Thousands of Thai ‘red shirts’ commemorate Bangkok unrest

Thai anti-government "red shirt" protesters gather during a rally at the Democracy Monument in Bangkok's old quarter, April 10, 2011, to mark the one-year anniversary of a violent confrontation with the military in which 26 people were killed and more than 800 wounded.

Anti-government “red shirt” protesters hold pictures of people who died, including Reuters television cameraman Hiro Muramoto (right) and Italian freelance photographer Fabio Polenghi (second right) during a religious ceremony near the Democracy Monument.

Thousands of red-shirted, anti-government protesters gathered today in Bangkok’s old quarter to mark the one-year anniversary of violent clashes with the military in which 26 people were killed and more than 800 wounded.

“We are mourning the loss of innocent lives a year ago,” said protest leader Nattawut Saikua. “We are remembering the violence against Thai people last year. We are asking for justice.”

No one has been declared responsible for the violence that began on April 10 last year when soldiers fought with thousands of protesters near the Phan Fah bridge and Rajdumnoen Road in Bangkok, near government buildings and the regional UN headquarters.

The red-shirted supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a graft-convicted populist billionaire ousted in a 2006 coup, said they would continue to hold protests until the government took responsibility for the violence.

Five soldiers and 21 civilians were killed, including Reuters television cameraman Hiro Muramoto, a 43-year-old Japanese national, on April 10 last year.

Witnesses reported seeing flashes of gunfire from troops but the government blamed civilian deaths on shadowy, unidentified black-clad gunmen who were filmed in the area.








“Today we pay tribute to Hiro’s life but remain discouraged that the circumstances of his death are still unknown a year later,” said Stephen Adler, Reuters editor-in-chief. “Hiro’s family and Reuters colleagues deserve to know how this tragedy occurred and who was behind it.”

Police concluded on March 24 they had no evidence to indicate troops killed Muramoto, a reversal of preliminary findings by Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation (DSI) that a soldier may have fired the fatal bullet.

Seeking justice

Authorities expect about 75,000 red shirts to gather until well past midnight, a turnout that would be the largest since unrest over April and May last year killed 91 people, wounded more than 1,800 and sparked widespread arson in Bangkok.

About 20,000 had assembled by early evening.

“I was here last year,” said one protester, 38-year-old electrician Samart Ngamwongyai. “I never thought I would see this kind of cruelty in Thailand. I came back today because no one has been put in jail for it.”

Streets were festooned with banners bearing red-shirt slogans such as “fight for democracy” or “truth today”. One read: “You can’t kill us all”. Another said: “If Democracy wins in Tunisia and Egypt, we can win here”.

“We are here to pay tribute to our heroes in heaven,” Payap Panket, a red shirt leader, said on stage to loud cheers. “Rest in peace. You helped us move one step closer to democracy. We will carry on your fight. Please clap until heaven can hear us.”

One person wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the red dot of the Japanese flag, his face painted white with the name “Hiroyuki” written across his forehead in black. He held a placard reading “Who killed Hiroyuki?”, one of several references and tributes to the slain Reuters cameraman.

About 2,100 police were deployed to the area.

“They can gather as long as they want as long as it’s within the law and it doesn’t infringe on others’ rights,” Deputy Commander of Bangkok Metropolitan Police, Major General Amnuay Nimmano, told Reuters.

The mostly rural and urban poor United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, or the red shirts, took to the streets on March 12 last year demanding elections in festive rallies that descended into violence on April 10.

On that night, soldiers failed repeatedly in attempts to dislodge the protesters from the area, at first firing tear gas and rubber bullets before coming under attack with grenades and responding with live ammunition.

The government said soldiers used live fire only in self-defence and denied soldiers were responsible for any deaths or injuries.

Relatives of some of the dead and wounded have filed civil lawsuits against three state agencies. The government has also faced intense diplomatic pressure from Japan to identify who fired the bullet that killed Muramoto.

The red shirts accuse Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva of lacking a popular mandate and coming to power illegitimately, heading a coalition the military cobbled together after courts dissolved a pro-Thaksin party that led the previous government.

Abhisit, backed by the royalist establishment, says he was voted into office by the same parliament that picked his Thaksin-allied predecessors. His party plans to hold an election around the middle of this year.

The election is expected to be close between Abhisit’s ruling Democrats and the red shirts’ parliamentary allies, the Puea Thai Party, and the outcome could be rejected by supporters of either party, fuelling more instability.

Thaksin quits as Cambodia’s economic adviser

Fugitive former Thailand Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has resigned as Phnom Penh’s economic adviser, a move that would certainly pave the way for the return of normal ties between Thailand and Cambodia.

Acting government spokesman Dr Panitan Wattanayagorn confirmed today the resignation of Thaksin, and the Thai government had been informed of the latest development.

In an immediate response, Bangkok will reinstate its ambassador to Phnom Penh Prasas Prasasvinitchai tomorrow, according to Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya. Cambodia too was expected to send back its ambassador to Bangkok soon, said Kasit.

News report from Phnom Penh cited “personal difficulties in fulfilling his role completely” as the reason for Thaksin’s resignation.






On Nov 5, 2009, Bangkok recalled its ambassador to Cambodia to protest the appointment of Thaksin (picture) as economic adviser to the Cambodian government by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.

In a tit for tat, Phnom Penh too asked its ambassador to Bangkok to return home. Thaksin, who was ousted in a military coup in September 2006, fled Thailand in 2008 just before a court sentenced him to two years in jail for abuse of power in the Ratchadepisek land case.

The Thai-Cambodia relationship was also strained when Phnom Penh refused to extradite Thaksin to Thailand and the move was seen by Bangkok as interference in the internal affairs of Thailand and a denial of the Thai judicial process.

