Showing posts with label Red shirts demo breaking up. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Red shirts demo breaking up. Show all posts
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Khmer mercenaries among the Red Shirts: Did the Thais take too much "Yaba" to cook up this story?
Mop-up operation in Bangkok under way
Friday, May 21, 2010
CLIFFORD COONAN
Irish Times
The Thai government said it had mostly snuffed out 10 weeks of violent protests in the capital. However, burnt-out buildings dot the streets of the capital and finding your way around is difficult because of road blocks and occasional ramshackle barricades of spare tyres that still smoulder.
The government response has been restrained considering that the city centre has been occupied for 2½ months, but there are deeper problems to be dealt with. Many Thais believe the country is being polarised, and that the ultimate price could be civil war.
A curfew has been imposed from 9pm in Bangkok and in other provinces where unrest has been reported. It will be continued for the next three days. However, the streets are largely empty, as people stay close to home – no one quite believes this is over. Die-hard protesters are still to be found in the city, but the impetus behind the fight has largely gone.
There are differing reports of casualties, but the official toll from the fighting on Tuesday is 15 dead and 96 wounded. The total death toll since the occupation began is probably 83.
Large parts of Bangkok are scorched by insurrection, piles of tyres smoulder beyond razor-wire perimeters where police and soldiers still monitor comings and goings to make sure no fresh supplies of weapons reach the Red Shirt resistance.
The list of buildings hit by arson attacks reads like a tourist guide to the city. Some 39 buildings were set on fire on the day of the riots, including the stock exchange, the main electricity provider and various banks, including a branch of the Siam City Bank. Top tourist draws like the Central World mall, Center One, Siam Theatre and Big C Rajdamri were so badly damaged that they may have to be demolished.
Red Shirt leader Veera Musigapong pleaded for an end to the violence, saying the course the struggle was taking would not help the opposition’s interests. “Anger is destructive and the advancement of democracy can never happen by being angry and vengeful,” he told local media.
He insisted that the Red Shirts were patriots who loved their country’s institutions and wanted to support democracy by demanding the removal of prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s government and the holding of fresh elections.
Mr Veera was one of three more Red Shirt leaders who surrendered to authorities yesterday. Five leaders gave themselves up the day before and were flown to a military camp south of Bangkok for interrogation.
Once the Red Shirts stepped back yesterday, the violence that followed was carried out by a hardline faction, marked out by their black shirts.
On Tuesday, the violence appeared orchestrated, and many in Bangkok believe that ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was behind their actions. While Mr Thaksin is not loved in Bangkok – his power base is in northern Thailand – the exiled leader does have support among the urban poor in the capital.
Rumours swirl in the capital. Many say the Black Shirt hardcore rioters were made up of Khmer mercenaries from Cambodia. I witnessed one fighter with elaborate Khmer style tattoos on his neck and arms, but these are also popular in Thailand.
A group of police escorted more than 1,000 people – many of them women and children – away from a Buddhist temple in the heart of the former Red Shirt protest zone. Six bodies were found in its grounds. One woman died after an asthma attack during the melee.
Friday, May 21, 2010
CLIFFORD COONAN
Irish Times
Rumours swirl in the capital. Many say the Black Shirt hardcore rioters were made up of Khmer mercenaries from Cambodia. I witnessed one fighter with elaborate Khmer style tattoos on his neck and arms, but these are also popular in Thailand.AS TROOPS hunted down the remaining anti-government protesters, Bangkok’s citizens came out of their homes, where they had hidden for safety during Tuesday’s violence, and gasped at the damage done to their city.
The Thai government said it had mostly snuffed out 10 weeks of violent protests in the capital. However, burnt-out buildings dot the streets of the capital and finding your way around is difficult because of road blocks and occasional ramshackle barricades of spare tyres that still smoulder.
The government response has been restrained considering that the city centre has been occupied for 2½ months, but there are deeper problems to be dealt with. Many Thais believe the country is being polarised, and that the ultimate price could be civil war.
A curfew has been imposed from 9pm in Bangkok and in other provinces where unrest has been reported. It will be continued for the next three days. However, the streets are largely empty, as people stay close to home – no one quite believes this is over. Die-hard protesters are still to be found in the city, but the impetus behind the fight has largely gone.
There are differing reports of casualties, but the official toll from the fighting on Tuesday is 15 dead and 96 wounded. The total death toll since the occupation began is probably 83.
Large parts of Bangkok are scorched by insurrection, piles of tyres smoulder beyond razor-wire perimeters where police and soldiers still monitor comings and goings to make sure no fresh supplies of weapons reach the Red Shirt resistance.
The list of buildings hit by arson attacks reads like a tourist guide to the city. Some 39 buildings were set on fire on the day of the riots, including the stock exchange, the main electricity provider and various banks, including a branch of the Siam City Bank. Top tourist draws like the Central World mall, Center One, Siam Theatre and Big C Rajdamri were so badly damaged that they may have to be demolished.
Red Shirt leader Veera Musigapong pleaded for an end to the violence, saying the course the struggle was taking would not help the opposition’s interests. “Anger is destructive and the advancement of democracy can never happen by being angry and vengeful,” he told local media.
He insisted that the Red Shirts were patriots who loved their country’s institutions and wanted to support democracy by demanding the removal of prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s government and the holding of fresh elections.
Mr Veera was one of three more Red Shirt leaders who surrendered to authorities yesterday. Five leaders gave themselves up the day before and were flown to a military camp south of Bangkok for interrogation.
Once the Red Shirts stepped back yesterday, the violence that followed was carried out by a hardline faction, marked out by their black shirts.
On Tuesday, the violence appeared orchestrated, and many in Bangkok believe that ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was behind their actions. While Mr Thaksin is not loved in Bangkok – his power base is in northern Thailand – the exiled leader does have support among the urban poor in the capital.
Rumours swirl in the capital. Many say the Black Shirt hardcore rioters were made up of Khmer mercenaries from Cambodia. I witnessed one fighter with elaborate Khmer style tattoos on his neck and arms, but these are also popular in Thailand.
A group of police escorted more than 1,000 people – many of them women and children – away from a Buddhist temple in the heart of the former Red Shirt protest zone. Six bodies were found in its grounds. One woman died after an asthma attack during the melee.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Thailand Weary, Divided After Military Crackdown On Red Shirt Protesters
A monk drags a chair with his belongings past the burnt out Central World shopping mall in Bangkok, 20 May 2010 (Photo: AP)Brian Padden, VOA
Bangkok 21 May 2010
Bangkok is now recovering from 10 weeks of anti-government demonstrations that shut down much of the city. The Thai army removed the protesters by force Wednesday, in a military operation that left at least seven people dead and 88 wounded. While the government arrested most of the protest leaders, the divisions in Thai society that help create the protest movement remain.
An estimated 5,000 protesters, known as the "Red Shirts," occupied a three square kilometer area of Bangkok's business district for two months. Their leaders said they were a non-violent democracy movement representing poor and rural people.
