This section addresses how people sought and shared information as ways to bridge the gaps described above. The way people bridged the gaps involves four major categories: fact finding and validating, clarification, translation, and support and entertainment.
Fact Finding and Validating
Since the coup was not officially announced until late on the night of September 19, a sense of uncertainty was strong. People wanted to know what was going on as the story developed. There was a lot of information/rumor - neither validated nor confirmed - that was floating around. Even though writers tried to identify sources of informa- tion/rumor as much as they could, this unofficial information (i.e., not announced by the coup leaders) made people question the trustworthiness of all the information that they received. Nevertheless, writers still shared with others as they seemed to hope that there might be someone who could validate the information they received. Therefore, people were not just looking for new updates during that time, but they also wanted to confirm what they already knew.
There are apparently two types of information that people were looking for and sharing during that time: collective sense of situation, and personal interest.
Collective sense of situation primarily deals with national or international interests. Inevitably, politics was the most visible topic during that time. When asked during the interview, most of the informants said that the major questions they had during the time were, for instance, where was Thaksin? Who was behind the coup? Was this coup related to the insurgency in the South? Was there a sign of violence? How did the international community react?
อยากรู้เหตุผลที่ปฏิวัติ และอยากรู้เหตุการณ์ที่เกิดขึ้นในตอนนี้ว่ามีเหตุการณ์อะไรเกิดขึ้นบ้าง (ข้อหลังนี่น่าจะเป็นคำถามข้อใหญ่)
[I wanted to know the reason of the coup and wanted to know that what was going on (the latter seems to be a major question)]
(AbsoluteInsider4 - Interview)
I wanted to know exactly what was happening. Some coup attempts fail so wanted to know if there was a successful coup attempt.
(AnonymousOut2 - Interview)
My key concern was whether there was any “counter-attack” from Thaksin’s allies. In the hours and days after the coup that was, by my estimation, all that really mattered. As it turned out, there was only a whimper of immediate resistance, and that burned out quickly. We then had to wait until 2007 before the real anti-coup resistance took up the electoral challenge of fighting the pro- coup forces. We all know how that ended.
(AbsoluteOutsider4 - Interview)
Mainly clarification on what the viewpoint of the coup plotters was: Were the military units taking over for or against Thaksin? Would pro-Thaksin military units fight back? Would they be able to take over cleanly or would there be resistance?
(OutsiderIn2 - Interview)
In addition to political interest, another collective concern relates to the issue of finance and economy. Here are some blog titles during the early stage of the coup that relate to finance and economy in both national and international levels.
What Investors Did on News of a Thai Coup (AbsoluteOutsider5 - Blog)
Thai Baht [stock market?] shakes off political crisis (AbsoluteOutsider6 - Blog)
S&P puts Thailand rating under watch with negative implications, post coup (AbsoluteOutsider7 - Blog)
‘‘วิเคราะห์ เศรษฐกิจ ช่วงนี้’’ [“The economic analysis this period”]
(AbsoluteInsider9 - Blog)
The second type of information that led to fact finding and validating during the coup concerns personal interests. People sought and shared information that had potential threats to their daily lives. For example, when asked what the major concerns were during that time, AbsoluteInsider3’s response seems to be more concerned with the effect on everyday life than with political interests.
อยากรู้ว่ามีต่อสู้ มีนองเลือดหรือเปล่า มีการปิดกั้นสื่ออะไรบ้าง ออกไปนอกบ้านจะอันตราย ไหม วันรุ่งขึ้นต้องไปทำงานหรือเปล่า
[I wanted to know whether or not there was any fighting or violence. What media was censored? Was it dangerous to go outside? Did I have to go to work the next day?]
(AbsoluteInsider3 - Interview)
AbsoluteInsider3 was not the only one who was concerned about his daily life. A number of people also shared information about the effects of the coup on various topics regarding their daily lives such as work, school, food, traffic, and travel. The following quotations were examples of blog posts addressing such concerns.
