A Struggle Without End – 99 Deaths in May 2010, Still Demanding Justice
Sixteen years after military forces killed 99 red-shirt protesters in Bangkok between April and May 2010, survivors and families continue demanding justice for the largely unresolved deaths.
Thailand has experienced many major popular uprisings, but these have never been formally recorded in official history because authorities did not want future generations to learn from them or be inspired to resist. Events like October 14, 1973 were momentous, yet citizens have had to record their own history.
This May brings to mind another popular struggle that those in power have tried to make people forget. May 19, 2010 holds tremendous significance in people's history—the day the military fully dispersed the red-shirt gathering at Ratchaprasong intersection.
Sixteen years ago on May 19, after clearing the Ratchaprasong stage, red-shirt leaders surrendered to police and were detained. The protesters dispersed. Yet that night, gunfire erupted against people seeking refuge in Pathumwan Temple near Ratchaprasong, killing 6 more people.
The red-shirt protests began on March 12, 2010, demanding that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva dissolve parliament, as he had come to power through military negotiations rather than electoral victory. The government took a hardline stance. By April 10, gunfire erupted as soldiers attempted to disperse the gathering, killing approximately 20 people that night. From then until May 19, real weapons and sniper units were deployed to disperse the protests.
In total, 99 people died between April 10 and May 19, 2010. Every May 19, people gather to commemorate the 99 deaths of that year. Even after the protests were dispersed, state officials remained suspicious of thousands sheltering in Pathumwan Temple. Military units fired from the elevated BTS skytrain track toward the temple—footage clearly shows one-sided gunfire into the temple, killing 6 more people.
Beyond those six deaths on the night of May 19, the 99-death incident is filled with heartbreaking stories. Each year on May 15, people visit Ratchaprasong to remember "Choe," a 17-year-old boy shot by officials, who lay bleeding as he gradually died because no one could help him amid continuing gunfire.
On May 13, during the same events, Red Shirt military officer Lt. Kattiya Sawasdipol, a serving officer who had joined the red-shirts, was shot in an ambush in front of media at Sala Daeng intersection—another incident people remember, with lingering questions: Why has the military never pursued justice for a high-ranking officer's assassination?
From April 10 to May 19, 2010, no one has forgotten the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's legacy. The case has not expired. People will continue demanding justice to the fullest extent possible.
