Bangkok Lockdown Day 5

Today seemed relatively calmer and we continue to monitor  the news closely. We are still pretty much holed up at home, with no near end in sight at the moment. [W(hen)TF are they gonna start ding-donging?!] At least , we have not been hearing the sounds of gunshots and explosions from our backyard. For now.

Following the news in the last few days though, I thought I sensed some level of biaseness from the international news broadcasters. While I believe they tried to be objective, I didn't particularly  like the way the interviewer threw the questions or how the events had been presented.  In fact, I voiced out the bubble thoughts in my head out loud to Silver Bullet over the weekend. He was quick to dismiss my sentiments as he thought they did OK. In some way, he had a point in saying that it probably was because I was already biased, and that they were just trying to give another perspective from the underdogs. I acknowledged his POV, thinking I could be overtly sensitive. However, I did not think that I was imagining the existence of an unjust and biased view points.

The Thai society and culture is one that is extremely complex. Without the local perspective, it really is hard to understand the under-lying issues that have been brewing. It is, of course easy to take sides with what seemed like innocent civilians, and diss the government. It is good to know that there are people out there voicing their opinions in what they thought were biased reporting:

1. (This one takes the cake!) An open letter to CNN
2. Post #28, 2010-05-18 08:06:46 (3rd from top): Letters to Editor

The existence of local sites/media like Thai Visa, The Nation and even social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook give us another perspective to form our own judgement; or otherwise be swayed by just one perspctive from international media.  In this day and age, it is hard to deciper what's accurate and what's not.

After seeing/experiencing the Reds camping right outside our streets in the past few months, I really do think they should go home and stop behaving like spoilt brats. I thought (and that's only me), the only thing the Thai government did wrong was that they were too lenient in the early days of the protest by allowing the massive number of Reds to congregate and eventually takeover the city centre in the name of peaceful protests. Given the current circumstances, I do think the government is trying to do the right thing by not giving in, and that the protesters should wise up , go home and stop playing victim. Because this time, they (the leaders, especially) asked for it.