Red Shirt mourning continues

Red Shirt mourning continues, one year after crackdown

It has been one year since the crackdown, but Red Shirts continue to mourn their dead.

29-year-old Terdsak Foongklinchan was a Red Shirt protester who died at Khok Wua intersection when clashes broke out with the military.

His parents did not cremate him for a year, hoping to find out who was responsible for his death.

Suwimol Foongklinchan, the mother of Terdsak, said: "We kept his body, because we wanted an explanation, but almost a year has passed and we haven't gotten any justice from this government."

The military maintains that soldiers opened fire on terrorist elements hidden among demonstrators on April 10.

Mr Terdsak's death could have been collateral damage, as he was said to be unarmed.

Taken from the temple morgue, the coffin was to be displayed in the bed of a pickup truck as part of a Red Shirt procession.

But the monk, who released the body, deems it undignified.

Instead, a dummy coffin draped with a red cloth is used.

For many Red Shirts, funerals and memorials have become political events where protesters gather to keep the movement alive.

Remembrance is vital to them since many are still raw about last year's crackdown.

One of the protesters, Yongyuth Boondee, said: "I feel sorry for him because he fought for democracy alongside of us and the government ordered the crackdown on the protesters. And I feel sorry that he died."

Redshirt leaders like Puea Thai MP Jatuporn Phrompan and former Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, brother-in-law of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, routinely attend and preside over these funerals.

They do it to show support to the families who have lost loved ones to political violence. But they also stir up the crowd who are visibly moved by the fallen.

-News courtesy of Channel Newsasia-