Four killed, 50 wounded in Bangkok
By Andrew Higgins
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
BANGKOK -- Thai soldiers launched an assault against "red shirt" protesters in a military operation that forced anti-government protest leaders to surrender but left parts of Bangkok in the grip of near anarchy. Enraged by the offensive, protesters set fire to Thailand's stock exchange and southeast Asia's biggest shopping mall, looted luxury boutiques and fired grenades and guns in areas previously untouched by the mayhem.
In an offensive launched at daybreak Wednesday after days of escalating confrontation, armored vehicles smashed through barricades made of sharpened bamboo poles and rubber tires while heavily armed troops raced deep into territory occupied for more than a month by protesters.
As the military advanced toward the center of the fortified encampment, protest leader Jatuporn Prompan announced that he and other "core leaders" would turn themselves in to police. He pleaded with followers to leave the area to avoid further bloodshed.
"We have no more words to speak because all your hearts are already far beyond death," Jatuporn said. Today we will stop the death but we will not stop fighting. People keep dying, let's stop the death together."
An angry mob ignored the appeal for an orderly retreat and set fire to parts of Central World Plaza, an upscale nearby shopping mall, under the gaze of fashion models pictured on billboards advertising luxury clothing. Thick smoke billowed from the shopping center and also from Siam Theatre -- a popular movie house -- a government-owned bank and other buildings. Rioters set fire to the Thai stock exchange, which had closed early because of the violence. Some protesters began setting up new barricades and fought running battles with soldiers.
The government said it had the situation under control but also declared that a curfew would go into force at 8 p.m. and continue until 6 a.m. Dazed tourists struggled to get back to their hotels through military checkpoints amid sporadic rounds of gunfire. Electricity went off in residential areas far from the protest zone.
There also were reports of unrest elsewhere in Thailand, a close military ally of the United States and popular tourist destination that touts itself as the "land of smiles."
Most of the trouble outside Bangkok took place in northern regions, the main base of support for Thailand's exiled former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, a billionaire former policeman who wants to return to Thailand and to power. In Khon Kaen, a major city in the north, protesters seized the town hall. In another big northern city, Ubon, about 1,000 red shirt sympathizers forced their way past soldiers guarding a government compound and set fire to city hall, gutting it completely, according to a resident.
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Such incidents show that far from settling Thailand's deep political divisions, Wednesday's assault threatened to polarize the country further. The protesters first gathered in central Bangkok more than two months ago to try to force early elections to replace the government, which was chosen by parliament, not by a popular vote. It took power from a government loyal to Thaksin, who was himself overthrown in a military coup in 2006.What began as a peaceful movement for change, however, became increasingly unruly as hardline militants took up arms and protest leaders lost control of their own cause.
In Bangkok Wednesday, trouble spread beyond the "red zone" into Suukhumvit, a main thoroughfare usually clogged with foreign tourists. A group of men on motorbikes raced down the street and fired at security officers standing near the Landmark Hotel. One person seemed to have been injured, said a hotel employee.
Further down the same road, red-shirt sympathizers set fire to tires outside a police station at Asoke, a major transportion hub, and blocked the street with buses. A crowd of bystanders cheered. A fire truck was chased away, leaving the fires to rage unchecked. It was later put out and the crowd dispersed.
Jeremy King, a private fund manager and longtime British resident of Bangkok, said the cheers from onlookers signaled a surprising degree of "grassroots support for the red shirts," but he said he was also surprised by "how quickly the crowd evaporated ... and the fires were put out when the order came to stand down."
Estimates of casualties varied widely. New agencies initially reported at least four killed and more than 50 injured in the army operation. Among thosee reported killed was an Italian news photographer, and three journalists were wounded. Casualties were expected to rise.
The military halted its advance on the center of the protest zone, saying it wanted to let people leave. While the government clearly won the battle Wednesday, it now faces the more difficult task of winning what will likely be a long campaign to restore enduring calm and to prevent pockets of resistance coalescing into a threat that could jeopardize the entire country's future stability.
The stakes are also high for Washington, which risks embarrassment if the military push produced major bloodshed. The United States has longstanding and close relations with Thailand's armed forces. The two countries hold regular joint military exercises, the most recent of which, a naval exercise off the Thai coast, began late last week -- just as the Thai authorities declared parts of Bangkok a "live firing zone."
Moving into red shirt territory early Wednesday, soldiers advanced down a garbage-strewn avenue that had been one of Bangkok's most exclusive shopping and business districts. A billboard advertising BMW cars declared, "Joy is here, there and everywhere." Soldiers also took positions outside the U.S. Embassy, on the edge of protester territory, and moved on foot along an elevated rail line over the center of the camp. Later in the day, parts of the city's mass transit system seemed to be on fire.
When news of the military advance first reached protesters gathered around a makeshift stage, they battled panic by singing a Thai folk song called "No Problem." A crowd that had numbered more than 3,000 quickly dwindled, with many taking refuge in a Buddhist shrine designated as a safe haven.
When they first moved to the capital in March, protesters -- many of them farmers and other red shirts from the north -- occupied just a single bridge. But they steadily expanded territory under their control, paralyzing the center of a capital city of more than 9 million people. As troops moved in last week to choke off supplies to the protest area, militant elements took up arms and fought running battles with the Thai military. At least 39 people were killed.
