The RED SHIRT Crisis in Bangkok!

[guydesavoy]

(f0xxee @ May 19 2010,07:35) So the Puppy was the deal breaker?

We would never hand Foggy over to these goons  

[deepthroat]

Thai Army Moves on Protesters€™ Encampment

BANGKOK €” Thai armored vehicles on Wednesday morning rammed through the barricades put up by antigovernment protesters, and infantry troops stormed into the protest zone, in the government€™s first aggressive move to disperse demonstrators who have occupied Bangkok€™s central retail district for more than six weeks.

Troops took control of key roads as well as a large park in the protest zone, but stopped short of moving into the heart of the demonstrators€™ encampment.

€œWe are going to focus on setting a perimeter,€ a government spokesman, Panitan Wattanayagorn, said on television. €œWe would like to reassure the citizens, the residents of Bangkok, that the operations are designed to make sure we stabilize the area.€

Several fires raged in the area around the protest zone, including what appeared on television to be a blaze engulfing a large block of buildings. The zone itself is among the wealthiest neighborhoods in Bangkok and includes many corporate headquarters, high-end shopping malls, luxury hotels and high-rise apartment buildings.

Television footage showed soldiers opening fire at the back of protesters, who were running for cover. A government spokesman said the first phase of the operation had been "successful."

One of the protest leaders, Weng Tojirakarn, appeared calm even as the operation was under way. €œI have no gun,€ he said in an interview inside the encampment. €œI can€™t do anything.€

But some of those who called themselves guards behind the barricades appeared armed, and one had a shotgun. When a reporter pointed this out, Dr. Weng, a medical doctor by training, responded, €œHow can you compare a handmade shotgun with a tank?€

At least two protesters and an Italian news photographer were shot dead, according to Thai news media, and two foreign and one Thai photographer were wounded.

Earlier, protesters aimed fireworks at army helicopters flying overhead and launched traditional paper lanterns in an effort to try to disrupt the aircraft, a photographer inside the protesters€™ encampment said. Military trucks with loudspeakers warned protesters to leave the area.

Senator Lertrat Rattanawanit, a former general who tried to mediate the crisis late Tuesday, said negotiations had broken down because the protesters had €œtoo many demands.€

€œThe government and military will surely disperse the demonstration in Ratchaprasong, and it will end today,€ the senator said, referring to the commercial area of the protest zone. €œBut I cannot tell you what kind of damages and how many deaths there will be.€

When the demonstrations began in Bangkok in March, the protesters€™ central demand was that the government step down and hold new elections, but the movement has splintered and the ultimate aims have become unclear.

Preparations for Wednesday€™s crackdown came as the Thai government rejected an offer for peace talks by demonstrators, calling their pleas for a cease-fire insincere and demanding that they disperse. €œThe only way to end this situation is to end the rally,€ Satit Wongnongtoey, an aide to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, said Tuesday.

Protest leaders said they continued to make overtures to the government. €œWe are going to try to start the negotiations,€ said one leader, Wiphuthalang Phattanaphumthai. €œWe still have some hope.€

Another leader, Nattawut Saikua, seemed to capture the oddly calm atmosphere at the heart of the protest zone as he napped in a plastic chair, four cellphones on a table before him.

Arisman Pongruengrong, a popular singer and one of the more militant leaders, was reported to have fled the protest zone in a disguise. Mr. Arisman made headlines last month when he evaded arrest by climbing from a window as the police raided the hotel where he was staying. His escape was widely seen as emblematic of the ineffectiveness of government security forces in this crisis.

Entering the encampment, where thousands of protesters were behind barricades of sharpened bamboo poles, razor wire and tires, was a potentially treacherous operation. Among the die-hard protesters who remained late Tuesday was Sakhda Thongsa, a security guard who left his job to take part in the protests, and his daughter, Min, 5.

When she was asked whether she was scared, her father answered for her: €œYou€™re not afraid, right? Fight! Fight!€

In a meek voice, though, Min contradicted her father: €œI€™m scared! I€™m scared!€ It was not known whether the girl and other children seen Tuesday were still there on Wednesday morning. A photographer inside the camp, Christopher Brown, said Wednesday€™s crowd included many women and older people.

As troops massed outside the barricades, a military spokesman appeared on national television and accused protesters of €œtarnishing the image of Thailand in the eyes of the world.€

According to a government monitoring center, one person was killed and 14 people were wounded in clashes on Tuesday. Over the past five days, at least 36 civilians and 2 soldiers have been killed, including a rogue general allied with the protesters, whose assassination set off mayhem. At least 296 people have been injured.

