Troops use water cannon on reds

[Flashermac]

The Nation ...

 

Thai PBS confirm troops retreat from Makkhawan to Education Ministry

 

 

At 4:18 pm, Thai PBS reported that troops were retreating from the Makkhawan Rangsan Bridge to the area in front of the Kurusapa Hall of the Education Ministry.

 

The station explained that the wind blew the tear gas back to troops, causing them to be unable to maintain position at the Makkhawan Bridge.

 

 

[Flashermac]

Bangkok Post

 

 

Natthawut: Crackdown is just the 'first round'

 

4:11pm

 

 

The red shirts will not be defeated even if the ongoing crackdown is successful in dispersing the anti-government protesters at Phan Fa Bridge, UDD leader Natthawut Saikua said.

 

"Do not think that the government will win, this is just the first round (of fighting)," Mr Natthawut said, speaking on stage at the Ratchaprasong rally.

 

Fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra also sent an SMS message to his supporters saying: "[Prime Minister] Abhisit [Vejjajiva] has ordered the suppression of the people. Please come out to help save democracy. There must be justice.†:content:

 

 

[colorwolf]

after red shirts leaders called for the protesters to destroy all BTS stations.

all in spirit of true democracy !

fucking cunts.....

BB

eh, the true "fucking cunts" here are, of course, the yellow-shirted fascist scumbags that run "the nation".

that some bm's read that toilet rag is bad enough, but posting excerpts is just about unforgivable. and actually taking any of their horse-manure pieces at face value is truly retarded.

who's up for donning some blood-stained T's and storming that insidious propaganda factory on bagna-trat?

[Flashermac]

84 injured in Ratchadamnoen clashes

 

 

Eighty-four protesters and security personnel have been injured in clashes at Ratchadamnoen Avenue, says the Erawan medical unit.

 

Dr Petchpong Kamchornkij, the unit's chief, said most of the injuries were caused by tear gas or being struck with hard objects.

 

The injured have been taken to several hospitals including Mission Hospital, King Mongkut hospital, Centre Hospital, Rama Hospital, Siriraj Hospital and the Police Hospital.

 

 

 

BP

[Flashermac]

Foreign reporter injured, one troop needs surgery

 

 

A foreign reporter was hit by a bullet and injured in the crackdown operation near Phan Fa bridge, Channel 9 reported.

 

Channel 9 reproted that 33 injured people were sent to the Bangkok Medical Department while 12 injured troops were sent to Phra Mongkut Hospital.

 

A troop needed an urgent operation as he was pieced at his neck by a sharpened bamboo stick.

 

The station reported that about 20 injured people were sent to the BMA Central Hospital.

 

 

From the evil scumbag paper

 

 

 

 

 

[Flashermac]

Sansern confirms Suthep ordered crackdown

 

 

Col Sansern Kaewkamnerd, the spokesman of the Emergency Operations Command, confirmed that Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban Saturday ordered the crackdowns on protesters.

 

The crackdown began the 1st Army Area head office and continued to the Phan Fa rally site.

 

Sansern said 234 companies of troops were deployed to carry out the operation to break up the demonstration.

 

Sansern said the crackdown was necessary as protesters would not obey the emergency decree, which prohibited demonstrations.

 

He said the dispersing of the demonstrators would be completed before evening falls.

 

 

The evil sumbag yellow shirt paper ...

 

 

[Mentors]

The Regime shows the world the real face - once again. :offline:

[Flashermac]

 

Bangkok Post

 

4:04

 

 

Troops disperse protesters, Phan Fa 'to be cleared by nightfall'

 

 

 

Security forces have started clearing red shirt protesters from their rally at Phan Fa bridge, an operation which will be completed by nightfall, said Centre for Public Administration in Emergency Situations spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd.

 

[color:red]The move came after about 200 red-shirt protesters surrounded the headquarters of the 1st Army Region on Si Ayyuthya Road and tried to force their way into the compund at about 1pm. But the troops used water cannon and tear gas to push the demonstrators back.

 

The red-shirts, led by Kwanchai Praipana, had come from the nerarby Phan Fa bridge site

 

Troops then left the base and advanced on the protesters, who gradually retreated.[/color] By 2pm, security personnel have retaken a large part of Ratchadamnoen Avenue.

