From Outcast To Legend

Meet The Harguns (A Wedding Antaakshari)

2010-09-01T02:35:00.001-07:00

If you understand Hindi (or Punjabi), you would understand the great nature and fun of video.

And indeed, it is a video of a wedding of great nature and fun, of people who are my friends, who are from my own community and family of neighbors and relatives, those whom we've grown up and gone to school with together. Therefore, this is an advert about the story of my people. We're fun! We're good looking! and We ain't shy to dance!

This video isn't about cinematography, it is however, about story-telling and emotions.

Oh, by the way, an 'Antaakshari' is an Indian musical game whereby two groups of people compete by singing songs. First I will start by singing any song I like, and then you must sing any song which must start with the same letter of word that my song ended which. It's simple, everyone ought to play this game!

The "Thai Crisis Snapshot" Theory

2010-05-17T18:20:00.000-07:00

The "Thai Crisis Snapshot" Theory

Overview

Over the past two days I had been trying to create a word picture snapshot (a Wordle), if you would call it, using the script from Wordle.net, I wanted to find out what are the different keyword(s), words that most internet users in Thailand were most actively talking, conversing, discussing about, or which word(s) regarding the Thailand Crisis were most mentioned Twitter, or on websites or blogs that were relayed through Twitter, those all of I was able to gather data upon. Below I have described (in detail) as to how I went about gathering data, refinements I had to do to the data and the processes used to create the word picture snapshots.

Please note hereby, that this is NOT a scientific analysis nor a statistically significant snapshot of the exact situation in the Thailand Crisis. My data is only limited to the time periods between the 14th of May, 2010 starting at 1900 hrs (GMT+7) until 17th of May, 2010 ending at 1600 hrs (GMT+7).

Data Gathering Process

Ultimately, all my data is only limited to enormous amount of Twitter feeds, those which I only managed to gather at various installments (at varying frequency and consistency) throughout the two days of the activity period I had had. Moreover, the data is also limited to only a handful of the most active and most frequent Twitterers on the Thailand Crisis that I was able to follow and acquire data from. Even though the most consistent data was acquired from English language tweets, I was also able to obtain a bulk of twitter activity in Thai and from a huge set of Thai language Twitterers, which were later translated, spelling normalized, centralized in order to blend with the English meanings or references.

As I could not find any proper Twitter backup software, or any other method of automatically accumulating various tweets, therefore I had to do it manually (which was really laboring), whereby I copied all the live tweets that would show up on my live feed, then paste them into a file, refreshing every minute and gathering all the tweets which would emerge at the very fast rate and then pasting them on top of the earlier feeds. I also copied all the retweets, as well as all discussion related to the tweet, and so on, as it was almost impossible to filter everything out fast enough manually. Below is a list of some #hashtags from which I gathered tweets, as well as a truncated list of Twitterers whom I started following in order to keep informed.

#thaicrisis

#redtweet

#RedTweetsClub

#PADtweet

#WeLoveThai

And this is the list I have been following

Also please note that I was NOT able to acquire all the tweets at exact intervals or consistent regularities. However, was able to obtain the bulk of the tweets from during the peak hours of the crisis at different times, at intervals when there was an increased palpable tension in the news reports or when there was highest frequency of live tweets online. Nonetheless, here is my eventual acquisition pattern,

14th May, starting at 1900, consistently (refreshing every minute) up till 0200, 15th May

15th May, 0300 multiple times (two to three times hourly) until 0900

15th May, 1600 consistently until 2000,16th May

15th May, 2300 frequently (more than ten times every hour) until 1000, 16th May

16th May, 1400 multiple times until 0100, 17th May

17th May, multiple times between 1700 and 1800

Moreover, please note that all the data is only Tweets data, as there would be a lot more wealth of material which would be associated with each Tweet via the website link, blog link, video link or picture link that came with it. My data does NOT include all those material. Even if I were able to undertake the effort in order to include all those text material and add them to this analysis, there will also be a LOT of other material which I would not have access to, as there are many sources of information which are 'blindfolded' by the Thai government's 'Information and Intellect Blocking Agency', or I-BA, for short.

Data Assembly, Refinement and Preparation

Formatting

During the two days, I eventually obtained over 10,000 lines of raw data, approximately 60,000 words, 400 (A4) pages. As I had manually copy-pasted everything from the live feed page of Twitter, all my text was therefore unformatted but it was at least chronologically pasted. Initially I wanted to format every single tweet into a long-running TELEX style single paragraph (chatter), something like this. But this procedure took me so much time (almost 7 hours) and I was only able to complete about 10% of formatting. Therefore I decided to skip this part and simply process the data into meaningful and usable bits for the Wordle program.

Translation

Firstly, I removed all the irrelevant tweets which I had collected, those which came through from my other 'Following' sources or those which were unrelated to the Thailand Crisis. Then I proceeded on to translate all the Thai language tweets into English. As there was a huge bulk of tweets in Thai, I used some help from Google Translate website for translating the most common words. Thereafter I manually translated over the Google Translated material and tried to make sense of all the mess of words that came up. It was a headache, so I didn't correct every word to make them mean a phrase, as Wordle would only need to read and analyse upon words, and not necessarily phrases or context. Although to be honest Google Translate did save a lot of time, it would have taken days to manually translate every tweet, to give meaning to every single slang, idiom and insult.

Examples of Thai language tweets were as follows,

อย่าเอาตัวเองไปเปรียบกับ พธม. เลยเสื้อแดง เพราะตอนนี้มึงเลวแซงหน้า Al-Qaeda ไปแล้วเค้าสู้เพื่อประเทศแต่มึงทำลายประเทศตัวเอง #thaicrisis 1 minute ago via Echofon

เผายางเฉยๆน่าเสียดาย จับแกนนำนั่งยางแล้วเผาน่าจะดีกว่า #thailandONLY #thaicrisis #redtweet

เศร้า เปิดเพลงนักสู้นิรนาม ประกอบภาพ เสธ.แดง OMG!!!! I love him. He's gone to heaven #thaicrisis 15 minutes ago via UberTwitter

Whereby examples of English tweets,

Just got a report that Lumpini Tower on Rama 4 is on fire. Can anyone confirm? Can only see smoke from here, probably burning tyres. 23 minutes ago via mobile web

All guests have evacuated Century Park Hotel, where most ground-floor door/window glass has been shattered. (Nation TV) 2 minutes ago via TweetDeck

And so on.

Spelling Check, 'Normalization' and 'Centralization'.

As you might expect, every other person on this Planet oftentimes spells or pronounces a Thai word in the English text rather completely differently and nightmarishly difficultly for any program to automatically correct. On top of that I couldn't also find any book that could help settle spelling disputes. For example, "Rajvithee" would oftentimes be spelled as Rajwithee, Rajvithi, Rajavithee, Rajawithi, Ratchvithee or any other possible variant of this. Therefore, in order for all the words to be correctly represented on the Wordle I had to 'Centralize' all of the different variants of each translated Thai word into a central unique menu of names. Below is the 'Centralized' menu I came up with. Please use this menu extensively for all your work (or else send me yours).

