The number of injured rises to 232 in four days of fighting as government troops attempt to break up the protesters' encampment in an upscale Bangkok shopping area.
May 16, 2010
By My-Thuan Tran and Mark Magnier
Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Bangkok, Thailand, and New Delhi
The toll in four days of streetfighting in Thailand's capital rose to 30 dead and 232 injured, authorities announced Sunday as the government set a deadline of Monday afternoon for protesters to vacate their encampment in a glitzy shopping district.
Troops continued to fire high-powered rifles from behind sandbags in the direction of the protest camp they had surrounded in a bid to contain anti-government demonstrators within a roughly 1-square-mile base in downtown Bangkok's Ratchaprasong district.
In response, "red-shirt" protesters — whose more militant members have wielded firebombs, rocks, homemade rockets and a few guns against the army and police — called on supporters to hang tough, offered to negotiate if the army ended its crackdown and appealed to the United Nations to help mediate.
"We cannot appeal to any organization in Thailand to provide justice … and safety for us," said Sean Boonpacong, a spokesman for the protesters, at a news conference.
The government on Sunday rejected any negotiations that included pre-conditions following talks last week that broke down after protest leaders upped the ante.
Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said Sunday there was no reason the army should withdraw since "authorities are not using weapons to crack down on civilians," only on "armed terrorists." He also urged red-shirted protesters, who have adopted the color as a virtual uniform, who are threatening security forces to "stop their actions immediately."
A plan to impose a curfew in a neighborhood known for its raucous nightlife was abandoned for "the moment," said Lt. Gen. Aksara Kerdphol, the army's assistant chief of staff. "We are still able to control the situation."
The red-shirt occupation since March of one of Bangkok's swankiest neighborhoods has been a disruption for businesses and embassies and interfered with shopping and transportation.
But a heavy downpour Sunday morning allowed both sides to catch their breath for a few hours, as protesters hung wet pants and T-shirts atop the barricades now ringing high-end hotels and shops. Others lined up for showers in makeshift facilities set up in front of a nearby shopping mall.
The demonstrators, mostly poor and made up of farmers or those of the working class, are demanding that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva resign immediately, dissolve parliament and call new elections. They say the government is illegitimate, came to power by manipulating the courts and by cozying up to the military and embodies an elite indifferent to the plight of the poor.
Analysts said indications were that hardliners had gained the upper hand within the government, and the army was ready to storm the protest area soon. Authorities had shut off power, water, food and some cellphone coverage to the area and repeatedly warned the ragtag group to disperse, with Monday declared a school holiday.
The siege is "slow but sure," said Paul Chambers, a research fellow at Germany's Heidelberg University. "It seems the government has now gotten the green light to go in."
Authorities also appeared intent on blocking any financial support the protesters might have been receiving from former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a telecommunications tycoon ousted by the army in 2006.
Thailand's National Security Council said Sunday it was monitoring 106 bank or stock accounts held by Thaksin's family members and business associates. If any were being used to fund anti-government protesters, they would be frozen, warned Tawil Pliensri, the council's secretary-general, adding that banks and other financial institutions had been barred from making any such transfers.
Officials Sunday also urged the Red Cross and other civic groups to assist protesters willing to leave. Col. Sansern Kaewkamnerd, a national emergency spokesman, said in a televised address that those who left would not face charges.
Some protesters appeared to take the advice. Dozens of tents standing under the elevated railway tracks Saturday had been packed up.
"I'm tired, I feel like I haven't slept for two months," said Wassana Kongkhogkua, 58, a papaya-salad seller from the northern city of Chiang Mai who had been in the protest camp since March. She pulled up her T-shirt to reveal rashes from sleeping on the ground in the rain.
"I want to go home," she said, before quickly adding that she still supported the cause and would consider returning soon.
Red-shirt leaders advised women and children inside the enclosed area to move into a nearby Buddhist temple, hoping this would offer some refuge against well-armed troops.
Analysts said protest leaders might escape the cordon and start demonstrations outside Bangkok, a concern the government apparently shared when it extended emergency rule Sunday to five more of Thailand's 76 provinces, bringing the total to 23.
A resistant core of red-shirt supporters inside the protest area remained defiant, however. Hundreds of people sat on plastic mats before a large stage Sunday listening to speaker after speaker urging them to maintain their resolve. A large sign proclaimed: "Peaceful protesters, not terrorists."
"I will be here until everything is fair and equal, and there are no double standards," said Walangkana Tina, 48, beside sacks of rice, eggplant and banana leaves. "We are not just sitting in air-conditioned rooms. We are sleeping in the middle of the sun and the rain.
"The government is not listening to us. If they were, this would be finished already."
my-thuan.tran@latimes.com, mark.magnier@latimes.com
May 16, 2010
By My-Thuan Tran and Mark Magnier
Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Bangkok, Thailand, and New Delhi
The toll in four days of streetfighting in Thailand's capital rose to 30 dead and 232 injured, authorities announced Sunday as the government set a deadline of Monday afternoon for protesters to vacate their encampment in a glitzy shopping district.
Troops continued to fire high-powered rifles from behind sandbags in the direction of the protest camp they had surrounded in a bid to contain anti-government demonstrators within a roughly 1-square-mile base in downtown Bangkok's Ratchaprasong district.
