Wednesday, May 19, 2010 9:36:21 AM
Bangkok burns after army crackdown
The army crackdown in Bangkok has left at
least five people dead on Wednesday [Reuters]
Buildings across Bangkok have been set ablaze by red shirt protesters
after the Thai military stormed a protest camp in the centre of the city.
Six key leaders of the red shirt movement surrendered to police after
Thai soldiers breached barricades surrounding the camp early on Wednesday.
But rather than surrender, some of their followers set several buildings in the Thai capital on fire, destroying a major department store and trapping employees of the Channel Three television station in their burning office building.
Authorities said 100 people were trapped inside the television building. A spokesman for the Bangkok fire department said that a fire engine attempting to put out the blaze was attacked by protesters and forced to retreat.
Fire was also reported at the Bangkok stock exchange, while the Central World Department store, the second largest department store in Southeast Asia, has been destroyed in a blaze.
The city was engulfed in thick black smoke on Wednesday afternoon as emergency services attempted to bring the fires under control.
Curfew imposed
The Thai government has imposed a curfew on Bangkok from 8pm (1300GMT) to 6am (2300GMT) in an effort to re-establish control over the streets. It said military operations would continue overnight.
in depth .. much more inside ..
Wednesday's offensive came after days of escalating clashes and street battles as the Thai government stepped up pressure on the red shirts to end more than two months of crippling protests.
At least five people are known to have died in Wednesday's assault, but that number could rise further. The unfolding situation in the capital has also triggered unrest in the north of country, with a town hall in Udon Thani stormed by protesters and set ablaze.
The violence follows earlier hopes that the surrender of red shirt leaders would mark the end of the standoff.
Speaking earlier on Wednesday, Panitan Wattanayagorn, spokesman for the Thai government, said red shirt leaders had accepted what he called a "road map" to reconciliation and most of the areas occupied by the protesters were secure.
News of the leaders' surrender on Wednesday afternoon also coincided with reports of further grenade explosions in and around the red shirt camp.
Other red shirt leaders issued emotional calls for demonstrators to leave central Bangkok, even though pockets of resistance remain.
Earlier Thai soldiers and armoured personnel carriers punched through red shirt barricades and moved into the main encampment of anti-government protesters in Bangkok.
Army crackdown
Al Jazeera's Wayne Hay, reporting from inside the breached protest site, said troops moved quickly through the first kilometre of the protest site, towards the main stage where the leaders of the so-called red shirts were believed to be.
At least two bodies – suspected to be killed red shirt guards - were seen being removed from the area, our correspondent said, and the Thai Red Cross has appealed for blood donations.
Jongjet Aoajenpong, the director of Police hospital, was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying that an Italian journalist was shot in the stomach and "died before arriving at the hospital".
Protesters lit fuel-soaked tyre barricades
in an attempt to defend their camp [AFP]
About 100 soldiers armed with automatic rifles and shotguns, along with several machine gun mounted armoured personnel carriers, breached the red shirts' barricade at the southern end of their protest site on Wednesday.
The armoured vehicles had repeatedly rammed the barricade made up largely of tyres, sharpened bamboo poles and razor wire before breaking through the flattened structure.
Before the assault began, troops used loudspeakers to tell protesters at the protest site in Bangkok's high-end Rachaprasong shopping district to go home, saying their lives were in danger.
Thaksin warning
Thaksin Shinawatra, the ousted Thai prime minister whom many of the red shirts support, said he feared a military crackdown could lead to guerrilla warfare across the country.
"There is a theory saying a military crackdown can spread resentment and these resentful people will become guerrillas," Thaksin told the Reuters news agency by telephone.
As the military moved on the red shirt camp, the government said it would offer safe passage to unarmed, civilian protesters after moving into the protest camp and said buses were waiting to send them home.
The authorities had warned the red shirts to leave their protest site by 3pm (0800 GMT) on Monday, saying that those who remained faced two years in prison.
However, the protesters defied the order and the deadline passed without any action being taken.
Wednesday's military operation comes after the government rejected holding further negotiations with the red shirts until they left their rally site.
A mediation proposal, floated by a group of 64 senators in the 150-member upper house of the Thai parliament on Tuesday, was accepted by the protesters but rejected by Abhisit Vejjajiva, the prime minister.
Satit Wonghnongtaey, a government minister, said while Abhisit welcomed negotiations, the government insisted "talks will happen only after the protest has ended".