Late Tuesday, protest leaders were booed by the crowd, now reduced to several thousand protesters, when they spoke about the possibility of a cease-fire with the government, Thai news outlets said. The uncompromising mood of many protesters raised questions about whether they would disperse even if leaders told them to do so.

A top government official made the case on Tuesday that negotiations with the protesters had been stymied by demands for amnesty by Thaksin Shinawatra, the former prime minister whose removal in a 2006 military coup was the genesis of the protest movement.

But beyond any role Mr. Thaksin may be playing, there are deep fractures in Thai society, including rifts and rivalries in the military and the police that have produced a cocktail of instability.

[deepthroat]

BANGKOK -An Associated Press photographer has seen three foreign journalists shot during the army operation in Bangkok, and one of them appears dead.

The photographer saw the three at a hospital Wednesday a few hours after the crackdown began to clear an anti-government protest site in central Bangkok.

He says one of the journalists, who looked Middle Eastern, was shot in the chest. His eyes were rolled back and he showed no signs of life.

He says a Dutch journalist walked into the hospital with a bullet wound in his shoulder. The third journalist is a Westerner in his late 40s who was shot in the leg.
The photographer also saw at least seven Thais brought to a hospital. It was not clear if they were dead or unconscious.

www.aolnews.com

RUMOR: Some are claiming that it appears foreign journalists are being disportionally targeted in the incidents and point to (groups with an intention to smear the government) targeting journalists and innocent civilians.

[PigDogg]

News Alert
from The Wall Street Journal


Thailand's Red Shirt protest leaders said they are formally ending their anti-government protest and will surrender to authorities to prevent more deaths. The announcement came after the army overran their heavily
barricaded encampment in central Bangkok.

[Snick]

thats not what they said, they said the protest would continue and that THEY (the leaders surrendering) would do it democratically.

There are fires being started all over town. Including Asoke+Sukhemvit (ie soi cowboy), and a fire outside central world (at least I think its on the outside)

The Reds are taking their cue from Saddam when he was forced from Kuwait and burnt everything.

[mardhi]

(Snick @ May 19 2010,13:33) There are fires being started all over town. Including Asoke+Sukhemvit (ie soi cowboy), and a fire outside central world (at least I think its on the outside)

BBC world reporting that Central World shopping mall is ablaze - so presumably we will be having a fire sale coming in the next few days as they clear the smoke damaged stock.

Stock exchange is also reported to be on fire, albeit nobody really knows how severe it is but given its location very adjacent to the Klongtoey slum area (very strong red area) its hardly a surprise. This is the reason why much has happened on Rama 4(IV) given the hoodlums can run back to the massive sprawling Klongtoey slum and hide. Expect the slum to be one of the first areas to be 'regenerated' if the current power holds.

Cheers
Mardhi

[BAM]

Reports of fires being set in cities in Isaan as well. Udon Thani was mentioned specifically.

[guydesavoy]

TV3 under siege, Siam Square cinema on fire (collapsed) red shirts running amok in rural centres...

Journalists told to remove green armbands as they're being targeted by reds...

It's anarchy.

[manarak]

(BAM @ May 19 2010,15:49) Reports of fires being set in cities in Isaan as well.  Udon Thani was mentioned specifically.

let's hope it will just slowly fade now...

[mardhi]

(guydesavoy @ May 19 2010,14:59) It's anarchy.

What else do you expect when you take a bunch of uneducated layabouts, fuel them with spite and Thai rice Whisky and light the fuse? This was always the biggest fear of the government INHO - its how much of a loose cannon the foot soldiers would turn out to be.

Cheers
Mardhi

[mardhi]

To keep this in perspective - the main camp around Rama 4 and Lumpini (adjacent to Silom) is already being bulldozed through and loaded into waiting trucks to be removed. Probably within 3 hours, there will be nothing left except for crushed plants and knowing the Thais, come tomorrow morning those will have been replaced, everything re-turfed and looking back to normal. Thai TV is showing literally hundreds of clean up workers clearing all evidence of the camps.

Cheers
Mardhi

[mardhi]

Also what is interesting is the difference between Thai TV coverage and International coverage. Int. coverage is still showing smoke and talking about fires - Thai TV is showing huge clean up operations in place. The truth is probably somewhere in between !!!!

Cheers
Mardhi

[Snick]

I can see the fires from my window...they are there.
Cnn is doing crap coverage, saying its "all over", BBC is doing a good job.

I like the coverage on Thai TV3, a pretty flower.

[guydesavoy]

(Snick @ May 19 2010,16:40) I like the coverage on Thai TV3, a pretty flower.

I think their building just burned down.

[SamplerDoc]

Not sure the label of red shirt protesters fits. They are criminals at this point. The city has been set on fire in many locations and atms have been broken into with all the cash stolen.

Its very dangerous and sad indeed.