In response, "red-shirt" protesters — whose more militant members have wielded firebombs, rocks, homemade rockets and a few guns against the army and police — called on supporters to hang tough, offered to negotiate if the army ended its crackdown and appealed to the United Nations to help mediate.
"We cannot appeal to any organization in Thailand to provide justice … and safety for us," said Sean Boonpacong, a spokesman for the protesters, at a news conference.
The government on Sunday rejected any negotiations that included pre-conditions following talks last week that broke down after protest leaders upped the ante.
Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said Sunday there was no reason the army should withdraw since "authorities are not using weapons to crack down on civilians," only on "armed terrorists." He also urged red-shirted protesters, who have adopted the color as a virtual uniform, who are threatening security forces to "stop their actions immediately."
A plan to impose a curfew in a neighborhood known for its raucous nightlife was abandoned for "the moment," said Lt. Gen. Aksara Kerdphol, the army's assistant chief of staff. "We are still able to control the situation."
The red-shirt occupation since March of one of Bangkok's swankiest neighborhoods has been a disruption for businesses and embassies and interfered with shopping and transportation.
But a heavy downpour Sunday morning allowed both sides to catch their breath for a few hours, as protesters hung wet pants and T-shirts atop the barricades now ringing high-end hotels and shops. Others lined up for showers in makeshift facilities set up in front of a nearby shopping mall.
The demonstrators, mostly poor and made up of farmers or those of the working class, are demanding that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva resign immediately, dissolve parliament and call new elections. They say the government is illegitimate, came to power by manipulating the courts and by cozying up to the military and embodies an elite indifferent to the plight of the poor.
Analysts said indications were that hardliners had gained the upper hand within the government, and the army was ready to storm the protest area soon. Authorities had shut off power, water, food and some cellphone coverage to the area and repeatedly warned the ragtag group to disperse, with Monday declared a school holiday.
The siege is "slow but sure," said Paul Chambers, a research fellow at Germany's Heidelberg University. "It seems the government has now gotten the green light to go in."
Authorities also appeared intent on blocking any financial support the protesters might have been receiving from former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a telecommunications tycoon ousted by the army in 2006.
Thailand's National Security Council said Sunday it was monitoring 106 bank or stock accounts held by Thaksin's family members and business associates. If any were being used to fund anti-government protesters, they would be frozen, warned Tawil Pliensri, the council's secretary-general, adding that banks and other financial institutions had been barred from making any such transfers.
Officials Sunday also urged the Red Cross and other civic groups to assist protesters willing to leave. Col. Sansern Kaewkamnerd, a national emergency spokesman, said in a televised address that those who left would not face charges.
Some protesters appeared to take the advice. Dozens of tents standing under the elevated railway tracks Saturday had been packed up.
"I'm tired, I feel like I haven't slept for two months," said Wassana Kongkhogkua, 58, a papaya-salad seller from the northern city of Chiang Mai who had been in the protest camp since March. She pulled up her T-shirt to reveal rashes from sleeping on the ground in the rain.
"I want to go home," she said, before quickly adding that she still supported the cause and would consider returning soon.
Red-shirt leaders advised women and children inside the enclosed area to move into a nearby Buddhist temple, hoping this would offer some refuge against well-armed troops.
Analysts said protest leaders might escape the cordon and start demonstrations outside Bangkok, a concern the government apparently shared when it extended emergency rule Sunday to five more of Thailand's 76 provinces, bringing the total to 23.
A resistant core of red-shirt supporters inside the protest area remained defiant, however. Hundreds of people sat on plastic mats before a large stage Sunday listening to speaker after speaker urging them to maintain their resolve. A large sign proclaimed: "Peaceful protesters, not terrorists."
"I will be here until everything is fair and equal, and there are no double standards," said Walangkana Tina, 48, beside sacks of rice, eggplant and banana leaves. "We are not just sitting in air-conditioned rooms. We are sleeping in the middle of the sun and the rain.
"The government is not listening to us. If they were, this would be finished already."
my-thuan.tran@latimes.com, mark.magnier@latimes.com
7 comments:
This is only the first battle, and the fight is far from over. The whole Isaan will rise up to the challenge.
This is fare worst than Tiananmen. Why no voice have been rise against this massacre. Where are the human right watch american, british or french or all the world body...?
The West is behind the government and China secretly supports Siem-Rouge.
Anyone surprised ?
Thailand is good friend to the US; therefore, the US will not say anything. It is short of a double standard.
Thai king is not behind the red. The red must stand up on their own and win the fight for justice themselve.
thai and siam soldiers robbed, tortured, and killed many Khmer refugees during 1975-1991 by shooting their victims in their limbs leaving some partially lifeless. Them thai/siam crooks will get what they deserve as karma gradually takes effect on their country and people with crook's mentality.
let them kill themselves. good riddance to the thieves.
The situation is getting out of hand. The government should be able to come up with the best solution. Prayers work too. By the way, I would like to invite you to join and have your say about anything on this new Travel and Leisure Forum.You can even win the cash prize for the most number of referrals. See you there! Thanks.
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