Individuals

Abhisit,Nawamin, Chavalit, Thaksin, Redshirts, Kothom, Wallop, Banharn, Chaisaeng, Chaisiri, Chaiwat, Chanudom, Chaturon, Chavalit, Cheewa, Chinnawut, Natthawut, Jatuporn, Jaturon, Panitan, Pinthongta, Paethongtarn, Panthongtae, Pojaman, Ponpat, Promman, Prompan

Places, Locations or Agencies

DusitThani (includes all Dusit), Century, Bonkai, Bantadthong, Bangkhae, ChaengWattana, Chidlom, Chonburi, DinDaeng, Ekamai, Erawan, Hotel, Khao, KhonKaen, KlongToei, Krabi, KlongDan, Dusit, KlongToei, Lerdsin, Langsuan, LatPhrao, Lumphini, Lumphoo, Langkawi, LaemChabang, Monument, MBK, NangLerng, Nonthaburi, Narathiwat, Phetchburi, Pathumwanaram, Pathumwan, Pattana, Pattaya, Phattanakarn, Phayathai, Phetchaburi, Phloenchit, Phloeng, Pratumwanaram, Pratunam, Pathumwan, Rama4, Rajprasong, Rajvithee, Rajdamri, Rajthewee, Ratchada, Rajprarob, Rajthewee, Ratchada, Ratchadapisek, Ratchathani, Rattanakosin, Rajdamnern, Rangnam, Ranong, Silom, Sukhumvit, Sukhothai, Sutthisarn, SalaDaeng, BTS, MRT, BMCL, Ruamkatanyu, NorPorChor (from Chor)

And finally, the 'Normalization' process, whereby all the various words of the same meaning but spelled differently (or in short form), such as 'gvnt', 'gov', 'govnmnt', etc are renamed into 'government'., and so on. And combined all the various synonyms into a single term, for eg., 'press', 'media', 'reporters', 'photographers' all renamed into 'journalists', or 'troops', 'soldiers', 'army', 'forces' renamed into 'military', and so on. I also automatically converted all 'demonstrators', 'street people', 'mafia', 'poor people', ''onlookers', 'babies', 'dogs', 'cats', 'danrivers', and all 'ghosts' into 'protesters', using an handy script uneasily downloadable from CRES.edu.org.

Finally, after running multiple spelling checks, word replacements and so on it was finally time to create the Wordles. I used the following master data file, please feel free to download and make modifications and use as you like. It is not a perfect and not a scientifically significant piece of data, but it was the best I could do.

Wordle Creation

My intention was to create various snapshots based on all the words collected from the Twitter feed. But ideally it would be best to create a series of different Wordles, but including / excluding / specifying certain groups of words in order to get the clear picture of things.

But to start off, I copy-pasted ALL the processed text in order to come up with a 'Superset' Wordle, a snapshot which simply shows the most active words in the entire file as is.

Wordle 1, SUPERSET 1 // Thailand Crisis (15-17th May 2010). (Click on image to enlarge).

Analysis.

The most visible term immediately is "thaicrisis" (#thaicrisis), which is the word most frequent in the data sample, followed by 'tweetdeck' (the method used by most users to post tweets), "redshirts", "bangkok", "military", "people", "redtweet", "@georgebkk", "web" and so on.

However, it simply shows the most amount of usage per word in the Twitter data material, and it is unable to paint any specific or analytic snapshot of the Thailand Crisis during the past two days. Therefore, in the second Wordle, after removing all Twitter-system specific words such as "tweetdeck", "retweet", "RT", "web" etc.

Wordles 2a and 2b, SUBSETS 1 // Thailand Crisis (15-17th May 2010). (Click on images to enlarge).

The resulting snapshot is a little clearer, whereby the word "thaicrisis" continues to be the most prominent word in the data set. A maximum limit of 150 (top) words was used for the above Wordle, and by clicking to view the larger picture you can compare the perceptive difference between different words, although still the names of the individual Twitterers or Twitter hashtags outweigh the actual words or word messages being tweeted themselves.

Therefore,

Wordle 3, SUBSET 3 // Thailand Crisis (15-17th May 2010). (Click on image to enlarge).

after all the various Twitter hastags such as "thaicrisis", "redtweet", "PADtweet", you get the snapshot above. Also increased the maximum words count to 250 words, so that in the enlarged image you can see in very smaller text the various hidden words. Notice here the following words which appear between the other (obvious) prominent words,

"fire", "tires", "shot", "Rama4", "KlongToei", "journalists", "CRES", "half", "now", which given at the times at which I gathered the Tweets you can understand that they were the terms being discussed most often amongst the online community. However, notice the emergence and early appearance of the various other words such as "children", "schools", "smoke", which could hint to the growing discussion of "children" amongst the protesters at the moment. Also notice less is the "police" mentioned in comparison to "military", and also note the very few terms relating to "die", or "died".

The blogger / Twitterer with the most posts or most mentions, as you can see is @georgebkk, who runs Thaivisa.com, followed by @tulsathit, the editor of The Nation, @RichardBarrow who created the Google Bangkok Dangerous map and @freakingcat, the person who yesterday shot the video of the child apparently being used as a human shield by the red shirts protesters at the tire barricades, where as the popular @bangkokpundit has a smaller tweet volume than others as he said he was quite busy throughout the weeks, although he hasn't mentioned till now as to who is the person in the title picture on his blog, it often makes me think of @bangkokpundit being an old person or else a younger person with no hair.

As a result,

Wordle 4, SUBSET 4 // Thailand Crisis (15-17th May 2010). (Click on image to enlarge).

in Wordle 4, having removed all the Twitterers, we now see the following following trend where names of places and locations start becoming more prominent, most representative of the fact that everybody is informing everybody else of where the action and disaster is taking place. You can see "Rama4" and "KlongToei", which is essence is almost the same place as it is only a block within. You can see "Lumphini", "Bonkai", "DusitThani", "Rajprasong", "expressway", "DinDaeng" and so on.

But notice how there is almost no significant sign of "Abhisit", or "Thaksin" or "terrorists", or "weapons". Perhaps all these terms are mentioned often times in full length news reports or news highlights, but in Twitter the trend seems to be more priority of keeping people informed of the present live situation or breaking news, rather than detailed analysis, etc, as you can notice how prominent the word "now", is.

The next Wordle is interesting,

Wordle 5, SUBSET 5 // Thailand Crisis (15-17th May 2010). (Click on image to enlarge).

It is interesting because I removed only the following FIVE words,

rem "thailand", rem "military", rem "redshirts", rem "bangkok", rem "people"

and it made a huge difference to the topography of the snapshot instantly. Suddenly many smaller words start appearing and easier to see. Words such as "rumors", "leave", "stage", "black", "help", "home", "closed", "still", "many" suddenly become more visible and all this actually paints quite a precise picture of topics or news items being discussed at those moments.

Also notice the link " http://bit.ly/9VkUId " that keeps showing up, which is actually a link to the page of Thaivisa.com's live report. It is clearly the most tweeted, retweeted link on Twitter regarding the Thailand Crisis in the past two days.

Wordle 6, SUBSET 6 // Thailand Crisis (15-17th May 2010). (Click on image to enlarge).

For this Wordle I removed a lot of terms, and tried to dig out some really specific words which are hidden in the data set but not possible to see because being out-shined by other brighter stars in the sky. I removed all non-specific descriptive items, regular adjectives, adverbs, etc., words such as "since", "tonight", "set", "exit", "look", "coming", etc, more than 40 such words, in order to see underneath them.

Heres what you can observe,

Words such as "like", "think", "must", "please", "come", "away", "know" are moderately prominent, although I struggle to analyse the link of these particular words to either the context of the news being reported and I struggle to explain why they appear more than some other words which should have been more discussed, such as,

Why are "M79", "sniper", "crackdown" are mentioned very scarcely, or is it true as the CRES keeps saying that they do not have any snipers and are not using M79 during these operations? Also notice why there is relatively such smaller chatter about "peace", "thaksin", "love", "better", "soon", "well", "safe", "democracy"? Are these the things that people are tweeting very little about because they really don't want these things right now, or simply because that there aren't the above things therefore there is nothing to tweet about?

There is a lot to think about and I think you would agree that the Wordle snapshots are quite accurate and representative of the actual sentiment or essence of the information being exchanged within the time frames of the particular data set. Anyways, as for the final Wordle,

Wordle 7, SUBSET 7 // Thailand Crisis (15-17th May 2010). (Click on image to enlarge).

These are, in my opinion, the truest and most specific topics being actually discussed in the community. Apart from all the other generic or circumstantial words, after we have removed all the chatter and surrounding noise, we end up with the following words which are always visible.

