Samudra manthan

Samudra churning or Samudra manthan is the Hindu myth about the churning of the sea of milk. Using the great naga wrapped around mount Mandhara on top of Lord Vishnu in the form of a tortoise, the devas and demons cooperated in churning the sea to achieve the ultimate prize, the nectar of immortality, Amrita. Even though the Amrita was supposed to be shared by both the devas and demons, Lord Vishnu used trickery to deny the demons the nectar. Embolden by the effects of the amrit, the gods would go on to defeat the demons. You can see a sculptural representation of this myth in the foyer of Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok.

Although this is meant to symbolize a spiritual exercise, it could also be used as an analogy for the political process and this especially true in Thai politics. For all their good intentions, politicians must ultimately resort of deceit, trickery and misrepresentation, to achieve their goals and win the hearts and minds of their constituents. We hope to use this space as a forum to make some sense of what it is all about and in the spirit of reconciliation find out what it is the Thai people really want after the election.

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02 July 2011

Day 5 - Lights! Camera! Monsoon!


It is probably my own bad karma for insulting the rain spirits in my last post but yesterday was wet. I’m talking vengeful, relentless, change-my-underwear-when-I-got home wet. But more about the state of my underwear later..

Yesterday was the last day for campaigning and both parties had ordered massive rallies for their constituents. Peau Thai at Rajamangala Stadium and the Democrats at the Royal Plaza. Because of ease of travel I decided to check out the Democrats’ final push for votes.

Traffic was so dense around the rally that no Taxis or tuks tuks was willing to take me in there. The only way to get through the traffic was literally, on the backseat of a motorcycle weaving in and out of cars and buses. Even then the direct road was completely blockaded by hundreds of smiling but determined Yellow shirts waving and shouting ‘Vote No’ at the oncoming traffic.

The final 500 metres was on foot, and in the pouring rain. The heavens opened up, sending thousands of democrats supporters scrambling for shelter and grabbing whatever improvised cover they can. I saw cardboard, straw mats, jackets, banners, even plastic bags worn over the head in a vain attempt to stay dry. Hundreds of supporters turned back but the faithful stayed on, brandishing umbrellas or squeezed in together under cover. I found myself underneath one of the big screens hiding out with the technical crews giving the politicians on stage the rock star treatment.

Despite the downpour the vibe at the rally was positive, fanatical even. Cries of ‘Ahbisit!’ and ‘Number 10’ echoed across the plaza. Especially during the awkward 5 minutes when the main stage sound went out just as Abhisit himself was about to speak and the tech crews around me rushed out into the soaking rain to fix the technical hiccup. Ahbisit was soon back onstage outlining his party’s policies to help the poor and working class, as well as reminding the audience of the evils of Thaksin. The way he was going on, it felt like he was campaigning against Thaksin himself and not his younger sister, which is perhaps not far from the truth.

Eventually it was time to head off and in the confusion of the mass exodus I ended up heading in the opposite direction of where I should have going. By the time I came to my senses I found myself in inner city Bangkok which was still lively despite the torrential rain. Cold and starving I was relieved to find some food vendors (not that they are rare) and bought myself the best barbecue pork skewers and sticky rice I’ve ever had, though being soaked for 3 hours probably effected my judgment, now that I think about it the skewers weren't even warm.

I stumbled along for a few more blocks before running into a high school student getting rejected by a taxi. I had been looking for a taxi myself and so I ran up to wave the taxi but the driver didn’t see me. I then turned to the boy and asked him why the taxi wouldn’t let him on and apparently the traffic was so bad heading to the BTS (monorail) station that it wasn’t worth his time. I was also trying to find the BTS station myself and so Kane and I joined forces. Just then Kane’s mobile phone rang, his ring tone was Mario’s theme song. Kane had 3 friends waiting undercover for him to get them a taxi but apparently a bus had come that would take them to the station. Kane and I started running but we just missed it, Kane slapped the side of the bus in frustration as it rolled out. Mario’s theme song came on again, Kane’s friends was on that bus. Kane then he had an idea. He told me to follow and we started running down a dark alley that commonly crisscrossed inner city blocks in Thailand. These alleys are narrow and only meant for shop keepers to access the back of their shops, where they also lived, and certainly not meant sprinting through. Dodging mangy dogs and amused locals eating dinner, Kane told me that we were going to try to cut the bus off as it rounded the block. I was glad I’ve been keeping up my cardio as it was a good 300 meters of puddles and slippery concrete before we reached the other side and leapt onto the bus. Home bound at last we relaxed and chatted about his schools and laughed about the rain, which stopped the moment we got on the bus. Lousy night of shooting but at least I made a friend.

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