Thammasat University massacre

thammasat university massacre

  Thammasat University massacre

The picture immediately grabs your attention due to how gruesome it is. A person is seen hanging while someone with a folding chair is preparing to strike them in the head. However, what makes this picture even more gruesome is the reaction of the children standing among the mob watching. The menacing smile of the child really exemplifies the chaos, and animal like behavior that had been exhibited during the time. The horizontal line of the chair, and the horizontal line of the group of people brings the viewers eyes to the hanging individual. The hanging individuals vertical lines show strength despite the person’s death. This photo had won the Pulitzer Prize Award.

About the massacre: The Thammasat University Massacre, or Massacre of 6 October 1976, was an attack on students and protesters that occurred on the campus of Thammasat University and at Sanam Luang in Bangkok. Students from various universities were demonstrating against the return to Thailand of Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn, a former military ruler. By the official count, forty-six people died in the attack, during which protesters were shot, beaten and their bodies mutilated.
The day before the massacre, a photo of a mock hanging by Thammasat demonstrators was published in the Bangkok press. To many, the students in the photo appeared to be hanging the Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn in effigy. In response, outraged paramilitary forces gathered outside the university that evening.
To read more about the Thammasat University massacre:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thammasat_University_massacre

 

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