"abhisit", "thaksin", "king", "world".

because I am certain than as the days move on and the 'every day point of interest' changes, terms like Rama4 or DinDaeng are replaced by other location names, but those four underlying references above will still be there all the time.

A True Snapshot

I know that all of the above is not a scientific experiment, and there are many, many fallacies and errors. But all I wanted to do and wanted to know was as to 'What' were people really, really talking about. What was the actual message hidden in all the tweets around the World with regard to Thailand Crisis. I know that my data set does not represent 100% of all the actual tweets, and it does not even take the news accounts, reports, blogs, rumors, gossip and the wealth of the World's conversation into account. But I just wanted to know and I still would love to know.

I would love to take the bulk of ALL the insights, analysis, reports and talk about all the things related to Thailand Situation, even all the secret blogs, the blogs on the other side of the I-BA (Intellect Blocking Agency's) blindfold, and then throw everything into a Wordle script, so that one can really see, what is the real truth behind everything.

Thanks for the read, and please forgive my lengthy text as I am not a very good writer, I just realized.

Godspeed!

Twitter feed backup relating to Thai Situation, 14th May, 2010, 2200hrs until 0200hrs (GMT+7)

2010-05-15T13:03:00.000-07:00

PanusD ฮา RT @tondec33: หลังเสร็จศึกฆ่าคนไทยครั้งนี้ ทหารจะแย่งอาชีพ รพ.ยันฮี "ทหารไทยใจกล้า รับกระชับพื้นที่ทุกชนิด" // RichardBarrow The Role of Twitter in the Bangkok Protests by @bkkgreg http://xrl.in/5d4y // vaitor im heading home to catch a few hours of sleep! thanks for all rt's and msgs! reporting again in the early morning! // WizardofWindsor RT @legalnomads on curiosity (nearly) killed the cat case: 'Yes, on R'prop. 27th floor of the Complete building at 18 R'prarop.' Thx Jodi! // AndrewHurd well done RT @bkkgreg ~Blog~ The Role of Twitter in the Bangkok Protests http://xrl.in/5d4y // bangkokpundit [blog] NYT on the crackdown http://bit.ly/beEPjQ // photo_journ Appears 2 b yet another non military operation against the Sala Daeng/Silom Rd #redshirts barricade. All quiet // Dany_k @WizardofWindsor Yeah, some1 posted up the building it was at. tragic. was on like the 27th floor or something // georgebkk Recap: Police have given Military full control of the Sala Daeng area. ALL media have been asked to leave. Army high in numbers above ground // WizardofWindsor In Lumpini area just one or two cracks of bullets every now & again gives impression that snipers are at work / tactical shooting // georgebkk Recap: These zones include: Bon Kai, Sala Daeng, Sathorn, Rama4, Phetburi, Vic Monument, Din Daeng, Ratchaprasong. Avoid all! // redtweet_club วันนี้สาวสวยทั้งน้านน มาฟอโล่ว // georgebkk Recap: Bombs, gunshots, fireworks, firecracks, M79's and tyres being burnt were seen left, right and centre all within the danger zones. // WizardofWindsor Did anyone hear anything else about the poor chap who wanted to see what was going on, walked out on his balcony & copped a bullet today? // georgebkk Recap: Today saw 8 people die. Bringing the count to 50 deaths and 1,600 wounded since the protests began on March 12. // PanusD ข่าวจากลุงคนหนึ่ง..sms มาบอกว่า "ตำรวจถล่มกลับทหารอย่างหนัก ตอบโต้ถล่มลุมพินี " - สงสัยแกจะรีบพิมพ์ ฝากช่วยกันเช็คข่าวด้วยครับ // redtweet_club ฟ้าแลบทำท่าจะตก แต่ไม่ตก ชะ.. ยังดีลมพัด #สุโขทัยซิตี้ // farangone It looks like they're trying to protect the guy who is bleeding, can't tell for sure: http://tinyurl.com/2fcrrf6 // tomviz ตอนค่ำๆไปไดรกอล์ฟ เจอเหลืองบางคนสะใจว่าเสื้อแดงตาย ฟังคำพูดคนไทยด้วยกันแล้วหดหู่ // redtweet_club ไมโลซํกแก้ว เหนื่อยเลยวันนี้ วิ่งรอบกรุงเทพ ตะลอนๆ // AndrewHurd Amazed that the reds are willing to risk their lives for a few hundred baht per day. Must be really poor - they should protest. Ohhh ... // tulsathit From @shanegbrady: http://bit.ly/dzEcQT The "blackshirt" claim is unclear. but this vid did give eerie feel of urban warfare. // RichardBarrow YouTube - "Blackshirt" spotted during BKK Protests http://goo.gl/hKKR // PoteChipz @andrewspooner According to my source, troop will set up check up point all over Rajprasong area now with fully load of weapons // tumbler_p BLOG: Petition to Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats, Regarding the Violence in Thailand http://bit.ly/dCptkU // Very shocking CNN account from Bangkok "Protesters armed with sticks/stones-army sniper squads are shooting at them" http://bit.ly/aEL0zQ // AndrewHurd @andrewspooner truth is an illusion, an unattainable ideal in Thailand. don't think anyone wants to know it, too painful. #landofsmiles // bangkok Dan Rivers, CNN paraphrased: "clear evidence that army has got snipers on the streets that are firing towards the ppl" http://is.gd/camen // @AndrewHurd in a country famed for its myths and rumours not surprising they are coming back to haunt the truth // @markmackinnon as i quipped yesterday "don't question my professionalism - my rumours are as carefully sourced as @tulsathit 's" #justsaying // @markmackinnon and in a country where the media and govt and state build everything on rumours and myth it seems quite natural // @markmackinnon yesterday Reuters were reporting Police were shooting at army #inpraiseofoldmedia // Who fired the M79s into the police station-house at Lumphini? Many unconfirmed sources are fingering the army // bangkok UNCONFIRMED RT @photo_journ: report police fighting with army at lumpini police station. On way 2 ratchaprasong // @KaweekaInBkk families of local staff probably - diplomats still in place i believe // What? A number 2? Bit too much info there RT @tulsathit: Photographer Chaiwat's operation has been successful. Just went out to do duty. // Rama IV near frontline. Sometimes snipers shoot. Reds are quiet but see something burning /via @kosukeokahara // Silent on Phetchaburi, Chidlom and Phloenchit Roads too /via RT @beejoir // All "quiet" in the Sala Daeng area and Rama IV Road according to @kosukeokahara and @photo_journ // The Fury Outside My Window - NYTimes.com http://goo.gl/DMMk // @Timmo_Crowley At the moment we don't know if it is "rats leaving the ship" or people going on a shopping trip in Singapore & Hong Kong! // RT @thomasjojo: has the army told media to leave Silom? is that confirmed, by who? = several media there reported this news // @Ju_B81 Banharn & Chavalit were former PM's of Thailand. Potjaman was wife of former PM Thaksin. It might not mean anything. // @Timmo_Crowley Sometimes news media report rumours as if they were truths. Not too many investigative journalists here. // @Raymond_Ebertt It was "confirmed" on TNN24 tonight. You are not going to get better than that in Thailand. // RT @WizardofWindsor: Confirmed that