But Naruemon Chabchumpon, Political Science Director at Chulalongkorn University, says the Red Shirts organization damaged its public image by its actions. For example, the leaders escalated their original demands for new elections to include arresting some Thai government officials, she said.
"Their demand is asking for early election and then the government proposed like a November election and they accept in the beginning, and at the end they are changing their demand every day," said Chabchumpon. "At that time I think the public in Bangkok feel that, start to wonder, what is their real demand."
When the military finally moved in to disperse the protesters they encountered armed resistance. Protesters shot at advancing soldiers and set buildings ablaze. The violence and destruction further alienated many in the city. Now, the camp is being dismantled and the area swept clean.
But Thai society remains divided.
Chabchumpon says to prevent unrest from reoccurring, the government needs to hold new elections and direct more economic assistance to the rural areas.
"In terms of the economic policy I think Thailand might have to start thinking about welfare state, to put more welfare to the rural areas because right now the rural people might feel that most of the budget go so much for urbanization," Chabchumpon said.
She adds, without political reconciliation, life in Thailand will never really return to normal.
An estimated 5,000 protesters, known as the "Red Shirts," occupied a three square kilometer area of Bangkok's business district for two months. Their leaders said they were a non-violent democracy movement representing poor and rural people.
But Naruemon Chabchumpon, Political Science Director at Chulalongkorn University, says the Red Shirts organization damaged its public image by its actions. For example, the leaders escalated their original demands for new elections to include arresting some Thai government officials, she said.
"Their demand is asking for early election and then the government proposed like a November election and they accept in the beginning, and at the end they are changing their demand every day," said Chabchumpon. "At that time I think the public in Bangkok feel that, start to wonder, what is their real demand."
When the military finally moved in to disperse the protesters they encountered armed resistance. Protesters shot at advancing soldiers and set buildings ablaze. The violence and destruction further alienated many in the city. Now, the camp is being dismantled and the area swept clean.
But Thai society remains divided.
Chabchumpon says to prevent unrest from reoccurring, the government needs to hold new elections and direct more economic assistance to the rural areas.
"In terms of the economic policy I think Thailand might have to start thinking about welfare state, to put more welfare to the rural areas because right now the rural people might feel that most of the budget go so much for urbanization," Chabchumpon said.
She adds, without political reconciliation, life in Thailand will never really return to normal.
Thailand's leaders face $1.2 billion repair bill
Thailand's leaders appealed for national reconciliation with opposition protesters yesterday as the government faced an estimated $1.2 billion (£840 million) bill to restore Bangkok's shattered city centre.
21 May 2010
Damien McElroy In Bangkok
Telegraph (UK)
Indirect losses to the Thai economy would be many times more the cost of rebuilding and restoring services in central Bangkok and other battle scared sites. Lost tourism receipts and a drop off in foreign investment are certain to be the knock-on consequences of the country's worst political upheaval in decades.
Abhisit Vejjajiva, the prime minister, reached out to Red Shirt sympathisers after the opposition movement was driven out of a Bangkok stronghold by the army.
"Fellow citizens, we all live in the same house. Now, our house has been damaged. We have to help each other," he said.
"We can certainly repair damaged infrastructure and buildings, but the important thing is to heal the emotional wounds and restore unity among the Thai people."
G4S, the global security firm, warned the Red Shirts, who have demanded fresh elections and the return of Thaksin Shinawatra, the exiled prime minister, would re-emerge in a different form. "There are elements within the (Red Shirts) that believe political change can only be achieved through radical means," it said. "The country is still far from ending this crisis."
A British man who was filmed apparently taking part in opposition rallies and calling for buildings to be burnt to the ground, yesterday denied that he had carried out acts of arson.
Jeff Savage, 48, an NHS worker from London, admitted he was present when ringleaders decided to burn down a television station. The blaze trapped 100 people.
Thai police said Mr Savage, who has a Thai wife, was wanted for questioning and could face the death penalty.
With calm restored by the army crackdown, the economic impact of two months of demonstrations and subsequent riots, was revealed. Officials said restoring the 35 burnt buildings alone would cost $1.2 billion.
Korn Chatikavanij, the Finance Minister, told Asian leaders in Tokyo that tourism generated as much as a fifth of all Thai jobs. The news from Thailand would have a "disastrous" effect on arrival numbers, which were already 30 per cent lower since the start of the year.
He said: "With the events that took place over the past several weeks, and the pictures of these events flashing across TV screens across the world, it is going to have a very disastrous impact on tourism."
Thailand's exports based economy has proved remarkably resilient through the crisis and, until the latest events, growth was projected at more than 5 per cent. Mr Korn said that figure would now fall short but said he still expected some growth.
Even so the impact of the crisis was bound to cost more than the disastrous 2004 Tsunami, which wiped out a string of prominent resorts, including Phuket.
Sukumbhan Paribatra, Bangkok's governor declared that seven capital districts as disaster zones in the wake of the protests.
No foreign investor has pulled out of Thailand in the wake of the disruption but the British bank Standard Chartered, which announced thousands of new jobs across Asia yesterday, left Thailand off its expansion list and said it could not predict the future outlook.
Businessmen who stood helpless as looters and arsonists destroyed their livelihoods said employees would be laid-off.
"I have nothing left. I have to wait for assistance from the government," said Wanchai Lertsanehwong in the ruins of his clothes shop in a burned out cinema complex. "I feel very sad about what happened. It was the worst violence I've ever seen."
21 May 2010
Damien McElroy In Bangkok
Telegraph (UK)
Indirect losses to the Thai economy would be many times more the cost of rebuilding and restoring services in central Bangkok and other battle scared sites. Lost tourism receipts and a drop off in foreign investment are certain to be the knock-on consequences of the country's worst political upheaval in decades.
Abhisit Vejjajiva, the prime minister, reached out to Red Shirt sympathisers after the opposition movement was driven out of a Bangkok stronghold by the army.
"Fellow citizens, we all live in the same house. Now, our house has been damaged. We have to help each other," he said.
"We can certainly repair damaged infrastructure and buildings, but the important thing is to heal the emotional wounds and restore unity among the Thai people."
G4S, the global security firm, warned the Red Shirts, who have demanded fresh elections and the return of Thaksin Shinawatra, the exiled prime minister, would re-emerge in a different form. "There are elements within the (Red Shirts) that believe political change can only be achieved through radical means," it said. "The country is still far from ending this crisis."
A British man who was filmed apparently taking part in opposition rallies and calling for buildings to be burnt to the ground, yesterday denied that he had carried out acts of arson.
Jeff Savage, 48, an NHS worker from London, admitted he was present when ringleaders decided to burn down a television station. The blaze trapped 100 people.
Thai police said Mr Savage, who has a Thai wife, was wanted for questioning and could face the death penalty.
With calm restored by the army crackdown, the economic impact of two months of demonstrations and subsequent riots, was revealed. Officials said restoring the 35 burnt buildings alone would cost $1.2 billion.
Korn Chatikavanij, the Finance Minister, told Asian leaders in Tokyo that tourism generated as much as a fifth of all Thai jobs. The news from Thailand would have a "disastrous" effect on arrival numbers, which were already 30 per cent lower since the start of the year.
