Six years ago, a taxi driver, Nuamthong Praiwan, slammed his taxi into a military tank near a military headquarters in Bangkok. The seriously injured driver told the press he wanted to protest against the coup committed on 19 September that year. Then, the Deputy Spokesperson of the coupmakers, the misnomer, “Council for Democratic Reform (CDR)”, lashed out against the driver claiming that in thiscountry “no one dares to die for democracy.” In protest of the slanderous remark, on 31 October, Uncle Nuamthong hung himself to a flyover on Vipavadi Rd. In a letter written by him and dated two days before his death, he wrote;

“I choose the last day of October as the day to shed my life to commemorate the martyrs who died in October (1973 and 1976). My death signifies my demand for democracy and the homage I pay to the past heroes and heroines (who died for democracy). I affirm that the two actions (slamming his taxi into the tank and hanging himself) are carried out voluntarily and no one has paid me for doing that. May my children and my wife be proud of me and not regret my death. I hope that in our next life, there shall be no more coups. Good bye and see you in next life. Good bye!”