Narratives of the “Red Barrel” Incident: Collective and Individual Memories in Lamsin, Southern Thailand

Abstract

In Thailand, the years spanning 1971 to 1973 were characterized by the violent suppression of the communist movement through state policies, policies most harshly imposed on the so-called stronghold areas of the Red insurgency. The Lamsin community, of Srinagarindra District in the southern province of Phatthalung, was one such area.1 The main actors implementing suppressive policies in Lamsin are believed to have been state officials working under the Communist Suppression Operations Command (CSOC). In Lamsin alone, these officials incinerated over 200 “communist suspects” in red petrol barrels, an example of what later became known as the “Red Barrel” Incident. The total number of victims in all districts and provinces involved, was 3,008. Out of fear of state oppression, a large number of villagers from affected areas joined the insurgency led by the Communist Party of Thailand (CPT). Conversely, CPT members also attacked state officials, as well as local office-bearers like village heads or Kannan (heads of subdistricts). Only with a change in Thai state policy in 1980 did the villagers of Lamsin return to their former way of life.2