He said: "With the events that took place over the past several weeks, and the pictures of these events flashing across TV screens across the world, it is going to have a very disastrous impact on tourism."
Thailand's exports based economy has proved remarkably resilient through the crisis and, until the latest events, growth was projected at more than 5 per cent. Mr Korn said that figure would now fall short but said he still expected some growth.
Even so the impact of the crisis was bound to cost more than the disastrous 2004 Tsunami, which wiped out a string of prominent resorts, including Phuket.
Sukumbhan Paribatra, Bangkok's governor declared that seven capital districts as disaster zones in the wake of the protests.
No foreign investor has pulled out of Thailand in the wake of the disruption but the British bank Standard Chartered, which announced thousands of new jobs across Asia yesterday, left Thailand off its expansion list and said it could not predict the future outlook.
Businessmen who stood helpless as looters and arsonists destroyed their livelihoods said employees would be laid-off.
"I have nothing left. I have to wait for assistance from the government," said Wanchai Lertsanehwong in the ruins of his clothes shop in a burned out cinema complex. "I feel very sad about what happened. It was the worst violence I've ever seen."
Friday, May 21, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Uneasy peace in Thailand, uncertainties lie ahead
- Curfew extended for 3 days
- Unrest could cost Thai economy $3 billion - source (Adds scattered unrest in northern Bangkok area)
BANGKOK, May 20 (Reuters) - Thai authorities restored order over most of Bangkok on Thursday but the peace looked fragile, a day after rioting and fires that veered towards anarchy as troops took control of a camp occupied by anti-government protesters.
Thousands of the mostly rural and urban poor "red shirt" protesters had deserted their once-barricaded rally site in central Bangkok, but the tough crackdown and bloodshed raised fears of deepening anger among Thailand's underclasses.
Modern Thailand has never seen such a protracted period of urban violence, deadly riots, clashes and widespread destruction, and has never teetered so close to full civil conflict.
"Thailand has become a nation deeply divided, and although talk of a civil war may still be premature, there is a high risk that civil unrest and political violence will not be contained," said Danny Richards, analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit.
The crackdown that began before dawn on Wednesday morning killed 15 people and wounded nearly 100. About 1,500 protesters took refuge in a temple, where six bodies were found on Thursday. Hundreds who remained inside were coaxed out by police.
Dozens of buildings were torched, including many banks, the stock exchange and Southeast Asia's second-biggest department store. By morning, the worse was over. The protesters were gone.
Some unrest continued in the Din Daeng area, scene of intense fighting last weekend. Dozens of protesters burned tyres and set a bank building ablaze. Troops fired warning shots. But compared to recent fighting, the area was remarkably tame.
Political analysts say the next step is up to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who some say will forever be tarnished by overseeing military operations in which 82 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since April 10.
Nearly 1,800 people have been wounded in the period as the government, backed by Thailand's royalist establishment, and the protesters with their support from the rural masses and ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, failed to find common ground.
"He is more than tarnished," Michael Montesano of Singapore's Institute of Southeast Asian Studies said of the British-born, Oxford-educated Abhisit.
"All extenuating circumstances notwithstanding, he will always be recalled as the man whose miscalculated incursion led to a burning Bangkok."
Troops have now established control of Bangkok and the protest encampment occupied since April 3, but at great cost.
Checkpoints of armed troops form a 6 sq-km (2.3 sq-mile) cordon in Bangkok, a city of 15 million known for its raucous nightlife but now reduced to smouldering fires, scarred streets, and 9 p.m. night curfews.
"The question is: how long do troops have to be deployed on this level in the city? The anger is still simmering," said Tanet Charoengmuang, a political scientist at Chiang Mai University.
The red shirts want fresh elections, saying Abhisit lacks a popular mandate after coming to power in a controversial parliamentary vote in 2008 with tacit military support. Abhisit last week withdrew an offer of fresh elections.
Analysts say regardless of the outcome, the violence marked a turning point in a country where the richest 20 percent of the population earn about 55 percent of the income while the poorest fifth get 4 percent, according to the World Bank.
But protest leaders, now detained, called for calm.
"Democracy cannot be built on revenge and anger," Veera Musikapong, chairman of the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, known as the red shirts, said in a televised statement while in custody, calling on protesters to go home.
RURAL UNREST
Thailand's unifying figure, revered 82-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej, has not publicly commented on the current bout of turmoil in the kingdom, after defusing previous crises during his 63 years on the throne -- including the last political riots in Bangkok -- on the same date 18 years ago.
The king has been in hospital since Sept. 19.
The unrest has hammered Thailand's lucrative tourism industry, which supports six percent of Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy and employs 15 percent of Thailand's workforce directly or indirectly.
A source at state planning agency National Economic and Social Development Board said the economic impact of nine weeks of political turmoil and rioting would easily cost $3 billion, or about one percentage point of gross domestic product.
A curfew in Bangkok and 23 provinces was extended for another three nights, raising questions about whether authorities feared more unrest in a country where the ranks of the military and the police are split along the same socio-economic fault lines dividing protesters from the government and its affluent backers.
The rioting spread to north and northeast provinces, a red-shirt stronghold and home to just over half of Thailand's 67 million people. But trouble spots were quiet on Thursday and protest leaders urged calm.
Army spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said about 13,000 people were still "actively waiting to riot and perpetrate illegal acts" in provinces under a state of emergency.
In Bangkok, fires at 39 sites still smouldered but most had been extinguished. Central World, Southeast Asia's second-biggest department store and a symbol of wealth, was destroyed. Many of its supporting steel beams had collapsed.
"WOUNDED HEARTS AND MINDS"
The protesters' tented encampment in the heart of Bangkok's commercial district -- an area lined with luxury hotels and shopping plazas -- was strewn with rubbish, clothing and the smell of refuse and human waste. Troops roamed the area and some were positioned on an overhead subway system.
There were no signs of clashes.
Groups of soldiers sat on a sidewalk near the twisted wreckage of trucks that had been packed with explosives and blown up at barricades overnight. They looked relaxed in contrast to the tension of recent days, smiling at journalists.
Ten journalists have been shot in six days of violence, including an Italian cameraman killed on Wednesday.
The surrender of key protest leaders on Wednesday and a seeming end for now to violence that has killed at least 53 people and wounded more than 400 in six days could put the focus back on early elections and a "reconciliation roadmap" the prime minister had proposed before the latest bout of violence.
"We can immediately fix the roads but we do not know how long it will take to fix the wounded hearts and minds of the people," Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra told local television.
(Additional reporting by Damir Sagolj, Nopporn Wong-Anan and Vithoon Amorn; Writing by Jason Szep; Editing by Bill Tarrant)
Thai troops move against pockets of resistance
Flames rise from the burning City Hall which was set on fire by Red Shirt protesters following a crackdown by the troops in Ubon Ratchathani.Image Credit: EPAMilitary forces used the curfew to continue mopping up red shirt resistance after a day of bloody clashes
May 20, 2010
By Mick O'Reilly, Deputy Managing Editor
Gulf News
Bangkok: Residents of this city of 10 million emerged from a night of curfew to a city of burned buildings, charred streets and broken dreams.
