It took three days till I finally got to meet Michael Yon, an ex-Green Beret who served in the US Special Forces.

Michael updated his Facebook with the comment “Another shot sounded like same rifle same position. That’s 6x sounds like 5.56.” It was 2am on May 18, and after reading this I said to myself “I need to know this guy.”

First of all, to correct any misunderstandings, despite the fact I have been dodging hundreds of bullets over the past month I am not a war reporter. I’m just a political reporter who happened to learn how to dodge bullets and with the knowledge that appears via Michael Yon’s Facebook comments. It’s very valuable.

Michael Yon has been “embedded” numerous times with American and British troops in Iraq – a deployment with the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment (Deuce Four) in Mosul, Iraq, that ended in September 2005.

My first idea was to do my own report “embedded” with him along Rama IV and to interview him while we hid behind a bunker. But, fortunately perhaps, the plan fell short because the red-shirts’ protest ended a day before I met him.

I finally met Michael on May 20, the day after the protesters were cleared out of Rajprasong. I spent two hours interviewing him on the street, knowing that my interview shouldn’t be longer than five minutes. But I kept wondering: How could a man who has seen so many brutal truths from wars be so gentle and peaceful?

The key message that needs to be spread are his comments after I asked him “How close are we (Thailand) to be able to call this a war? Or this is actually a war already?”

He said: “I don’t think this is a war yet, but a war is beginning and it can be stopped. It’s important that people should use peaceful actions and peaceful words.”

Then he added: “Violence is like throwing gasoline on a fire.”

It’s a bit depressing to hear words from a man who has been living in Iraq and Afghanistan warning about war in Thailand. But as a man used to the front line of battles, I think we need to hear it before it’s too late.

After two hours on Rama IV Road, we walked to Siam Square and I got to know another side of Michael Yon. Plenty of his photos show how much he knows about Thai people. Many of his conversations with people who lost their shops reflects how much he understands people, as much as bullets. Yon says it is important to observe how people react to the military and vice versa.

“If people aren’t cooperating with the troops, then it means they have problem.”

Yet we both agreed on some things. First, he said most red-shirt protesters were peaceful. It was bad to see few of them using violence at the end but the bottom line was it’s almost impossible to label all red-shirts protesters as terrorists.

Secondly, soldiers are usually very kind and nice to people, not just regular citizens, but red shirts as well. Michael confirmed that from what he saw the Thai Army had acted with restraint. Comparing the Bangkok protest to the US, he said the army would have swept such a mob out of New York within a week.

And this is a guy who suggested I buy tampons before we go out on Rama IV – so I have something to absorb my blood if I get shot.

This was just one of many tips, knowledge and attitude I learnt while on the street in Bangkok with him. From a guy who wasn’t biased toward the reds or yellows, just peace. And yes, I started to think I should be pro-peace as well.

<I>Noppatjak Attanon is a Nation TV journalist and news anchor. <P>

Tomorrow: Q and A with Michael Yon by Suthichai Yoon

News item courtesy of The Nation at www.nationmultimedia.com