ปฎิวัติ ซะแล้ว วันนี้ ทำงานถึง ทุ่มครึ่งตามปกติ (จริงๆแล้วต้องบอกว่า โชคดีที่หนีมาได้ตอนทุ่มครึ่ง) กลับ บ้าน ทำโน่น ทำนี่เหมือนทุกที อยู่ดีๆน้อง ที่ทำงานอยู่ ตจว ก็โทรมาถามว่า ในกทม เค้าเกิดอะไรขึ้นเหรอ เพื่อน น้องโทรไป บอกว่า เค้ากะลังจะปฏิวัติ เราก็ยังว่า ไม่เห็นได้ยินข่าว แล้ว ซักพัก ข่าวก็มา แล้วก็ ปฎิวัติ จริงๆ เฮ้อ แล้วคำถามก็พุดขึ้นมาในหัว
แล้วพรุ่งนี้ ตรู จะต้องไปทำงาน ไหมหว่า คราวที่แล้วเรียนอยู่ ยังได้หยุดเรียนเลย ——–
>คิดได้แค่นี้ใช่ไหม
แล้วก็มานั่ง ตามข่าวอยู่ตอนนี้ ช่องไทยใช้ไม่ได้แล้ว
[Coup already
Today I worked until 7:30 as I normal do (Actually I have to say that I was very lucky to be able to escape at 7:30.) I went home and worked a little bit of this and that as always.
All of sudden my colleague who work outside Bangkok called and asked me what happened in Bangkok. My sister’s friend told [earlier] that they were about to stage a coup d’´etat. I reckoned I had not heard the news. Well the news came so as the coup. Then a question got into my head.
Do I have to go to work tomorrow? When it happened last time, I was still a student. I did not have to go to school. ——>Is that all I can think of?
Now I am sitting and following the news. Thai [TV] channels are no longer working.] (AbsoluteInsider10 - Blog) สอบ สอบวันแรก... ความจิงแล้วต้องสอบวันแรก เมื่อวานนี้ แต่... เหตุการณ์ปฏิวัติช่วยชีวิต 555555555555 ...กู ล่ะ ขำ... อุตส่าห์นั่งต่ออ่านหนังสือถึงเช้า5555 ตายไป วันนี้ก็เลยเป็นวันแรก ที่มาสอบ จิงๆ....French VI ตายหมดทั้งห้อง...ข้อสอบผีผ่วน [Exam
The first day of exam
Actually it should have been yesterday, but...
the situation of the coup saved my life ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. ... It was funny ...
I stayed up all night reading. ha ha ha
So today is the first day of the exam.... French VI We were dead... Ghostly exam.]
(AbsoluteInsider11 - Blog) ปฏิวัติ !!! วันนี้หยุดกระทันหันเพราะมีการปฏิวัติหล่ะ ยังเรียนไม่จบเลยวิชาวันนี้ ไม่มีวันอื่นแล้วด้วย ทำ ไงหล่ะนั้น จะสอบไงอ่ะเนี่ย แต่ก้อเอาเหอะ อ่อ วันนี้มี presentงานด้วย embryo ไม่ได้presentซะแล้ว แต่ก้อทำไรไม่ได้คงไปพูดวันอื่นแทนมั้ง วันไหนอ่ะ ไม่มีแล้วจะสอบแล้ว เป็นเรื่องของอนาคตอ่ะนะเดี๋ยวก้อรู้ เดี๋ยวหาเนื้อเพลงมาลงเล่นดีกว่า [Coup !!!
Today the class was ceased because of the coup. We were not even finished today class. There will be no more class on another day. What should I do? We are about to have an exam. And today we were supposed to present our works too, embryo.
We did not present. We could do nothing. We might have to present another day. When? No more. The exam is coming. It’s about the future. We’ll know. Let find some music lyrics to play with.]
(AbsoluteInsider12 - Blog)
It is also interesting to note that there were a number of photos showing how street merchants made financial benefits from selling merchandise related to the political sit- uation in Thailand (e.g., yellow shirts, and screen printed clothes with sayings about Thaksin – the deposed Prime Minister) and foods. These people seemed to utilize the information about the appearance of the military to identify the location where they should sell their products.
As mentioned earlier, rumors seemed to be omnipresent during the coup as it was hard to verify who the original source of some particular piece of information was. During that time people exchanged information about what they heard from someone else. Here are some of the examples of rumors during the early stage of the coup.
ในช่วงนั้นข่าวลือเยอะมาก เช่นว่า มีการยิงปะทะที่โน่นที่นี่, ทักษิณพาเอากองทัพคอมมานโด จากอเมริกากลับมาสู้, จะมีการตัดสัญญาณ internet
[What was interesting is when we could not rely on mainstream media, we had to rely on word of mouth. During that time there were a lot of rumors, for example, there were shootings here and there, Thaksin brought American commando troops to fight back, and the Internet would be cut off.]
