battling other protesters. But the Central World fire rages next to them. It is a calamity in the making. A virtual news blackout here means no reporting. I only know because I sit next to the governor, who is pleading with the powers that be to let his municipal officials in to evacuate those trapped.”

I told her to try and get out of Bangkok, but she refuses to leave her friends and a city she loves.

Desi Anwar is a senior anchor and writer. She can be contacted at www.desianwar.com and www.dailyavocado.net.