Chaos erupted when military snipers perched on nearby rooftops fired bullets into the crowd below. Students ran for their lives, with many jumping into nearby canals to escape the barrage of bullets. Some took cover in the Royal Palace after the King allowed the gates to be opened to take in those needing shelter and protection. Many unarmed students tried to defend themselves using whatever they could find, including stones and wooden planks. Some even commandeered buses and drove them into military tanks in an effort to block traffic and barricade government offices. The extended street battles between the students and military troops left 73 people dead and over 800 wounded.
Escalating violence prompted the King to withdraw his support for the existing military government. Without the support of the monarch, Thanom and two of his senior officers were forced to resign and flee into exile.
October 14, 1973 was a revolution in Thai politics. The pro-democracy students had toppled the military regime and freed the country from a string of military governments which had ruled Thailand since 1947. For the first time the urban middle class, led by young students, had defeated the combined forces of the old ruling class and the army. They had gained the apparent blessing of the King for a transition to full democracy, symbolized by a new constitution which provided for a fully elected government. The October 14 event, therefore, was an important step in the development of Thai democracy.
However, details of the crackdown have long been lost in political spin, and personal and national versions of the historic upheaval clashed. For many years, the incident was not part of official Thai history and was not taught in schools. After 29 years of denial and evasion of one of the bloodiest chapters of modern Thai history, there is now a move to remember what many scholars now call modern Thailand’s “most important day.” The October 14th Memorial is part of that effort.
The year following the uprising, student leaders called for a memorial honoring their fallen comrades. Unfortunately, plans for the monument got locked up in turbulent political disputes. After three decades of legal battles between student groups, land owners, and city officials the monument was finally dedicated in 2002.
The memorial was built on the site of the former Thai TV News Agency which had been burned down during the demonstrations. At the center of the memorial is a stark grey granite spire in the shape of a Buddhist pagoda. Its edges are rough and jagged symbolizing the difficult ascent to freedom, which is represented by a clear resin tip. An inscription on the base expresses the grief of parents as they waited in vain for the return of their missing children. The spire bears the names of these 73 victims.