The Thai government ordered a blanket curfew Wednesday night which ended Thursday at 6am local time (3am in Dubai)
Buildings are smoldering across central Bangkok and troops are exchanging sporadic fire with pockets of holdouts a day after the army routed anti-government protesters.
On Thursday morning, troops in the central business district, occupied by protesters for weeks, exchanged fire with holdouts as locals in the area looted a vast tent city the activists had cobbled together.
Military forces used the curfew to continue mopping up red shirt resistance after a day of bloody clashes between the two sides which left at least four confirmed dead and hundreds more injured.
A heavy police and military cordon of razor wire and checkpoints rings the central downtown core.
Every one entering the zone had their identification check and their vehicles searched.
The red shirt encampment had brought the heart of Bangkok to a standstill since March as thousands of mostly rural and poor urban Thais demanded the resignation of the Thai government.
Thursday morning, minutes after curfew lifted, the area was abandoned, tyre barricades pushed aside, makeshift shelters crushed and meals left unfinished as the protesters fled the military's assault, which began at dawn on Wednesday.
It will take this city months to recover from the physical damage this, the worst outbreak of political violence in the kingdom's history, inflicted.
May 20, 2010
By Mick O'Reilly, Deputy Managing Editor
Gulf News
Bangkok: Residents of this city of 10 million emerged from a night of curfew to a city of burned buildings, charred streets and broken dreams.
The Thai government ordered a blanket curfew Wednesday night which ended Thursday at 6am local time (3am in Dubai)
Buildings are smoldering across central Bangkok and troops are exchanging sporadic fire with pockets of holdouts a day after the army routed anti-government protesters.
On Thursday morning, troops in the central business district, occupied by protesters for weeks, exchanged fire with holdouts as locals in the area looted a vast tent city the activists had cobbled together.
Military forces used the curfew to continue mopping up red shirt resistance after a day of bloody clashes between the two sides which left at least four confirmed dead and hundreds more injured.
A heavy police and military cordon of razor wire and checkpoints rings the central downtown core.
Every one entering the zone had their identification check and their vehicles searched.
The red shirt encampment had brought the heart of Bangkok to a standstill since March as thousands of mostly rural and poor urban Thais demanded the resignation of the Thai government.
Thursday morning, minutes after curfew lifted, the area was abandoned, tyre barricades pushed aside, makeshift shelters crushed and meals left unfinished as the protesters fled the military's assault, which began at dawn on Wednesday.
It will take this city months to recover from the physical damage this, the worst outbreak of political violence in the kingdom's history, inflicted.
[Bangkok] Rioters burn 27 buildings
19/05/2010
Bangkok Post
Bangkok Post
Rioters have set fire to 27 buildings around Bangkok during the day, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration announced at 9pm on Wednesday.
Some of the buildings are:
1. The area on Rama I Road around Paragon shopping mall and Siam Square. Siam Theatre was completely gutted.
2. Parts of Centara Grand Hotel at Ratchaprasong
3. Parts of the Stock Exchange of Thailand building on Witthayu Road
4. Mahathun building on Ploenchit Road
5. Bangkok Bank and Krung Thai Bank Asok branches
6. Parts of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board and a nearby 7-Eleven convenience store in Din Daeng area
7. Bangkok Bank and Government Savings Bank Din Daeng branches
8. Maleenont Building on Rana IV Road which houses Channel 3 television station
9. Bangkok Bank's Rama IV branch and Tesco Lotus superstore on Rama IV Road
10. The Metropolitan Electricity Authority in Klong Toey
11. Central World shopping mall
12. Bangkok Bank's Victory Monument branch
13. Century Park hotel in Din Daeng area
14. Center One shopping mall around Victory Monument
Some of the buildings are:
1. The area on Rama I Road around Paragon shopping mall and Siam Square. Siam Theatre was completely gutted.
2. Parts of Centara Grand Hotel at Ratchaprasong
3. Parts of the Stock Exchange of Thailand building on Witthayu Road
4. Mahathun building on Ploenchit Road
5. Bangkok Bank and Krung Thai Bank Asok branches
6. Parts of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board and a nearby 7-Eleven convenience store in Din Daeng area
7. Bangkok Bank and Government Savings Bank Din Daeng branches
8. Maleenont Building on Rana IV Road which houses Channel 3 television station
9. Bangkok Bank's Rama IV branch and Tesco Lotus superstore on Rama IV Road
10. The Metropolitan Electricity Authority in Klong Toey
11. Central World shopping mall
12. Bangkok Bank's Victory Monument branch
13. Century Park hotel in Din Daeng area
14. Center One shopping mall around Victory Monument
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Thai gov't forces crush protests
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Thai protest chiefs cave, but violence spreads
Thai army soldiers stand guard over blindfolded detainees during an operation to evict anti-government Red Shirt protesters from their encampment in Bangkok on Wednesday. (Damir Sagolj / Reuters)Leaders’ surrender fails to quell unrest after troops storm encampment
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
MSNBC
BANGKOK - Anti-government protest leaders in Thailand surrendered to police on Wednesday after troops stormed their encampment, sparking clashes that killed at least six people and injured 60.
As violence rocked the city, a night curfew was imposed, the first one declared in the Thai capital since 1992, when the army killed dozens of pro-democracy demonstrators seeking the ouster of a military-backed government.
On Wednesday, Thai soldiers made an early morning advance on an area occupied for more than six weeks by thousands of "red shirt" demonstrators in Bangkok's commercial heart.
As the soldiers surrounded the main protest site, top protest leaders offered to surrender as supporters urged them to fight on, with many screaming and crying as gunfire rang out nearby.
Moments later, live television showed four "red shirt" protest leaders in police custody and an army spokesman said in a television broadcast the protest site was under army control and the military had halted operations.
But that didn't stop the unrest after six days of chaotic street fighting between protesters and troops that descended into urban warfare, killing 39 people and wounded 329.
Three grenades exploded outside the main protest site. Rioting was seen in various areas across the city as protesters lit fires and burned tires. A TV station and the Stock Exchange of Thailand were among buildings reportedly set ablaze by Red Shirts. Some hotels set up wooden barricades.
Violence spreads
The unrest also spread to northeast Thailand, a red shirt stronghold, where protesters stormed a town hall complex in the city of Udon Thani, setting a building ablaze, and torched a second town hall in Khon Kaen.
Three journalists were among 50 people wounded and one Western journalist, identified as an Italian, was killed.
Troops and armored vehicles broke through the protesters' 10 foot barricades of tires and bamboo, and fired tear gas and automatic rifle-fire at the protesters.
Two bodies were found on Ratchadamri Road, which leads to the main protest site after troops followed the army vehicle into the encampment, a Reuters witness said. They appeared to have been shot. The "red shirts" fired back, witnesses said.
