Thai Red Shirt cult hero shot in head
Source: Agencies |
May 14, 2010, Friday
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THE chief military adviser of Thailand's anti-government protesters was shot in the head after an explosion and bursts of automatic gunfire near Bangkok's central business district last night.
Khattiya Sawasdipol, a suspended army specialist in charge of security at an encampment occupied by thousands of Red Shirt demonstrators, was admitted to intensive care, the state Narenthorn Emergency Medical Service said.
Khattiya, or Commander Red, enjoys a cult following among some Red Shirts and soldiers, but has been dubbed a terrorist by Thailand's government, which accuses him of involvement in dozens of grenade attacks that have injured more than 100 people.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is under enormous pressure to end the two-month standoff in central Bangkok that has killed 29 people, wounded more than 1,000, paralysed parts of the capital and slowed growth in Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy.
On Wednesday he cancelled a proposed November 14 election under his "national reconciliation" plan and called off talks with the protesters after they raised new demands.
The military had earlier said it was planning a huge lockdown around the fortified encampment of the Red Shirts, who are mostly supporters of former Premier Thaksin Shinawatra who was ousted in a 2006 coup.
The army said it would send armored vehicles to the 3-square-kilometer fortified encampment, stop them from entering the area, and urged businesses to close.
Army spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said authorities would also seek Cabinet approval to invoke a state of emergency in 15 northern and northeastern provinces that are strongholds of the protesters to prevent any mobilization.
The mostly rural and urban poor protesters have adamantly refused to leave as their leaders challenged the government from behind medieval-like walls made from tires and wooden staves soaked in kerosene and topped by razor wire.
The government estimated the number of people in the encampment at 10,000 but Reuters witnesses put it at more than twice that.
Companies and embassies across the area told employees to leave work early and activated back-up plans for today.
Several stations in an elevated train system were shutting early and public transportation was being diverted from the area.
The mood at the protest site turned quickly from festive to tense last night. Leaders took turns on the stage calling for more protesters to come to the encampment and threatened to lay siege to Abhisit's house and an infantry barracks where he has taken refuge if there is a crackdown.
Khattiya Sawasdipol, a suspended army specialist in charge of security at an encampment occupied by thousands of Red Shirt demonstrators, was admitted to intensive care, the state Narenthorn Emergency Medical Service said.
Khattiya, or Commander Red, enjoys a cult following among some Red Shirts and soldiers, but has been dubbed a terrorist by Thailand's government, which accuses him of involvement in dozens of grenade attacks that have injured more than 100 people.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is under enormous pressure to end the two-month standoff in central Bangkok that has killed 29 people, wounded more than 1,000, paralysed parts of the capital and slowed growth in Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy.
On Wednesday he cancelled a proposed November 14 election under his "national reconciliation" plan and called off talks with the protesters after they raised new demands.
The military had earlier said it was planning a huge lockdown around the fortified encampment of the Red Shirts, who are mostly supporters of former Premier Thaksin Shinawatra who was ousted in a 2006 coup.
The army said it would send armored vehicles to the 3-square-kilometer fortified encampment, stop them from entering the area, and urged businesses to close.
Army spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said authorities would also seek Cabinet approval to invoke a state of emergency in 15 northern and northeastern provinces that are strongholds of the protesters to prevent any mobilization.
The mostly rural and urban poor protesters have adamantly refused to leave as their leaders challenged the government from behind medieval-like walls made from tires and wooden staves soaked in kerosene and topped by razor wire.
The government estimated the number of people in the encampment at 10,000 but Reuters witnesses put it at more than twice that.
Companies and embassies across the area told employees to leave work early and activated back-up plans for today.
Several stations in an elevated train system were shutting early and public transportation was being diverted from the area.
The mood at the protest site turned quickly from festive to tense last night. Leaders took turns on the stage calling for more protesters to come to the encampment and threatened to lay siege to Abhisit's house and an infantry barracks where he has taken refuge if there is a crackdown.
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