What IS The Latest News On Red Shirts

[LizardKing]

One Blackhawk must be the command centre. It is hovering around kinda high. The others are darting about to the action areas, much lower.

[Pom Michael]

Reds trying to burn everything that they can - major fires at Din Daeng and Bon Kai area.

 

TPBS best channel to watch right now.

[LizardKing]

MASSIVE smoke coming from the Silom-Rama IV area...

[Flashermac]

Communities living in fear cry for relief

 

 

6:17am

 

 

Bangkok residents living in the "war zones" are running out of patience after being trapped inside their homes for five days.

 

The Bon Kai community in Klong Toey district and residents near the Ratchaprarob intersection in Phaya Thai district have been the hardest hit by sporadic clashes between demonstrators and security forces since the Centre for Resolution of the Emergency Situation forces began surrounding the red shirts’ Ratchaprasong encampment on Thursday.

 

Bon Kai is located on Rama IV road, which has become a major battleground between protesters and security forces.

 

Ratchaprarop intersection emerged as another intense fighting zone after security forces set up barricades to stop people travelling to the rally site.

 

Thirty-seven people have been killed and more than 300 injured so far, many of them shot on Rama IV and Ratchaprarop roads. Red shirt sympathisers living in the localities say they believe the snipers are soldiers, while others say the attackers are linked to the anti-government group.

 

Residents are living in fear as the sound of explosives, automatic gunfire and firecrackers can be heard throughout the day.

 

Electricity has been cut, garbage is piling up because collection truck drivers dare not come in, internet signals are blocked and food is scarce.

 

Some residents say they are running out of cash because almost every ATM in the district has been broken or is out of service.

 

"I hope it ends soon," said Pichai Leelalert, a 21-year-old Mahidol University student who lives in Soi Bun Yu on Din Daeng road, about 300 metres from the CRES "live-fire zone" at Ratchaprasong intersection.

 

He and his friends have hardly left their apartment for five days because of fears they will be attacked. The only place they visit is a small restaurant nearby.

 

The restaurant and a few food stalls have prevented people in the soi from starving, he said.

 

The restaurant’s owner said the street fighting usually stopped early in the morning, which is when she went to the market to buy ingredients.

 

"I can’t go to work because it’s too dangerous to come back here after dark," said Pairat Sukjaem, 32, another Soi Bun Yu resident.

 

"Street lights are off and the red shirt guards won’t allow us to turn on headlights because they fear that snipers will see them.

 

"It’s five days now and I don’t know for how long this chaos will drag on," he said.

 

Another local said: "We are not in the live-bullet zone, but there are definitely live bullets fired around here."

 

In Soi Rang Nam, not far from the Ratchaprarop intersection, 59 foreign medical students living in an apartment building were evacuated following a series of violent clashes between demonstrators and security forces.

 

The students, from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Burma, Nepal and the Philippines, called the hospital yesterday morning asking for help, said Dr Narumol Sawanpany alert, who was in charge of the evacuation operation.

 

The hospital coordinated its efforts with security officers to enter the confrontation zone and use three ambulances to evacuate the students, she said.

 

The students told hospital staff all the apartment’s other residents had been moved out since the violence erupted and they had had to survive on limited food supplies.

 

Residents at Bon Kai community have faced similar problems due to widespread clashes on Rama IV road.

 

They said they were afraid of sniper attacks after the shooting of many community members who are red shirt supporters.

 

[color:red]"We are now living on food and drinking water delivered to us by red shirt guards. The City Hall just gave us some food today," a Bon Kai resident said yesterday.[/color]

 

He called on the authorities to urgently fix electricity transformers that were damaged during the clashes, causing a blackout in the area over the past few days.

 

[color:red]But the hardships the Bon Kai residents have faced have only encouraged the red shirt sympathisers among them.[/color]

 

"We want peace and the way to bring back peace is that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva must dissolve the house and call an early election," the resident said.

 

 

 

Rink

 

[LizardKing]

It is interesting that these newspapers find red sympathizers. In my day-2-day travels, I never say what side I am on. And inevitably, I get my ear bent and get told in a whisper that the reds need to go away, that they are wrong and foolish. But be quiet about that.

 

 

Interesting. Truth? Or the way I look & speak? Or something else I have no idea why?

[Flashermac]

Peace talks offer put on the table

 

 

6:03am

 

 

The government is poised to enter into negotiations with the red shirts to put an end to the chaos after the protest leaders agreed to Senate Speaker Prasobsuk Boondej acting as a mediator in the talks.

