Patrick Winn's Notebook:

Don't be salty. Hillary's coming.

Southeast Asia's regional 10-nation brotherhood, ASEAN, has not had a good month.

Their last meeting in the seaside town of Pattaya was cancelled after a protest faction stormed the resort housing world leaders. Thousands of protesters overtaking soldiers, running amok in the lobby and freaking out pudgy foreigners in swimming trunks is not a good look.

Neither is forcing prime ministers to escape via helicopter fall-of-Saigon style from the hotel roof.

After the siege, I wondered aloud whether these shenanigans would scare off U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from coming to a big-time ASEAN summit this summer. The Southeast Asian press cried "snub" when Condoleezza Rice failed to show up to a few key gatherings.

I thought perhaps the siege of ASEAN's last meeting would scare Hillary away.

But she has apparently confirmed that she'll be in Bangkok for the next regional meeting in July.

I guess Hillary's heart don't pump lemonade. She already has experience dodging sniper fire in Bosnia, so no big deal, right?

Symbolically, this is huge for both ASEAN  and Thailand's beleaguered government. It shows that the U.S. endorses the association — and demonstrates faith in Thailand's ability to protect one of America's most important figureheads.

Here's to the next summit ending peacefully. These gatherings are supposed to be boring, right? I hope we can keep it that way.

P.S. — Speaking of American figureheads, I went to see Jesse Jackson speak last night at the Foreign Correspondent's Club of Thailand. Packed house. I stepped to the microphone to ask for his thoughts on racism in Asia, specifically the sometimes startling and nonchalant ridicule of people with darker skin.

Poignant question, I thought — someone in the crowd cheered with approval — but the good reverend just wiped his brow with a handkerchief, looked confused and asked me to repeat myself.

Awkward.

Oh well. Any readers care to comment on this?

Batman rescues Bangkok

From scenes of torched buses and street riots in Bangkok, there emerges a reminder that Thailand is the most loveable place on the planet.

Meet Bangkok's Batman.

Last week, as anti-government protesters clad in crimson stormed the capital's streets, some guys hijacked a gas truck and parked it in an otherwise quiet neighborhood. They were pursued by soldiers and assumed (according to Thai media reports) that the military wouldn't fire into an area containing a massive container of liquid fuel.

Then, out of nowhere, Batman steps into the crowd and surveys the scene. So the story goes, the masked hero broke the tension long enough for a city worker to climb back in the truck and drive away. And those in the neighborhood gathered to applaud.

Check out the Thai news report here. The newscaster gets in a dig at Batman for being a "little chubby." Call me old-fashioned, but that's no way to address a Thai superhero.

Now, just last month, a guy in a Spiderman suit crawled onto the ledge of a Bangkok school to save a scared autistic boy. Coincidence?

I think I know this masked hero's real name. It's not Bruce Wayne. It's not Peter Parker.

It's Sonchai Yoosabai.

See what I just did? I've revealed the identity of both Batman and Spiderman — AND proved they're the same person.

That's a guaranteed Pulitzer, right?

UPDATE: No Pulitzer for me. The Nation newspaper says Batman is actually a guy named Pichit Chuekaew, who sells talking dictionaries at a Bangkok bookstore. I may just have to buy him a beer in exchange for his life story.

Thai yellow-shirt leader survives Mafia-style hit

As if Bangkok wasn't mired in enough street violence this week, now there's this.

Thailand woke up to the news that Sondhi Limthongkul — spitfire media magnate and leader of  the yellow-clad protesters who seized the airport in November — was ambushed this morning by gunmen in a pick-up truck. They surrounded his luxury van and filled it with dozens of AK-47 and M-16 bullets.

Miraculously, Sondhi is alive after doctors pulled steel fragments out of his skull.

A quick primer on Sondhi — and a few reasons why we should care. Sondhi is the face of a (now dormant) street movement fighting, more or less, to sustain the status quo. Put simply, his yellow-shirt mob is pro-establishment and fearful that a new wave of politicians voted in by Thailand's poor will corrupt the kingdom.

Sondhi is shrill, sort of like a Thai Glenn Beck. I swear they even look alike.

It's way too soon to speculate (publicly) who called the hit on this pro-establishment figurehead.

But his rivals, the red shirt political mob that revolted through Bangkok this week, are deeply embittered after soldiers shut their movement down. They were also brazen enough recently to go after a sedan that they believed carried the prime minister, who they want to oust.