Banharn, Chavalit and Khunying Potjaman have left Thailand for HK and Singapore // @georgebkk Is it Sunday already? How many days have we been tweeting like this so far? Time for a break I think. // YouTube - "Blackshirt" spotted during BKK Protests http://goo.gl/hKKR // CNN's Dan Rivers: Video clearly shows army snipers shooting towards people http://bit.ly/atWEUp // RT @jaspall: is it safe to go to jj market tomz = It is outside of the danger zone, but depends a lot on how you will go there! // RT @tulsathit: Photographer Chaiwat's operation has been successful. Just recovered frm partial paralysis and went out 2 do duty. // Video of Nation photographer Chaiwat Poompuang who was shot today http://bit.ly/9DuXxV /via @suthichai // Bangkok death toll rises amid bloody red-shirt clashes http://goo.gl/nJGj /via @bangkok // Is the media being told to leave Silom for their own safety or does the army not want any witnesses to what will happen next? // RedPhanFa2Day All media has been requested by military to leave Sala Daeng immediately due to impending operation. #udd #redshirts // AM_Thailand RT @georgebkk Sum Up: Police have given Military control of Sala Daneg. Heavy movement along skywalks, above ground. Mortars being used // MUST SEE Photographic evidence emerges of Redshirts' new Intercontinental Ballistic Missile http://bit.ly/cbN4x6 PLS RT //Am officially logging out. Hope everyone stays safe in BKK - even the people who troll me. Terrible terrible times for Thailand & I'm gutted // AM_Thailand RT @georgebkk Anyone with friends and family within Bangkok, aware them of this map, crucial: http://bit.ly/bzhfpz by @RichardBarrow // redtweet_club RT @jow2711 ขณะนี้มีการจุดไฟเผาที่ใต้สะพานแยกดินแดง ไฟลุกท่วมพอสมควร ผู้ชุมนุมบริเวณนั้นพยายามดับไฟแต่ก็มีบางคนพยายามโยนระเบิดขวดเข้าไปเพิ่ม // disambiguated #redshirt - Thomas Fuller/NY Times, "The Fury Outside My Window" - http://twurl.nl/qbnoag // AJEnglish More deaths in Bangkok standoff: Six more people die as PM threatens stern action against anti-government proteste... http://aje.me/9F48fH // redtweet_club http://tweetphoto.com/22548399 @doeyself 7-11 ที่ไหนปิดครับ ha ha #thaicrisis // kosukeokahara Many people sleeping outside. Yeah it's hot.. // kosukeokahara Walking on Rama4 toward saladeang. // bangkok (probably) reporting from BKK streets tonight: @markmackinnon @vaitor @aelacallan @aleithead @kosukeokahara @photo_journ @journotopia // georgebkk "Now in Sarisan rd heading 2 back of stage. gunshot sounds coming from Lumpini pol stn. Motorbike refused to go further" /via @photo_journ // kosukeokahara I saw soldiers fully loaded truck near petbhuri station. // BKK_Events 赤十字が献血呼びかけてます #ThaiRedJ http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/178019/thai-red-cross-asks-for-blood-donation // kosukeokahara An army truck full of soldiers with rifles while heading to Rama4. // photo_journ Now in Sarisan rd heading 2 back of stage. Gunshot sounds coming from direction of Lumpini police station. Mototaxi refused 2 go further // markmackinnon Thai Red Cross calls for blood donations as casualties mount from Bangkok violence: http://tinyurl.com/2co4shh // kosukeokahara Heading to Rama4. Road is empty. // AndrewHurd @andrewspooner truth is an illusion, an unattainable ideal in Thailand. don't think anyone wants to know it, too painful. #landofsmiles // kosukeokahara Again came to pratunam side very quiet seems like this is the place where getting ito red side // bangkok Dan Rivers, CNN paraphrased: "clear evidence that army has got snipers on the streets that are firing towards the ppl" http://is.gd/camen // RichardBarrow CNN's Dan Rivers: Video clearly shows army snipers shooting towards people http://bit.ly/atWEUp // tulsathit Latest from Erawan Centre: 24 dead including 1 woman. less than 10 seconds ago via TweetDeck // andrewspooner @markmackinnon yesterday Reuters were reporting Police were shooting at army #inpraiseofoldmedia // vaitor its quite complicated to move around here, soldiers don't want to let me back to thai belgium bridge... // farangone Well.. twitter is for rumor, so... http://twitpic.com/1nz22r // kosukeokahara Again came to pratunam side very quiet // markmackinnon If everything being tweeted in Thailand were true, Red Shirts would have mortars and police would be fighting soldiers. #inpraiseofoldmedia // andrewspooner Who fired the M79s into the police station-house at Lumphini? Many unconfirmed sources are fingering the army // WizardofWindsor Lots happening 'in the shadows' at the moment. Uh-oh. Terrible feeling this is really going to kick off. // DeanOut Loud blasts just now on Rama 4. #bangkok #redshirts 15 minutes ago via Tweetie // markmackinnon From Saddam's pool to Sala Daeng... Rt @AndrewBuncombe Am looking forward to catching up with @markmackinnon for first time since #Iraq 2003 // andrewspooner What? A number 2? Bit too much info there RT @tulsathit: Photographer Chaiwat's operation has been successful. Just went out to do duty. // terryfrd Payap is in a very good mood on red stage, poking fun at Sondhi and PAD. http://tweetphoto.com/22540295 // georgebkk Vietnam: "Calls on relevant parties to refrain from violence and seek peace talks," the foreign ministry said. /AFP // georgebkk Vietnam: "Vietnam, as the chair of ASEAN, is concerned about the worsening situation in Thailand" /AFP // tulsathit One photo of Chaiwat on the home page, though, if u can't access the slideshow. // AndrewHurd bbc showing @aleithead 's report again // AM_Thailand RT @georgebkk Sum Up: Police have given Military control of Sala Daneg. Heavy movement along skywalks, above ground. Mortars being used // georgebkk Just saw 3 or 4 vehicles with sirens and flashing lights on sukh16 towards Rama 4. Probably not ambulances (not white) /via @lindavanderwijk // andrewspooner MUST SEE Photographic evidence emerges of Redshirts' new Intercontinental Ballistic Missile http://bit.ly/cbN4x6 PLS RT // RedPhanFa2Day All media has been requested by military to leave Sala Daeng immediately due to impending operation. #udd #redshirts // tulsathit Photos of Chaiwat after he was shot in the leg. (pls note that some computers had problems accessing the slideshow) http://bit.ly/9P1Owv // ktiu maybe it happened while he was lying down, faking his own death RT @lannacowboy: bullet frm high elevation: http://bit.ly/aGFocy // WizardofWindsor That makes medic number 3? 