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Thai soldiers in retreat from battles with Bangkok rioters



 
 
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  #1  
Old April 10th, 2010, 03:51 PM posted to soc.culture.thai,rec.travel.asia
none[_1_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 77
Default Thai soldiers in retreat from battles with Bangkok rioters

Thai troops retreat from battles with protesters
(AP) – 28 minutes ago

BANGKOK — Thailand's army spokesman says that troops have retreated
from street battles with anti-government protesters in Bangkok. Nearly
200 people have been injured.

Army spokesman Col. Sansern Kaewkamnerd went on national television
Saturday night to ask the protesters to retreat as well.

Sansern said a senior government official has been asked to coordinate
with the protesters "to bring back peace."

He said that protesters have been "using real bullets and grenades"
during the fighting.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further
information. AP's earlier story is below.

BANGKOK (AP) — Thai security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets
at anti-government demonstrators Saturday, setting off fierce street
battles during a large-scale crackdown aimed at ending a month of
disruptive protests in the capital. More than 150 people have been
injured, including some with gunshot wounds.

The military vowed to clear one of the protesters' main encampments by
nightfall but did not. By early evening, a pitched battle was under
way near the protesters' camp. Thai media reported both side firing
guns, and the use of small bombs. Details were difficult to confirms,
but video showed chaotic scenes of fighting in streets enveloped in
tear gas.

Thai TV stations reported earlier that a helicopter had dropped tear
gas on demonstrators at another location, a report that could not
immediately be confirmed.

Some 161 people have been injured, most sustaining cuts and bruises or
irritation related to tear gas, the government's Erawan emergency
center said. There were reports that several people sustained gunshot
wounds. The army said any live rounds were fired only into the air,
but confirmed that two of its soldiers had been shot.

Most of Saturday's confrontations, at several points across the city,
involved pushing and shoving by the two sides, though some protesters
wielded sticks and threw rocks. Tear gas was used frequently by the
soldiers, who also fired rubber bullets at the protesters and M-16
assault rifles in the air. A reporter for Thai TV station TPBS showed
a spent bullet and bullet hole in the side of a car.

The so-called Red Shirt protesters are demanding that Prime Minister
Abhisit Vejjajiva dissolve Parliament and call new elections. They
claim that he came to power illegitimately in December 2008 with the
help of military pressure on Parliament.

Government forces have confronted the protesters before but pulled
back rather than risk bloodshed.

On Friday, the army failed to prevent demonstrators from breaking into
the compound of a satellite transmission station. The humiliating rout
of troops and riot police raised questions about how much control
Abhisit has over the police and army.

To effectively confront the protesters, Siripan Nogsuan Sawasdee of
Chulalongkorn University said the government needs the cooperation of
the military, but it could be that the army is reluctant to use force
against the protesters.

Thailand's military has traditionally played a major role in politics,
staging almost a score of coups since the country became a
constitutional monarchy in 1932.

Army spokesman Col. Sansern Kaewkamnerd said in a broadcast on all
stations Saturday afternoon that the army "is employing soft measures
and hard measures step by step."

Earlier, he said that the military hope to clear out the protesters
original rally site in the old section of Bangkok by dusk.

More troops were also sent to a second rally site in the heart of
Bangkok's tourist and shopping "to pressure the protesters," he said.
The city's elevated mass transit system known as the Skytrain, which
runs past that site, stopped operations and closed all its stations as
possible confrontation loomed.

On the same TV broadcast, government spokesman Panithan Wattanayakorn
said, "If the security officers have to use force, they will do it
with caution.

The violence has not yet approached the level of last April, when Red
Shirts began rampaging on city streets and torching public buses.

On Saturday, a helicopter circled over one protest site, where
protesters were trying to disable public surveillance cameras by
covering them with bags or cutting their cables. At a rally site in
the heart of Bangkok's shopping district, protest leaders handed out
damp towels and face masks to protect against tear gas, and called for
more followers to gather.

The new deployment came after protesters were pushed back by water
cannons and rubber bullets from the headquarters of the 1st Army
Region. Although they have two main rally sites, the Red Shirts use
trucks and motorcycles to send followers all over the city on short
notice.

Arrest warrants have been issued for 27 Red Shirt leaders, but none is
known to have been taken into custody.

On Friday, protesters broke into the Thaicom transmission station and
briefly restarted a pro-Red Shirt television station that had been
shut down by the government under a state of emergency. After
scattered hand to hand scuffles, the troops retreated in disarray,
some taking positions inside the main Thaicom building.

Merchants say the boisterous demonstrations have cost them tens of
millions of baht (millions of dollars), and luxury hotels near the
site have been under virtual siege.

The escalating demonstrations are part of a long-running battle
between the mostly poor and rural supporters of former Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra, and the ruling elite they say orchestrated the
2006 military coup that removed him from power.

They see the Oxford-educated Abhisit as a symbol of the elite and
claim he took office illegitimately in December 2008 with the help of
military pressure on Parliament.