(AbsoluteInsider3 - Interview)
@ 12:56 AM: There are rumors that all cell phone networks are going to be cut off in the next hour. Hopefully this is just that – rumors.
@ 1:01 AM: Rumors are swirling like crazy. I have been getting phone calls and text messages that say a new prime minister, Akrathorn Jurarat, has been appointed.
@ 1:22 AM: Apparently Thaksin’s headed back to Thailand (by commando, natch), and according to rumors, he might not be allowed to land.
...
@ 2:14 AM: Rumors (and I strongly emphasize this because rumors are going around like crazy) say Pantongtae has been detained at the airport while trying to leave the country.
...
@ 2:48 AM: A friend has told me of rumors of a shooting around the Ratta- natibet area.
(AbsoluteInsider6 - Blog)
Rumours were written online that some recent events (Prem’s jockey speech and transferring of some mid-level officers) months before the coup and then from 7pm and 8pm on September 19 you could hear mention of troop move- ments.
(AnonymousOut2 - Interview)
10:24am - Somebody sent me this link. There is now a rumor that Thaksin’s cabinet and political figures are now plan to hold a satellite government in Sin- gapore with the hope to lobby the UN to back them as the true representative government.
...
(Outsider-In5 - Blog)
’Rumor’: He had another riot plot that was supposed to happen on Wed. 20th, hence a Coup on the 19th to prevent the possible chaos.
And that was why his whole family was out of the country and that was why he rescheduled his speech at the UN G.A. from Wed. to Tue. and planned to come back to Thailand a day earlier.
now, that’s just what I’ve heard through a grapevine. (it makes sense though) (Anonymous1 - Comment to a photo posted on Flickr)
In addition to sharing what they heard, people also provided evidence to prove that rumors were reportedly false. OutsiderIn6, a foreign Flickr user in Thailand, for instance, posted a picture of himself holding a local English newspaper to falsify the rumor he heard that the military controlled the newspapers.
We finally found the paper. Word on the street was that the newspaper publishers were closed down and there would be no papers today. Word on the street was wrong, I guess.
(OutsiderIn6 - Photo description)
Being a Part of a Historic Moment
It is interesting to learn that people perceived the 2006 coup d’´etat as a historic moment. Especially, people who were in Thailand during the coup night thought that they were a part of the history. Therefore, the way people sought and shared information was also substantially related to this perspective.
For many absolute insiders, the coup d’´etat was a collective historic and memorable event. Some related the event to their own memories. Below are some of the example of how insiders perceived the situation as history in either personal or national context.
ประชาธิปไตยบนปลายกระบอกปืน
ว่ากันว่า สิ่งใดก็ตามเกิดขึ้นกับคนๆ เดียวจะกลายเป็นประวัติศาสตร์ แต่หากเกิดขึ้นกับคนหมู่มาก จะเป็น ประวัติศาสตร์
ปกติ ผมจะติดตามข่าวการเมืองตลอด จนมาถึงช่วง 1-2 เดือนล่าสุด ผมก็ได้เลิกติดตาม มันน้ำเน่า เหมือนละคร หลังข่าว ของประเทศในแถบ เอเชียตะวันออกเฉียงใต้ บางประเทศ จนมาวันนนี้ทำให้ผมต้องกลับมาติดตามอีกครั้ง
มีอะไรหลายอย่างอยากระบาย แต่ก็กลัวโดนจับ
[Democracy at the tip of a gun
It has been told that what happen to an individual becomes experience. However, if it happens to a crowd, it is history.
A couple ago, our country has add a new page of history.
Usually, I always followed political news, until a month or two ago. I stopped following.
It was sewage, like soap opera in some countries in South East Asia. Today, I came back to follow again.
There are many things I want to say. But I am afraid to get arrested.] (AbsoluteInsider25 - Blog)
ปฏิวัติ...
ประเทศไทยเกิดอะไรขึ้น...
นับว่าเป็นเหตุการณ์ครั้งประวัติศาสตร์ครั้งหนึ่งในชีวิตที่ผมได้มีโอกาสเข้าร่วม
[Revolution...
