Protesters attack the car of Niphon Promphan, secretary of prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, at the Interior Ministry in Bangkok (Photo: Getty Images)
Protesters on the rampage in Bangkok (Photo: Getty Images)Thai troops fire on protesters in Bangkok
The Thai army has renewed its offensive against hundreds of anti-government protesters who had taken control of large parts of Bangkok and forced the prime minister to declare a state of emergency.
13 Apr 2009
By Thomas Bell in Bangkok
The Telegraph (UK)
Witnesses on the scene in the capital said the army, which earlier used tear gas on the crowds, had started firing at the demonstrators, in an attempt to force them back and disperse them.
Reports said at least 70 people had been injured in the first wave of clashes.
The army stepped up its response after rioters set fire to a bus and hurled petrol bombs at soldiers. The troops were also using water cannons against the protesters.
An army spokesman said that violence broke out when soldiers trying to clear the Viphavadi-Rangsit thoroughfare were shot at by protesters before dawn, and had fired back.
Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd told a radio station that troops fired into the air first in response to tear gas and smoke bombs thrown at them by protesters but then fired real bullets.
Witnesses on the scene said fires blazed in the middle of the junction as protesters retreated into side streets.
Before the offensive began, the army had been mobilised and hospitals placed on standby for casualties.
For the last two weeks, protests demanding the resignation of Abhisit Vejjajiva, the British-born and Oxford-educated prime minister, have swept the capital.
The first clashes on Sunday took place at the interior ministry while Mr Abhisit was inside the building, formally declaring the state of emergency. Angry protesters – who wear red to show their anti-government credentials - attacked a Mercedes limousine with stones, bricks, paving slabs and flower pots, wrongly believing that Mr Abhisit was inside. Trapped, the armoured vehicle could only take this punishment, which abated when the crowd discovered that the prime minister was not in the passenger seat.
This incident sent rumours spreading across the city. Protest leaders outside Government House, Mr Abhisit's office, told thousands of their emotional followers that three demonstrators had been shot dead at the interior ministry.
If the false claim was a deliberate attempt to manipulate the protesters, it worked. The crowd was duly enraged. Shortly afterwards one of the prime minister's bodyguards was brought along in handcuffs.
His captors put a motorcycle helmet on his head to protect him, yet angry blows rained down as he was led through the crowd. His white collar was soon soaked with blood. When the helmet was removed, he seemed concussed from the assault. The protesters later gave him medical treatment.
Leaders of the demonstration outside Government House pledged to resist any attempt by the army or police to remove them, by force if necessary. Jakrapob Penkair, an opposition leader, described the state of emergency as a "declaration of war against the people of Thailand" and said: "We will be aggressively defending ourselves." He added: "People know the risks they are taking." Tanks and armoured cars rumbled through the streets as soldiers deployed at 50 sites around the capital.
Yet bands of red-shirted protesters roamed unopposed all over central Bangkok. They commandeered buses to block roads and even clambered over tanks and armoured cars, without any protest from the soldiers.
"It's total chaos. It is scary and the military are doing nothing. Who can guarantee our safety?" asked Martin Liu, a 36-year-old American tourist watching the scene.
The anti-government protesters are mostly followers of Thaksin Shinawatra, the deposed prime minister and former owner of Manchester City. The populist politician, with a power base among the poor, was deposed in a bloodless military coup in 2006.
Mr Thaksin and his followers claim the coup was a conspiracy of elite interests in the army, palace and bureaucracy to sabotage his challenge to Thailand's rigid social hierarchy.
But Mr Thaksin's many enemies believe he is corrupt, autocratic and unfit to rule. After his allies were re-elected at the end of 2007, thousands of "yellow shirt" protesters came onto the streets, causing months of chaos before that government was dissolved by a court.
The army then helped Mr Abhisit form the current coalition. The "red-shirts" claim his "illegitimate" government represents only the political elite. Mr Abhisit, who was educated at Eton and Oxford, insists that he stands for democracy.
"We can die for democracy," said one protester, who gave her name as Benjawan, a 50-year-old taxi driver. "If the children after us get full democracy, okay, we can die."
At Government House, protesters prepared wooden staves and petrol bombs to ward off an expected attack from the security forces.
Earlier, the atmosphere had often been convivial where lines of riot police met demonstrators. The two groups exchanged bags of surgical masks and impregnated cotton wool, designed to cope with the effects of tear gas.
The crisis came to a head on Saturday when protesters invaded a summit of Asian leaders, forcing some to flee by helicopter from the hotel roof and humiliating Mr Abhisit, who was chairing the gathering.
His dwindling authority has been even further tested by protesters who seem to have the run of Bangkok.
