What IS The Latest News On Red Shirts

[Flashermac]

Protesters return home, some caught stealing

 

 

About 700 anti-government protesters have been evacuated from Pathumwanaram temple, which is in the Ratchaprasong area next to the CentralWorld shopping complex that was set ablaze on Wednesday.

 

The protesters were being taken to the National Stadium where buses were waiting to take them home, Royal Thai Police spokesman Pongsathat Pongcharoen said on Thursday morning.

 

There were still 500 to 600 red-shirt supporters at the temple, he said.

 

[color:red]The police also arrested some protesters who were ready to return home with looted goods in their bags.[/color]

 

[color:red]This includes people with stolen brand name sun glasses and watches with price tags.[/color]

 

As police were checking people's identity cards and belongings before sending them home, they found dozens of brand name sunglasses and watches in the possession of about 10 demonstrators.

 

They were stolen from a shopping mall in Ratchaprasong commercial district. The demonstrators were detained for further interrogation.

 

Police also found knives and bullet shells on some protesters.

 

Pol Lt-Gen Pongsathat said the bodies found inside the temple have not been removed yet.

 

He did not say how many people died in the temple, but local media reported late Wednesday that nine bodies were found in the temple grounds. Later reports said there were six bodies.

 

 

Rink

 

[cavanami]

Mr. T will hit up the ATM and take the $1B out of petty cash...I'm sure

[bust]

Lots of talk about the Black Shirts....didn't Phil T the journo predict they would play a large hand in the upcoming events.

[Lord Toad]

Not so sure. I think there was feeling that this was supposed to be the finally putsch.

 

The theory was he wanted to get his men into power before the finally decision on his confiscated billions. Now he has a problem as I don't think anybody (except the Red Shirts) believes an early election is a good idea. Things have got to quieten down so the road map proposal of a November election looks like the earliest. By then his money will be gone

 

The question he know faces is does he really want to finance an insurgency?

[Flashermac]

Provinces hit by sporadic violence

 

 

4:11am

 

 

Civil unrest continues to plague predominantly red shirt provinces even as authorities apprehend local protest leaders and close community radios that have been inciting anti-government resistance.

 

In Ayutthaya yesterday, a bomb went off in the toilet of the Big C hypermarket in Bang Pa-in district. No one was injured.

 

Ayutthaya governor Witthaya Pewpong said security has been stepped up at department stores and major public areas which are likely targets for attack, according to intelligence reports.

 

In several northeastern provinces, security has been raised at state agencies after city halls in red shirt-active provinces such as Khon Kaen, Udon Thani, Ubon Ratchathani and Mukdahan were set on fire by rioters.

 

The United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship groups have rioted in parts of downtown areas of the provinces, prompting a dispatch of security forces to contain the situation.

 

In Ubon Ratchathani, about 600 soldiers were deployed to close down two community radio stations belonging to UDD members. The station operators were reportedly accused of issuing propaganda and inciting violence.

 

Pichet Thabudda, an operator of one of the stations, was arrested and broadcast equipment seized.

 

Police also planned to issue warrants for the arrest of five more local UDD leaders, whose names were not given, who allegedly provoked violence in Ubon Ratchathani.

 

Ubon Ratchathani police commander Sompong Veerathongprasert said there was photographic evidence against the five local UDD leaders. Police were tracking down the leaders who directed the torching of the City Hall.

 

[color:red]Government officials were visibly upset at seeing their City Hall offices being devastated by fire.[/color]

 

In Udon Thani, 30 red shirt protesters were arrested yesterday for complicity in setting fire to the City Hall.

 

Second Army chief Weewalit Chornsamrit said red shirt rioters continued to wreak havoc in several provinces in the Northeast. Security authorities found it hard to contain the situation because they were told only to negotiate with the protesters and to refrain from using more decisive measures.

 

In the northern province of Lampang, oil and gas depots were closed for security reasons.

 

In Chiang Mai, damage at many state properties, including the residences of the provincial governor and his assistant which were partially set on fire by red shirt rioters on Wednesday, was being assessed. Traffic on some roads in central Chiang Mai remained closed.

 

Schools are closed for the week and the government’s broadcasting station was partially burned. A giant fire cracker was also thrown into the compound of Chiang Mai Construction. The firm is owned by Kanan Boonsupa, father-in-law of Newin Chidchob, the de facto leader of the coalition partner Bhumjaithai Party.

 

Meanwhile, the Department of Special Investigation is finding out if MPs or local administration leaders had masterminded the arson attacks in the provinces. If so, they would be charged with terrorism.

 

In the East, security blockades were set up on the roads leading to the oil refinery plants and deep sea ports. Traffic through the area was subject to strict surveillance around the clock.

 

 

Rink

[cheekyboy]

Rural Thai "red shirts" vow to keep on fighting

Martin Petty

 

(Editing by Bill Tarrant)

Friday May 21, 2010

 

CHIANG MAI (Reuters) - When hundreds of jubilant demonstrators flocked

to Chiang Mai's train station on Friday to welcome fellow "red shirts"

driven out of Bangkok, the message was clear -- their fight is far

from over.