Associated Press writers Denis D. Gray and Thanyarat Doksone
contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
  #2  
Old April 11th, 2010, 08:39 PM posted to soc.culture.thai,rec.travel.asia
Runge121
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 120
Default Thai soldiers in retreat from battles with Bangkok rioters

You have a personal problem with that country ?


"none" a ιcrit dans le message de groupe de discussion
: ...
Thai troops retreat from battles with protesters
(AP) – 28 minutes ago

BANGKOK — Thailand's army spokesman says that troops have retreated
from street battles with anti-government protesters in Bangkok. Nearly
200 people have been injured.

Army spokesman Col. Sansern Kaewkamnerd went on national television
Saturday night to ask the protesters to retreat as well.

Sansern said a senior government official has been asked to coordinate
with the protesters "to bring back peace."

He said that protesters have been "using real bullets and grenades"
during the fighting.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further
information. AP's earlier story is below.

BANGKOK (AP) — Thai security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets
at anti-government demonstrators Saturday, setting off fierce street
battles during a large-scale crackdown aimed at ending a month of
disruptive protests in the capital. More than 150 people have been
injured, including some with gunshot wounds.

The military vowed to clear one of the protesters' main encampments by
nightfall but did not. By early evening, a pitched battle was under
way near the protesters' camp. Thai media reported both side firing
guns, and the use of small bombs. Details were difficult to confirms,
but video showed chaotic scenes of fighting in streets enveloped in
tear gas.

Thai TV stations reported earlier that a helicopter had dropped tear
gas on demonstrators at another location, a report that could not
immediately be confirmed.

Some 161 people have been injured, most sustaining cuts and bruises or
irritation related to tear gas, the government's Erawan emergency
center said. There were reports that several people sustained gunshot
wounds. The army said any live rounds were fired only into the air,
but confirmed that two of its soldiers had been shot.

Most of Saturday's confrontations, at several points across the city,
involved pushing and shoving by the two sides, though some protesters
wielded sticks and threw rocks. Tear gas was used frequently by the
soldiers, who also fired rubber bullets at the protesters and M-16
assault rifles in the air. A reporter for Thai TV station TPBS showed
a spent bullet and bullet hole in the side of a car.

The so-called Red Shirt protesters are demanding that Prime Minister
Abhisit Vejjajiva dissolve Parliament and call new elections. They
claim that he came to power illegitimately in December 2008 with the
help of military pressure on Parliament.

Government forces have confronted the protesters before but pulled
back rather than risk bloodshed.

On Friday, the army failed to prevent demonstrators from breaking into
the compound of a satellite transmission station. The humiliating rout
of troops and riot police raised questions about how much control
Abhisit has over the police and army.

To effectively confront the protesters, Siripan Nogsuan Sawasdee of
Chulalongkorn University said the government needs the cooperation of
the military, but it could be that the army is reluctant to use force
against the protesters.

Thailand's military has traditionally played a major role in politics,
staging almost a score of coups since the country became a
constitutional monarchy in 1932.

Army spokesman Col. Sansern Kaewkamnerd said in a broadcast on all
stations Saturday afternoon that the army "is employing soft measures
and hard measures step by step."

Earlier, he said that the military hope to clear out the protesters
original rally site in the old section of Bangkok by dusk.

More troops were also sent to a second rally site in the heart of
Bangkok's tourist and shopping "to pressure the protesters," he said.
The city's elevated mass transit system known as the Skytrain, which
runs past that site, stopped operations and closed all its stations as
possible confrontation loomed.

On the same TV broadcast, government spokesman Panithan Wattanayakorn
said, "If the security officers have to use force, they will do it
with caution.

The violence has not yet approached the level of last April, when Red
Shirts began rampaging on city streets and torching public buses.

On Saturday, a helicopter circled over one protest site, where
protesters were trying to disable public surveillance cameras by
covering them with bags or cutting their cables. At a rally site in
the heart of Bangkok's shopping district, protest leaders handed out
damp towels and face masks to protect against tear gas, and called for
more followers to gather.

The new deployment came after protesters were pushed back by water
cannons and rubber bullets from the headquarters of the 1st Army
Region. Although they have two main rally sites, the Red Shirts use
trucks and motorcycles to send followers all over the city on short
notice.

Arrest warrants have been issued for 27 Red Shirt leaders, but none is
known to have been taken into custody.

On Friday, protesters broke into the Thaicom transmission station and
briefly restarted a pro-Red Shirt television station that had been
shut down by the government under a state of emergency. After
scattered hand to hand scuffles, the troops retreated in disarray,
some taking positions inside the main Thaicom building.

Merchants say the boisterous demonstrations have cost them tens of
millions of baht (millions of dollars), and luxury hotels near the
site have been under virtual siege.

The escalating demonstrations are part of a long-running battle
between the mostly poor and rural supporters of former Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra, and the ruling elite they say orchestrated the
2006 military coup that removed him from power.

They see the Oxford-educated Abhisit as a symbol of the elite and
claim he took office illegitimately in December 2008 with the help of
military pressure on Parliament.

Associated Press writers Denis D. Gray and Thanyarat Doksone
contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.


 




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