Urban warfare
Protesters ignited walls of tires as the troops arrived, causing thick black smoke to billow high over skyscrapers and hiding thousands of demonstrators who have occupied the heart of Bangkok's commercial district for more than six weeks.
The mostly rural and urban poor protestors broadly support former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a graft-convicted populist billionaire ousted in a 2006 coup and living in self-imposed exile to avoid jail.
Thaksin raised the specter of insurrection in a telephone interview with Reuters on Wednesday. "There is a theory saying a military crackdown can spread resentment and these resentful people will become guerrillas," he said, but declined to say where he was speaking from.
He denied an accusation by a top aide of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva that he was the stumbling block for failed talks between the government and the "red shirt" leaders.
The military offensive came a day after the collapse of a proposal for talks aimed at ending five days of chaotic street fighting that descended into urban warfare that killed 39 people and wounded more than 300.
Several buildings were on fire on the periphery of the protest encampment, and tires were set ablaze are various other spots in the city of 15 million people and a popular tourist destination.
As violence rocked the city, a night curfew was imposed, the first one declared in the Thai capital since 1992, when the army killed dozens of pro-democracy demonstrators seeking the ouster of a military-backed government.
On Wednesday, Thai soldiers made an early morning advance on an area occupied for more than six weeks by thousands of "red shirt" demonstrators in Bangkok's commercial heart.
As the soldiers surrounded the main protest site, top protest leaders offered to surrender as supporters urged them to fight on, with many screaming and crying as gunfire rang out nearby.
Moments later, live television showed four "red shirt" protest leaders in police custody and an army spokesman said in a television broadcast the protest site was under army control and the military had halted operations.
But that didn't stop the unrest after six days of chaotic street fighting between protesters and troops that descended into urban warfare, killing 39 people and wounded 329.
Three grenades exploded outside the main protest site. Rioting was seen in various areas across the city as protesters lit fires and burned tires. A TV station and the Stock Exchange of Thailand were among buildings reportedly set ablaze by Red Shirts. Some hotels set up wooden barricades.
Violence spreads
The unrest also spread to northeast Thailand, a red shirt stronghold, where protesters stormed a town hall complex in the city of Udon Thani, setting a building ablaze, and torched a second town hall in Khon Kaen.
Three journalists were among 50 people wounded and one Western journalist, identified as an Italian, was killed.
Troops and armored vehicles broke through the protesters' 10 foot barricades of tires and bamboo, and fired tear gas and automatic rifle-fire at the protesters.
Two bodies were found on Ratchadamri Road, which leads to the main protest site after troops followed the army vehicle into the encampment, a Reuters witness said. They appeared to have been shot. The "red shirts" fired back, witnesses said.
Urban warfare
Protesters ignited walls of tires as the troops arrived, causing thick black smoke to billow high over skyscrapers and hiding thousands of demonstrators who have occupied the heart of Bangkok's commercial district for more than six weeks.
The mostly rural and urban poor protestors broadly support former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a graft-convicted populist billionaire ousted in a 2006 coup and living in self-imposed exile to avoid jail.
Thaksin raised the specter of insurrection in a telephone interview with Reuters on Wednesday. "There is a theory saying a military crackdown can spread resentment and these resentful people will become guerrillas," he said, but declined to say where he was speaking from.
He denied an accusation by a top aide of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva that he was the stumbling block for failed talks between the government and the "red shirt" leaders.
The military offensive came a day after the collapse of a proposal for talks aimed at ending five days of chaotic street fighting that descended into urban warfare that killed 39 people and wounded more than 300.
Several buildings were on fire on the periphery of the protest encampment, and tires were set ablaze are various other spots in the city of 15 million people and a popular tourist destination.
Riots erupt after Thai protest leaders surrender
Smoke rises from from buildings in front of the Red Shirts anti-government protestors camp in Bangkok on May 19, 2010. Hundreds of police and army, backed by armoured vehicles, are converging on the perimeter of an anti-government protest camp in Bangkok.Photograph by: Manan Vatsyayana, AFP/Getty ImagesMay 19, 2010
By Adrees Latif and Damir Sagolj
Reuters
BANGKOK — Rioting and fires swept Bangkok on Wednesday after troops stormed a protest encampment, forcing protest leaders to surrender, but sparking clashes that killed at least four people and triggered unrest in northern Thailand.
Protesters torched five buildings, including the Thai stock exchange and Central World, Southeast Asia's second-biggest department store complex, and attacked local Channel 3 television station as riots spread across the city of 15 million people.
Power was lost in typically bustling Sukhumvit Road district, an area packed with tourists and high-end residential complexes, just hours after the army said the situation involving thousands of anti-government protesters was under control.
The chaos followed a military operation in the morning in which troops in armoured vehicles and firing semi-automatic weapons advanced on an area occupied for more than six weeks by thousands of the "red shirt" demonstrators.
As they surrounded the main protest site, top protest leaders offered to surrender, as supporters urged them to fight on, many screaming and crying as gun fire rang out nearby.
Moments later, live television showed four "red shirt" protest leaders in police custody and an army spokesman said in a televison broadcast the protest site was under army control and the military had halted operations.
But that didn't stop the unrest after six days of chaotic street fighting between protesters and troops that descended into urban warfare, killing 39 people and wounded 329.
Minutes after they surrendered, three grenades exploded outside the main protest site, badly wounding two soldiers and a foreign journalist, a Reuters witness said. Rioting was seen in five areas of the city as protesters lit fires and burned tires. Some hotels set up wooden barricades.
Several media organisations including The Bangkok Post and The Nation newspapers evacuated their office after a threat from protesters accusing them of biased reporting.
CURFEW
A curfew might be imposed in Bangkok to help restore order, the country's defence minister told reporters.
Violence also spread to northeast Thailand, a red shirt stronghold, where protesters stormed a town hall complex in the city of Udon Thani, setting a building ablaze, and torched a second town hall in Khon Kaen.
Three journalists were among 50 people wounded and one Western journalist, identified as an Italian, was killed.
Troops and armoured vehicles broke through the protesters' three-metre-high (10 feet) barricades of tires and bamboo, and fired tear gas and automatic rifle-fire at the protesters.
Two bodies were found on Ratchadamri Road, which leads to the main protest site after troops followed the army vehicle into the encampment, a Reuters witness said. They appeared to have been shot. The "red shirts" fired back, witnesses said.
Protesters ignited walls of tires as the troops arrived, causing thick black smoke to billow high over skyscrapers and hiding thousands of demonstrators who have occupied the heart of Bangkok's commercial district for more than six weeks.
The mostly rural and urban poor protesters broadly support former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a graft-convicted populist billionaire ousted in a 2006 coup and living in self-imposed exile to avoid jail.
Thaksin raised the spectre of insurrection in a telephone interview with Reuters on Wednesday. "There is a theory saying a military crackdown can spread resentment and these resentful people will become guerrillas," he said, but declined to say where he was speaking from.
He denied an accusation by a top aide of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva that he was the stumbling block for failed talks between the government and the "red shirt" leaders.