 

A masked Thai soldier walks with his weapon through the area where

clashes with anti-government "red shirt" protesters took place, in

central Bangkok May 21, 2010.

(REUTERS/Damir Sagolj)

 

Peace has been restored in the capital after the worst political

violence in modern Thai history left at least 53 dead and more than

400 wounded in six days, mostly protesters.

 

The red shirts appear to have been crushed, their leadership has

collapsed and their reputation is in ruins.

 

But the military force that drove them out of Bangkok has given the

mostly rural and urban poor movement a bigger reason to renew their

anti-government campaign, raising the spectre of more conflict in

Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy.

 

"Many of our people have been killed, but we are not defeated," a red-

shirted demonstrator said on a megaphone to loud cheers from the crowd

in Chiang Mai, a northern red shirt stronghold which was ravaged by

rioting on Wednesday.

 

"We did not lose -- we will start a new fight," he bellowed, followed

by the crowd's defiant chants of "fight, fight".

 

Family members embraced the hundreds of protesters after their 14-hour

journey from the capital. They waved flags, played triumphant music

and held up placards condemning Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, whom

they called a "murderer".

 

In the hometown of the red shirts patriarch, the ousted former Prime

Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, authorities dismantled two protest sites

and an emergency decree is in force to halt any gatherings.

 

But many people in Thailand's second-biggest city are angry. The use

of force to quell once peaceful protests that spiralled into anarchy

seems to have emboldened them.

 

Abhisit and the military have won the battle, but they have not won

the war, they say.

 

"We will never give up -- never, never," said Dow, 36, who like many

red shirts here gives only her nickname because of fears of

repercussions.

 

"Someone has to pay for what happened. New leaders will emerge soon

and we will start again," she said.

 

Bangkok's urban middle class might have reason to think the red shirts

are finished but analysts believe otherwise and say the polarisation

and level of hatred is greater than ever.

 

DANGEROUS RIFTS

 

Abhisit has yet to address what will be done to heal the dangerous

rifts that have driven Thailand to the brink of civil war. He vowed on

Friday to go ahead with a reconciliation plan, but it is not known

whether the red shirts will play any role.

 

Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij said on Friday an election may be

held in November, more than a year before the government's term in

office ends.

 

Any concessions to placate a movement seen by many Thais as a violent

and illegitimate mob of rioters is sure to prompt outrage among

Abhisit's supporters and elite backers. But attempts to sideline the

powerful red shirts could trigger renewed chaos.

 

Many of the protesters who left the train on Friday had sought refuge

in a Buddhist temple next to the encampment while gunfire and loud

blasts echoed outside. Six people in the temple were killed, including

a nurse treating the wounded.

 

The government said shadowy "terrorists" were to blame for their

deaths but the protesters seemed to blame the military. It is unlikely

the truth will ever be known.

 

El, 52, was one of the protesters who fled the Bangkok encampment when

the red shirt leaders announced their surrender on Wednesday as the

military advanced, shooting into the air.

 

Her younger brother was shot in the head and died next to her in

chaotic night-time clashes with the army on April 10 that left 25 dead

and more than 900 wounded.

 

She waited anxiously to see if her older brother, Yongyuth, a red

shirt guard who battled the army on Wednesday, was on the train from

Bangkok. He was nowhere to be seen.

 

"I have lost one brother and maybe another," she said, her eyes

welling with tears.

 

"There was a chance for peace, but Abhisit changed his position, I

don't know why. After this, if the protests start again, I will go,

for sure. We all have something to fight for."

 

thestar.com.my

 

[bust]

It’s pretty simple.

 

If a large segment of the population want another election strongly enough that they’ll use force to get one, then have an election.

If a large segment feel the previous elections were rigged then hold a new election. Unless of course you did rig it.

 

Obviously the current Thai ruling elite deserve to go.

[khunsanuk]

Hi,

 

"Obviously the current Thai ruling elite deserve to go."

 

Why? To be replaced with another set of ruling elite?

 

Sanuk!

 

[Flashermac]

You've got it. Vote for the rich Chinese politician of your choice!

 

 

.....................

 

 

7 districts declared disaster zones

 

 

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration announced Friday that seven of Bangkok's 50 districts have been declared disaster zones.

 

They are Bang Rak, Din Daeng, Pathum Wan, Klong Toey, Sathorn, Wattana and Ratchathewi.

 

Bangkok governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra said a centre has been set up to help protest-hit residents. Those affected from political turmoil in the capital can register for aid at their local districts.

 

Meanwhile, Education Minister Chinnaworn Boonyakiat said all schools in the capital, except 28 schools in the "red zones", would begin their new semester on Monday.

 

The schools in risk-prone areas will not open until May 31, he said.

 

 

 

Rink

[Old Hippie]

Hi,

 

"Obviously the current Thai ruling elite deserve to go."

 

Why? To be replaced with another set of ruling elite?

 

Sanuk!

 

 

Which raises the question...does any of this really matter in the long run?