4? for the day - awaiting confirmation // georgebkk RT @tulsathit: Chaiwat Pumpuang, photographer& friend of mine, was shot in the leg 2day. and a rescue worker fatally shot in the head. // andrewspooner Thai govt source says "killings unavoidable due to armed element" - yeah, shooting "armed" ambulance drivers was just, uh, unavoidable man // WizardofWindsor '...But have done & are doing everything poss to minimise. main points: 2. #redshirts have been using weapons like m79s to attack army // georgebkk Darkness falls again. Is the day too long or too short? Recap for every1, stay home and if u hv to go out, avoid downtown. /v @tulsathit // tulsathit RT @Hyperzine: Just want to know how u would rate the gov efforts they try to do what should have been done in a spread of 60 days. // georgebkk France 24 reporter Nelsan Rand, injured on Friday, is safe now and has been moved to BNH Hospital. /via @tulsathit // RichardBarrow Good report on BBC World now // tulsathit France 24 reporter Nelsan Rand, injured on Friday, is safe now and has been moved to Bangkok Nursing Home hospital. // veen_NT France 24 journo Nelson Rand is now safe and transferred to BNH - TR @prachathai // Veen_NT RT @georgebkk: Update: TNN: Khunying Pojarmn left for Singapore -Chavalit to Kunming & Banharn will fly to HK. // WizardofWindsor Erawan Centre update: so far 24 dead, casualty list up to 198 // veen_NT RT @tulsathit: RT @Nattha_tvthai: 64 days of crisis has claimed 54 lives and injured more than 1,660 people. // kosukeokahara At the new stage people applause the people who give a speech. Very relaxed. // RichardBarrow RT @WizardofWindsor: Confirmed that Banharn, Chavalit and Khunying Potjaman have left Thailand for HK and Singapore // georgebkk RT @Nattha_tvthai: 64 days of crisis has claimed 54 lives and injured more than 1,660 people. /via @tulsathit // tulsathit RT @Nattha_tvthai: 64 days of crisis has claimed 54 lives and injured more than 1,660 people. // georgebkk Update: TNN: Khunying Potjaman left Thailand for Singapore. Chavalit to Kunming & Banharn will fly to HK. // vaitor sorry guys for the poor quality, if you look closer to the sidewalk you see a soldier with m16 lying down... iphone pics at night suck! // bangkokpundit [blog] Sunai and Thitinan on the Blockade http://bit.ly/buMb3I // tukky_nt Khunying Pojaman flew to Singapore, Chavalit to Kunming, and Banharn will fly to Hong Kong:TNN // PanusD RT @prachatai: ขัอสังเกตจากคำแถลงของท่านนายกฯ http://bit.ly/aXnq7e // PanusD RT @jiew: RT @prachatai: ผู้สื่อข่าว France 24 ยังมีชีวิต อาการปลอดภัยแล้ว ย้ายไปรักษาที่ BNH http://bit.ly/95FS5G // georgebkk LivePicture: Soldiers still alert along sathorn: http://twitpic.com/1o244c /via @vaitor // farangone Vid from yesterday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yS-VgGpFfE&feature=player_embedded // Unlimitedheart อภิสิทธิ์หัวเสีย ประชุมครม.ล้มเลิกเพราะพรรคร่วมไม่มาประชุมที่ ศอฉ. เลยอดประกาศกฎอัยการศึกคืนนี้เลย #redtweet #Redheart #thaicrisis // thaiautoshop ยิง m79 ไม่มีควัน ไม่มีประกายไฟ http://bit.ly/bgWzlx นะครับ ขอบคุณ @snowman2k // vaitor livepic; soldiers still alerted at sathorn http://twitpic.com/1o244c // georgebkk BKK Sunday Updates can be found here on ThaiVisa: http://bit.ly/du1Ocl // kante911 อังกฤษ ฝรั่งเศษ มาขู่ก็ยกที่ดินให้เค้าไป แบบไม่กล้าสู้..นี่เขมรอีก ก็ยกไปอีก ไม่กล้ารบกับเค้า..แต่ดันเสือกเอาปืมติดกล้องมายิง คนบ้านเดียวกัน // xredest I can't believe thailands elite is manipulating their own people. I am sick of this and I wish the karma hits them back HARD! @PoteChipz // georgebkk Selection of video's from yesterdays violence from a New York Times Blog: http://nyti.ms/bXUnmL /via @bangkokpundit @legalnomads // thaibits the lesson of royalism is sinking in deeper with each kill by the royal guards // NuWitsanu คนมันชั่วไม่ได้ชั่วประเดี๋ยวประด๋าวนะ - พายับ เวทีราชประสงค์ #redtweet #thaicrisis // BaBYxxxEviL http://twitpic.com/1o1tjs - ไอ้พวกควายแดง พวกมึงโดนพวกเดียวกันเอง แต่เสือกใส่ชุดทหารยิงรึเปล่า? #thaicrisis #red // BaBYxxxEviL Demonstrant im Camp der Rothemden: Mit Steinschleudern gegen Gewehre. #thaicrisis #redtweet http://twitpic.com/1o1tjs // BaBYxxxEviL http://twitpic.com/1o1skq - ใครยั่วยุให้เกิดการยิง? พวกมึงยิงก่อน ก็สมควรเจอยิงคืน #thaicrisis #redtweet // phichaiBlocksMe เพนกวินยังวนเวียนในรูปแบบบอท ไร้ตัวตนคับ #thaicrisis #redtweet // NuWitsanu (อภิสิทธ์ กรณ์) นึกว่าเก่งอะไร ที่แท้ก็เก่งจำนำประเทศ - พายับ เวทีราชประสงค์ #redtweet #thaicrisis // BaBYxxxEviL Erbittert versuchen die Demonstranten, das Vorrücken der Armee abzuwehren. #thaicrisis #redtweet http://twitpic.com/1o1skq // MrPae For those who are fighting out there, Be careful and be kind, what you are about to face are Thais, are humans, and are you! #thaicrisis // PaDTweet นักข่าว เนชั่นโดนยิง เสื้อแดงเริ่มประนามทหารยิงประชาชน แต่พอทีเขาเสนอความจริง ด่าจะขู่ฆ่า ล้อมตกลงเอาไงแน่ครับ #redtweet #thaicrisis // phichai ขับนักข่าวจากพื้นที่ปิดล้อมรปส. ทำให้ไม่มีข่าว-ภาพ-คลิป ฯเผยแพร่ออกมาภายนอก ทำให้พื้นที่มืด+อันตรายที่สุด #thaicrisis // moui @overconda @RITT41 @PanusD @sumotim ที่อาบน้ำ กิน อึ ฉี่ อยู่ข้างซอยเล็กๆ ข้างๆตึกสีลมคอมเพล็กซ์ มีป้ายเขียนไว้ ลองไปดูด้วยตาได้ #thaicrisis // PUREloveNUT @tomviz ทหารยิงผู้ก่อการร้าย...แต่แกนนำแดงใช้ เด็กผญ และ คนแก่ มาเป็นโล่ แล้วก็อ้างว่า ว๊าย! ทหารทำร้ายประชาชน! #thaicrisis // oleang4d ปี35 เสียสัตย์เพื่อชาติ ปี53 เสียชาติเพื่อสัตว์ #thaicrisis // ZyberPop ทางออกที่ทำบ้านเมืองกลับมาปกติได้เร็วที่สุด ถึงแม้ไม่ใช่ทางออกที่ดีที่สุด เลือกเถอะครับ #thaicrisis // NuWitsanu ทักษิณเป็นคนทูลเชิญพระมหากษัตริย์จากทั่วโลกมาร่วมพระราชพิธีฯ - พายับ เวทีราชประสงค์ #redtweet #thaicrisis มั่วมากอ่ะ // nudyed พายัพบอกว่าอยากระเบิดบ้านนายก ฯ (อ่านจาก @nuwitsanu) แล้วบ้านนายกเกี่ยวอะไร ตกลงสู้เพื่อเป้าหมายอะไรแน่ #redtweet #thaicrisis // ZyberPop หลังเหตุการณ์ยุติ กทม.คงต้องซ่อมแซมถนนหนทางอีกหลายวัน แต่ประเทศไทย เราต้องซ่อมกันนานแค่ไหนถึงจะเป็นเหมือนเดิม #thaicrisis // NuWitsanu 377 เสียง ตั้งรัฐบาลพรรคเดียว เค้าทำความดีนะทักษิณน่ะ - พายับ เวทีราชประสงค์ #redtweet #thaicrisis // NuWitsanu ระเบิดบ้านระเบิดเมืองไม่มี แต่อยากระเบิดบ้านมึงน่ะอภิสิทธ์ บอกตรง ๆ - พายับ เวทีราชประสงค์ #redtweet #thaicrisis // NuWitsanu ไม่มีหรอก M79 กูมีแต่ส้นตีนและบั้งไฟ - พายับ เวทีราชประสงค์ #redtweet #thaicrisis // moui ดูรูปช่วงนี้เยอะๆ เหมือนไปเปิดดูรูปเก่าๆ 14 ตุลา 6 ตุลาเลย ทำไมต้องย้อนประวัติศาสตร์ ทำไมต้องเดินซ้ำรอยเก่า? ย้ำคิดย้ำทำ? #thaicrisis // aceimage แดน ริเวอร์ CNN แดงฮาร์ดคอร์ ถือไม้ หนังสติ๊ก หิน ไม่เคยเห็นปืน #thaicrisis (via @phichai) ☚ ส่งรูปนี้ไปเลยครับ http://twitpic.com/1o1e8p // NuWitsanu คนมันชั่วไม่ได้ชั่วประเดี๋ยวประด๋าวนะ - พายับ เวทีราชประสงค์ #redtweet #thaicrisis // BaBYxxxEviL http://twitpic.com/1o1tjs - ไอ้พวกควายแดง พวกมึงโดนพวกเดียวกันเอง แต่เสือกใส่ชุดทหารยิงรึเปล่า? #thaicrisis #red // NuWitsanu ด่า ASTV ด่าสนธิ ด่าเนวิน - พายับ เวทีราชประสงค์ #redtweet #thaicrisis ตัวเองช่างประเสริฐหนิ // bkkering Black smoke plumes from Rama IV and Din Daeng have died off #thaicrisishttp://tweetphoto.com/22501377 @Mekza อุบัติเหตุรถชนบนถนนพระราม3ช่วงลงจากสะพานข้ามทางรถไฟรถติดขัด #thaicrisis // phichai ดาพงษ์ : กฎใช้กำลังใหม่ ๑.ใช้ปืนลูกซองป้องกันการประชิดตัว ๒.ถ้าเห็นผู้ใช้อาวุธ ให้สามารถใช้ปืนได้ ๓.จะไม่มีการใช้ M79 #thaicrisis // naratipka @Bancha_nna:18.10 มองจากรพ.พญาไท ในซ.