Seh Daeng reported wounded

[Flashermac]

 

... She said members of Maj Gen Khattiya' date=' ...

[/quote']

 

What the hell are "members of Maj Gen Khattiya"?

 

 

I presume this is from The Nation (where English is an unknown language) and means something like "members of Maj Gen Khattiya's family".

 

Says the Post (in equally bizarre English):

 

 

Key red-shirt leader and rogue army officer Maj-Gen Khattiya Sawasdipol, who was shot in the head imemdiately after giving an interview to foreign reporters on Thursday night, died this morning.

 

Dr Chaiwan Charoenchokthawee, director of Vajira Hospital, said Maj-Gen Khattiya, better known as Seh Daeng, was pronounced dead at 9.20am.

 

Seh Daeng sufferred an acute kidney failure, causing all other organs to stop functioning. Doctors were unable to detect a pulse and they tried to stimulate his heart for about five minutes, but without success.

 

[color:red]Seh Daeng, 58, was shortly after troops troops began the operation to seal off the Ratchaprasong rally site on Thursday afternoon.

[/color]

 

His body is to be taken to Wat Sommanas at 1.30pm. Religious rites will be held there late this afteernoon.

 

Shortly before 11am, red-shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan announced on rally stage that Seh Daeng was dead. He asked the red-shirts to be ready and keep on fighting.

 

His elder sister Chiaranai Matchakijborikarn said her brother knew he has been targeted for death and had told them earlier he expected to be killed within a month.

 

 

 

Rink

 

[Flashermac]

Great link, Mac. Spotsylvania very near my home in the States.

 

 

 

I had some folks at Spotsylvania - in Co. B, 23rd Virginia Infantry Regt. (No, I did NOT know them, just heard about them!)

 

 

 

 

[Flashermac]

BBC obit of Seh Daeng

[Flashermac]

Igniting chaos by shooting Seh Daeng

 

 

Opinion by Ukrist Pathmanand

 

 

 

At approximately 7pm on May 13, Major General Khattiya Swasdipol, or Seh Daeng, was shot in the head while giving an interview to foreign reporters. The incident came as a shock to many parties, including the international community, because the images of him being shot together with his final interview were broadcast worldwide. The army specialist passed away yesterday.

 

Instead of discussing the technical aspect of the assassination - such as the type of weapon used or how it was achieved - we'd be better off analysing the impact the incident could have on the Thai political conflict.

 

What we could say is that the bullet fired at Seh Daeng can tell us something.

 

Seh Daeng acted as a hard-line leader of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), although he was never formally recognised by the movement's current leadership.

 

He was suspected of being behind various violent incidents in the city, such as the M79 attack on the Defence Ministry, Army headquarters, the 11th Infantry Regiment where Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjjiva and a few key ministers have resided during the unrest, the gunfire and bomb attacks at various branches of Bangkok Bank both in Bangkok and other provinces, as well as the black-shirted killers who escalated the violence that led to several deaths during the April 10 crackdown.

 

Although the suspicion has neither been confirmed nor substantiated by any hard evidence, it is not groundless. Seh Daeng was often quoted mentioning the sites of bomb attacks prior to the incidents and he was frequently proved right.

 

Seh Daeng's key role in the UDD was to train the "red guards" and he recently talked to the media about appointing a second generation of UDD leaders with the hardliner Arisman Pongruangrong set to lead the rally.

 

He will also be remembered for his aggression and his defiance of the police and the military.

 

Seh Daeng took a key role in the UDD following the big rally that has been ongoing since March 15, 2010. He seemed to be in charge of turning up the heat and it is obvious he had the intention of gearing the UDD as well as Thai politics towards increasing violence.

 

He stood firm on keeping the protest going when some of the UDD leaders were inclined to accept the reconciliation road map proposed by PM Abhisit Vejjajiva.

 

[color:red]Seh Daeng was said to have had issues with the more compromising UDD chairman, Veera Musikhapong.[/color]

 

[color:red]He reportedly bullied the red shirts' chief security guard, Aree Krainara, following a row over the blocking of the entrance to Chulalongkorn Hospital. He claimed that the rally could not be over until an order to end it came from Thaksin Shinawatra.[/color]

 

The May 9 issue of Matichon newspaper quoted Seh Daeng as saying that he wanted the protest to continue and would resort to all forms of violence.