The military offensive came a day after the collapse of a proposal for talks aimed at ending five days of chaotic street fighting that descended into urban warfare that killed 39 people and wounded more than 300.
Several buildings were on fire on the periphery of the protest encampment, and tires were set ablaze are various other spots in the city of 15 million people and a popular tourist destination.
The red shirts accuse the British-born, Oxford-educated Abhisit of lacking a popular mandate after coming to power in a controversial parliamentary vote in 2008 with tacit backing from the military. They have demanded immediate elections.
Troops over the past few days had thrown a cordon around the protest site, a "tent city" at the Rachaprasong intersection, paralyzing the heart of Bangkok. Hundreds of women and children have taken refuge in a temple inside the protest area.
Protesters have stockpiled food, water, and supplies in the encampment since Thursday when the assassination of a major-general allied to the red shirts, and an army operation to pressure them, sparked the latest wave of violence that has killed 68 people and wounded more than 1,700 since the demonstrations began in mid-March.
Protesters torched five buildings, including the Thai stock exchange and Central World, Southeast Asia's second-biggest department store complex, and attacked local Channel 3 television station as riots spread across the city of 15 million people.
Power was lost in typically bustling Sukhumvit Road district, an area packed with tourists and high-end residential complexes, just hours after the army said the situation involving thousands of anti-government protesters was under control.
The chaos followed a military operation in the morning in which troops in armoured vehicles and firing semi-automatic weapons advanced on an area occupied for more than six weeks by thousands of the "red shirt" demonstrators.
As they surrounded the main protest site, top protest leaders offered to surrender, as supporters urged them to fight on, many screaming and crying as gun fire rang out nearby.
Moments later, live television showed four "red shirt" protest leaders in police custody and an army spokesman said in a televison broadcast the protest site was under army control and the military had halted operations.
But that didn't stop the unrest after six days of chaotic street fighting between protesters and troops that descended into urban warfare, killing 39 people and wounded 329.
Minutes after they surrendered, three grenades exploded outside the main protest site, badly wounding two soldiers and a foreign journalist, a Reuters witness said. Rioting was seen in five areas of the city as protesters lit fires and burned tires. Some hotels set up wooden barricades.
Several media organisations including The Bangkok Post and The Nation newspapers evacuated their office after a threat from protesters accusing them of biased reporting.
CURFEW
A curfew might be imposed in Bangkok to help restore order, the country's defence minister told reporters.
Violence also spread to northeast Thailand, a red shirt stronghold, where protesters stormed a town hall complex in the city of Udon Thani, setting a building ablaze, and torched a second town hall in Khon Kaen.
Three journalists were among 50 people wounded and one Western journalist, identified as an Italian, was killed.
Troops and armoured vehicles broke through the protesters' three-metre-high (10 feet) barricades of tires and bamboo, and fired tear gas and automatic rifle-fire at the protesters.
Two bodies were found on Ratchadamri Road, which leads to the main protest site after troops followed the army vehicle into the encampment, a Reuters witness said. They appeared to have been shot. The "red shirts" fired back, witnesses said.
Protesters ignited walls of tires as the troops arrived, causing thick black smoke to billow high over skyscrapers and hiding thousands of demonstrators who have occupied the heart of Bangkok's commercial district for more than six weeks.
The mostly rural and urban poor protesters broadly support former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a graft-convicted populist billionaire ousted in a 2006 coup and living in self-imposed exile to avoid jail.
Thaksin raised the spectre of insurrection in a telephone interview with Reuters on Wednesday. "There is a theory saying a military crackdown can spread resentment and these resentful people will become guerrillas," he said, but declined to say where he was speaking from.
He denied an accusation by a top aide of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva that he was the stumbling block for failed talks between the government and the "red shirt" leaders.
The military offensive came a day after the collapse of a proposal for talks aimed at ending five days of chaotic street fighting that descended into urban warfare that killed 39 people and wounded more than 300.
Several buildings were on fire on the periphery of the protest encampment, and tires were set ablaze are various other spots in the city of 15 million people and a popular tourist destination.
The red shirts accuse the British-born, Oxford-educated Abhisit of lacking a popular mandate after coming to power in a controversial parliamentary vote in 2008 with tacit backing from the military. They have demanded immediate elections.
Troops over the past few days had thrown a cordon around the protest site, a "tent city" at the Rachaprasong intersection, paralyzing the heart of Bangkok. Hundreds of women and children have taken refuge in a temple inside the protest area.
Protesters have stockpiled food, water, and supplies in the encampment since Thursday when the assassination of a major-general allied to the red shirts, and an army operation to pressure them, sparked the latest wave of violence that has killed 68 people and wounded more than 1,700 since the demonstrations began in mid-March.
Red-Shirt leaders surrender
19/05/2010
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Thai protest heads call end to sit-in, "to prevent more casualties."
BANGKOK — Two key leaders of Thailand's Red Shirt protesters have surrendered to authorities after a deadly army assault on their fortified encampment. They have been led away by police in central Bangkok.
Red Shirt leaders told followers they are formally ending their sit-in to prevent more deaths.
An army assault on their heavily barricaded protest encampment in central Bangkok killed at least two protesters and an Italian photographer.
As the protest leaders announced the surrender, grenades directed at the troops exploded. One journalist was injured.
Angry protesters also tried to set fire to a shopping mall and drove away journalists who tried to film them.
At least 37 people were killed over five days of rioting and clashes in downtown sections of Bangkok, paralyzing parts of the capital and destabilizing a country regarded as one of Southeast Asia's strongest democracies.
The military defended its use of deadly but limited force, saying troops only fired to protect themselves and Bangkok's citizens and did not pursue pre-emptive attacks.
The Red Shirts have for a month occupied a 1-square-mile (3-square-kilometer) chunk of downtown Bangkok's best real estate, camping in the streets next to shuttered five-star hotels and upscale shopping malls.
The protesters, many of whom hail from the impoverished north and northeast, demanded the prime minister dissolve Parliament and call early elections. They say the current administration came to power through manipulation of the courts and the backing of the powerful military, and that it goes against results of a 2007 election to restore democracy after a military coup.
BANGKOK — Two key leaders of Thailand's Red Shirt protesters have surrendered to authorities after a deadly army assault on their fortified encampment. They have been led away by police in central Bangkok.
Red Shirt leaders told followers they are formally ending their sit-in to prevent more deaths.
An army assault on their heavily barricaded protest encampment in central Bangkok killed at least two protesters and an Italian photographer.
As the protest leaders announced the surrender, grenades directed at the troops exploded. One journalist was injured.
Angry protesters also tried to set fire to a shopping mall and drove away journalists who tried to film them.
At least 37 people were killed over five days of rioting and clashes in downtown sections of Bangkok, paralyzing parts of the capital and destabilizing a country regarded as one of Southeast Asia's strongest democracies.
The military defended its use of deadly but limited force, saying troops only fired to protect themselves and Bangkok's citizens and did not pursue pre-emptive attacks.