On the three Thai villagers arrested after straying into Cambodian territory recently, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said there was no need to use diplomatic channels to solve the problem as it could be settled through the local authority channels.

The three were arrested by Cambodian soldiers while gathering fruits and hunting in the forest along the border.

After deadly clashes, Thai opposition regroups

Anti-government protesters lie on the ground during a rally at the Democracy Monument in Bangkok on August 1, 2010.

On a stage in a muddy football field in Thailand’s rural heartlands, an opposition leader declared to thousands he would bring back toppled premier Thaksin Shinawatra from exile if his party is voted back into power.

That vow by Puea Thai Party’s Chalerm Ubumrung signals trouble ahead in a polarising political crisis that turned deadly on the streets of Bangkok in April and May as thousands of “red shirt” supporters of the deposed Thaksin clashed with troops.

Hundreds of red shirts have been detained under emergency rule since the unrest that killed 91 people, mostly protesters, and wounded nearly 2,000. Several opposition websites, radio stations and a TV broadcaster were shut. Red-shirt bank accounts have been frozen. Protest leaders face terrorism charges.

Emergency rule has helped to restore order in Bangkok and many areas. But in the rice-growing farmlands of Si Sa Ket bordering Cambodia and other provinces where the decree has been lifted, Thailand’s political opposition is regrouping.






The fiery rhetoric at the recent campaign stop in Si Sa Ket, 600km northeast of Bangkok, illustrates how issues that exploded into violence in May remain at the heart of Thailand’s anti-government movement — from charges of class warfare to reverence of populist multimillionaire Thaksin.

They also demonstrate how the anti-government movement is shifting from street-protest tactics to election campaigning, while retaining, at least in the heartlands, one of their most controversial goals: the return of the twice-elected Thaksin.

“If you want everyone to be treated the same way under the eye of the law, vote Puea Thai! If you want to see democracy and equality, vote Puea Thai! If you want Thaksin back, vote Puea Thai!,” Chalerm told cheering supporters.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has said elections could be held early next year if the political situation is stable. His Democrat Party hopes heavy government spending and economic stimulus packages will lift its popularity.

“If we win back power through yet another election, what are they going to do? What trick do they have in the hat this time?” Chalerm told Reuters on the sideline of the campaign.

He was referring to a coup that ousted twice-elected Thaksin in 2006 and several court rulings which toppled two prime ministers and disbanded two parties allied with him, paving the way for Abhisit’s rise in 2008 with tacit military backing.

Puea Thai said it is confident it could win back at least 255 in the 480-seat lower house, enough to form a single-party government. But analysts say the election is likely to be contentious and winning a landslide would be difficult.

“While people’s voting pattern won’t change, horse-trading of parliamentarians will be key in determining who forms the government,” said Karn Yuenyong, an analyst at the independent Siam Intelligence Unit.

A 32-seat Bhumjai Thai Party, allied with the government, is poised to win 50-60 seats in the next poll after defections from several parties. It campaigns on a royalist platform, accusing Thaksin of habouring a republican agenda, a taboo in Thailand.

But convincing the rural voters to reject Thaksin’s allies won’t be easy.

Puea Thai is campaigning on Thaksin’s populist platforms such cheap loans and universal healthcare. The ruling Democrats have adopted similar measures but the opposition can win by tapping public discontent about the status quo in the power structure.

That sums up their main selling point: the rehabilitation of the controversial and divisive Thaksin and the promise to end what the red shirt protesters view as “double standards” in law enforcement and the dominance of the ruling elite in politics.

“I will vote for them no matter what, because they will bring back Thaksin,” said Metha Panchaisi, a 55-year-old rice farmer, who attended the rally.

“I want to see how they will discard our votes this time. Another coup? Another court ruling? What now?”

Thai PM extends curfew; no polls until unrest over-Cleanup start in city.

Thai school children and locals wash and sweep a road during a cleanup operation after Wednesday's Thai army assult on anti-government protesters in downtown Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, May 23, 2010. Thousands gathered in the Thai capital to begin the massive clean up following the worst political violence in decades. Officials said at least 85 people were killed in the political violence of the past two months.


Thai school children and locals wash and sweep a road during a cleanup operation after Wednesday's Thai army assault on anti-government protesters in downtown Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, May 23, 2010. Thousands gathered in the Thai capital to begin the massive clean up following the worst political violence in decades. Officials said at least 85 people were killed in the political violence of the past two months.


Debris waits for collection at the former anti-government rally site Sunday, May 23, 2010, in Bangkok, Thailand. Thousands gathered in the former anti-government held areas to begin the massive clean following the worst political violence in decades that culminated in a military crackdown that sparked a rampage by supporters. Officials said at least 85 people were killed in the political violence of the past two months.


A girl gives roses to a Thai army soldier as a mark of appreciation during a clean up drive after Thai military crackdown on anti-government protesters on Wednesday in downtown Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, May 23, 2010. Thousands gathered in the Thai capital to begin the massive clean up following the worst political violence in decades. Officials said at least 85 people were killed in the political violence of the past two months


Thai women talk to Thai army soldiers carrying roses during a clean up drive following Wednesday's military crackdown on anti-government protesters in downtown Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, May 23, 2010. Thousands gathered in the Thai capital to begin the massive clean up following the worst political violence in decades. Officials said at least 85 people were killed in the political violence of the past two months


A girl gives roses to Thai army soldiers as a mark of appreciation during a clean up drive after Thai military crackdown on anti-government protesters on Wednesday in downtown Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, May 23, 2010. Thousands gathered in the Thai capital to begin the massive clean up following the worst political violence in decades. Officials said at least 85 people were killed in the political violence of the past two months


A Thai person looks on as school children participate in a clean up drive Sunday, May 23, 2010 after Thai army assault on anti-government protesters on Wednesday in downtown Bangkok, Thailand. Thousands gathered in the Thai capital to begin the massive clean up following the worst political violence in decades.