รางน้ำมีควันดำลอยออกมาคล้ายเผายางรถยนต์ และยังมีเสียงปืนยิงต่อเนื่อง #thaicrisis // machaoiiiii อ้าวววว เสียงหาย ศอฉ. ก็ยังโดนเลย เ็ฮ้อ ....... #thaicrisis #FB // 8e88graphic มาเรียกร้องประชาธิปไตยหรือมา "ปล้นชาติ" ขโมยตู้ ATM ตั้งด่านไถตังค์ และล่าสุดปล้นรถเสบียงอาหารของทหารเอามากินกันเอง #thaicrisis // machaoiiiii ศอฉ.........แถลง 18:03 น. #FB #thaicrisis // PHz "I am not scared.We will fight until we die if we must,"Sanae Promman , told Reuters. #thaicrisis /via @3Au // ruxoz Any sign of any captive red ppl who want to go home? Re @newley At Rajaprasong stage,... crowds still somewhat thin to days past #thaicrisis // esz ขอแนะนำแทค #thaicrisis สำหรับใช้ติดตามข่าวสารบ้านเราในช่วงนี้นะครับ // thai101 This morning on Rajprarop -- all quiet until guy steps out to go help injured woman, then gunshots: http://bit.ly/cKDoQx #thaicrisis // moui Quiet as normal weekend on Nang Lingi Rd. 5.50pm #thaicrisis // redtweet_club กลุ่มควันหนาแน่นบนทางด่วนช่วงทางลงอนุสาวรีย์ http://twitpic.com/1nypmb @jirapreeya_s #thaicrisis // bambinorista คนที่อยู่กับนปชบอกโดนm79แล้ว20ลูกคนที่อยู่กับทหารบอกไม่ได้ยิงสักลูก #thaicrisis #welovethai // Nivesn ปลดป้าย"เขตใช้กระสุนจริง"ออกแล้ว กรุณาปลดความเหี้ยมในจิตใจออกด้วย สาธุ #thaicrisis // Incognito_me เติมชีวิตที่ดี (ทหาร)..China expresses deep concern over Thai situation http://bit.ly/8YQSi7 #thaicrisis via: @3Au // PanusD ชาวสวนลุมไนท์บาซ่า ขาดแคลนน้ำและอาหาร #TPBS #thaicrisis // machaoiiiii อ้าวววว เสียงหาย ศอฉ. ก็ยังโดนเลย เ็ฮ้อ ....... #thaicrisis #FB // 8e88graphic มาเรียกร้องประชาธิปไตยหรือมา "ปล้นชาติ" ขโมยตู้ ATM ตั้งด่านไถตังค์ และล่าสุดปล้นรถเสบียงอาหารของทหารเอามากินกันเอง #thaicrisis // PHz "I am not scared.We will fight until we die if we must,"Sanae Promman , told Reuters. #thaicrisis /via @3Au // ruxoz Any sign of any captive red ppl who want to go home? Re @newley At Rajaprasong stage,... crowds still somewhat thin to days past #thaicrisis // thai101 This morning on Rajprarop -- all quiet until guy steps out to go help injured woman, then gunshots: http://bit.ly/cKDoQx #thaicrisis // bambinorista คนที่อยู่กับนปชบอกโดนm79แล้ว20ลูกคนที่อยู่กับทหารบอกไม่ได้ยิงสักลูก #thaicrisis #welovethai // Incognito_me เติมชีวิตที่ดี (ทหาร)..China expresses deep concern over Thai situation http://bit.ly/8YQSi7 #thaicrisis via: @3Au tulsathit Chaiwat Pumpuang, photographer& friend of mine, was shot in the leg 2day. and MCOT just reported a rescue worker fatally shot in the head. // andrewspooner @AndrewHurd @khikwai @saksith or maybe Abhisit was injured in rumoured attempt on his life? #purespeculation // georgebkk Picture: Tweeple are saying a photo we posted earlier had been Photo-shopped: http://tweetphoto.com/22500492 & http://twitpic.com/1nxcfs // tulsathit darkness falling again. Is the day too long or too short? Recap for every1, pls stay home and if u haev to go out, avoid downtown. // andrewspooner CRES can be boiled down to this - "Don't believe anything we say" // veen_NT (18.39) another M79 grenade is launched at Lumpini Police Station. Initially, no one is reportedly injured. via js100radio. // Saksith CRES is now giving their versions of what happened yesterday at all the clash zones. // veen_NT Dead toll rises to 18 as a medics shot in head while on duty. via @tukky_nt // georgebkk CRES: at 4pm, another armed unit were fighting amongst themselves and shots were exchanged in Lumpini Park. // WizardofWindsor 'We were shot at and hit from suan lum night bazaar, and fell back to Thai Belgian bridge... // UDDThailand If you are in Bangkok, please join the growing protest at the Imperial Lad Prao against the crackdown! http://bit.ly/9k4Xuy // georgebkk CRES: In the morning, 20 armed men and Suan Lum night bizarre firing raw weapons from Lumpini side at the soldiers. Only firing in response // thaicam Confirming. RT @Anasuya: A handful of redshirts are now on tracks near BTS Chit Lom. A few are on the platform.... // pdouble0k Giles Ji Ungpakorn said :: A Canadian Journalist has just died from army gun shot wounds in Bangkok. // RIP :( // georgebkk CRES: Region 4: assigned for Wireless Road, surrounded and had to retreat after being open fired throughout the night. // tukky_nt Lerdsin Hospital: One more medical rescue worker dead, shot in head while on duty; death toll rises to 18:MCOT // UDDThailand Thai journalists pulling out- The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. http://bit.ly/bO85EK // georgebkk CRES: 2am,10/15 armed men dressed in black approached dinDaeng area. Unable 2 break through the line of soldiers. Again, following protocol. // andrewspooner Is there any point translating/tweeting CRES anymore? we all know exactly what there are going to say // georgebkk CRES: Protesters used taxis to run at the line of soldiers. They were forced to use rifles on the cars. Taxis u-turned and drove away. // KhiKwai @Saksith @AndrewHurd Exactly right. Officially reiterating it only serves the purpose of getting publicly rebuked by Barry O. // georgebkk CRES: indicates some deaths and injuries were not caused by govt troops' shooting. /via @tulsathit // Saksith RT @thaitvnews: power point soldier http://tweetphoto.com/22503143 // Saksith CRES is now showing map of were battles of past few days have occurred // georgebkk CRES: Kampanit: 18 rounds of M79 grenades aime at soliders. Armed protestor shot from positions behind main crowd. /via @terryfrd // tulsathit RT @Daithi_O_hOgain: Just taken walk from Victory Monument 2 Century Park Hotel, many just hanging out watching events, not safe and u 2???. // Anasuya A handful of redshirts are now on tracks near BTS Chit Lom. A few are on the platform. Can't get a good picture from my office.Tinted glass // Saksith RT @Anasuya Handful of redshirts are now on tracks near BTS Chit Lom. (...) Can't get a good picture from my office.Tinted glass // andrewspooner Sky News in UK running with news that "medical worker shot" in Bangkok // veen_NT RT @tulsathit: @js100radio reports lots of reds gathering at Klong Toey intersec, removing close circuit cameras. // thaicam RT @Thai_Talk: CRES presser: table full of stiff men in green, jarring tech set-up & outdated '70s graphics, missing marching music; Deja vu // tulsathit CRES indicates some deaths and injuries were not caused by govt troops' shooting. // bangkok RT @Anasuya: A handful of redshirts are now on tracks near BTS Chit Lom. A few are on the platform. Can't get a good picture from my office. // georgebkk CRES: Task assigned to region 1 army is to be sure no weapons are illegally brought in to the city and rally sites. // georgebkk CRES: Stressing the fact that there is no intention to hard the general public. // legalnomads My view. @codymckibb @seanogle @migrationology: that's ur bldg in background. NOT venturing out again. http://tweetphoto.com/22502863 // UDDThailand The CRES has officially externalised all blame for the violence onto an "unaffiliated third party." Exactly the... http://bit.ly/9vT9Nn // georgebkk CRES: The actual course of action will be explained by the operators in charge of the respected areas. // BKK_Events @BKK_Events stay safe everyone // terryfrd Col Kanit: M79 attacks, etc., have made it imperative to try to separate assailants from innocents. // markmackinnon Thai Army says it will clear protest site using 7-step process. Interesting that military, not PM Abhisit, telling country what will happen. // georgebkk CRES: Live weapons were fired at Army officials and police, also at public who were passing by. Neccesary to step up security measures. // andrewspooner Unfuckingbelieivable - Thai govt are now claiming that protesters are shooting themselves // Saksith @legalnomads Holy smokes! (No pun intended! ;)) // tulsathit (the last tweet was not from CRES announcement) // tri26 I took a little nap and woke up in Burma. // Saksith RT @legalnomads I ventured out to see if I could leave. Answer is no: photo from Rajwitee/DinDaeng underpass, 6pm http://is.gd/ca0xf // WizardofWindsor (CRES Press con, 2nd commander). 