ไทยพีบีเอสกำลังจะออนแอร์บทสัมภาษณ์พี่ยอน 31 ธค.นี่ 21.40 น. นะครับ
29 December 2012
On Christmas Eve, ThaiPBS television interviewed me in Bangkok. The interview is scheduled to air on 31 December at 9:40PM Thailand time. Our interview will be online here.
Ms. Nattha Komolvadhin of ThaiPBS requested this interview after I made a statement on Facebook saying that murder charges against former Prime Minister Abhisit are factually baseless and morally wrong.
ThaiPBS is a publicly funded media organization, widely respected for addressing social issues that sometimes discomfit the government, regardless of which political party may be in power at the time.
The Thai government uses tax money to support ThaiPBS, which in turn sometimes slams the government. Thailand has a moral compass.
My statements that the Royal Thai Army (RTA) and Mr. Abhisit did not commit murder are supportable, though they are contentious among some Thai, and among some journalists.
In 2010, I left Afghanistan and flew to Thailand, where I witnessed serious fighting. Nearly 2,000 people were injured, and approximately 90 were killed.
I did not see all of the fighting. Nobody did. The troubles were spread too thinly over time and distance for any single person to witness all events.
Collectively, hundreds of journalists covered the fight. In crowded downtown Bangkok, with its many skyscrapers, windows, and cameras, nothing happening on the streets could be kept secret.
This was not a remote Afghan battlefield, but a thunder dome, saturated with spectators with phones and cameras snapping and flashing by the thousands.
The Twitterverse was aflame. Citizen observers on Twitter posted some of the best and most immediate reporting.
Red Shirt protestors set up an immense armed camp in Bangkok’s central business district. I often walked through the camp with my camera. The police, Army, and protestors allowed complete access. This was risky. Firefights erupted without warning.
The RTA was initially ordered to contain Red Shirt mobs that caused many of the deaths and injuries.
After several months of violent protest and government patience, the RTA was ordered to break up the protest and to free downtown Bangkok so that people could get back to work.
The Thai work hard. The Red Shirts occupying the central business district was very disruptive.
It is unpopular in some circles to say that the Red Shirts committed murders, but it is a fact. Never fear truth.
Many Red Shirts became angry that other Red Shirts resorted to violence. Red Shirts denounced other Red Shirts who committed murder and arson. There are many good and moral people among the Red Shirts who do not support crime of any sort. They are my friends.
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