Related News
Thai troops clash with protesters, 16 wounded
Source: Agencies |
April 28, 2010, Wednesday
|
Online Edition
Online Edition
Thai troops fired in the air and shot rubber bullets in a chaotic clash with anti-government protesters on a highway in Bangkok's suburbs today that wounded at least 16 people and possibly killed one soldier.
Troops and riot police tried to stop a convoy of up to 2,000 "red shirt" protesters on pickup trucks and motorcycles who had left central Bangkok in defiance of a state of emergency.
About 100 protesters had moved ahead of the main convoy, charging the troops and riot police, who used batons and shields to push them back. Some red shirts fought back by hurling stones and shooting metal balls from sling-shots, witnesses said.
Three rounds of clashed only stopped when a powerful tropical rainstorm moved over the traffic-choked area about 40 kilometers from central Bangkok on Vipawadee-Rangsit road.
A photographer said a soldier was shot through his helmet and believed dead.
The photographer, who witnessed the shooting, said the soldier and at least five others were on motorbikes heading towards a cordon of police and troops behind shields when gunfire erupted. It was not immediately clear who shot him.
The state-run Erawan Medical Centre said at least 18 people were wounded, but gave no further details. It said it could not immediately confirm that a soldier had been killed.
Some vehicles in the main convoy have left the site, but some protesters are still scattered throughout the area and troops remain massed along the highway.
Government spokesman Panitan Wattayagorn said security forces were still trying to take control of the highway "to return it the public."
The protesters, honking horns and singing, began the day in high spirits, heading for a market 50 km away, leaving thousands of others back at their fortified encampment in central Bangkok, which they have occupied since April 3.
But the latest incident in Thailand's prolonged political crisis, following last Thursday's grenade attacks and an April 10 clash that killed a total of 26 people and wounded 900, has raised fears of more violence to come.
The seven-week crisis has further widened a political chasm between the rural masses and working poor that support the red shirts and what they call a "traditional elite" that has long run Thailand. It has also started to squeeze Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy.
Analysts say the deadlock and a possible deterioration in law and order could continue for weeks, cutting economic growth, with consumer confidence flagging and the tourist industry suffering, especially in the capital.
The red shirts, who caused traffic chaos in Bangkok yesterday by stacking tyres on the elevated platform of a commuter train station, set out gas canisters along their three-meter high barricade in the business district overnight. They were later removed.
The medieval-like barriers have also been doused with fuel so they can be turned into an explosive wall of fire should security forces try an assault.
Thailand's stock index closed down 1.6 percent, in line with neighboring markets. The index has lost more than 3 percent so far in April, when the protests turned violent, versus a 1.8 rise in Asian markets outside of Japan.
Hopes for a negotiated end to the crisis were dashed at the weekend when Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva rejected a proposal by the protesters for an election in three months.
Some within the powerful military, which led a failed operation against a red-shirt rally on April 10, appeared reluctant to be dragged into battle with civilians, urging the government to first look for a political solution.
Adding to the volatile mix, groups opposed to the red shirts -- and the loss to business and livelihoods the protests have caused in Bangkok -- have held rallies in the capital and want to see the red shirt encampment broken up.
The red shirts back ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted in a 2006 coup, and say Abhisit came to power illegitimately with tacit military backing.
Thaksin, a former telecoms tycoon revered by the poor and reviled by Bangkok's elite, was convicted in absentia on corruption-related charges and lives abroad to avoid jail.
Troops and riot police tried to stop a convoy of up to 2,000 "red shirt" protesters on pickup trucks and motorcycles who had left central Bangkok in defiance of a state of emergency.
About 100 protesters had moved ahead of the main convoy, charging the troops and riot police, who used batons and shields to push them back. Some red shirts fought back by hurling stones and shooting metal balls from sling-shots, witnesses said.
Three rounds of clashed only stopped when a powerful tropical rainstorm moved over the traffic-choked area about 40 kilometers from central Bangkok on Vipawadee-Rangsit road.
A photographer said a soldier was shot through his helmet and believed dead.
The photographer, who witnessed the shooting, said the soldier and at least five others were on motorbikes heading towards a cordon of police and troops behind shields when gunfire erupted. It was not immediately clear who shot him.
The state-run Erawan Medical Centre said at least 18 people were wounded, but gave no further details. It said it could not immediately confirm that a soldier had been killed.
Some vehicles in the main convoy have left the site, but some protesters are still scattered throughout the area and troops remain massed along the highway.
Government spokesman Panitan Wattayagorn said security forces were still trying to take control of the highway "to return it the public."
The protesters, honking horns and singing, began the day in high spirits, heading for a market 50 km away, leaving thousands of others back at their fortified encampment in central Bangkok, which they have occupied since April 3.
But the latest incident in Thailand's prolonged political crisis, following last Thursday's grenade attacks and an April 10 clash that killed a total of 26 people and wounded 900, has raised fears of more violence to come.
The seven-week crisis has further widened a political chasm between the rural masses and working poor that support the red shirts and what they call a "traditional elite" that has long run Thailand. It has also started to squeeze Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy.
Analysts say the deadlock and a possible deterioration in law and order could continue for weeks, cutting economic growth, with consumer confidence flagging and the tourist industry suffering, especially in the capital.
The red shirts, who caused traffic chaos in Bangkok yesterday by stacking tyres on the elevated platform of a commuter train station, set out gas canisters along their three-meter high barricade in the business district overnight. They were later removed.
The medieval-like barriers have also been doused with fuel so they can be turned into an explosive wall of fire should security forces try an assault.
Thailand's stock index closed down 1.6 percent, in line with neighboring markets. The index has lost more than 3 percent so far in April, when the protests turned violent, versus a 1.8 rise in Asian markets outside of Japan.
Hopes for a negotiated end to the crisis were dashed at the weekend when Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva rejected a proposal by the protesters for an election in three months.
Some within the powerful military, which led a failed operation against a red-shirt rally on April 10, appeared reluctant to be dragged into battle with civilians, urging the government to first look for a political solution.
Adding to the volatile mix, groups opposed to the red shirts -- and the loss to business and livelihoods the protests have caused in Bangkok -- have held rallies in the capital and want to see the red shirt encampment broken up.
The red shirts back ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted in a 2006 coup, and say Abhisit came to power illegitimately with tacit military backing.
Thaksin, a former telecoms tycoon revered by the poor and reviled by Bangkok's elite, was convicted in absentia on corruption-related charges and lives abroad to avoid jail.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