 

Meanwhile, red-shirt leaders at Ratchaprasong intersection appealed for their supporters to come to the rescue.

 

Government spokesman Panithan Wattanayakorn said in an afternoon television interview that security forces would continue pressuring the protesters to abandon their rally sites throughout the capital.

 

This is part of the Centre for Public Administration in Emergency Situations' (CPAES) operation to reopen the road to traffic, he said.

 

"Security forces will use proper measure to take over the public areas occupied by the protesters," he said. "The protesters know that they are occupying public areas that are prohibited under the decree. The security forces have to take those areas back."

 

Petchpong Kamchornkij, director of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration's Erawan medical centre, said 84 security personnel and red-shirts were injured in tha clashes at Ratchadamnoen Avenue.

 

Shoppers this afternoon were told to leave shopping malls near to Ratchaprasong intersection and the retail centres closed down in anticipation of a crackdown.

 

All skytrain stations have also been closed in the afternoon.

 

CPAES spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said security forces would finish clearing the rally at Phan Fa Bridge before nightfall.

 

"Authorities must finish dispersing the protesters at Phan Fa Bridge before nightfall," Col Sansern said. "We are still waiting for instructions on the shopping district."

 

 

Pics

[Flashermac]

Thai troops advance in bid to clear protest camps

 

 

 

Thai troops are moving against two anti-government camps in the capital, Bangkok, vowing to clear at least one of them before dusk.

 

More than 90 people have been injured in clashes so far as security forces fired rubber bullets at the opposition red-shirted demonstrators.

 

Earlier, security forces retook an anti-government satellite TV station.

 

Over the past three weeks, protesters demanding new elections have paralysed parts of Bangkok.

 

Lines of soldiers and police in riot gear have been facing off against the demonstrators, launching an attempt to clear the protest camps, regrouping and then trying again.

 

The troops are under orders to break up at least one of the anti-government sites by nightfall, says the BBC's Rachel Harvey in Bangkok.

 

More than 90 people, including 22 soldiers and police, have been hurt in the clashes.

 

Protesters have covered CCTV with black bags to prevent surveillance and towels were handed out among the red-shirts to help minimise the effects of tear gas.

 

The red-shirts began their campaign on 12 March, establishing two camps in Bangkok - one at Government House and another in the commercial district, forcing some businesses to close.

 

Elsewhere, hundreds of protesters force their way into the governor's office in the northern city of Chiang Mai in protest at the security forces' actions in Bangkok.

 

The Thai capital has witnessed at times chaotic confrontations.

 

On Friday, protesters overcame security forces and put the anti-government television station, the People Channel, temporarily back on air.

 

TV images showed police officers shaking hands and smiling with protesters as they retreated, prompting speculation of split loyalties among the security forces.

 

But shortly afterwards, police officers retook the channel and stopped its broadcasts.

 

The red shirts want Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to resign and call an election, saying his government is illegitimate.

 

Mr Vejjajiva was expected to give a television address from an army barracks that has been the government's operation centre for the past month.

The red-shirts are broadly drawn from the urban poor and rural areas, and many of them support former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a coup in 2006.

 

They have vowed to defy the emergency laws with more rallies. Arrest warrants have been issued for several of the protest leaders.

 

 

BBC

[Flashermac]

Reds mass in Chiang Mai

 

 

Hundreds of red-shirts massed outside a provincial hall in Chiang Mai province on Saturday chanting anti-government slogans, after clashes in the capital, officials said.

 

The protesters took over the area in front of the building in Chiang Mai after authorities launched a crackdown in Bangkok to clear Red Shirts from one of their rally sites.

 

"There has been no violence so far -- they are only shouting anti-government slogans," said an official inside the building in Chiang Mai.

 

The protesters were surrounded by 400 security personnel, who were trying to negotiate their departure, said a military source.

 

More than 80 people were injured Saturday in clashes between protesters and security forces in Bangkok.

 

Chiang Mai is the hometown of fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who has encouraged demonstrations by the reds after being toppled in a 2006 coup.

 

Army spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said authorities were monitoring Chiang Mai and Khon Kaen provinces -- areas where Thaksin enjoys broad support -- but did not expect red-shirt uprisings around the country.

 

 

 

BP