 

He was also quoted as slandering the government and army leaders: "I'm not afraid of you... of those three murderers. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban and army chief General Anupong Paojinda must be arrested for ordering the military forces to shoot the people.

 

"People do not accept the road map because none of the five points proposed mentioned a House dissolution...," said Seh Daeng.

 

Apart from insulting the current generation of UDD leaders, Seh Daeng also said he would resort to violence to fight the government.

 

"...The people no longer believe the three leaders. I've told the protesters they will go home only after a House dissolution. I believe violence will continue even with the new election. Abhisit can be attacked during his campaign. The three leaders have agreed to negotiate with the government. They have secretly made an agreement that the government would find a way for them to step down, but that's not what the people want.

 

"They no longer fight for the UDD because we initially believed the point of the UDD is to bring back Thaksin. Now that's not [the reason] for them anymore. The leaders have made a deal with the government..."

 

[color:red]It is noteworthy that Seh Daeng's action sequences were closely related to Thaksin Shinawatra, even when we saw and heard less from Thaksin on the UDD stage[/color].

 

Seh Daeng said in an interview on the night of May 9 that Thaksin agreed with the establishment of the second generation of UDD leaders on the phone (Matichon, May 9, 2010).

 

[color:blue]Thaksin's Twitter messages revealed the ousted premier as a two-faced mastermind. He kept tweeting that he wanted to leave the matter to democracy, to the UDD leaders, while insisting all the while that he agreed with Jatuporn Prompan - the only red co-leader who denounced the negotiation with the government.[/color]

 

Mr Jatuporn is the only leader who has always announced on stage that he would continue the protest and would bring people who he claimed ordered the killing on April 10 to justice, even when the other co-leaders were considering the premier's reconciliation road map.

 

His moves seemed to be influenced by an outside force. [color:red]It's as if the use of violence to bring down the government was the ultimate goal of these two (Seh Daeng and Jatuporn) and their puppeteer.[/color]

 

At the end of the day, the bullet fired at Seh Daeng tells us that even extra-judicial killing within the group itself is not impossible, as it has eventually taken place.

 

We have learned that Seh Daeng was probably merely a violent pawn who played his role in front of the camera while some knights and bishops moved behind the scene and the military specialist was hardly aware of this.

 

It should be noted that a former prime minister, whom Seh Daeng once proposed as the leader of a "People's Army", had told the media that the current political standoff could be resolved through talk and reconciliation in the next few days. Interestingly, Seh Daeng was shot within a day.

 

There is little doubt the bullet was aimed at stirring up chaos, which truly has followed. Some hard-core factions within the red camp have begun a series of battles with the authorities, ranging from firing M79 grenades and firearms at different places to burning police vehicles and tyres.

 

We can also see that unknown snipers have continued to fire bullets at officers and protesters. A smoke bomb was also thrown on the Ratchaprasong stage, which only served to cause panic amongst the protesters.

 

In conclusion, the bullet that felled Seh Daeng tells us four things:

 

1. The bullet was aimed at creating havoc because there are a number of red-shirted protesters who are his devoted fans.

 

2. There are many other hard-core reds who are prone to violence. They are hiding behind the camera and are ready to step out to perform their duty any time.

 

3. This is an extra-judicial killing, possibly to avoid implication, and the other red leaders could become the next target.

 

4. There have been ongoing orders from overseas being given directly to several Bangkok-based red leaders and behind the stage.

 

By all accounts, it looks like Seh Daeng was merely a victim, the shooting of whom served only as fuel to ignite more rioting. Many other victims could be in the pipeline while the real leaders - the Thailand-based commanders who operate behind the scenes - could leave the country and Thaksin Shinawatra is doing fine and remains happy.

 

----------

 

Ukrist Pathmanand is Associate Director of the Institute of Asian Studies, Chulalongkorn University.

 

 

 

BP