Thai school children clean a statue of an elephant during a cleanup operation Sunday, May 23, 2010 after Thai army crack down on anti-government protesters on Wednesday in downtown Bangkok, Thailand. Thousands gathered in the Thai capital to begin the massive clean up following the worst political violence in decades.


Thailand's prime minister on Sunday extended a nighttime curfew in the capital and said he will consider early elections only after the violence that has wracked the nation for the past two months is completely over.

Elections are seen as a key step toward healing the deep divide that has split Thailand between supporters of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and the so-called Red Shirts, who are made up mainly of the urban and rural poor and see Abhisit's government as elitist and illegitimate.


Debris waits for collection at the former anti-government rally site Sunday, May 23, 2010, in Bangkok, Thailand. Thousands gathered in former anti-government held areas to begin a massive clean operation following the worst political violence in decades that culminated in a military crackdown that sparked a rampage by supporters. Officials said at least 85 people were killed in the political violence of the past two months

The rift with the Red Shirts, who have strong support in the country's north and northeast, came to a crescendo of violence after they occupied the heart of Bangkok, sparking a military crackdown that ended in a rampage of grenade attacks and arson at dozens of buildings, including the country's stock exchange and biggest shopping mall.









In all, 85 people were killed in the violence — the worst the Thai capital has seen in decades.

Abhisit said in a weekly address that while he is still willing to call elections before his term expires late next year, he will not do so under the threat of violence.

He accused Red Shirt followers of planning further mayhem, although he stressed the government was in control and the capital has largely returned to normal after a final push by the military to clear the main protest site on Wednesday left 16 dead and more than 100 injured.

"It is now entirely up to me to see when is the most appropriate time to hold the election," Abhisit said. "At the moment, no one can tell when is the best time. We don't know what will happen next."

Hoping to appease the protesters, Abhisit earlier this month offered to hold elections on Nov. 14. But the reconciliation plan fell through when Red Shirt leaders, who want him to resign immediately, made more demands.

All but two of the movement's top leaders are now in custody, although no charges have been filed yet.

Many analysts believe the Red Shirts, who support ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, could cause unrest for years to come. Thaksin lives in exile after his 2006 ouster in a military coup and subsequent conviction on corruption-related charges.

He continues to cast a dark shadow over Thai politics, however.

Abhisit's government took power in December 2008, not through an election but by a vote in Parliament, to fill the power vacuum after disputed court rulings ousted two elected pro-Thaksin governments.

Despite the political upheaval, there were increasing signs that the residents of Bangkok were trying to get back to normal routines.

Thousands of residents mobilized in cleanup squads to clear the streets of mountains of garbage and rubble left by the protests and violence.

"On my way here, I passed a lot of places that were either burned down or damaged. I was in tears," said Ratwipa Saenyo, and 18-year-old student who with a friend was scrubbing stains from a burned billboard at a bus stop.

Schools, government offices and the stock exchange were to reopen Monday, and Abhisit said he will move back to his office from an army base where he had set up a temporary workplace during the unrest. The nighttime curfew, which was imposed on Wednesday, was extended through Monday, albeit for a shorter period, Abhisit said.

Further extensions would be considered on a day-by-day basis.

The city's two main mass transit systems, the Skytrain and the subway, reopened Sunday after a week's closure. But TAN Network, Thailand's English language television, reported that cleaning operations were stopped after troops found 20 homemade bombs near a station.

Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said "generally it has been quiet" in the country, but added that there are "a few reports of people gathering" and sporadic incidents of violence.

He said a British citizen, Jeff Savage, was being questioned by police on suspicion he instigated some of the arson attacks, as reported by the British media.

"He admitted to newspapers that he was present at a few locations. Authorities want to question him under what condition he was there," Panitan told The Associated Press.

The Times of London said Savage, 48, a long-time resident of the Thai beach resort of Pattaya, was caught on video saying he and others were going to burn down the CentralWorld shopping mall.

Savage told The Times he was not involved in the burning, but added it was common knowledge in the Red Shirt camp that CentralWorld would be burned.

10 bodies reported found in Bangkok shopping centre ruins

Anti-government protesters are escorted by Thai police officers after they surrendered to authorities at a Buddhist temple in an area formerly held by anti-government protestors on Thursday

Firefighters sifting through the ruins of the Central World shopping centre in Bangkok found nine bodies in the basement on Friday and police discovered one other, Thai news reports said.

The centre was set ablaze in the wake of an army attack on Wednesday on anti—government protestors camped in the central Ratchaprasong commercial district.

Spring TV News quoted firefighters as saying they discovered nine bodies during an inspection of the remains of the giant shopping complex. The firefighters said they did not know the cause of death of those found and police and soldiers refused to allow reporters into the area.



Earlier on Friday the body of a man was found on the fourth floor of the mall, according to police, after they entered the building in the morning to look for evidence of arson.

The unidentified man was believed to be 25 to 30 years old, police said.

Around 34 other buildings were torched in the aftermath of the army attack at Ratchaprasong, according to government figures.

