In this video clip, Prachatai interviewed a rescue volunteer affiliated with the Ruam Katanyu Foundation on the night of May 16, in the Saphan Lueng area near the Peau Thai Party. A stage was set up in the area after a few hundred protestors came to gather there. A number of volunteers with the RaumKatanyu Foundation were also there with their rescue cars parked in secluded spots in the area. At least two rescue workers like themselves have been shot dead, and the Foundation has ordered its staff to terminate all rescue activities for the sake of their own safety. However, some of the volunteers have decided to carry on regardless. These volunteers know well what the war zone is like, and what has been going on in it. 

The volunteers in the team we spoke to were young men. They gave their “headstrong” team the informal name of “Saphan Lueang Haw Peng.” They are just one of the many volunteer teams hard at work doing whatever they can for the 35 dead and the hundreds injured. These teams station themselves in discreet positions near the city’s danger zones, calling these areas “the borderline.” 

This is the transcription of Prachatai’s 7-minute interview with a rescue volunteer: 

Prachatai: Can you tell us which units the RuamKatanyu Foundation has withdrawn? 

Volunteer: The Foundation has ordered all of its units to withdraw because it doesn’t get involved in political crises. My team, the people you see still working, are here as volunteers. We’re the headstrong boys - we’re doing it out of a sense of vocation. It’s our duty to help the injured. There’s also another type of rescue teams attached to various hospitals. They’re the ones with the vans. Their vans are better equipped than ours and they operate under orders from the Narenthorn centre. 

P: We understand that the Wachira hospital rescue team have withdrawn as well..

V: I’m not sure about that myself. I know they’ve lost a worker. Yesterday the Por Tek Tung Foundation lost a worker as well.

P: How does this news affect you? 

V: Well..it’s my vocation. I have to do something. 

P: What are the difficulties of working under this condition?

V:  The people shooting are not concerned who’s who. Yesterday the Por Tek Tung person who was killed went in holding up a flag, which clearly indicated that he was a rescue worker. He was going to go in to provide medical assistance. He still got shot.    

P: Was he on a motorbike?

V: He was at Soi Ngam Du Plee where the UDD supporters were burning tires. One person fell, so this rescue volunteer ran in to help. He ran in holding up the flag, but he got shot. He got hit on the forehead. He was wearing a helmet, the type like firemen wear. So he took precautions, protecting his head and face, but he still got hit. 

P: Could it be that the person who shot your colleague didn’t see the flag? 

V: It’s more like they didn’t care. It’s chaotic at the moment. You go in, they shoot. You go in, they shoot.  It’s more like that. 

P: You said that the volunteer would have clearly identified himself, can you clarify how recue workers do that? 

V: He went in waving the Red Cross flag to identify himself. But he still got shot. 

P: The people you’ve rescued, what sort of injuries did they suffer?

V: Gunshot wounds, only gunshot wounds. [Repeats this]

P: Whereabouts on the body?

V: For minor injuries,that would normally be the leg or the stomach. Last night at Suan Plu around 2am, the person I brought out was shot in the chest. This person died. The other person I brought out as well was shot in the arm and leg. 

P: When you rescue injured people, do you take down their names or information about them? 

V: How recue workers are trained these days is that, under normal circumstances, we would give basic treatment on the spot. We don’t just rush in to carry people out on a stretcher anymore. The problem with doing this work in the current situation is that we’re under a lot of pressure, we’re getting shot at. So we get people out as quickly as possible, and then we pass them on. We don’t usually have time to take down names. The hospitals deal with that side of things.

P: What proportion of the Foundation’s workers are volunteering right now? 

V: Some are, some have decided not to. I’m with the more “headstrong” group. 

P: How many hours of sleep are you getting at the moment?

V: Well, yesterday I came out at nine in the evening and stayed till nine in the morning. I went back to rest briefly, woke up at noon, and now I’m back! I’m doing this out of love. 

P: Have you seen any terrorists? 

V: What is a terrorist? [Repeats again stressing his voice.] What definition are they using? Terrorists have to be armed. But the group I’m positioned with – I’m positioned behind UDD people – all I’m seeing are firecrackers and rockets. The noisy one, the really noisy one, is that big green firecracker. You light it and then throw it. That’s all. All it makes is a noise, very loud. 

Another man joins the interview. 

Man: I want to appeal to the media, the media’s reporting is not fair..

V: Brother, let me say this, journalists on the ground are all OK. Those on the ground are great. But once they file their reports to their editors, another kind of procedure kicks in. 

Man: That I don’t know, but the media is not reporting fairly..

P: If there’s anything you can say, to anyone you want to, on behalf of the rescue volunteers, what would that be?

V: Please understand us. We’re here out of a sense of genuine commitment. We don’t take sides. We’re doing this out of love. I don’t understand why my colleague had to be shot when he was holding up the flag. Why? 

P: In your opinion, which direction did the bullet come from? 

V: From the direction of state officials.

P: And you’re still not scared?

V: No, we’re still here. 

P: Your family must be worried..

V: They’re resigned [laughs]. I’ve taken my family on previous rescue missions, like the Tsunami rescue. During the Nam Kor flood I took my two young kids along. They stayed with me. When we got hungry we ate near the pile of corpses. We’re used to this as a family. 

P: Is this the first political crisis you’ve witnessed up close? 

V: I was old enough for May 1992, at Sanam Luang. That wasn’t so severe. Two days of shooting, some up in the air, some elsewhere. Nothing more. But this time.. What’s happening isn’t getting reported. The reporting is one-sided. 

P: It’s more violent this time?

V: Yes, definitely, much more. 

P: The people that you see on the frontline, what’s their mood like? 

V: They’re ready to die,they seem sincerely ready to die. When you think about what people would normally do when they’re getting shot, instinct would make you run away, right? But these UDD people, they’re not doing that. They’re running in the other direction. They’re prepared to trade their lives. 

Transcribed and translated by May Adadol Ingawanij