Last weekend saw thousands of people take to Bangkok’s streets in protest. Well, that’s what the guy from the Nation who tweets all the time told us. It was too hot and sticky outside to go and verify for ourselves, but we heard that everyone from farmers to Democrats came out in droves to protest something or the other. Still, there were also a number of smaller protests that didn’t quite make the papers.Following the riot at the Deftones gig, the Eagles concert at Impact Arena was the scene for further trouble last weekend. This time a group of inter students secretly followed their parents (who were eager to see their lifelong idols live), lit a fire outside the venue and trashed the parking lot in protest of all the octogenarian bands visiting Bangkok. Several stylish teenage girls were seen waving banners that said, “No Gaga, No Homework.” Finally, the police arrived, confiscated the protestors’ iPhone 4s, rounded them up in trucks and deposited them safely back at Emporium.Meanwhile, in the center of town, IT Square was a flashpoint for a group of angry Facebook fans who gathered to protest that social media wasn’t being used enough in the current protests in Thailand. They raised real concerns about the impact this was having on our global reputation. One bespectacled man with a beard was reported to have said, “Al Jazeera will never take us seriously if we aren’t tweeting from ground zero!”Last Saturday also saw fifty angry old white men meet outside Siam Discovery. They were there to complain about the dual pricing for Thais and foreigners for Madame Tussaud’s, demanding that everyone should be able to pay the same to go and see wonky models of Obama and Dr Porntip. Fortunately, the arrival of happy hour saw this crowd disperse without incident.Finally, the BTS station at Asok saw its own disruption by a small group of three confused 30-somethings who were protesting the fact that BTS and MRT stations have different names, despite being in the same location. Apparently they had expected a larger turnout but the other protesters had accidentally gone to MRT Sukhumvit instead.
Issue Date:
Feb 24 2011 - 11:00pm
Topics:
city living