Thais Hope Visitors Will Return Post Protesters-Thai army in fresh mop-up operation against Red Shirt militias-Bangkok burns as the Red Shirts' stand-off continues-Bangkok emerges from curfew to smoke, gunfire

Thailand extends curfew as troops try to crush hardline protesters in battered Bangkok

Clean-up: Firefighters spray water at the huge Center One shopping mall, which was set on fire by anti-government Red Shirt protesters in Bangkok

Gutted: Firermen work long hours to try and extinguish a blaze inside the Central World shopping mall

Mangled mess: A Thai soldier inspects Siam Theatre cinema in Bangkok, burnt down by protesters

Buildings smouldered across central Bangkok early today and troops exchanged sporadic fire with pockets of die-hards a day after the army routed anti-government protesters in a push to end Thailand's deadliest political violence in nearly 20 years.

The government quelled most of the violence in the battered Thai capital after a major military operation that killed at least seven people and left 88 wounded.


On the run: Two shopkeepers grab their stock and flee as the shopping mall goes up in flames

Police look on: A father and son remove their belongings from the Red Shirt camp in Bangkok after protest leaders surrendered

Violence spreads: A protester burns tyres on the street in the Chiang Mai province in northern Thailand

Destroyed: Sections of Thailand's extravagant shopping mall, Central World, collapsed in the fire

But underlying political divisions that caused Thailand's crisis may have been exacerbated, and unrest spread to provinces in the north and northeast.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva imposed a nighttime curfew in the capital and 23 other provinces and said his government would restore calm.

The curfew was extended by three more days.

Army spokesman Colonel Sansern Kawekamnerd said the curfew would be in force from 9pm to 5am until Saturday night.

The curfew was imposed yesterday after widespread rioting in central Bangkok following an army crackdown on an anti-government encampment.

Colonel Sansern said today that authorities found a cache of bombs, 'war ammunition' and guns including AK-47 and M-16 automatic rifles in the crackdown.
Although leaders of the Red Shirt demonstrators surrendered, sporadic clashes between troops and remaining protesters continued this morning.

As night fell yesterday, Bangkok's skyline was blotted by flashes of fire and black smoke from more than two dozen buildings set ablaze - including Thailand's stock exchange, main power company, banks, a movie theatre and one of Asia's largest shopping malls.

This morning, troops in the central business district, occupied by protesters for weeks, exchanged occasional fire with holdouts as locals in the area looted a vast tent city the activists had cobbled together.A special police unit entered a temple inside the former protest site where several hundred Red Shirt supporters, most of them women, old men and children, sought shelter in recent days.

Photographers said there was no resistance at the temple as police took away the group to a nearby police station.
Some cried and many were fearful that they would be incarcerated by the military and others remained defiant.

'We won. We won. The Red Shirts will rise again,' shouted one woman.

Since the Red Shirts began their protest in mid-March, at least 75 people - mostly civilians - were killed and nearly 1,800 wounded. Of those, 46 people died in clashes that started on May 13 after the army tried to blockade their one-square-mile camp.

Six bodies were found at the temple, but it was unclear when those people died and whether they already were included in the official death toll as collected by the government's Erawan Emergency Centre.
Elsewhere in the city, municipal workers removed debris and collected piles of garbage left in the streets that had been cordoned off by authorities for the past week.

A spokesman for the Bangkok administration, Thanom Ornketpol, said there had been a total of 35 arson attacks since yesterday, with targets also including office buildings, gold shops, a hotel, government offices and convenience stores.

While many of the rioters were believed to be members of the Red Shirts and their sympathisers, there was also an element of criminals and young hoodlums involved in the mayhem in the city of 10 million people.

The protest and violence in one of Southeast Asia's most stable countries damaged its economy and tourism industry.

Thai military breaks up red-shirt protests in Bangkok-Bangkok tense after night curfew-Violence Spreads in Thailand After Crackdown

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva refuse to resign and the red protestors refuse to accept new election plan from PM Abhisit, causing military and police to clear the protestors.


The anti-government protesters, known as the Red Shirts, have demanded that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva resigns, dissolves parliament and calls new elections.
Drawn mostly from the rural and urban poor, the protesters are supporters of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, pictured, deposed in a coup in 2006.

Thaksin - also formerly owner of Manchester City football team - is currently on the run after being accused of corruption.

Many of his supporters hail from the impoverished north and north-east.

They accuse the government of colluding with the royalist elite and meddling with the judiciary to bring down previous coalitions.

The Red Shirts say Abhisit's coalition government came to power through manipulation of the courts and the backing of the powerful military.

They claim it symbolises a national elite indifferent to their plight.


TIMELINE OF CRISIS

March 12 - Protesters converge on Bangkok

March 14 - Up to 150,000 protesters hold mass rally at the Phan Fah bridge in Bangkok's old quarter

March 17 - Protesters splash bottles of their own blood outside prime minister's home and office as a sign of their 'sacrifice for democracy'

March 29 - Two days of televised talks between the government and protest leaders end without agreement. Red shirts vow to continue their fight

April 3 - Protesters seize the Rachaprasong intersection in downtown Bangkok, which is packed with shopping malls and hotels

April 6 - Up to 90,000 red shirts defy government orders by holding a mobile Bangkok rally in pickup trucks and on motorcycles

April 8 - State of emergency declared in Bangkok after red shirts force their way into parliament

April 9 - Protesters lay siege to Thaicom satellite earth station in Pathum Thani, seeking to get a blocked TV channel back on air

April 10 - Troops attempt to break up protest at Phan Fah bridge, 25 people killed and more than 800 wounded in the country's worst clashes in 18 years

April 14 - Red shirts consolidate protests into one site at Rachaprasong

April 16 - Four red shirt leaders escape, one by scaling down a building wall on a cable, after police commandoes try to raid their hotel but are overwhelmed by protesters

April 22 - One woman is killed and more than 70 civilians injured when five M-79 grenades are launched near pro-government demonstrators in Bangkok's Silom Road business district

