1,000 police for Seh Daeng's funeral

21/06/2010
Bangkok Post

About 1,000 police will be deployed to provide security and help traffic flows around Wat Sommanatviharn in Pomprap Satruphai district where the royally sponsored funeral for Maj-Gen Khattiya Sawasdipol, better known as Seh Daeng, will be held on Tuesday, Metropolitan Police Division 1 commander Wichai Sangprapai said on Monday.

There will be 800 police from four anti-riot companies and another 200 from Nang Lerng and Chana Songkhram police stations.

Pol Maj-Gen Wichai said he expected at least 10,000 people to attend the funeral, including red-shirt supporters of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, Seh Daeng's former subordinates, opposition and government politicians, high-ranking police and soldiers.

It had not been decided whether inspection points would be set up for weapon checks, he said.

Maj-Gen Khattiya, who was the security chief for the UDD protest at Ratchaprasong, was shot in the head on May 13 while giving a press interview near the Sala Daeng intersection. He died on May 17.

Before the incident, Maj-Gen Khattiya had been suspended from duty as an army specialist for alleged misconduct after an army committee recommended he face criminal charges in a military court.

Maj Gen Khattiya's salary had also been suspended since Jan 4 after he was found to have offended and insulted army chief Gen Anupong Paojinda.

He also travelled to meet ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra once in Cambodia and again in Dubai without informing his superiors he was leaving the country, as required by miliary regulations.

He also led a group of about 200 former military rangers to work as security guards for the UDD and acted openly as the leader of the UDD's security team at the Ratchaprasong rally site.

Wounded rogue Thai general [Seh Daeng] dies as chaos continues [-Thai soldiers killed each other?]

In this May 1, 2010 file photo, Thai Maj. Gen. Khattiya Sawasdiphol, left, also known as 'Seh Daeng', a rogue commander for the anti-government 'Red Shirts' gathers with others during a dispute over a barricade near Chulalongkorn Hospital. According to Thai media sources Khattiya, who was shot by an unknown sniper five days ago, died of his wounds on Monday, May 17, 2010. (AP Photo/David Longstreath, File)

Monday, May 17, 2010
By CHRIS BLAKE
Associated Press

BANGKOK – A rogue Thai general who aided anti-government protesters and was shot by an unidentified sniper died Monday from his wounds, raising fears of new violence after five days of street battles that have killed 36 people in downtown Bangkok.

Thai news reports said that Maj. Gen. Khattiya Sawasdiphol, a renegade army officer accused of creating a paramilitary force for the Red Shirt protesters, died Monday of gunshot wounds. The death came five days after he was shot in the head by a sniper in downtown Bangkok while talking to journalists inside the perimeter of the protest zone.

Channel 9 television, Thai Rath newspaper and other media outlets reported Khattiya died in a hospital, where he was being treated since Thursday's attack.

The attack on Khattiya triggered widespread street fighting between anti-government protesters and the army in central Bangkok.

The Red Shirts have been protesting since mid-March demanding the immediate resignation of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, the dissolution of Parliament and new elections.

Anti-government unrest that has boiled over in downtown Bangkok spread Sunday to other areas of the capital. The Thai military has defended its use of force, and the government flatly rejected protesters' demands that the United Nations intercede to end the chaos.

Rapid gunfire and explosions echoed before dawn Monday outside luxury hotels bordering the barricaded protest zone, where the military has attempted to seal in thousands of demonstrators camping in the downtown streets. Guests at the upscale Dusit Thani hotel were rushed to the basement for safety.

Reporters at the scene said the gunfire came both from government forces and protesters holed up inside the encampment who appear to have stockpiled a sizeable arsenal of weapons.

Shot Thai general in coma

May 14, 2010
AFP

BANGKOK - THE renegade general fighting for his life after being shot in the head in Bangkok is a folk hero for the people of Thailand who has made it his mission to protect a sprawling protest site.

Major-General Khattiya Sawasdipol was unconscious in intensive care on Friday after being felled by a bullet as he gave an interview to journalists close next to the barricades of the Red Shirts' rally site.

Medics at the Bangkok hospital where he was being cared for said his chances of surviving were 'quite low'.

The army has denied shooting the fiery general, better known by his nickname 'Seh Daeng", but had warned it would be deploying snipers in the area as part of efforts to disperse the two-month-old protest.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has accused Seh Daeng of prolonging the street demonstrations and the 58-year-old had made no secret of the fact he opposed any reconciliation deal.

Seh Daeng, or 'Commander Red,' has been surrounded by knots of fans seeking his autograph and photo during his walks through the rally site, where vendors display his best-selling books about his jungle adventures.

The death toll from Thailand's worst political violence in nearly two decades, stood at 30 on Friday, with around 1,000 injured in a series of confrontations between the red-shirt movement and security forces.

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: General Seh Daeng

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Red Shirt leader after shooting

Maverick Thai general does the hand-grenade waltz

Fri 21 Nov 2008

BANGKOK (Reuters) - A maverick Thai general who has threatened to bomb anti-government protesters and drop snakes on them from helicopters has been reassigned as an aerobics teacher, the Bangkok Post said on Friday.

Major-general Khattiya Sawasdipol, a Rambo-esque anti-communist fighter more commonly known as Seh Daeng, reacted with disappointment to his new role as a military instructor promoting public fitness at marketplaces. "It is ridiculous to send me, a warrior, to dance at markets," he said, before launching an attack on his boss, army chief Anupong Paochinda. "The army chief wants me to be a presenter leading aerobics dancers. I have prepared one dance. It's called the 'throwing-a-hand-grenade' dance," he said.

Seh Daeng is something of a folk hero in Thailand on account of his reputed undercover exploits in Cambodia and Laos during the Cold War.

His predictions of grenade attacks against People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protesters occupying Government House made headlines last month, especially when they turned out to be correct.

One protester was killed and 23 wounded by a grenade blast on Thursday.

Seh Daeng has denied any involvement.

(Reporting by Ed Cropley; Editing by Darren Schuettler and Sanjeev Miglani)