The Red Shirts have for a month occupied a 1-square-mile (3-square-kilometer) chunk of downtown Bangkok's best real estate, camping in the streets next to shuttered five-star hotels and upscale shopping malls.
The protesters, many of whom hail from the impoverished north and northeast, demanded the prime minister dissolve Parliament and call early elections. They say the current administration came to power through manipulation of the courts and the backing of the powerful military, and that it goes against results of a 2007 election to restore democracy after a military coup.
Battle in Bangkok
A Thai army soldier wipes his face as he stands next to a vandalized poster of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva during an operation to evict anti-government "red shirt" protesters from their encampment in Bangkok May 19, 2010. Thai troops and armoured vehicles broke through barricades of tyres and staves on Wednesday in a fresh offensive to evict thousands of anti-government protesters from their fortified camp in central Bangkok, witnesses said. REUTERS/Fayaz Kabli
Thai army soldiers cross a destroyed barricade during an operation to evict anti-government "red shirt" protesters from their encampment in Bangkok May 19, 2010. Thai troops and armoured vehicles broke through barricades of tyres and staves on Wednesday in a fresh offensive to evict thousands of anti-government protesters from their fortified camp in central Bangkok, witnesses said. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj
A Thai army soldier crouches behind a street sign near the body of a protester who was killed during an operation to evict anti-government "red shirt" protesters from their encampment in Bangkok May 19, 2010. Thai troops and armoured vehicles broke through barricades of tyres and staves on Wednesday in a fresh offensive to evict thousands of anti-government protesters from their fortified camp in central Bangkok, witnesses said. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Thailand issues Thaksin warrant
Activists abandoned their positions after protests were called off to avoid further unrest [AFP]Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Al Jazeera
A Bangkok court has issued arrest warrants for Thaksin Shinawatra, the exiled former prime minister, and 13 of his supporters after violent demonstrations that left two people dead and scores injured.
The anti-government "Red Shirts" called off their protests earlier on Tuesday as the military tightened its grip on the city.
"Thaksin and his allies were charged by the court for illegal assembly of more than 10 people, threatening acts of violence and breach of the peace, punishable with five years in jail," the warrant said.
Thaksin has addressed the crowd of protesters via video nearly every evening since the latest round of protests began on March 26, but denied in an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera that he encouraged violence.
"I'm not instigating it I keep telling them we should do it peacefully, each day I tell them peaceful, peaceful peaceful," he said.
Thaksin was ousted as prime minister during a bloodless coup in 2006 and was convicted in absentia of violating a conflict of interest law.
He is also accused of inciting people to break the law and cause unrest, a charge punishable by seven years in prison.
Thaksin said he would only return to Thailand to face trial if a "neutral body' had carried out the investigation and he could be guaranteed a fair trial.
Positions abandoned
Early on Tuesday around 2,000 protesters who have camped out around Government House for more than two weeks had been encircled by soldiers, raising fears of a repeat of Monday's bloody clashes.
But after a meeting of representatives of both sides, protest leaders called on the demonstrators to abandon their positions and they began to move away with their arms raised.
As the protesters began to file away, a protest organiser told Al Jazeera they were not giving up their fight to force the Abhisit Vehjjajiva, the Thai prime minister, from power.
"There is no loss we're taking a step back in order to go forward," Suporn Atthawong said.
"We’ll be back at a later date.
"We have decided to call off the rally today because many brothers and sisters have been hurt and killed. We don't want everybody to suffer the same. And we will not allow more deaths."
At least two people were reported killed overnight, apparently in clashes with pro-government supporters.
More than 120 people are reported to have been injured.
Abhisit said the military had used "soft means" in handling the protests and welcomed the decision to halt the demonstrations.
"I don't consider this a victory or defeat but it's a victory for peace in society," he said in a televised speech.
"The operation under the state of emergency is not over. There are still things to do. I insist the government will not be negligent because we have to remain vigilant."
Corruption
Political tensions have simmered since 2006 when Thaksin was ousted by a military coup amid accusations of corruption and abuse of power, a year after he won re-election in a landslide.
He remains popular among Thailand's rural poor for the populist policies he introduced.
Despite being in self-imposed exile, Thaksin remains an influential force and has sent almost daily video and audio messages to Red Shirt rallies, supporting their call for the current prime minister to resign and hold fresh elections.
However, Thaksin told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that he did not aiming to become prime minister again.
"I'm not really wanting to be prime minister but if the country need me if the people need me I will. Because I’m 60 in July I want to spend my life peacefully," he said.
The Red Shirts took their cue from protests last year by rival "Yellow Shirts" who took to the streets in huge demonstrations against successive pro-Thaksin governments.
Those protests culminated in the shutdown of Bangkok's two airports and court rulings ordering the dissolution of the government, paving the way for Abhisit to take power in December.
The Red Shirts took to the streets last month, accusing Abhisit of taking power illegally.
They say the Thai elite – the military, judiciary and other unelected officials – are interfering in politics, and are seeking Thaksin's rehabilitation.
The anti-government "Red Shirts" called off their protests earlier on Tuesday as the military tightened its grip on the city.
"Thaksin and his allies were charged by the court for illegal assembly of more than 10 people, threatening acts of violence and breach of the peace, punishable with five years in jail," the warrant said.
Thaksin has addressed the crowd of protesters via video nearly every evening since the latest round of protests began on March 26, but denied in an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera that he encouraged violence.
"I'm not instigating it I keep telling them we should do it peacefully, each day I tell them peaceful, peaceful peaceful," he said.
Thaksin was ousted as prime minister during a bloodless coup in 2006 and was convicted in absentia of violating a conflict of interest law.
He is also accused of inciting people to break the law and cause unrest, a charge punishable by seven years in prison.
Thaksin said he would only return to Thailand to face trial if a "neutral body' had carried out the investigation and he could be guaranteed a fair trial.
Positions abandoned
Early on Tuesday around 2,000 protesters who have camped out around Government House for more than two weeks had been encircled by soldiers, raising fears of a repeat of Monday's bloody clashes.
But after a meeting of representatives of both sides, protest leaders called on the demonstrators to abandon their positions and they began to move away with their arms raised.
As the protesters began to file away, a protest organiser told Al Jazeera they were not giving up their fight to force the Abhisit Vehjjajiva, the Thai prime minister, from power.
"There is no loss we're taking a step back in order to go forward," Suporn Atthawong said.
"We’ll be back at a later date.
"We have decided to call off the rally today because many brothers and sisters have been hurt and killed. We don't want everybody to suffer the same. And we will not allow more deaths."
At least two people were reported killed overnight, apparently in clashes with pro-government supporters.
More than 120 people are reported to have been injured.
Abhisit said the military had used "soft means" in handling the protests and welcomed the decision to halt the demonstrations.
"I don't consider this a victory or defeat but it's a victory for peace in society," he said in a televised speech.
"The operation under the state of emergency is not over. There are still things to do. I insist the government will not be negligent because we have to remain vigilant."
Corruption
Political tensions have simmered since 2006 when Thaksin was ousted by a military coup amid accusations of corruption and abuse of power, a year after he won re-election in a landslide.