April 28 - A soldier is killed and about 20 protesters wounded when clashes erupt after security forces try to block a mobile rally on a highway in Bangkok's outskirts

May 3 - Abhisit announces a five-point reconciliation road map, culminating in a Nov 14 election

May 4 - Red shirts respond, saying they accept Abhisit's offer, but object to election date

May 7 - Gun and grenade attacks in the heavily guarded Silom area kill two police and wound 13, among them 10 police officers

May 11 - Red shirt leaders announce they agree to Abhisit's peace plan but make several demands that the government rejects

May 12 - Abhisit tells red shirts the deal is off and cancels plans for November 14 election, giving demonstrators until midnight to end their protest or face eviction by force

May 13 - The military vows to use armoured vehicles to block roads around the protest site to prevent more demonstrators from joining the rally, which climbs to almost 20,000 after leaders call for reinforcements

May 19 - The army storms the protester camp in downtown Bangkok forcing Red Shirt leaders to surrender

Thai protest leaders surrender after deadly army assault on Bangkok camp... but violence rages on

Darkness descends: Thick black smoke from the protesters' encampment descends through the air behind Chulalongkorn hospital. Despite protest leaders surrendering, the violence continued

Blanketed: Smoke billows from a commercial area of Bangkok where Red Shirt demonstrators had their camp

'D-Day': A soldier fires his rifle at Lumpini Park as part of this morning's operation

*Seven top leaders of the Red Shirts surrender to police
*Government imposes ten-hour curfew
*But enraged protesters refuse to give up and target a ritzy shopping mall
*Red Shirts set fire to the Stock Exchange building and TV station headquarters

Bangkok has become a raging battleground as the army stormed a fortified protest camp and toppled the Red Shirt leadership, enraging demonstrators who fired grenades and set fires that cloaked the skyline in a black haze.

Seven leaders of anti-government protest group the Red Shirts surrendered to authorities today, and the army declared itself in full control, but the violence continued.

Surreal scenes of warfare erupted soon after dawn in one of the ritziest parts of the capital - a city of ten million people - as troops armed with M-16s converged on the central business district.

The chaotic end to the Red Shirt campaign is certain to deal a heavy blow to the economy and tourism industry of Thailand.

A ten-hour curfew came into force in Bangkok and 18 other provinces at 8pm local time. The government said army operations would continue through the night in the Thai capital.

It is the first time that Bangkok has been put under curfew since 1992, when the army killed dozens of pro-democracy demonstrators seeking the ouster of a military-backed government.



Assault: Soldiers rammed armoured vehicles into tyre-and-bamboo barricades

Retaliation: Thick smoke from several fires is seen near the Siam Paragon shopping complex in Bangkok. Dissappointed protesters started looting, setting fires, shooting and throwing bombs after their leaders surrendered to police

Dangers of the job: Rescue workers transport a Dutch journalist, who was shot in the leg in the violence

 

Troops, trailed by journalists, run for cover. Three foreign reporters have been shot during the military operation, one of whom is thought of died

Decision time: Protest leaders have argued over whether they should continue to resist or negotiate a truce with the government to end the street violence

Monk arrested and tie by the hands after shots were fired at a Temple.

The Red Shirts are demanding the ouster of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's government, the dissolution of Parliament and new elections.

At least 42 people have been killed, most of them civilians, in a week of violence in Bangkok as the military attempted to blockade the protesters, who have been camping out for more than four weeks.
Seven top Red Shirt leaders turned themselves in, saying they could not see their supporters being killed anymore.

'Brothers and sisters, I'm sorry I cannot see you off the way I welcomed you all when you arrived here. But please be assured that our hearts will always be with you,' Nattawut Saikua, a key leader, said as he was being arrested.

'Please return home,' he urged supporters.

Another senior leader called for protesters to give up and go home.

'I apologise to you all but I don't want any more losses. I am devastated too. We will surrender,' Jatuporn Prompan said from a stage in the protest camp.
Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn declared the first stage of the army operation to secure the area around Lumpini Park successful.

But the advance was stalled by sniper fire from protesters. Bullets flew overhead and several grenades exploded near the soldiers, forcing them to pull back and take cover briefly before pushing forward.

By mid-afternoon in the capital, the army announced it had gained control of the protest zone and the operations had ended - nine hours after troops launched the pre-dawn assault.

'Police officers and soldiers have now stopped their operation,' army spokesman Colonel Sansern Kawekamnerd said.

Despite the army statement and the surrender by the leaders, many enraged protesters refused to give up.Rioting spread to other previously unaffected areas of Bangkok and the northeast of the country.

A high-end shopping mall, Central World, was set on fire and smoke was seen rising from several places in the capital.

There were also reports that the Red Shirts had set fire to government offices in the northeastern province Udon Thani and vandalised a city hall in Khon Kaen, also in the northeast.
Udon Thani's governor asked the military to intervene.

Earlier toady, sharpshooters with armored shields took up positions on an elevated rail track as troops marched past upscale apartment buildings and a hospital to retake the area around manicured Lumpini Park, which has been under the control of the so-called Red Shirt protesters camped there for weeks.

The move to surrender came after soldiers rammed armoured vehicles into tyre-and-bamboo barricades in a crackdown after a week of deadly clashes, killing at least five people, including Italian freelance photojournalist Fabio Polenghian.

Three foreign journalists are also believed to have been shot during the operation.

'This is D-Day,' said one soldier when asked if this was the final push to clear the protest zone.

Staff at the Thai local TV station Channel 3 say their building has been attacked by Red Shirt protesters.

One employee said cars parked outside the building were set on fire and protesters then entered the Channel 3 building.

A journalist said the Red Shirts also set fires at the Stock Exchange of Thailand building.

