Monday, December 2, 2013

Thailand: A Drone's Eye View of Anti-Regime Protests

December 3, 2013 (Tony Cartalucci) - YouTube user TheCyberJom has uploaded excellent footage from the air of ongoing anti-regime protests taking place across Bangkok. While many people rightfully fear the abuse of this technology, as it remains mostly monopolized by the state, we can see here that it can just as easily be used by non-state actors for useful purposes.

The final 2 videos actually show the pro-regime rally (wearing red shirts) described in, "Thailand: As Promised Regime Deploys Black-Clad Militants," and the surrounding university campus where students had begun protesting. The stadium seats 50,000 people and it can clearly be seen that it is not filled to capacity. This was the last, and only night in the week that the regime managed to fill it up this far (for an average day's gathering see video here), and that was after literally busing in supporters with police escort from upcountry. Reports from the Guardian claimed "70,000" supporters were on hand. The drone reveals that number as a fabrication, and instead shows 30,000 at most, tattering further what's left of the Guardian's journalistic reputation. It also illustrates how learning and utilizing technology can give smaller, but smarter media organizations leverage over the well entrenched, practiced liars of Western journalism.