Political un-rest and rally

[faq2mfh]

Has anyone seen any signs of tension in Hua Hin? Or is living in Hua Hin like being in another country…

[caller]

man

dropping him in front of reporter

thats proper balls

that'll teach him to call Abba a wimp

guess the gloves are off now

some good footage on CNN

Well SM, this is for your delectation, albeit from the earlier incidents. I assume the same sniper that dropped this poor innocent was responsible for the one you glory in?

Warning This is deeply, deeply unpleasant and not for the squeamish. Mods, fully undertand if this is removed and apologise in advance, but please leave the leave the gist of this message. I find it hard to comprehend anyone reveling in such a situation.



[Moderator Edit] Video has been withdrawn by YouTube.

[PeteC]

Another very sad story that happened last night. Pete


3 injured as van trying to clash through security checkpoint at Makkasan

A van was speeding to the security checkpoint under the Airport Link Makkasan station at about 30 minutes after midnight, prompting troops to fire at it.

After the van was stopped because of the firing, troops found three persons inside. They were severely injured with bullet wounds. One of them is a boy, who appears to be 10 years old.

The driver has apparently drunk.

The Nation

[margaretcarnes]

Margaret with all due respect a bullet wound to the head is just that. It is not normally associated with a broken neck unless subsequent to the initial injury, nor choking from say an obstruction or sucking wound to lungs. The level of attention you suggest ie. stuffing around for non existent injuries may well see him croak it. At least that was what I was taught in first aid small arms course some years back.
However your general comment is spot on the level of first aid is highly dubious here in LOS - you are lucky to get to hospital alive and even more lucky if they can save you!!!!!
I always cringe when I see the latest victims of our Islamic friends playing with pyrotechnics or those on the receiving ends of land mines being bundled into utes/sedans etc. Prognosis - NOT GOOD!

AND HHF nice quote (United States Thursday closed its embassy in Bangkok and said it was "very concerned" about the violence between the Thai government and protesters there). Hope it didn't upset their golfing day or Ambassadorial functions planned for the weekend!

Yes you're generally right about my generalisation Charlesh! But the whole incident appears so panicked I wonder if they would have realised if there were any other wounds anyway. On reflection I suppose golf should take priority over first aid though - would we expect anything else?

[lomuamart]

Has anyone seen any signs of tension in Hua Hin? Or is living in Hua Hin like being in another country…

No problems here.
I'd say that the only inconvenience is that even more Bangkokians than normal descend on town at the weekends to get away from the troubles.

[hhfarang]

Seven dead, 100 injured in Bangkok violence

by Patrick Falby

BANGKOK (AFP) -- Thai troops opened fire on protesters Friday after a military lockdown of their vast rally site in the heart of the capital sparked fierce clashes that left seven people dead and more than 100 wounded.

Security forces moved to regain control of a road close to the Suan Lum night bazaar, a popular spot with tourists, after "Red Shirt" demonstrators spilled out of their fortified rally base, which was under siege by troops.

The protesters, who are trying to bring down the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, threw stones, used slingshots and launched fireworks at the troops as the two-month standoff descended into more violence.

As night fell, gunfire continued to ring out close to the protest site, which was still occupied by thousands of demonstrators. Several blasts were heard in the nearby financial district but the cause was unclear.

Six men and one woman, all civilians, were killed in the violence, which also left 101 people injured, including three foreigners, according to the official Erawan emergency centre.

Three journalists, one of them a Canadian with the France 24 television channel, were shot and wounded while covering the unrest.

Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said security troops had come under attack as they moved to seal off the rally area late Thursday to prevent more Red Shirts from entering.

"The soldiers... had no choice but to respond to these attacks," Panitan told a news conference, adding that troops were authorised to use live ammunition in self-defence, for warning shots or against armed gunmen.

Troops would step up security measures in the coming days to search for weapons and reduce the number of people entering the area, he said, warning of the risk of more instability in the capital.

Soldiers used tear gas Friday against the demonstrators, who set fire to piles of tyres in the road, torched an empty police bus and vandalised army vehicles in their efforts to disrupt the lockdown.

At one point troops fired directly at protesters and then advanced up a road, shooting into the air, according to an AFP reporter.

Nelson Rand, a reporter who was covering fighting between troops and protesters for France 24, was hit by three bullets from a military assault rifle and "gravely wounded", his network reported.

At least 37 people have been killed and about 1,000 injured in Bangkok in a series of confrontations and attacks since the protests began in mid-March.

The mood was tense inside the demonstrators' encampment, which has been fortified with razor wire, truck tyres doused with kerosene and sharpened bamboo poles.

"Abhisit has already started civil war," top Red Shirt Nattawut Saikuar told reporters.

"We urgently demand the government withdraw the military and stop all violence," he said. "I don't know how we can survive tonight if Abhisit does not agree to a ceasefire. We hope that Abhisit does not want war."

The Reds consider Abhisit's government illegitimate because it came to power in a 2008 parliamentary vote after a court ruling ousted elected allies of their hero, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was unseated in a 2006 coup.

Thaksin, who lives in self-imposed exile to avoid a jail term at home for corruption, called on the government to pull back troops and restart negotiations with the demonstrators.

"The government's actions clearly constitute grave infringement of human rights and criminal offences," Thaksin said in a statement.

Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwon said the military operation was meant to force the movement's leaders back to talks with the government.

A renegade general allied with the Reds was fighting for his life after being shot late Thursday close to the protest site. His supporters said he was targeted by a sniper.