'Our objective is to retake areas occupied by the redshirts, but since our operation started... // tulsathit "Live bullet" signs have also put up at Bon Kai, where there had been heavy shooting. // legalnomads Smoke got thicker as tyres on fire at the crossroads, so visibility is not good. http://tweetphoto.com/22502732 // andrewspooner RE: CRES statement on rules of engagement - there's no point having them if there's no accountability // AndrewHurd shame, but yep, stay safe RT @Journotopia Guil is a bear of a man, fearless and streetwise, clad in body armor. If he's going home, so am I. // thaicam RT @Journotopia: Guil is a bear of a man, fearless and streetwise, and clad in body armor. If he's going home, so am I. // terryfrd Col Kanit of 1st army:Army had largely avoided conflict until it became apparent on april 10 that there were armed elements among protestors // WizardofWindsor 'But since we started our operation, so many #redshirts have weapons, and we think the #redshirt leaders know that' // Journotopia Guil is a bear of a man, fearless and streetwise, and clad in body armor. If he's going home, so am I. // bangkok RT @TAN_Network: CRES clarifies a non-affiliated armed group has instigated violence to scapegoat the army for the casualties. // Saksith @AndrewHurd @KhiKwai They did already - in 2006! // TAN_Network CRES clarifies a non-affiliated armed group has instigated violence to scapegoat the army for the casualties. // Saksith CRES: "The red shirt leaders are trying to paint the picture that this is a civil war!" // georgebkk CRES: A divide can be seen within the Reds, moderates, and 'hard cores' who are aiming for civil war. /via @terryfrd // KhiKwai @Saksith Interesting to see people surprised by the sudden realization that the country is governed by the military. // georgebkk CRES: The actual course of action will be explained by the operators in charge of the respected areas. // terryfrd Col Kanit: M79 attacks, etc., have made it imperative to try to separate assailants from innocents. // markmackinnon Thai Army says it will clear protest site using 7-step process. Interesting that military, not PM Abhisit, telling country what will happen. // georgebkk CRES: Live weapons were fired at Army officials and police, also at public who were passing by. Neccesary to step up security measures. // andrewspooner Unfuckingbelieivable - Thai govt are now claiming that protesters are shooting themselves // Saksith @legalnomads Holy smokes! (No pun intended! ;)) // tulsathit (the last tweet was not from CRES announcement) // tri26 I took a little nap and woke up in Burma. // Saksith RT @legalnomads I ventured out to see if I could leave. Answer is no: photo from Rajwitee/DinDaeng underpass, 6pm http://is.gd/ca0xf // WizardofWindsor (CRES Press con, 2nd commander). 'Our objective is to retake areas occupied by the redshirts, but since our operation started... // tulsathit "Live bullet" signs have also put up at Bon Kai, where there had been heavy shooting. // legalnomads Smoke got thicker as tyres on fire at the crossroads, so visibility is not good. http://tweetphoto.com/22502732 // andrewspooner RE: CRES statement on rules of engagement - there's no point having them if there's no accountability // AndrewHurd shame, but yep, stay safe RT @Journotopia Guil is a bear of a man, fearless and streetwise, clad in body armor. If he's going home, so am I. // thaicam RT @Journotopia: Guil is a bear of a man, fearless and streetwise, and clad in body armor. If he's going home, so am I. // terryfrd Col Kanit of 1st army:Army had largely avoided conflict until it became apparent on april 10 that there were armed elements among protestors // WizardofWindsor 'But since we started our operation, so many #redshirts have weapons, and we think the #redshirt leaders know that' // Journotopia Guil is a bear of a man, fearless and streetwise, and clad in body armor. If he's going home, so am I. // bangkok RT @TAN_Network: CRES clarifies a non-affiliated armed group has instigated violence to scapegoat the army for the casualties. // tulsathit RT @veen_NT: 27 ppl arrested have been sentenced to 1-year jail term. Penalty is reduced to 1/2 yr as they cooperated. // veen_NT CRES announcement is useful if you need to understand what the army is doing. @tulsathit & @Wizardofwindsor tweet ab it. // WizardofWindsor 'We are sure that there are #blackshirts at work within the #redshirt crowd with bad intentions' // freakingcat Can confirm this: WHO EVER IN THE BON KAI AREA, DO NOT GO OUT ANYMORE! It's getting too dangerous, saw a few foreigners there! // guardiannews RT @guardianweekend: What happens when child geniuses grow up? http://ow.ly/1L0Wp // Saksith RT @Journotopia: Guil and his colleagues in foreign agencies have been instructed by their bosses to stay off the streets at night. // Journotopia Guil and his colleagues in foreign agencies have been instructed by their bosses to stay off the streets at night. // terryfrd What are protestors doing? Largely peaceful until April 10. Since them they have increasingly been inflitrated by armed groups. // tulsathit Photos of wounded soldiers were shown on TV during CRES press con. // georgebkk CRES: Re-stating from earlier, "We do not use M79's, not RPG's. Only rifles" // veen_NT Correction:Tharit: 27 ppl arrested have been sentenced 1-year jail term. Penalty is reduced 2 1/2 yr as they cooperate. 27 not 17 // Saksith RT @thaitvnews: ????????????? http://tweetphoto.com/22502156 // Saksith CRES: We do NOT use M79, RPG or similar weapons! // tulsathit RT @veen_NT: Tharit repeated warning that penalty for SOE violators wil b harsh without probation as he has observed all the court decisions // georgebkk CRES: Sometimes, we know who the bad guys are, but they are surrounded by innocent people. /via @wizardofwindsor