 

 

The decision on the talks was reached last night at a meeting of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship’s 15 leaders and three representatives of a group of 55 senators.

 

The government earlier yesterday insisted that dialogue was only possible after the red shirt leaders called an end to their demonstrations.

 

Senator Lertrat Rattanawanich said after the two hours of discussions the content and format of the potential talks and the level of negotiations between the two sides had not been finalised.

 

"The UDD leaders agreed to call for all red shirt protesters, especially those positioned outside the Ratchaprasong area, such as at Bon Kai, Lumpini Park and Din Daeng, to end their violence now and enter into peace talks," Gen Lertrat told a news conference at the Ratchaprasong rally site.

 

"The UDD leaders agree that it is time to end the violence and to have an immediate ceasefire.

 

"I’m not sure to what extent the prime minister will agree to the potential talks. But this is better than not trying," Gen Lertrat said when asked whether aborted talks in the past would bar the government from entering into the deal.

 

The senators will convey the conclusion of the proposed talks to the government today.

 

Gen Lertrat said Mr Prasobsuk had twice spoken to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva about the idea.

 

Mr Abhisit initially agreed to have about 60 senators involved.

 

"We hope the government will accept the UDD’s offer for talk," Gen Lertrat said.

 

His announcement, which was broadcast over loudspeakers at the rally site, drew immediate anger from protesters when he referred to "the unintentional use of violence against protesters".

 

"I believe the past violence occurred because there were no proper measures [by the state and the protesters] implemented, and this is why it led to the unintentional use of weapons against each other," he said in reference to incidents in which protesters were killed.

 

Most protesters greeted the speech by gathering in front of the stage to yell at and jeer the senator.

 

Some reached him back stage. They shouted in anger at the announcement because it was "soldiers who killed their friends", not them who used violence.

 

UDD leader Natthawut Saikua tried to calm the protesters by saying the leaders would not negotiate with the government to seek an amnesty for themselves and the government figures who dispersed the protest on April 10.

 

Mr Jatuporn also told protesters who had camped at the outer gates of the rally site that they were free to use their own judgement on how and what to do should government forces try to disperse the rally at Ratchaprasong.

 

He said the leaders could not coordinate with those surrounding the area.

 

PM’s Office Minister Sathit Wongnongtoey said during a broadcast on the TV pool yesterday afternoon that the government had tried to engage in dialogue with the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship leaders to quell the violence and resolve the conflict peacefully but its attempts were rebuffed by the UDD because of interference by "a mastermind from overseas", clearly referring to ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

 

Mr Sathit said Mr Abhisit had telephoned Mr Prasobsuk to explain that the government wanted to engage in dialogue to solve the problem.

 

However, the prime minister stressed that the government would only re-enter peace talks after the UDD leaders had called an end to their demonstrations.

 

The situation is out of control after protesters turned to violence and armed militants took up war weapons to attack the authorities and members of the public, Mr Sathit said.

 

He said the prime minister had asked the senate speaker to hold talks with the UDD leaders to find ways to stop armed militants from attacking people with war weapons.

 

"The government will go ahead with its efforts to contain the Ratchaprasong area to restore peace and order," Mr Sathit said.

 

In a related development, Banharn Silpa-archa, chief adviser to the Chart Pattana Party, said yesterday he was ready to act as a go-between for the government and the UDD leaders.

 

He called on the red shirts to end their protest in all areas of Bangkok first.

 

When the demonstrations end, he would then ask the government to withdraw its troops and return them to the barracks.

 

Mr Banharn said the coalition parties would act as "guarantors". If the government failed to pull out the troops, the coalition parties would leave the government, Mr Banharn said.

 

Speaking at the Thai Journalists Association yesterday, Gothom Arya, director of Mahidol University’s Research Centre on Peace Building, said networks of peace advocates wanted an immediate end to the mass killings and a joint effort to save lives.

 

He urged the protesters and government forces to put some distance between themselves to avoid confrontation.

 

 

 

Rink

[Flashermac]

Financial ban list grows to 125

 

 

7:09am

 

 

The Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation has slapped financial transaction bans on 19 additional individuals and firms.

 

The CRES on Sunday initially imposed bans on 106 companies and people.

 

The new names on yesterday's list are made up of 13 people and six firms.

