31 injured after grenade hurled at anti-government rally in Bangkok
Print Edition
Dozens of people were wounded in Bangkok yesterday when a grenade was hurled at anti-government demonstrators marching through the city at midday, an ominous development that raises tensions in the country’s political crisis and the specter of more bloodshed to come.
Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban was in the procession but was not wounded when the explosive device was thrown into a truck driven by demonstrators that was several dozen meters ahead. The city’s emergency services center put the number of injured at 31.
Police said the grenade was hurled from a nearby building.
Thailand has been wracked by repeated bouts of unrest since the military ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in 2006 amid charges of corruption and alleged disrespect for the monarchy. The crisis boiled over again late last year after the ruling party attempted to push through an amnesty bill that would have allowed Thaksin to return from exile.
Anti-government demonstrators seeking to oust Thaksin’s sister, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, have taken over seven key roads and overpasses in Bangkok this week, blocking them off with sandbag walls and steel barricades.
The protests, which are also aimed at derailing the February 2 elections, have been peaceful. But small acts of violence have reported nightly, including shooting attacks at protest venues and small explosives hurled at the homes of top protest supporters. It is unclear who is behind them.
Prolonged violence, even on a small scale, increases the risk of a military coup, which would benefit the protest movement. Thailand’s army has seized power 11 times since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932.
Overnight, two motorcycle-riding men drove past the residence of Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra and hurled a grenade inside, according to police Colonel Samarn Rodkamnerd. Sukhumbhand, who is member of the Democrat Party which is backing the protesters, was not home and no injuries or serious damage were reported.
The attack was similar to another grenade attack on the home of Abhisit Vejjajiva, a former Democrat prime minister whose party lost to Yingluck’s in a 2011 vote.
The violence comes as pressure mounts against Yingluck to resign.
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