The Democracy Monument in Ratchadamnoen Avenue was erected in 1939 to commemorate the 24 June 1932 coup. That was the year when the People's PArty led by Pridi Banomyong and the military faction under Phibun Songkhram staged a coup that changed the face of Thai politics for years to come.
The 150-year-old absolute monarchy came to an end and Thailand changed to a constitutional government.
It was an Italian Artist and sculptor, Corrado Feroci who designed the Democracy Monument with a symbolism to capture the spirit of the occasion.
The monument has four curved columns arching inwards. Each column is 24 m in height to signi fy 24 June, the date of the revolution.
There is a protective ring of 75 cannons at the base of the Democracy Monument to symbolize the Buddhist year of the revolution 2475. The original 1932 constitution is kept in a pedestal at the center of the four columns.
Owing to its emotional appeal, the Democracy Monument has been a natural rallying point for democracy movements and demonstrations throughout Thai political history.
In October 1973, one such demonstration took place before the Democracy Monument. It was a massive groundswell of public protest against the military dictatorship of Field Marshall Thanom Kittikachorn and to demand the release of 13 students arrested by the military.
Organized by students of Thammasat University with tremendous public support, the demonstrators numbered almost 200,000, the biggest in Thai history.
In the days that followed, tensions soared. On 14 October 1973, the military moved in to disperse th e demonstrators forcibly with tragic consequences. As a result, the government collapsed and Field Marshall Thanom had to leave the country.
The traumatic impact of 14 October 1973 on Thai society is vividly described in Salisa Pinkayan's historical novel, Chalida. It's also no coincidence that there are hardly any books giving an account of what actually happened.
Further along Ratchadamnoen Avenue is the 14 October 1973 Memorial, a monument dedicated to those who made the supreme sacrifice, brave young men and women who stood up and died for a cause.
Unfortunately, Field Marshall Thanom returned to Thailand three years later and in that ill-fated month of October, history was to repeat itself.
On 6 October 1976, the military stormed Thammasat University where students were gathered to protest the return of the Field Marshall. In the brutal crackdown that ensued, more lives were lost.
Later in May 1992, the Democracy Monument and Ratchadamnoen Avenue were to witness further carnage. General Suchinda Kraprayoon, who seized power through a coup a year earlier, reneged on a promise not to be Prime Minister.
Widespread protests mounted, the demonstrators rallied again and another disaster was impending. In what became known as Black May 1992, another tragedy was added to Thai political history. General Suchinda left office after a royal rebuke televised live nation wide.
At the height of the military crackdown, several demonstrators fled for their lives and sought refuge in a nearby hotel in Ratchadamnoen Avenue near Sanam Luang, the Royal Field. The hotel hid them, fed them and gave them staff uniforms and passes to get past the military checkpoints the next day.
That magnanimous act was to save their lives and the hotel where they sought refuge, the Royal Hotel, won the heArts of the democracy movement and took its place in history.
In the two decades from 1973 1992, the area around the Democracy Monument has witnessed three major upheavals resulting in bloodshed. It is hoped that there would be no more.
Today, the Democracy Monument stands in a peaceful Ratchadamnoen Avenue, a silent sentinel of freedom, in the Land of the Free.
For more on the coups in Bangkok.
The Democracy Monument, first appeared in Tour Bangkok Legacies, a historical travel site on people, places and events that shaped the landscape of Bangkok. The author Eric Lim, a free-lance writer, lives in Bangkok Thailand.
Author:: Eric Lim
Keywords:: Democracy Monument, 24 June 1932, 14 October 1973, 06 October 1976, Corrado Feroci, Black May 1992
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