"Wonder Where's That World At .." (Hindi)

2010-01-25T12:57:00.001-08:00

.. from a wedding at Phuket, Thailand. August, in 2009.

This is a video made upon an Indian movie song, which sings that both the boy and the girl is wondering 'where is that world' where they will meet their loved one. Hence, the title here.

In this video I tried to show scenes of the bride and the groom here in mostly individual shots, at separate times and occasions during the wedding, as if each of them is singing this song in their minds, and thinking of each other. This is a first edit version, my friend the bride was a bit sad watching this video, because it rained on the wedding eve, and the rain here brought back those memories. Hence there is another version, next one in the list, that is much more sunny.

I thought would let this one remain here, just because spent so much time putting in the fake rain sounds, for professional reference only!

Cheers!

St. Bernard - "Why Doesn't Everybody Play with Me?" :(

2010-01-25T12:53:00.001-08:00

I took my st. bernard for a pet shop to get him bathed and have a haircut, there he meets many dogs and wants to play with them but all of them are barking at him and doesn't play with my st. bernard, and my st.bernard is dishearted and wonders "why doesn't everybody play with me?"

Traditional Indian Wedding in 15 Minutes (stop-motion)

2010-01-25T12:40:00.001-08:00

The following is a 'stop-motion/motion-picture' video made from still-images and HD footage which shows an entire, full-scale Indian wedding in all its glory in under 15 minutes.

This is from our friends Rubina and Hitesh's wedding held at the Hilton in Hua Hin, Thailand. Both of whom were kind enough to be such magnificent hosts and more than that a truly beautiful, romantic and picture-friendly couple!

Still-pictures are from multiple 5d mark-IIs, video footage is from the Sony-EX1 and EX3 on Glidecam Pro. Music is called "Yesterday & Today", by unknown artist (please do inform me if you happen to know whom). Edited on Edius 5.11.

The concept for this video is inspired by another video from vimeo, here vimeo.com/2721992 by Eric Testroete. Although I felt the pictures flicked a bit too fast (for my eyes) and felt dizzy after some time, hence I tried my best to maintain the slowest pace possible, and used different still-picture camera angles to tell and support the story.

Comments and suggestions welcome!

Bangkok nightclub fire kills dozens

2010-01-25T12:31:00.000-08:00

Bangkok nightclub fire kills dozens

(Full Footage) Fire at Bangkok Nightclub Santika

I Have a Feeling (That Tonight's Gonna Be a Good Night!)

2010-01-25T12:07:00.001-08:00

An offline edit presentation video made at the wedding of Rubina and Hitesh, a night before the wedding.

"Stars and The Silver Carpet"

2010-01-25T12:01:00.001-08:00

This is actually a 25 years wedding anniversary. The daughter however wanted to set it up with a theme like an 'Awards Ceremony', whereby each guest would be treated like a movie star, be given interviews, etc.

I used the Sony PMW-EX1, although I won't say how many of them. Please do kindly have a look and tell me how many you think were there? :) Also in this clip is the first time I am trying some denoise filters during color grading. Which as a result took 20 extra hours to render on my 2008-year old computer!

Cheers!

An Indian Wedding Dance Scene, (from a live wedding).

2010-01-25T11:10:00.001-08:00

A short clip which was part of an 8-minute video presentation shown at the event featuring clips we shot of the days before. (sde, ex1/ex3, kino flo diva, generic 2k lights, panther vario jib, abc light crane, custom-made dolly set, canopus edius, magic bullet cg.)

From Kajal and Pravesh's wedding.

Punjabi Family Mela II

2010-01-25T10:30:00.000-08:00

These are pictures from the second Punjabi Family Mela (II) held in Bangkok, Thailand. Our company was only instructed to take pictures, and here they are.

My Community, Through My Eyes.

2008-01-15T23:56:00.001-08:00

Life's works, Lifeworks, Works of Life

and 13 years later ..

2007-12-28T07:03:00.001-08:00

The High School Reunion

The Punjabi Fun Family Mela - Director's Cut

2007-12-27T14:24:00.001-08:00

The Punjabi Fun Mela was a milestone project organized by young Thai-Indians.

Their intention was 'royal', grand yet simple, a noble attempt to pool money for a charitable cause towards the Red Cross and His Majesty's Royal Patronage, and simultaneously get together families for a fun day of carnival-style games and indian, punjabi cultural-esc performances.

Yet what goes on behind the scenes and beyond it is a different matter. I'd rather describe the actual event day as the tip of the iceberg upon several icebergs. Although due to the extremely HOT day that it turned out to be, tip of the dormant volcano sounds better. Nonetheless, we all deserve a cheer for the unanimous success, touchwood.

For my part, my work starts when their's have ended. And here we are, a heartily compiled video trailer and some scenes from the event, and ofcourse, more to follow.

Many regards,

Manik Sethisuwan.

(A scene of) Hugh Jackman from The Fountain

2007-10-04T00:48:00.001-07:00

It is just inspirational, deserves atleast an Oscar Nomination. I couldn't resist to share with all fans of the great actor.

I was born for a reason.

2007-10-02T02:09:00.000-07:00

I never knew I would grow to have studied medicine, nor that I would spend half my life (so far) around people who were ill, who were dying, those who lost hope and their worlds crumbled in a black void of negativity, and I do not exaggerate.

But I did my duty, and it was simple - to give out hope to those who had lost it, to encourage people whose heads were fallen, to inspire people, to entertain them and to show them that not all on this earth was bad, and the world is not negative as some people see it. There is good if we chose to see it, and that there is love, even within hate.

What about myself? I do not think much about myself, but I do feel that there is enough fire as there is ambition to do good, that it could drive me to do great or terrible things, and some things that I am yet to realize. But whatever it is, the reason I was born for, it is 'not' ordinary.

The Royal Barge Procession, From the Skies

2007-09-28T08:30:00.001-07:00

Exclusive, picturesque aerial footage of one of the most enchanting traditional royal celebrations in the World. The Thai Royal Barge Procession which was held to mark the Diamond Jubilee of the World's longest reigning mornarch, King Bhumibhol of Thailand.

Ades se Ades

2007-09-28T06:29:00.001-07:00

Its not who I am or where I come from, Its what I Do, that defines me, and there's always hope, even if it's a fool's hope. Ades se Ades.

Bangkok Indian Talent Show 2006 (Trailer)

2007-09-28T06:28:00.001-07:00

An inaugural talent show hosted by local Thai-Indian / Bangkok-Indian community, expect Bhangra, Gidda, Desi-Dance, Stand-up comedy and a fair dose of entertainment. Oh, this footage is just the trailer for the event.

I Get Knocked Down (But I Get Up Again)

2007-09-28T06:27:00.001-07:00

Soccer Champions vs Party Underdogs

An incredible match between local Bangkok Soccer Champions and the seasoned Party Underdogs. What they have in skill we got it in the spirit! "I Get Knocked Down, But I Get Up Again"

The Captain of Bhangra

2007-09-28T05:22:00.001-07:00

An beautiful / gidda dance performed live on stage by our young beautiful Thai-Indian community girls at the 2006 Bangkok Indian Talent Show.

Party Like a Rapstar on a Cruise

2007-09-28T01:58:00.001-07:00

My young friend's magnificent fusion rap, techno and bhangra fusion party on Bangok's most luxurious party cruise. Its just a birthday party, so expect us to dance and spread out the fun. (Cheers).

'When You Believe' Concept Movie Trailer

2007-09-28T01:57:00.003-07:00

A discontinued project, but atleast its my first ever movie trailer. Inspired by them to Inspire Others.

Flight Simulator, Almost Crash Las Vegas Landing

2007-09-28T01:57:00.001-07:00

Incredible flight graphics and a overspeed landing at the magnificent Las Vegas, McCarran International Airport, breaktaking scenery, visuals and all this - on a Flight Simulator!

Free Hugs Bangkok, (the first one)

2007-09-28T01:43:00.001-07:00

Sometimes, a hug is all that we need.