What IS The Latest News On Red Shirts

[LizardKing]

Banks closed.

[cavanami]

Slingshot...WTF!!! Big knife, OK, attention getter...must be some white lightening being dispensed in that camp!

[Flashermac]

UDD: Protesters can leave rally site

 

 

7:14pm

 

 

Red shirt guards will not bar them from leaving the protest site, Mr Nattawut said, advising the protesters to bring their children home or move to Pathumwanaram temple, a safe area next to the protest site.

 

He said he did not want to be charged that innocent people are human shields for the protest leaders. The Red shirt leaders will announce their next movement at the evening news conference.

 

Meanwhile, another pivotal leader, Jatuporn Prompan, told journalists at the rally site that he now wished the international community to intervene and for sacred objects to protect the protesters.

 

[color:red]The UDD demands remain unchanged: Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva must dissolve the House of Representatives, resign from his post and his administration must not be a caretaker government, and that Mr Abhisit himself must be put on trial like the key UDD leaders whose warrants for arrest have been issued, said Mr Jatuporn.[/color]

 

He said renewed deadly violence in Thailand worries members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members and [color:green]they have prepared to ask Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to urgently hold a meeting to discuss the issue.[/color]

 

Vietnam is now chairman of the 10-member ASEAN organisation. Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are ASEAN members.

 

Regarding reports that the Thai government may impose a curfew in Bangkok, Mr Jatuporn said some Red shirt key leaders have now gathering supporters to hold demonstrations outside Ratchaprasong areas as they are unable to enter the inner part of the capital.

 

He said the curfew, if imposed, cannot prevent people from coming out of their houses and fighting for their causes.

 

 

 

Hanoi will be compassionate towards them.

 

 

[Flashermac]

UDD calls on govt to stop using force

 

7:41pm

 

 

An urgent meeting of core leaders of the United front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) has passed a resolution to call on the government to immediately stop using force against red-shirt protesters, UDD co-leader Natthawut Saikua said.

 

“The call is for preventing unarmed red-shirts from being killed or injuredâ€Â, Mr Natthawut said in a press conference on Sunday evening.

 

[color:red]He said the UDD also called on the United Nation Organisation to mediate peace talks between the government and the red-shits.[/color]

 

[color:red]“If the UN steps in, UDD is ready to enter peace talk process in order to rapidly end the ongoing violent confrontation and political crisisâ€Â, he said.[/color]

 

But if the government uses force to crackdown on the protesters, UDD will not give in and will continue rallying.

 

 

 

Rink

[Specialist]

It was reported that the chairman of the opposition Puea Thai Party, Chavalit Yongchaiyudh had left for Kunming, China, on May 14.

Interesting choice of destination. Going to confer with his real bosses, perhaps?

 

[Flashermac]

So where is Takky?

 

Death toll now at 29.

 

 

[cavanami]

Doesn't matter.

 

When will it end?

[Flashermac]

State of Emergency in more provinces

 

 

8:12pm

 

 

The Centre for the Resolution of Emergency Situation (CRES) has declared a state of emergency in five more provinces in the Northeast to ensure peace and order, reports said.

 

The five provinces are Sakon Nakhon, Ubon Ratchathani, Nongbua Lamphu, Maha Sarakham and Roi-Et.

 

 

 

BP

[Flashermac]

Thaksin seeks international aid

 

 

8:32pm

 

 

While several local and foreign civil society organizations were calling for restraint of the use of force by both sides of Thailand’s conflicts, ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was campaigning to bring international involvement to the scene.

 

Several groups of social activists in Bangkok were seriously discussing how to set the conflicting sides out of the killing zones. Saree Ongsomwang, a consumer rights advocate was holding a meeting this morning with friends to see what the civil society could do in this critical time.

 

The New York-based Human Rights Watch said this morning the Thai government should immediately revoke the designation of neighborhood areas as "live fire zones" that might be used to justify the unnecessary and unlawful use of lethal force.

 

The Human Rights Watch said Center for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES) third rule (when forces have "[a] clear visual of terrorists) was on its face contrary to international rules governing the use of lethal force during policing operations.

 

"By setting out these 'live fire zones', the Thai authorities are on a slippery slope towards serious abuses," said Brad Adams, HRW Asia director.

 

"It's a small step for soldiers to think 'live fire zone' means 'free fire zone', especially as violence escalates. These are city neighborhoods, and the government should remember that ordinary people live there, not only protesters. There is also no guidance for security forces to determine whether a person is a "terrorist," raising serious concerns about countenancing use of lethal force beyond United Nations rules, which require that a person must pose an imminent danger to others' lives in order to use such force,†said Mr Adams.

 

He noted that no one benefits when Bangkok's diplomatic quarter and up-scale tourism areas become shooting zones, "This is the moment when both sides need to step back, de-escalate the violence, and negotiate in good faith for a political solution," he said.

 

Meanwhile Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Chaoxu has also said China, a close friend to Thailand, was deeply concerned and worried about the current violent situation and would like to ask all sides to restraint from the use of force and find ways to re-establish the social stability as soon as possible.

 

[color:red]Robert Amsterdam, a lawyer acting on behalf of the fugitive Thaksin, has issued a statement calling upon the international community to respond to the Thai government's violent crackdown on protestors in Bangkok.[/color]

 

Mr Amsterdam said the use of live ammunition without warning on unarmed, peaceful protestors represents "a disproportionate response" in violation of the Thai constitution and basic human rights under international treaties. He called upon regional and global leaders to "issue a joint declaration in favor of an immediate cessation of violence by government forces and a return to democratic process."

 

Thai government had breached the United Nations' International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and universal principles regarding the sanctity of human life, basic rights and strict parameters regarding a state's treatment of its citizens, said Amsterdam.

 

The government of Thailand has must be held accountable for its actions in this difficult moment for the country, it concluded.

 

 

 

God bless poor dear Takky!

 

 

[chuckwoww]

Isn't he dead? It was on Twitter.