Journalists at Bangkok Post daily said they were evacuating their building following threats from the Red Shirts.

Protesters have accused local media of being biased toward the government.

The violence has also taken its toll on foreign media with one Italian photographer shot dead, a dutch journalist wounded by a gun shot to the leg, and another journalist in his late 40s also shot in the leg.

The Thai government claimed that the army has been successful in its latest push to clear the area.


The demonstrators marched into Bangkok in mid-March to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, dissolution of Parliament and immediate elections.

They created an encampment in Bangkok's wealthy Rajprasong district in April, surrounding themselves by a barricade of tires and bamboo spears, some of which appeared to be in flames this morning.

'This is the last push. Looks like the government really wants to end it this time,' said Senator Lertrat Rattanawanit, who had tried to mediate between the two sides.

'They have laid out the steps, giving out deadlines for people to move out and all that. It's a pity that using force is inevitable.'

Asked if losses could be prevented, he said: 'It's impossible.'

At the protest zone's barricades, bamboo spears splintered as two armoured personnel carriers rammed into the barrier, then backed up and tried again.

They repeated the process several times and punched large holes, pushing the wall into a crumpled mass but not bringing it down entirely.

An army commander said some Red Shirt protesters were about 200 yards inside the barricade.

Soldiers tightened their blockades around the protest site at dawn and used loudspeakers to tell all people to return to their homes.

A government building was on fire in another part of Bangkok.

The government first tried to clear another encampment in the historic part of Bangkok on April 10, but the operation ended disastrously when 25 people were killed and more than 800 wounded.

A second military operation, to blockade the consolidated Rajprasong camp to cut off protesters' supplies, was launched last Thursday, triggering almost daily clashes between troops and protesters.

Today's assault began with hundreds of troops and police, many armed with M-16 assault rifles, gathering in nearby streets and alleys before dawn.

Three armoured personnel carriers parked in front of the upscale Dusit Thani hotel, across the street from the southern edge of the barricade. Their machine gun mountain turrets pointed toward the barricade wall of tyres, and troops crouched behind the vehicles.

The operation came after Abhisit rejected protesters' unconditional offer to negotiate yesterday and insisted there would be no talks until the dwindling anti-government movement abandoned Rajprasong.

The troops appeared to be pushing from the southern border of the encampment in a bid to force some 3,000 protesters still holed up inside into buses waiting at the northern exit.

The Red Shirts say Abhisit's government 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.

Protest leaders have argued over whether they should continue to resist or negotiate a truce with the government to end the street violence.

On Tuesday, the mood in the core protest zone was subdued, with none of the dancing and festivities that previously lent the area a carnival-like atmosphere.

Periodically, protest leaders delivered fiery speeches, meant to keep the crowd motivated. But the crowd responses were not as full throated as before. Gone also were most food vendors, and mounds of rotting garbage piled up outside the camp's sharpened bamboo gates.

Previous attempts to negotiate an end to the stand-off have failed. A government offer earlier this month to hold November elections fell apart after protest leaders made more demands.

The violence in Bangkok, a popular stop for tourists heading to Thailand's world-famous beaches, has caused concern internationally and raised doubts about the stability of this South-East Asian nation.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1279526/Thai-Red-Shirt-protest-leaders-surrender-Bangkok--violence-rages-on.html#ixzz0oR2JCvPI







Gunshots rang out Thursday near a Buddhist temple in the heart of an anti-government protest zone in Bangkok, and soldiers were advancing on foot along an elevated train track, witnesses said.

Several gunshots were heard, striking panic into the crowd of some 2,000 people who had gathered at the temple where the bodies of six people killed in a gunbattle the day before were laid out.

The crowd retreated into the temple for shelter, as a group of six or seven soldiers took up positions on the "Skytrain" track, and advanced towards the area.

Thai security forces stormed the "Red Shirts" protest camp on Wednesday in a bloody assault that forced the surrender of the movement's leaders who asked their supporters to disperse.

Thailand protestors crashes with riot police- 29 dead so far.-Thai Authorities Ask Women, Children to Leave Protest Site-Violence reduces central Bangkok to a 21st-century Sarajevo-Thai Officials Reject Talks With Protesters

Thailand toughens stand against spiraling protests

Thailand took a tough stand against anti-government protesters on Sunday, rejecting demands for U.N.-supervised talks and calling on their leaders to surrender on the fourth day of deadly clashes with troops.

The government doused hopes of a compromise to end fighting that has killed at least 31 people, all civilians, and wounded 230, transforming one of Asia's most dynamic cities into a battleground and raising the risk of a broader conflict.



"We cannot retreat now," Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said in a televised statement, encapsulating the government's all-or-nothing campaign to end two months of protests seeking to topple his fragile, ruling six-party coalition.

The mostly rural and urban poor protesters, supporters of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, accuse the government of colluding with the royalist elite and meddling with the judiciary to bring down two Thaksin-allied governments.

Analysts and diplomats said the military appears to have underestimated the resolve of thousands of "red shirt" protesters barricaded in 3 sq-km (1.2 sq-mile) district of luxury hotels and shopping malls for six weeks.

"Unless the government cracks down and does so decisively -- and that's a big if -- we are going to be seeing rioting and guerrilla warfare, possibly spreading out to other areas," said an Asian diplomat who declined to be identified.

That was already starting to happen.

A state of emergency has spread to more than a quarter of the country after emergency decrees were declared in five more provinces on Sunday, bringing the total to 22, as violence erupted in the north and northeast, a Thaksin stronghold home to just over half of Thailand's 67 million people.

In Ubon Ratchathani province, protesters burned tires on several roads. One group tried to break into a military compound but were forced back by soldiers firing guns in the air.

