By Ted Andersen
This summer, my final week in Bangkok as an Overseas Press
Club Foundation intern for the Associated Press occurred during the bombing
that killed 20 and injured 125 in the center of the city. Another blast went
off the next day, this time along my daily commute at Sathorn Pier on the Chao
Phraya River. I took pictures at the scene of both incidents. AP and other
outlets produced multiple reports, but amid all the coverage, the attacks
remain shrouded in mystery.
Between the monarchy, the military government and their
detractors, the intricacies of Thai politics are complex. My aim as an intern
was to research every question and talk with as many experienced staff members
and sources as possible. Doing so revealed to me a kingdom in crisis. King
Bhumibol Adulyadej, the oldest continuously serving monarch in the world, is
now an 87-year-old hospital patient who has water on the brain and sits on
death’s doorstep without a chosen successor.
The military coup that brought General Prayuth Chan-ocha to
power last May has strengthened the royalist control on power by prosecuting an
increasing number of lèse majesté cases and tightening control over protest
movements and digital freedom of speech. The August bombings, spun by the
government as an attack on Thailand’s tourism industry, may serve to galvanize
the “caretaker” position of the same government that is using its power to
silence critics. But with free speech and environmental protest movements
cropping up throughout the country, perennial military control will certainly
face future challenges to credibility.
The two bombs could be unrelated to the decades-long armed
conflict between Muslim Malaysian separatists in the south, the recent
deportation of Uighur refugees back to northwestern China or the “red shirt”
supporters of ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, but all have been
offered as possible explanations.
The AP internship taught me how to balance both skepticism
and openness in the face of an internationally important news event. It taught
me how to move quickly and build sources in a foreign land. But most of all, it
taught me that when the smoke clears and the dust settles, we may never get the
clear answers we seek.