He remains popular among Thailand's rural poor for the populist policies he introduced.
Despite being in self-imposed exile, Thaksin remains an influential force and has sent almost daily video and audio messages to Red Shirt rallies, supporting their call for the current prime minister to resign and hold fresh elections.
However, Thaksin told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that he did not aiming to become prime minister again.
"I'm not really wanting to be prime minister but if the country need me if the people need me I will. Because I’m 60 in July I want to spend my life peacefully," he said.
The Red Shirts took their cue from protests last year by rival "Yellow Shirts" who took to the streets in huge demonstrations against successive pro-Thaksin governments.
Those protests culminated in the shutdown of Bangkok's two airports and court rulings ordering the dissolution of the government, paving the way for Abhisit to take power in December.
The Red Shirts took to the streets last month, accusing Abhisit of taking power illegally.
They say the Thai elite – the military, judiciary and other unelected officials – are interfering in politics, and are seeking Thaksin's rehabilitation.
Thai Clashes End, Protesters Disperse
Leaders of demonstrations that plunged the Thailand's capital Bangkok into chaos called off their protests following rioting and clashes that left two dead and more than 120 injured across the city. (April 14)
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Thai Protesters Disperse Under Military Pressure, Leaders in Custody
Thai anti-government protester leaves Government House through a line of soldiers in Bangkok, Thailand, 14 Apr 2009By Daniel Schearf
Voice of America
Bangkok
14 April 2009
Thai protesters are dispersing after the military surrounded their main demonstration camp and four protest leaders turned themselves in to police.
Music played Tuesday across the main protest site outside government house. But, the mood was anything but festive as hundreds of red shirt protesters packed up their things and began leaving.
The protesters had occupied hundreds of tents and a main stage outside the compound, which houses the offices of Prime Minister Abhisit Vijjajiva.
They feel he came to power illegitimately and so they gathered by the thousands in Bangkok to try to force his government to resign. Many protesters leaving the demonstration were overcome with the feeling they had lost the fight for Thailand's democracy.
"Finished now, finished ... finished," cried a protester.
As the military closed in, demonstrators were directed through rows of soldiers and riot police where their belongings were searched and their identities checked.
The protests started peacefully, but in the past few days became violent. In two days of street fighting, authorities say two people were killed and more than 120 injured.
Protesters armed with batons and firebombs burned buses and sent them rolling towards security forces.
Pineter Vuabatanakul, the director general of bus services for Bangkok's mass transit authority, was at the demonstration site to assess which damaged buses could still be repaired. He says 52 buses were seized by protesters and 20 of them were set on fire.
"Several times in the past when we have a conflict in our society, the bus will be used like a weapon," he said.
Thailand has suffered political uncertainty and protests since the military in 2006 ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. He was supported by the red-shirt protesters, who saw his policies as favoring the country's poor.
The Thai government says almost all the roadblocks and burning tires erected by protesters have been cleared and the city is returning to normal.
The damage to Thailand's image, however, will take more time to repair. The instability has cost Thailand dearly in lost tourism dollars. Several countries have warned travelers to stay away from the popular holiday destination.
Music played Tuesday across the main protest site outside government house. But, the mood was anything but festive as hundreds of red shirt protesters packed up their things and began leaving.
The protesters had occupied hundreds of tents and a main stage outside the compound, which houses the offices of Prime Minister Abhisit Vijjajiva.
They feel he came to power illegitimately and so they gathered by the thousands in Bangkok to try to force his government to resign. Many protesters leaving the demonstration were overcome with the feeling they had lost the fight for Thailand's democracy.
"Finished now, finished ... finished," cried a protester.
As the military closed in, demonstrators were directed through rows of soldiers and riot police where their belongings were searched and their identities checked.
The protests started peacefully, but in the past few days became violent. In two days of street fighting, authorities say two people were killed and more than 120 injured.
Protesters armed with batons and firebombs burned buses and sent them rolling towards security forces.
Pineter Vuabatanakul, the director general of bus services for Bangkok's mass transit authority, was at the demonstration site to assess which damaged buses could still be repaired. He says 52 buses were seized by protesters and 20 of them were set on fire.
"Several times in the past when we have a conflict in our society, the bus will be used like a weapon," he said.
Thailand has suffered political uncertainty and protests since the military in 2006 ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. He was supported by the red-shirt protesters, who saw his policies as favoring the country's poor.
The Thai government says almost all the roadblocks and burning tires erected by protesters have been cleared and the city is returning to normal.
The damage to Thailand's image, however, will take more time to repair. The instability has cost Thailand dearly in lost tourism dollars. Several countries have warned travelers to stay away from the popular holiday destination.
Thailand protests 'breaking up'
Tuesday, 14 April 2009
BBC News
BBC News
Monday saw an escalation in violence following days of protest
An anti-government protest in the centre of Thailand's capital, Bangkok, has begun to break up, a BBC correspondent at the scene says.
Demonstrators who had been camped around the Government House have been walking away from the area.
The news follows calls by protest leaders for people to leave the area, after thousands of police and soldiers moved to tighten a cordon overnight.
Two people died in clashes involving demonstrators and residents on Monday.
Red-shirted protesters are demanding the resignation of PM Abhisit Vejjajiva - but he has refused and had urged them to go home.
Protester Kannika Saikaew, 37, said: "I'm sad that we've not received justice but if we'd have stayed we would have been in danger."
On Tuesday, protest leader Prateep Ungsongtham Hata told the AFP news agency: "We held talks among the leaders since last night and have agreed that we will disperse our protesters for a while."
Ms Prateep said the leaders wanted to prevent any loss of life, saying the protesters "really want to fight and sacrifice themselves so we wanted to prevent a catastrophe".
"We are not surrendering, we are just dispersing the gathering because we have done nothing wrong," she said.
Another protest leader, Jatuporn Pronpan, told Reuters: "We have to stop because we need to look after the lives of our supporters."
An anti-government protest in the centre of Thailand's capital, Bangkok, has begun to break up, a BBC correspondent at the scene says.
Demonstrators who had been camped around the Government House have been walking away from the area.
The news follows calls by protest leaders for people to leave the area, after thousands of police and soldiers moved to tighten a cordon overnight.
Two people died in clashes involving demonstrators and residents on Monday.
Red-shirted protesters are demanding the resignation of PM Abhisit Vejjajiva - but he has refused and had urged them to go home.
Protester Kannika Saikaew, 37, said: "I'm sad that we've not received justice but if we'd have stayed we would have been in danger."
On Tuesday, protest leader Prateep Ungsongtham Hata told the AFP news agency: "We held talks among the leaders since last night and have agreed that we will disperse our protesters for a while."
Ms Prateep said the leaders wanted to prevent any loss of life, saying the protesters "really want to fight and sacrifice themselves so we wanted to prevent a catastrophe".
"We are not surrendering, we are just dispersing the gathering because we have done nothing wrong," she said.
Another protest leader, Jatuporn Pronpan, told Reuters: "We have to stop because we need to look after the lives of our supporters."
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