What happened to Thailand?...
This is one of historical events of my life that I had a chance to be involved.] (AbsoluteInsider26 - Blog) การรัฐประหาร... เมื่อวันที่ 19 กันยายน 2549 เกิดการรัฐประหารขึ้น อยากจดจำวันนี้เป็นวันประวัติศาสตร์จังเยย ตอนแรกที่รู้น้า กลัวมั่ก ๆ เลย แต่อีกวัน (20 กันยา) เขาประกาศให้เป็นวันหยุดราชการ ดีใจมั่กๆ แต่นี้แหละ... อิอิๆ [Coup D’´etat
On September 19, 2006, there was a coup d’´etat. I want to remember today as a historical day.
When I heard about it, I was very scared. But they declared the next day (September 20) as a holiday, I was very happy.
That’s it... he he]
(AbsoluteInsider27 - Blog)
Many outsiders also expressed the importance of the situation as history in their views as well, whether or not where they were during that time. OutsiderIn4 commented about his online activities during the first night of the coup.
The reports over the first few hours were extremely limited and quite to- the-point. I went online out of curiosity to see what, if anything, was being reported and whether there was any effort being made to block access to news sites. Because I didn’t feel any threat by the political instability, I wasn’t worried and I wasn’t trying to get information out of concern. Instead, I realized that I was in a moment that would have historic importance and wanted to try and understand what was happening.
(OutsiderIn4 - Interview)
It is important to note that OutsiderIn4’s video on YouTube was one of the first uploads during that time. In response to a question asking the reason he decided to record the first coup announcement, he made a similar comment about his experience:
I felt there might be some historical significance and knew that, for friends and family reading my blog, they might not otherwise have a chance to see what such an announcement looked like.
(OutsiderIn4 - Interview)
Even for foreigners who live outside Thailand (i.e., absolute outsiders), what they saw or heard from media also became historic moments.
Tanks, yellow ribbons, soldiers, threats, coyote dancers. TV brought all the elements to life, in a sense; particularly the Thai TV channels that were then under strict junta control. We saw that the basic elements of a Thai coup haven’t changed much over the decades. Of course, it was fascinating to see the old music and films rolled out to declare the coup. It was historic, in a re-hashed kind of way.
(AbsoluteOutsider4 - Interview)
To some people, being a part of history also meant being involved. OutsiderIn7, a foreign journalist and blogger, was eager to go outside to observe the situation as she
wanted to be “in the thick of things”. Unfortunately, getting involved apparently was something that taxi drivers wanted to avoid (presumably because they perceived that the risk of getting involved was too high in terms of income, safety, etc.).
So when it happened last night (Tuesday, Sept 19), I was hardly surprise. Nevertheless, I was excited. I have never experienced a coup before and I wanted to be in the thick of things.
When I heard about the coup, it was already past 10pm, and I had just returned to my apartment after dinner. I tried to get a taxi to where the action is: the government house. But no taxi seem to want to ferry me there. (OutsiderIn7 - Blog)
OutsiderIn7 was an unfortunate case. However, a number of people were able to go outside of their residences to take photos and videos around important places. They used the same expressions to describe their motivations to go outside. OutsiderIn3, for example, was among the first group of people who posted pictures of the coup on Flickr. He went outside and took photos of the situation. When asked what his concern was during that time, he responded.
I felt that I was ‘in the right place at the right time’ and this was an opportunity to share information of historical significance.
(OutsiderIn3 - Interview)
When asked if he could have changed anything, he replied:
I don’t think I could have hoped for the situation to have been any different. It was a very memorable point in my life.
(OutsiderIn3 - Interview)
OutsiderIn3’s notion of “right place at the right time” seems also to fit many other travelers’ perspectives, especially those who visited Thailand for a short period of time. Therefore, it was not too surprising to see people put personal tags that were related to the purpose of their visits to Thailand such as “honeymoon” on the photos of soldiers and tanks.
Clarification
As mentioned in the above section, the cultural aspect was one of the major barriers in information dissemination and transfer during the early stage of the coup. To some bloggers, sharing and providing firsthand experience was their first instinct. However, for OutsiderIn2, the fact that his readers were foreigners inside and outside Thailand led him to want to bridge the cultural barriers by providing an “almost like being there” experience.
My website has a long tradition of shooting photos like this. I wanted the site