These attacks, and the attack on Sondhi, signal a very frightening radicalism — a willingness to directly harm political figureheads, not just march against them.

That's how riots are ignited. That's how martyrs are made.

Thailand is far too fragile right now for this.

Scenes from the revolt

The sun is now setting over Bangkok, where anti-establishment protesters are warring with soldiers for control over the capital's key intersections.

Less then two hours ago, I walked through Victory Monument, perhaps Bangkok's busiest traffic circle. Just hours earlier, it was the scene of a clash between the military and street mobs. I arrived expecting to be blocked by soldiers — a friend and fellow reporter was turned away earlier — but I was able to stroll right down the traffic circle's outer ring.

Totally eerie. Imagine Broadway at 5:30 p.m., with only the occasional taxi crusing by. I chatted with an older Thai gentleman at a bus stop. "So quiet!" he said in Thai. "The soldiers have scared off all the tourists."

Though soldiers had secured the area by then, I saw acrid, black clouds pluming up from the area around lunchtime. All over Bangkok today, the army launched counterattacks on intersections blockaded by protesters. Footage played repeatedly on Thai television shows soldiers rushing the mob firing M-16s.

Reliable information is hard to come by in the fog of conflict. An army spokesman appeared on TV earlier promising soldiers had only "ying keun faa" or "fired up at the sky." The protesters —  who now appear to be limiting access to reporters — say soldiers have killed some of their fighters.

Adding a bizarre undercurrent to all this conflict is Songkran, Thailand's rollicking New Year's celebration. During Songkran, it becomes socially acceptable to douse total strangers with water. And across Bangkok, locals are taking aim at innocent bystanders — with water guns. (That's why I don't have any photos to share. I didn't want to ruin my new Canon G10. The above photo was snaked from Ron at the excellent 2bangkok.com.)

So as parts of Bangkok burn, and soldiers and protesters square off, many neighborhoods are alive with music, gleeful squeals and drunken dancing in the street. As I type this, my walls are shuddering with Thai country ballads.

The holiday ends Thursday. When Bangkok sobers up, will the protesters still hold down parts of the city?

More later.

Latest: The "People's War" in Thailand

Bangkok is roiling tonight and remains under a state of emergency.

Anti-establishment hardliners, inciting what they call a "people's war" against Thailand's government, have finally drawn a fight out of the military and, to a lesser extent, the police.

Forgive this post's lack of context — yesterday's dispatch has plenty of background — and allow me to reflect on today's wildest scenes.

A roaring mob yanked a secreatary to the premier from his luxury sedan. They also surrounded the prime minister's Mercedez Benz, pelting it with rods and potted plants, before the car escaped. And right across the street from Thailand's most luxurious mall, Siam Paragon, protesters swarmed an armored vehicle and danced on it — all as commuters watched from an elevated train stop.

The "red shirt" protesters have thinned out, leaving behind those who see themselves as straight-up minutemen. The government is finally gearing up for a crackdown, posting tanks and armed personnel carriers throughout the capital.

Sounds intense, right? It is. But I feel obliged to point out that Bangkok isn't all Sarajevo right now. If friends asked if they should cancel upcoming Thai holidays, I'd actually encourage them to come despite the turmoil.

The protests are isolated. The violence is even more isolated. Having lived in Washington D.C., I can say I'd feel safer walking through a raging Thai protest at 2 a.m. than my old neighborhood.

So tonight, as the "people's war" dragged on, I had some burritos with a friend and enjoyed a few beers near one of Bangkok's more scenic downtown parks.  Most people in Bangkok probably checked the news throughout the night, but otherwise pressed on with their lives.

Meanwhile, for some intense video of the hotel invasion that sent world leaders fleeing on Saturday, check out this Thai TV broadcast at minute 3:00.

You'll see protesters approach the resort building housing the prime ministers. They lift up their shirts and expose their lack of weapons...

... and then a crew of bodyguards forces them on their knees with shotguns and pistols.

Amazing that protesters pushed past hundreds of soldiers and police only to be backed down by a handful of no-nonsense guards. Not too long ago, I remember the Thai press encouraging U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to accept invites to these  Association of Southeast Nations gatherings.

Not sure if Hillary's Secret Service detail reads this blog, but if so, I'd love to hear their thoughts.

Patrick's Links:

Global Blogs:

• Latest

More Dispatches:

• Latest

Sponsored Links

Prom Dresses
Brokers Online Health Insurance
Casino News
drug addiction treatment
P90X
Credit Card