Suthep Thaugsuban, the deputy prime minister, appealed last night for police and soldiers to enforce the state of emergency. If and when that happens, the risk of bloodshed seems high.
The Thai army has renewed its offensive against hundreds of anti-government protesters who had taken control of large parts of Bangkok and forced the prime minister to declare a state of emergency.
13 Apr 2009
By Thomas Bell in Bangkok
The Telegraph (UK)
Witnesses on the scene in the capital said the army, which earlier used tear gas on the crowds, had started firing at the demonstrators, in an attempt to force them back and disperse them.
Reports said at least 70 people had been injured in the first wave of clashes.
The army stepped up its response after rioters set fire to a bus and hurled petrol bombs at soldiers. The troops were also using water cannons against the protesters.
An army spokesman said that violence broke out when soldiers trying to clear the Viphavadi-Rangsit thoroughfare were shot at by protesters before dawn, and had fired back.
Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd told a radio station that troops fired into the air first in response to tear gas and smoke bombs thrown at them by protesters but then fired real bullets.
Witnesses on the scene said fires blazed in the middle of the junction as protesters retreated into side streets.
Before the offensive began, the army had been mobilised and hospitals placed on standby for casualties.
For the last two weeks, protests demanding the resignation of Abhisit Vejjajiva, the British-born and Oxford-educated prime minister, have swept the capital.
The first clashes on Sunday took place at the interior ministry while Mr Abhisit was inside the building, formally declaring the state of emergency. Angry protesters – who wear red to show their anti-government credentials - attacked a Mercedes limousine with stones, bricks, paving slabs and flower pots, wrongly believing that Mr Abhisit was inside. Trapped, the armoured vehicle could only take this punishment, which abated when the crowd discovered that the prime minister was not in the passenger seat.
This incident sent rumours spreading across the city. Protest leaders outside Government House, Mr Abhisit's office, told thousands of their emotional followers that three demonstrators had been shot dead at the interior ministry.
If the false claim was a deliberate attempt to manipulate the protesters, it worked. The crowd was duly enraged. Shortly afterwards one of the prime minister's bodyguards was brought along in handcuffs.
His captors put a motorcycle helmet on his head to protect him, yet angry blows rained down as he was led through the crowd. His white collar was soon soaked with blood. When the helmet was removed, he seemed concussed from the assault. The protesters later gave him medical treatment.
Leaders of the demonstration outside Government House pledged to resist any attempt by the army or police to remove them, by force if necessary. Jakrapob Penkair, an opposition leader, described the state of emergency as a "declaration of war against the people of Thailand" and said: "We will be aggressively defending ourselves." He added: "People know the risks they are taking." Tanks and armoured cars rumbled through the streets as soldiers deployed at 50 sites around the capital.
Yet bands of red-shirted protesters roamed unopposed all over central Bangkok. They commandeered buses to block roads and even clambered over tanks and armoured cars, without any protest from the soldiers.
"It's total chaos. It is scary and the military are doing nothing. Who can guarantee our safety?" asked Martin Liu, a 36-year-old American tourist watching the scene.
The anti-government protesters are mostly followers of Thaksin Shinawatra, the deposed prime minister and former owner of Manchester City. The populist politician, with a power base among the poor, was deposed in a bloodless military coup in 2006.
Mr Thaksin and his followers claim the coup was a conspiracy of elite interests in the army, palace and bureaucracy to sabotage his challenge to Thailand's rigid social hierarchy.
But Mr Thaksin's many enemies believe he is corrupt, autocratic and unfit to rule. After his allies were re-elected at the end of 2007, thousands of "yellow shirt" protesters came onto the streets, causing months of chaos before that government was dissolved by a court.
The army then helped Mr Abhisit form the current coalition. The "red-shirts" claim his "illegitimate" government represents only the political elite. Mr Abhisit, who was educated at Eton and Oxford, insists that he stands for democracy.
"We can die for democracy," said one protester, who gave her name as Benjawan, a 50-year-old taxi driver. "If the children after us get full democracy, okay, we can die."
At Government House, protesters prepared wooden staves and petrol bombs to ward off an expected attack from the security forces.
Earlier, the atmosphere had often been convivial where lines of riot police met demonstrators. The two groups exchanged bags of surgical masks and impregnated cotton wool, designed to cope with the effects of tear gas.
The crisis came to a head on Saturday when protesters invaded a summit of Asian leaders, forcing some to flee by helicopter from the hotel roof and humiliating Mr Abhisit, who was chairing the gathering.
His dwindling authority has been even further tested by protesters who seem to have the run of Bangkok.
Suthep Thaugsuban, the deputy prime minister, appealed last night for police and soldiers to enforce the state of emergency. If and when that happens, the risk of bloodshed seems high.
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