The army, which had warned Thursday it would deploy snipers around the Reds' protest site, denied any involvement in the shooting of Major-General Khattiya Sawasdipol, better known by his nickname "Seh Daeng".

Khattiya, who had been accused of trying to block government moves to reconcile with the protesters, was unconscious in the intensive care unit of Vahira hospital with a head wound.

He had a "low" chance of survival, said Chaiwan Charoenchokethavee, the hospital director.

The violence came after Abhisit scrapped a plan to hold November elections as peace efforts broke down, with the Reds demanding the deputy premier be charged for his role in overseeing an April 10 crackdown in which 25 people died, including a Japanese cameraman.

[charlesh]

Has anyone seen any signs of tension in Hua Hin? Or is living in Hua Hin like being in another country…

Yes it was a bit tense yesterday when I learnt that the price of the peeled sapporot had increased from 10Bht/kg to 15Bht!

[STEVE G]

Another very sad story that happened last night. Pete


3 injured as van trying to clash through security checkpoint at Makkasan

A van was speeding to the security checkpoint under the Airport Link Makkasan station at about 30 minutes after midnight, prompting troops to fire at it.

After the van was stopped because of the firing, troops found three persons inside. They were severely injured with bullet wounds. One of them is a boy, who appears to be 10 years old.

The driver has apparently drunk.

The Nation

Yes, after seeing news clips of the amount of shooting going on yesterday, it's only surprising that there haven't been more innocent casualties.

[sargeant]

I have refrained from posting because I wanted to consider and evaluate first
Whilst I was a soldier for the greater part of my life the one thing it taught me was that violence begets violence, violence solves nothing and I therefore abhor all violence. (Mr P seems to come from a similar place)
Saying that I am not crying for Sah Deang
I as a soldier of 22 years was firmly of the belief that my main role was to defend the democracy and the citizens of The UK against armed violence from outside. I am therefore a total believer in democracy and by pure logic must therefore be against dictatorship.
I have spent a fruitless search for a post I made where I agreed with Buksi that this country needed some new and younger blood in the political ranks. I still think he is correct on that but I now have to put a rider to that “they must serve their apprenticeships first” it is the young blood in the UDD that have failed miserably their I want it and I want it now and we wont budge until we get it has left them with no gain at all which means the people that died did so for nothing. It is interesting that Veera Musikaporn who was the elder (plus all the older leaders) has been dropped as leader because he had the sense to want to accept the reconciliation road map from Abhisit his experience told him that the demand for Sutheep to be charged was one demand too far which the government could never agree to and would lead to this crap we have now.
In my many talks with a close friend we have both been worried more than anything that if the UDD get kicked out with nothing to show for it the violence will go underground and to use my emotive rhetoric turn this country into swat valley 2

I copied this post from the yahoo forum the red letters I agree 100% with it will take huge courage and statesmanship from Abhisit to lead the country out of this conflict
I hope he has both the courage and the statesmanship to cut the puppet masters strings because I believe he is now the only one that can stop the descent into country wide anarchy

Copied from yahoo forum
This protest shows just how desparate the majority of Thai people are at being oppressed by a elite group of powerful in their country! They majority deserve better than this.
The current Prime Minister is an educated man who could lead the country out of this conflict if it were not for the old guard behind him pulling the puppet strings.
The elite in Thailand are truly a group to be reviled for their oppressive ways. What this group doesn't seem to understand is that the economy and reputation of Thailand is being lost while the elites try to save their "face"!
Very sad day for Thailand and the majority of good, honest , hard working Thais!

[STEVE G]

Keep away from Victory Monument in the unlikely event that anyone was thinking of travelling that way:

The army says its troops are not shooting to kill, but protesters during a lull in clashes today crawled along pavements to slowly drag away corpses of three people near the city's Victory Monument traffic circle.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpres ... Itki62aPYw

[Super Joe]

Copied from yahoo forum
This protest shows just how desparate the majority of Thai people are at being oppressed by a elite group of powerful in their country!

Majority!? before the troops moved in a few days ago and it was relatively peaceful, there were not enough protesters at the site to form a majority in this afternoons football match at Wembley.

SJ

[Super Joe]

Think Abhisit held the moral high ground a few days ago while the reds were rapidly ruining any credibility they had left.

Think this crackdown has now ruined Abhisit's credibility and political future. 'They' sat back for x weeks watching the protesters truck in tyres, bamboo sticks, arms and then erect barricades, now they're finding out how big a mistake that was. It's a total mess.

SJ

[PeteC]

I can see a young soldier's dilemma if he comes from up-country from a Red Shirt sympathetic family, but now finds himself under orders to possibly shoot people he knows. I can say I've seen no soldier throw down his weapon and walk away, and that's something the news cameras and reporters would be all over if it happened. However, some could just be going through the motions and deliberately shooting in the wrong direction. In any event, what I've seen shows troop discipline, in a Thai fashion. Not very good training, but at least discipline. Pete

[Nereus]

Yes, that is very true. Recently there was a report that claimed one of the main reasons General Anupong (sp) was reluctant to send in the troops, is that the biggest majority of them are conscripts doing their 2 years. In addition, a big part of them are just near the end of the 2 years, and he was concerned that if they started something they would not follow orders, and also, if it went on for any length of time, he could not force them to stay on. Maybe just a smoke screen, but could have some relevance.

[Big Boy]

Sky News are reporting that the US Embassy are offering to evacuate US families of people working in Bangkok.