BANG NA — With the long-awaited breakout of horrific violence in the current political standoff, an excited editor at The Nation finally had a chance to use the “Black October” banner he had spent over a month designing.
“When we heard that the police used teargas and a guy lost his leg, I was like, ‘finally!’,” reported Ekkachai Palawongkuma, a graphic designer. “I’ve been working on the ‘Black” splashpage banner since the PAD took Government House.” According to his colleagues, Ekkachai first proposed a Black August banner during the second week of occupation, when DAAD and PAD members clashed near Sanam Luang, leaving one dead. However, the desk editor insisted one death wasn’t enough. Subsequent pleas to run the modified Black September banner were rejected for similar reasons, with the editor setting the death toll minimum at 10.
Ekkachai’s big break came Monday night, when the combination of a tear gas and a leg severed by “possible government-conspiracy explosives” was deemed sufficient to make October “black” by the senior editorial staff.
Currently, Ekkachai and his colleagues are working on some slide shows featuring the severed leg, as well as some Flash animation of his new “Thailand Holocaust” series, expected to debut on the Nation’s website as soon as a small child dies, which Ekkachai hopes will be this week.