"The potential for a broader civil conflict is high," said Federico Ferrara, a political science professor at the National University of Singapore.

"It is conceivable they might have an even worse problem on their hands after they have 'cleansed' Bangkok of the red shirts --- especially if they have to massacre hundreds of people in the process," he added.

At least 60 people have died and more than 1,600 have been wounded since the red shirts began their protests in March, according to government figures.

URGE U.N. TALKS

A red shirt leader, Nattawut Saikua, called for a ceasefire and U.N. moderated talks to end the violence that began on Thursday evening with an attempted assassination on a renegade general advising the red shirts, who was shot in the head.

"We have no other condition. We do not want any more losses," he told supporters.

But the government swiftly dismissed the offer. "If they really want to talk, they should not set conditions like asking us to withdraw troops," said Korbsak Sabhavasu, the prime minister's secretary-general.

As fighting raged in two areas of the city of 15 million people, residents hoarded food at supermarkets, stayed indoors or fled to escape neighborhoods transformed into battlegrounds.

"Rejection of any ceasefire talk is very ominous," said political scientist Vienrat Nethito at Chulalongkorn University. "This pretty much guarantees fighting will continue and the city will be even closer to the brink of civil war."

The most severe fighting took place in the Bon Kai area of Rama IV, a major artery to the business district. Troops and snipers fired semi-automatic weapons as protesters hurled petrol bombs and burned kerosene-soaked tires to camoflauge themselves.

Intense gun shots and explosions were heard well into the night on Sunday. A commercial building on Rama IV was ablaze.

Some wounded protesters were taken to hospital on the back of motorcycles, witnesses said, as medical rescue workers stayed clear of some of the most violent clashes after two were killed.

Monday and Tuesday were declared public holidays, but banks and financial markets would remain open.

Some women, children and the elderly at the encampment the red shirts have occupied the past six weeks are trickling into a nearby Buddhist temple for safety. The government is seeking cooperation with protest leaders to dispatch Red Cross workers and other human rights volunteers to persuade people to leave.

"We will not flee," Jatuporn Prompan, a protest leader, told supporters in their 3.5 sq-km (1.2 sq-mile) encampment, where at least 5,000 remain, including women and children, barricaded behind walls of tires, poles and concrete.

Abhisit briefly threatened to impose a curfew, a rare and jarring event for a city known for raucous nightlife, saying it could help isolate the area.

Thousands of protesters were rallying in a separate area in working-class Klong Toey area near the fighting on Rama IV Road. A new protest site would vastly complicate attempts to end the protests and resolve a crisis that has battered the economy.

ONE-SIDED BATTLE

As Bangkok braced for more unrest, many residents hoarded food and other supplies from grocery stores.

"We don't know how much longer this nightmare is going to last and how far it will spread," said Panna Srisuwan, a Bangkok resident waiting in line at a supermarket. "I am stocking up for the rest of the week."

Soldiers can shoot if protesters come within 36 meters (120 ft) of army lines, said army spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd, adding more soldiers were needed to establish control.

The government insists that some of the protesters are armed with grenades and guns and showed footage on national television in an attempt to bolster their case.

Five journalists have been shot, though one escaped unwounded because the bullet deflected off his flak jacket.

Many protest leaders now face terrorism charges that carry a maximum penalty of death, raising the stakes in a crisis that has stifled Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy and choked investment in one of Asia's most promising emerging markets.

The government's strategy of starving protesters out of their encampment was showing signs of having an effect. Supplies of food, water and fuel were starting to run thin as the red shirt delivery trucks were being blocked.

But red shirt leaders said they had enough to last for days.

Thai PM vows not to allow protesters to intimidate public again-Thai hospital near protest evacuates some patients

Political unrest: Bangkok police officers assemble outside Chulalongkorn Hospital which was stormed by anti-government protesters

Anxious: A mother waits with her child at Chulalongkorn Hospital before being evacuated to a different facility

A hospital in Bangkok next to an anti-government protest camp evacuated some of its patients on Friday after protesters forced their way into the grounds to look for soldiers they thought were there preparing an attack.

More than 200 "red shirt" protesters had barged into the grounds of Chulalongkorn University Hospital late on Thursday to look for troops.

They found none and left after roaming through the grounds, the lobby and car parks, some carrying wooden staves, for an hour. Some said they wanted to return on Friday to make sure there were no troops there but "red shirt" leaders ruled it out.

"We have told them it was an inappropriate move. We truly apologise for any inconvenience caused. Some were very concerned the hospital was harbouring troops," Weng Tojirakarn told Reuters.




The hospital is near the Silom business district, scene of deadly clashes on April 22. It evacuated some patients from late Thursday but hospital director Adisorn Patradul said it would remain open and many in-patients who cannot be moved would stay.

Hospital management denies there are any troops on its site but thousands of soldiers and riot police are in the area to contain a weeks-long protest movement aimed at forcing Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to dissolve parliament and hold early elections.

Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva announced Friday the government will not allow the anti-government protesters to intimidate the public again.

Abhisit addressed the nation on a live television at about 12: 00 p.m. saying the Thai government is sorry that the anti-government protesters stormed into the Chulalongkorn Hospital on Thursday night.

He said the anti-government protesters had caused hardship by intimidating the people around their rally sites.

The Center for Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES) and involved authorities are discussing necessary actions to prevent the protesters from intimidating the people again, he said.

At the same time, the government's checkpoints set up around the rally site to block people from joining the protests have been proved more effective, the prime minister said.

The Chulalongkorn Hospital, which is not far from the main anti-government rally site, is located in the center of capital Bangkok.

