These are my entries for the The Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand and OnAsia Fourth Annual FCCT Photo Contest.
It was only after entries had closed and judging finalised that the FCCT announced that it had decided to exclude all images from the protests.
Double click on any of the images to see a larger view and start the slide show
Category: Human rights single image
To demonstrate their willingness to spill their own blood to achieve political reform, thousands of red-shirt protesters donated blood that was later to be spilled at the gates of the Parliament, amongst them this 11-year-old boy, a symbolism of the political awakening and empowerment of the rural and lower socio-economic sectors of the Thai population
Title: Too young to bleed Subject: Red-shirt protests Bangkok Location: Phan Fa Lilat Bridge, Bangkok Date: April 16, 2010, 8.19am
The assault against red-shirt protesters was alleged to have been led by these so-called Special Forces troops. The long fingernails on this soldier challenge the claim that Royal Thai Army troops led the assault.
Title: Long-nailed special forces troops? Location: Ratchadamri Rd., near Sarasin Rd., Bangkok Date: May 19, 2010, 1.24pm
A Thai flag flutters in front of the abandoned red-shirt protesters Ratchaprasong stage, symbolizing the strength and resolve of the nation to re-build, and go forward, while also demonstrating the patriotism of the red-shirt protesters, the distance to the stage a symbol of the gap between the two different sides of the conflict.
Title: After the crackdown Location: Ratchadamri and Sukhumvit Rd’s, Bangkok Date: May 19, 2010, 5.18pm
After 45-days occupying the heart of the Bangkok shopping and business district and 65-days of protests, the lights finally dimmed on the red-shirt protest stage at Ratchaprasong, the abandoned paraphernalia evidence of the hasty evacuation
Title: The end Location: Ratchadamri and Sukhumvit Rd’s, Bangkok Date: May 19, 2010, 7.07pm
Subject: The act of a government deliberately ordering the deaths of its own unarmed citizens is termed democide. The act of killing unarmed people is murder. International treaties and conventions provide protection for medical personnel and those evacuating the wounded.
In Bangkok on May 19, 2010 the only rule was that there was no rules. Human rights and the rights of ordinary citizens were cast aside as the Thailand government sought to bring an end to an anti-government protest that had proved more resilient, better supported, funded and managed, and more determined than it had planned for, causing it widespread regional and global embarrassment.
7.30am: A silenced round from a sniper fells an unarmed protester hiding behind a street sign signals the start of the Thai military assault on the red-shirt protest camp
7.34am: A shot red-shirt protester lies bleeding in the street as another heading to his assistance dives for cover as more rounds are fired
7.34am: Fellow protesters rush to their shot friends assistance
7.35am: Red-shirt protesters and a red-shirt guard attempt to load the shot man on a pallet for evacuation
7.35am: The rescue team comes under fire from snipers
7.36am: Several members of the rescue team dive for cover as others attempt to flee the continuing shooting
7.36am: The rescue team runs for safety from sniper fire, with several members on the ground
7.40am: With two people now laying shot on the ground another red-shirt guards attempts a rescue attempt while sheltering behind a
7.40am: Also coming under sniper fire the would-be rescuer hides behind his table shelter
7.41am: With bullets landing around him the red-shirt guard rescuer inches his way out of the line of fire while sheltering behind his table
7.42am: A third rescue attempt succeeds and one of the shot protesters is rushed to safety
7.42am: A member of the first team of rescuers lies bleeding on the ground after be shot by a sniper while attempting to rescue the first victim
