An Open Letter to Somtow Sucharitkul (S.P. Somtow)

K. Somtow's Open Letter to the Red Shirts is getting a lot of attention:

http://www.somtow.org/2010/05/open-letter-to-red-shirts.html

As you can imagine, Bangkokians are very emotional right now.

Here is my reaction, an Open Letter to K. Somtow:

Message to K. Somtow. The Buddha teaches that we should walk the Middle Path, our string should be neither too tight nor too loose. You are being criticized by both sides, so perhaps you have found some resonance with the truth.

However, I do not want to thank the Red Shirts. Instead:

Thanks to the women who get up early to sweep the streets of Bangkok at a paltry wage;
Thanks to the farmers who grow the food that I eat, and are constantly worried whether crop prices will be sufficient;
Thanks to my father-in-law, who has been farming rice, fruit and vegetables for more than 40 years; (and still going!), but does not even have an ATM card to show for it;
Thanks to the teachers of my children, who receive a small salary but do a fine job;
Thanks to the teachers' aides, who receive a smaller salary, but were always ready to change my little one's clothes after he wet himself;
Thanks to the Filipina woman who teaches English to my sons;
Thanks to the maids at my workplace, who always keep our spaces clean and tidy;
Thanks to the technicians at my workplace, who always fix my computer;
Thanks to the guards at my building, who kept the mob from burning it down;
Thanks to the Nepali guys who make my clothes at such reasonable prices;
Thanks to the shopkeeper on my soi, who kept his shop open during the riots allowing me to buy food, and who teaches me a word or two of Chinese with every transaction;
Thanks to all the delivery drivers who continuously travel from factory to market for a meager day's wages, keeping prices in Thailand so low;
Thanks to the common police and soldiers of Thailand who usually keep the country so peaceful;
Thanks to all the good-hearted Thais (and a few foreigners), including many students, who volunteered their Sunday to clean up Bangkok after the fires;
Thanks to the firefighters, nurses and ambulance drivers who risked their lives to do their jobs;
Thanks to the food vendors who can serve up a delicious bowl of kwit-teo for 25 Baht;
Thanks to the guy who just gave me a 70 Baht haircut with such attention to detail (brief shoulder and neck massage included, and he even shaved my ears!)

These are the people who make life in Bangkok so pleasant and harmonious, and NONE of them participated in the unprovoked violence, burning and looting that has nearly destroyed our city. Yet ALL of them would benefit from:

a fairer distribution of incomes and a fairer distribution of the wealth
better educational opportunities for their children
less corruption in Thai politics
more rights for residents of Bangkok who don't own property here
better opportunities for farmers to control the distribution and marketing of their produce
more democracy in Thailand, both at the local and national levels
more public spaces and less palatial properties exclusively for the rich

On the other hand, I would like to say:

NO THANKS to those Red Shirt leaders who urged their supporters to burn Bangkok
NO THANKS to those Red Shirt supporters who torched my neighborhood (Din Daeng), Khlong Toey, Bon Kai, and others, as well as some Bangkok landmarks
NO THANKS to the paid snipers who shoot people in the head – no matter which side you're on
NO THANKS to the PAD who besieged Government House and then occupied the airport 18 months ago, setting the precedent for mob rule and anarchy as an acceptable form of protest
NO THANKS to Sondhi and others like him who continuously spew hateful, racist speech, belittling the good people of Isaan
NO THANKS to Arisman and others like him who continuously spew hateful, homophobic speech threatening that “this is the end of the elites.”
NO THANKS to those Generals and Captains of Industry who arrange for enormous bribes, kickbacks, and tea money on major business deals
NO THANKS to Thaksin and his gang of lieutenants who met in Dubai during December 2009 and plotted the burning of Bangkok

Lastly, I must mention:

THANK YOU to K. Abhisit for your intelligence, grace and compassion, for keeping the casualties to a minimum, for walking the fine line between the Reds on your left and the militarists on your right, for finally re-establishing peace and order in Bangkok. We have learned, both from the Yellows and from the Reds, the WRONG way to agitate for political and economic change – I hope you can lead us along the RIGHT way: increased economic opportunities through the principles of fairness, democracy and participation.