The anti-government "red-shirt" rally has been held from March 12 and they are now gathering at the Rathchaprasong Intersection -- their main rally site.

They have demanded Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to " immediately" dissolve the lower House of parliament and hold a new general election.

They are viewing that, apart from the House dissolution, there is no other solution to the country's ongoing political conflict.

But, at the same time the rise of Thais in "various-color shirts", who have opposed the early House dissolution, is increasingly growing.

11 hurt in Thailand grenade attack-Attack on former thai prime minister

Anti-"Red shirts" locals hold a rally on Silom Road of Bangkok, capital of Thailand, on April 22, 2010.
A grenade attack apparently targeting the Bangkok residence of former Thai prime minister Banharn Silpa-archa, an influential ally of the ruling coalition government, has injured 11 people.

The injured included civilians and three police officers on guard at the residence, medical service officials in Bangkok said.

Mr Banharn said attackers on a motorcycle threw a grenade but missed his residence, which was also targeted in a grenade attack in March.

In the northern city of Chiang Mai, where former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra still retains strong popular support, a grenade attack was also reported at the police headquarters building, but no-one was hurt.

Mr Banharn suggested that the attack against his home was a threat.

Anti-government protesters have demanded the Chart Thai Pattana party, headed by Mr Banharn's brother Chumpol Silpa-archa, leave the government led by prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.




The attack came amid growing political tension in Bangkok, where anti-government protesters, mostly supporters of Mr Thaksin, have laid siege to the capital's main commercial district, calling for Mr Abhisit to dissolve parliament.

A bomb blast hit house of a former Thai prime minister late Sunday night, leaving at least 11 injured, police said Monday.

Unidentified gunmen threw an M-67 grenade in front of Bangkok residence of Banharn Silpa-Archa, who are now Chat Thai Party Chief advisory, injuring three policemen and eight people, one of them in critical condition, Bang Yikhan police said.

The explosion occured around 10:20 p.m. when two men on a motorcycle threw the grenade at the house, the Bangkok Post website quoted Pol Lt Col Wirote Thongpraphai as saying.

The grenade hit the house's wall and fell onto the street and then exploded, three policemen on duty providing security for the Banharn and his family members were slight wounded.

Seven people waiting for buses at the bus stop nearby were injured and a woman on a passing by car was seriously wounded.

All the injured was admitted to hospitals.

Banharn's house was attacked by a grenade on March 29, leaving one injured.

Deadly blasts hit Bangkok protest - Scores injured and atleast 1 dead.

A series of explosions in the Thai capital Bangkok is reported to have killed at least three people and injured scores more.

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said grenades had been fired from a camp of anti-government protesters.

The explosions followed rising tensions in the stand-off between police and opposition demonstrators in the city.







Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has called an emergency meeting with security chiefs, officials said.

Mr Suthep said three people had been killed and more than 70 wounded in the explosions. Hospitals in Bangkok had only confirmed one person killed.

He said at least one M-79 grenade launcher had been used in the attacks, adding: "It was clear that it was shot from behind the King Rama VI Monument where the red-shirts are rallying."

However, red-shirt leaders denied that their supporters were responsible for the blasts.

Television images showed a chaotic scene with ambulances streaming into the area and panicked residents helping to carry the injured to safety. Blood was splattered across pavements and office windows were smashed.

Reports said two foreigners were believed to be among the injured.

Army spokesman Col Sansern Kaewkamnerd said five grenades had been fired. Three fell through the roof of the Saladaeng Skytrain station, along Silom Road, the centre of Bangkok's business district, he said.

A fourth exploded on the pavement near the five-star Dusit Thani Hotel and the fifth near a bank, he added.

He said the same type of grenade - fired from a shoulder-mounted launcher - had hit troops during bloody clashes with protesters that killed 25 people on 10 April.

The explosions happened near an intersection where troops are facing barricades manned by anti-government red-shirt protesters.

Their base has been fortified in recent days with sharpened bamboo stakes and piles of car tyres.

The red-shirts - who are calling for fresh elections - have been camped out in the city for six weeks.

The volatile atmosphere has recently been heightened by pro-government protesters, waving Thai flags and hurling abuse and water bottles at the red-shirts.

The BBC's Alastair Leithead, who is at the scene, says a group of a dozen or so people have walked through police lines and started throwing bottles and stones towards barricades manned by red-shirt protesters.

The reds are firing fireworks into the air and police are watching, doing nothing to stop them, he says.

The government is under pressure to crack down on the protesters.

Thai leaders have said they want a negotiated, peaceful end to the dispute, but observers say a non-violent solution is increasingly unlikely.

Both the US and the UN urged all sides to exercise restraint.

"We appeal to the protesters and Thai authorities to avoid further violence and loss of life and to work to resolve the situation peacefully through dialogue," said UN spokesman Martin Nesirky.

The BBC's Rachel Harvey in Bangkok says there has been a series of unexplained grenade attacks in Bangkok in recent weeks, coinciding with the anti-government demonstration - although protest leaders deny any involvement.

Earlier, Col Sunsern warned that the protesters' time to move out was "running out".

"If there is a crackdown, innocent people might get hurt," he said. "If we move in, we will attempt to arrest the leaders."

"The government will be very decisive but in the beginning of the operation there may be chaos."





Red-shirts

Formally called the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD)
Mostly poorer workers from rural areas
Many are loyal to ousted PM Thaksin Shinawatra
Believe Mr Abhisit came to power illegally and want him to resign and call elections

Yellow-shirts

Known as the Peoples' Alliance for Democracy
Loose coalition of mostly urban middle-class royalists and businessmen
United by their hatred of Mr Thaksin who was ousted in 2006
Occupied airports and official buildings in 2008, precipitating a political crisis