WHITE FACE IN A RED CROWD: UDD fixture Conor David Purcell. His speeches have fired up the red shirt supporters.Conor David Purcell, a former Australian military reservist, is a long way from home. The 29-year-old has two infected hip wounds, no money, no passport and survives on handouts from his Thai and foreign friends.
But when he takes to the red shirt stage at Ratchaprasong, thousands of people stop and listen attentively to the Irish-born Aussie ``military'' man as he reads his speeches, which are immediately translated into Thai.
To the red faithful, he knows what he's talking about, whether it's discrediting government accounts of the Sala Daeng grenade attacks or the "criminality" of the April 10 bloodshed near the Democracy Monument.
The red shirt leaders nod their approval at Mr Purcell, who claims to have done "quite extensive" work with the Australian Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) and trained with the Singapore and Malaysia military.
"I don't think I should fight,'' Mr Purcell said when asked about his role with the red shirts. "What I'm trying to do is keep the world informed, those speeches which are then put on the internet are keeping the world informed.''
But in a conflict confused by multiple layers of lies and half-truths, Mr Purcell may only be adding to the puzzle by talking up his military credentials.
"You need to take what he says with a big dose of salt,'' said a source at the Australian embassy. "He's a big noter who gilds the lily big time.''
STIR ’EM UP: Purcell on the UDD stage with Weng Tojirakarn, translating the Australian’s remarks.
Mr Purcell, who claims a political science degree from the University of Western Australia, says he had always been an admirer of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his poverty-alleviation policies. "His macro-economic policies, I thought, were brilliant; the fact that he seemed to be the first prime minister to focus on the poor and the majority of people.''
Mr Purcell, who says he is not paid by the reds, became "radicalised'' and "very angry'' at the Thai government after what he witnessed during the April 10 fighting, which left 25 people dead.
"The criminality on that day was very similar to Bloody Sunday in Ireland,'' he said. "It was an insult to any soldier, it was an insult to any rules of engagement, it was an insult to any manly sense of honour that they tear-gassed a crowd of monks and businessmen.''
He says he was injured by two silicon-coated bullets while trying to shelter behind an APC secured by the reds and now has a ``dirty wound'' which cannot be stitched and has to be treated with antibiotics.
During the skirmish he lost his Australian emergency passport and 1,400 baht. He signed a statutory declaration at the Australian embassy on April 20 detailing his ordeal. ``They said you have to go home straight away, then they walked back into their air-conditioned office and made themselves a cup of tea,'' Mr Purcell said.
The embassy source said Mr Purcell's behaviour and public statements were ``disturbing'' and they had advised him to return home. ``He's actually broken quite a few Thai laws,'' the source said.
Mr Purcell denies he has interfered in Thai affairs, saying he has only given a ``witness statement'' of what actually happened on April 10.
He says he is now working with the reds' legal and public relations teams and is "throwing ideas out''.
In his latest speech he asked the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Bangkok to the International Criminal Court and for the court to investigate the Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation.
Mr Purcell says that when the protests are over he plans to continue his attempts to set up a charity here with connections to Vietnam and Cambodia.
ไม่มีความคิดเห็น:
แสดงความคิดเห็น