Taxi Driver Suicide
2 November 2006
Taxi driver hangs himself in protest against the military coup
What must have been going through the mind of Nuamthong Paiwan, aged 60 years, when he drove his taxi into a tank that was parked on the Royal Plaza in Bangkok? The only damage caused by the move was to his own vehicle, ending his days as a cab driver in Thailand's capitol city, although he survived the incident.
Nuamthong was not a supporter of the former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, claims Nuamthong's daughter, who also made it clear that her father did not take sides in politics, although many other taxi drivers are supporters of Thaksin, who invariably hail from the impoverished northeast of the country, where Thaksin enjoyed widespread support. He covered his taxi in messages slating the coup leaders and protesting at their toppling of the former prime minister and drove it into a tank in protest at the apparent end of democracy in Thailand.
It would now appear he was unconcerned about his own safety in that dangerous act and probably expected to die because yesterday morning, he was found hanging from a flyover outside the Thai Rath newspaper offices. He apparently killed himself in response to a statement from the junta that no one was so opposed to the coup that they would kill themselves. Nuamthong also left a suicide note, describing himself as 'A former taxi driver who sacrificed himself for democracy'.
In an interview with a Thai broadcaster, Nuamthong stated that he did not want to live under a dictatorial regime. When this interview was broadcast, it was brought to a sudden end, allegedly because of a phone call influenced by military affiliates.
His devastated wife called him a hero, as was his last request to his family in his suicide note.
His suicide was one of the very few significant protests against the coup, which was broadly welcomed as it ended a long political stalemate. The few protests that have been organised so far were not well attended.
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