Washington, in public comments, had tried to remain aloof from what it termed a domestic political crisis. But behind the scenes, U.S. diplomats in Bangkok worked to find a peaceful settlement. They held informal talks with both government officials and red shirt representatives, diplomats familiar with the discussions said. It was not clear whether the United States was informed beforehand of the Thai military's advance Wednesday.
Nate Thayer contributed to this report.
As the military advanced toward the center of the fortified encampment, protest leader Jatuporn Prompan announced that he and other "core leaders" would turn themselves in to police. He pleaded with followers to leave the area to avoid further bloodshed.
"We have no more words to speak because all your hearts are already far beyond death," Jatuporn said. Today we will stop the death but we will not stop fighting. People keep dying, let's stop the death together."
An angry mob ignored the appeal for an orderly retreat and set fire to parts of Central World Plaza, an upscale nearby shopping mall, under the gaze of fashion models pictured on billboards advertising luxury clothing. Thick smoke billowed from the shopping center and also from Siam Theatre -- a popular movie house -- a government-owned bank and other buildings. Rioters set fire to the Thai stock exchange, which had closed early because of the violence. Some protesters began setting up new barricades and fought running battles with soldiers.
The government said it had the situation under control but also declared that a curfew would go into force at 8 p.m. and continue until 6 a.m. Dazed tourists struggled to get back to their hotels through military checkpoints amid sporadic rounds of gunfire. Electricity went off in residential areas far from the protest zone.
There also were reports of unrest elsewhere in Thailand, a close military ally of the United States and popular tourist destination that touts itself as the "land of smiles."
Most of the trouble outside Bangkok took place in northern regions, the main base of support for Thailand's exiled former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, a billionaire former policeman who wants to return to Thailand and to power. In Khon Kaen, a major city in the north, protesters seized the town hall. In another big northern city, Ubon, about 1,000 red shirt sympathizers forced their way past soldiers guarding a government compound and set fire to city hall, gutting it completely, according to a resident.
ad_icon
Such incidents show that far from settling Thailand's deep political divisions, Wednesday's assault threatened to polarize the country further. The protesters first gathered in central Bangkok more than two months ago to try to force early elections to replace the government, which was chosen by parliament, not by a popular vote. It took power from a government loyal to Thaksin, who was himself overthrown in a military coup in 2006.What began as a peaceful movement for change, however, became increasingly unruly as hardline militants took up arms and protest leaders lost control of their own cause.
In Bangkok Wednesday, trouble spread beyond the "red zone" into Suukhumvit, a main thoroughfare usually clogged with foreign tourists. A group of men on motorbikes raced down the street and fired at security officers standing near the Landmark Hotel. One person seemed to have been injured, said a hotel employee.
Further down the same road, red-shirt sympathizers set fire to tires outside a police station at Asoke, a major transportion hub, and blocked the street with buses. A crowd of bystanders cheered. A fire truck was chased away, leaving the fires to rage unchecked. It was later put out and the crowd dispersed.
Jeremy King, a private fund manager and longtime British resident of Bangkok, said the cheers from onlookers signaled a surprising degree of "grassroots support for the red shirts," but he said he was also surprised by "how quickly the crowd evaporated ... and the fires were put out when the order came to stand down."
Estimates of casualties varied widely. New agencies initially reported at least four killed and more than 50 injured in the army operation. Among thosee reported killed was an Italian news photographer, and three journalists were wounded. Casualties were expected to rise.
The military halted its advance on the center of the protest zone, saying it wanted to let people leave. While the government clearly won the battle Wednesday, it now faces the more difficult task of winning what will likely be a long campaign to restore enduring calm and to prevent pockets of resistance coalescing into a threat that could jeopardize the entire country's future stability.
The stakes are also high for Washington, which risks embarrassment if the military push produced major bloodshed. The United States has longstanding and close relations with Thailand's armed forces. The two countries hold regular joint military exercises, the most recent of which, a naval exercise off the Thai coast, began late last week -- just as the Thai authorities declared parts of Bangkok a "live firing zone."
Moving into red shirt territory early Wednesday, soldiers advanced down a garbage-strewn avenue that had been one of Bangkok's most exclusive shopping and business districts. A billboard advertising BMW cars declared, "Joy is here, there and everywhere." Soldiers also took positions outside the U.S. Embassy, on the edge of protester territory, and moved on foot along an elevated rail line over the center of the camp. Later in the day, parts of the city's mass transit system seemed to be on fire.
When news of the military advance first reached protesters gathered around a makeshift stage, they battled panic by singing a Thai folk song called "No Problem." A crowd that had numbered more than 3,000 quickly dwindled, with many taking refuge in a Buddhist shrine designated as a safe haven.
When they first moved to the capital in March, protesters -- many of them farmers and other red shirts from the north -- occupied just a single bridge. But they steadily expanded territory under their control, paralyzing the center of a capital city of more than 9 million people. As troops moved in last week to choke off supplies to the protest area, militant elements took up arms and fought running battles with the Thai military. At least 39 people were killed.
Washington, in public comments, had tried to remain aloof from what it termed a domestic political crisis. But behind the scenes, U.S. diplomats in Bangkok worked to find a peaceful settlement. They held informal talks with both government officials and red shirt representatives, diplomats familiar with the discussions said. It was not clear whether the United States was informed beforehand of the Thai military's advance Wednesday.
Nate Thayer contributed to this report.
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