The crisis, which began when demonstrations were launched in mid-March, has now left around 70 people dead and about 1,700 wounded.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/05/20105197368704730.html
The army crackdown in Bangkok has left at
least five people dead on Wednesday [Reuters]
Buildings across Bangkok have been set ablaze by red shirt protesters
after the Thai military stormed a protest camp in the centre of the city.
Six key leaders of the red shirt movement surrendered to police after
Thai soldiers breached barricades surrounding the camp early on Wednesday.
But rather than surrender, some of their followers set several buildings in the Thai capital on fire, destroying a major department store and trapping employees of the Channel Three television station in their burning office building.
Authorities said 100 people were trapped inside the television building. A spokesman for the Bangkok fire department said that a fire engine attempting to put out the blaze was attacked by protesters and forced to retreat.
Fire was also reported at the Bangkok stock exchange, while the Central World Department store, the second largest department store in Southeast Asia, has been destroyed in a blaze.
The city was engulfed in thick black smoke on Wednesday afternoon as emergency services attempted to bring the fires under control.
Curfew imposed
The Thai government has imposed a curfew on Bangkok from 8pm (1300GMT) to 6am (2300GMT) in an effort to re-establish control over the streets. It said military operations would continue overnight.
in depth .. much more inside ..
Wednesday's offensive came after days of escalating clashes and street battles as the Thai government stepped up pressure on the red shirts to end more than two months of crippling protests.
At least five people are known to have died in Wednesday's assault, but that number could rise further. The unfolding situation in the capital has also triggered unrest in the north of country, with a town hall in Udon Thani stormed by protesters and set ablaze.
The violence follows earlier hopes that the surrender of red shirt leaders would mark the end of the standoff.
Speaking earlier on Wednesday, Panitan Wattanayagorn, spokesman for the Thai government, said red shirt leaders had accepted what he called a "road map" to reconciliation and most of the areas occupied by the protesters were secure.
News of the leaders' surrender on Wednesday afternoon also coincided with reports of further grenade explosions in and around the red shirt camp.
Other red shirt leaders issued emotional calls for demonstrators to leave central Bangkok, even though pockets of resistance remain.
Earlier Thai soldiers and armoured personnel carriers punched through red shirt barricades and moved into the main encampment of anti-government protesters in Bangkok.
Army crackdown
Al Jazeera's Wayne Hay, reporting from inside the breached protest site, said troops moved quickly through the first kilometre of the protest site, towards the main stage where the leaders of the so-called red shirts were believed to be.
At least two bodies – suspected to be killed red shirt guards - were seen being removed from the area, our correspondent said, and the Thai Red Cross has appealed for blood donations.
Jongjet Aoajenpong, the director of Police hospital, was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying that an Italian journalist was shot in the stomach and "died before arriving at the hospital".
Protesters lit fuel-soaked tyre barricades
in an attempt to defend their camp [AFP]
About 100 soldiers armed with automatic rifles and shotguns, along with several machine gun mounted armoured personnel carriers, breached the red shirts' barricade at the southern end of their protest site on Wednesday.
The armoured vehicles had repeatedly rammed the barricade made up largely of tyres, sharpened bamboo poles and razor wire before breaking through the flattened structure.
Before the assault began, troops used loudspeakers to tell protesters at the protest site in Bangkok's high-end Rachaprasong shopping district to go home, saying their lives were in danger.
Thaksin warning
Thaksin Shinawatra, the ousted Thai prime minister whom many of the red shirts support, said he feared a military crackdown could lead to guerrilla warfare across the country.
"There is a theory saying a military crackdown can spread resentment and these resentful people will become guerrillas," Thaksin told the Reuters news agency by telephone.
As the military moved on the red shirt camp, the government said it would offer safe passage to unarmed, civilian protesters after moving into the protest camp and said buses were waiting to send them home.
The authorities had warned the red shirts to leave their protest site by 3pm (0800 GMT) on Monday, saying that those who remained faced two years in prison.
However, the protesters defied the order and the deadline passed without any action being taken.
Wednesday's military operation comes after the government rejected holding further negotiations with the red shirts until they left their rally site.
A mediation proposal, floated by a group of 64 senators in the 150-member upper house of the Thai parliament on Tuesday, was accepted by the protesters but rejected by Abhisit Vejjajiva, the prime minister.
Satit Wonghnongtaey, a government minister, said while Abhisit welcomed negotiations, the government insisted "talks will happen only after the protest has ended".
The crisis, which began when demonstrations were launched in mid-March, has now left around 70 people dead and about 1,700 wounded.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/05/20105197368704730.html
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