This is the story I was trying to tell . . . I just couldn't get my head around the Twitter, Tweet, Twit of it all . . . - Sean Linnane
Twitter Provides Latest News on Bangkok Political Violence
May 19 - PMNY Destinations Examiner - Leslie Koch
English-speakers used their smart phones and laptops to access Twitter and find out which streets were safe from the violence.
A simple search for #Bangkok provided a steady stream of tweets on Wednesday.
Many tweets were first-hand accounts posted by journalists, expats and other Bangkok residents.
Freelance journalist Florian Witulski ("Vaitor") kept his 4,759 Twitter followers glued to their laptops with his posts from the Bangkok streets:
Here are a few tweets from Vaitor's stream on Wednesday (times are Bangkok time). You can see the events unfold in chronological order:
o its getting bloody here, can confirm two foreign reporters shot, two more dead red shirt bodies leaving Lumpini (About noon in Bangkok)
o for other journalist at DinDaeng: get rid of camera and green batch otherwise you get caught by reds! (About noon in Bangkok)
o reds in DinDaeng are really aggressive, destroyed camera of French journalist near front lines of DinDaeng. (About 1 PM Bangkok)
o followed by gunfire . . . can't see what's going on right now, but there must be something on fire, big smoke clouds again! (About 2 PM Bangkok)
o one more military helicopter in the air . . . looks like . . . teargas! (about 4 PM Bangkok)
o sorry for tweet delay, low battery . . . still in front lines. (about 4 PM Bangkok)
o another dead body leaving SalaDaeng! still smoke, sirens in the background, couldn't be anymore dramatic here! (about 4 PM Bangkok)
o nearly whole bangkok downtown is covered in smoke... (about 5 PM Bangkok)
o people looting Central World . . . they don't care for the fire . . . (about 6 PM Bangkok)
o thai guy in front of me with two different new adidas shoes and a brand new jacket . . . he is one of the only happy guys today! (about 7 PM Bangkok)
o small fires and destroyed shops around siam paragon, soldiers and firemen try everything to get in control! (about 7 PM Bangkok)
o still in red territory, cinema fire nearly erased, Central World still burning, infrequent shots around the temple! (about 10 PM Bangkok)
o borrowed a night scope from a soldier . . . this thing is awesome. not shots at the moment, just dead silence! (about 11 PM Bangkok)
o soldiers got the sniper i guess . . . no shots in the last 15mins (about 11 PM Bangkok)
o alright, been on the ground since 4am, time to sleep - thanks so much! i'm home+fine, see you tmr! (about midnight in Bangkok)
With the 11 hour time difference between New York City and Bangkok, Witulski was heading to bed just as the news story heated up in the US.
OK it's obvious I need a class in this new Tweet thingie technology so I can harness the power of the Twitter phenomena . . . I mean, I'm a member of it, have an Twit address and everything, transmit over it . . . and I don't even know what it IS . . . your comments & suggestions are welcome - Sean Linnane
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