This is what's left behind from the final days of unrest in Bangkok less than two weeks ago, the few days which will go down in history as one of the most violent and destructive periods Bangkok has seen in 50 years. About 35 buildings were torched in total, including the iconic CentralWorld mall at Rajaprasong.
Even the locals stop to look and to photograph the torched building from the skybridge which connects the BTS stations to major buildings. Most Thais are very sad that this has happened, that things had to come to this. I spoke with a very nice Thai lady who said 'Thank You' to us for coming back to Bangkok.
CentralWorld was left burning for several hours which accounts for the extent of damage. I found this from an article in Bangkok's 'The Nation' newspaper:The torching of central Bangkok, the provincial halls and other public and private buildings was part of a premeditated plot following the end of the red-shirt rally...CentralWorld was the biggest target for the reds, from the very beginning, if their rally failed. Burning down the giant mall would send a strong signal from the poor reds to the Bangkok elite. The owners and management of CentralWorld was aware of this possibility all along, of the building's vulnerability to arson attack. They tried to be friendly to the red protesters by allowing them to use the facilities, including toilets, in the basement of the building. After all, the reds were sleeping all around the "Ground Zero" of CentralWorld. The whole complex, along with nearby shopping malls, was closed down during the red rally from April 12 to May 19...The reds were ungrateful to the owners and management of CentralWorld, who had given them shelter and the use of facilities throughout their rally there.
In the end, the reds acted in a way that can be described as "kin bon ruen, khi rod bon lang kha". Eat in a host's home, then climb up on the roof to shit on it.
Zen department store was also very badly hit and the entire building was burnt, compared to just a section of CentralWorld. Both buildings adjoin each other. The bullet ridden glass-paned facade, the occasional tyre still standing, the red garments and clappers strewn amongst the debris are signs of the chaos and madness that filled those few days which we could only watch in horror on TV.
I don't mean to sound dramatic, but looking at the wreckage does bring back memories of Sept 11...Ground Zero, as referred to by Thai journalists.
Its blackened letters are hardly noticeable, blending in with the rest of the charred facade.
We spent some time around the area photographing the place before it's cleaned up.
Almost everyone who passed by didn't fail to stop to look, whipping out their phones to take a picture. Both locals and tourists did this and it was a pretty common sight.
The glass along the connecting bridges were also hit with bullets but there were no holes which meant that the bullets didn't get through the thick panes. Still, it was unsettling to see them.
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