 

They include Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, a former prime minister and now chairman of the Puea Thai Party; Yaowaret Shinawatra, a younger sister of fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra; Phaijit Thammarotphinit, alias Por Pratunam; Sutham Saengprathum, former Thai Rak Thai party executive; Suchinda Cherdchai, known as Jeh Kiao; and Charnchai Ruairungrueang, or Yian Pin, a close friend of Thaksin.

 

The list also includes some red shirt leaders. They are Jatuporn Prompan, Jakrapob Penkair, Arisman Pongruengrong, and Prateep Ungsongtham-Hata.

 

The six firms on the list are SC Asset Corporation Plc, a real estate company belonging to the Shinawatra family; Worth Supply Co; BBD Development Co; BBD Property Co; Ruaichai International Group Co and Ruaichai Merchandise Co.

 

Tharit Pengdit, chief of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), yesterday searched a condominium belonging to Siwaporn Ketsing, a businesswoman whom DSI believes might be involved with the red shirt's financial support, and found important evidence that he would not disclose.

 

The unit is in the Bangkok River Marina condominium complex in Soi Charan Sanitwong 70 in Bangkok's Bang Phlad district.

 

Ms Siwaporn is prominent in insurance. She once assigned her lawyer, Jongjit Janmeesap, to file a complaint at Bang Phlad police station seeking legal action against a person who posted a message on a website in July 2008 that she gave financial support to the red shirts.

 

Ms Siwaporn claimed the message had caused her to be hated and misunderstood. The source said security agencies were also keeping an eye on Ekkarat Changlao, a former Puea Pandin Party candidate in Khon Kaen.

 

Mr Ekkarat is allegedly another financial proxy of Thaksin supporting red shirt rallies. The CRES has already banned financial transactions by Mr Ekkarat.

 

 

 

BP

[bust]

Ngl1WThU4a0

 

 

(Reuters) - Thai troops and armored vehicles massed in Bangkok's main business district on Wednesday and fired warning shots and tear gas ahead of a possible operation to evict thousands of anti-government protesters from a fortified camp.

 

World | Thailand

 

A leader of the red-shirted protesters called on supporters to hold their ground, saying he feared an imminent offensive on their protest site occupied by thousands in the heart of Bangkok's commercial district for more than six weeks.

 

Troops urged protesters and civilians to leave. "Please leave the site immediately. Officials are about to conduct an operation," a soldier said over a loudspeaker.

 

The military buildup comes a day after the collapse of a proposal for talks aimed at ending five days of chaotic street fighting that descended into urban warfare in which 39 people were killed and nearly 300 wounded

 

Soldiers sprayed a water cannon at a kerosene-soaked wall of tires and bamboo staves at the entrance to the protest encampment after protesters threatened to ignite it.

 

Troops followed that up with tear gas.

 

It was unclear whether the military was launching an imminent crackdown or starting a long process to flush out women, children and others from their sprawling encampment where explosives, guns and grenades are thought to be stashed.

 

At least two dozen armored personnel carriers approached the encampment.

 

"We're asking everybody to be ready for a crackdown because armored personnel carriers are beginning to move in (to the area)," said Nattawut Saikua, a protest leader.

 

Some troops in the business district were as close as 200 meters (650 ft) from the protesters' three-meter (10-foot) high barricade, a Reuters photographer said. Pick-up trucks and buses carrying soldiers also arrived in the area.

 

SONG AND DANCE

 

About 3,000 of the mostly rural and urban poor protestors, who broadly support former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted in a 2006 coup, remain in the 3 sq-km (1.2 sq-mile) encampment in Bangkok's high-end shopping, hotel and diplomatic district.

 

"We have received reports that they will come in some areas. Negotiations are ongoing. But if they come, we will let it happen and fight on from here," Nattawut told supporters from a stage at the center of the main protest site.

 

Soon after he spoke, protest leaders broke into songs, as people danced around the protest stage, and in a surreal sight, comedy skits were performed on the stage.

 

The red shirts accuse the British-born, Oxford-educated Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva of lacking a popular mandate after coming to power in a controversial parliamentary vote in 2008 with tacit backing from the military, and have demanded immediate elections.

 

Troops have thrown a cordon around the protest site, a "tent city" at the Rachaprasong intersection, paralyzing the heart of Bangkok. Hundreds of women and children have taken refuge in a temple inside the protest area.

 

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thuagsuban has said moving in on the encampment had to be "a last resort."

 

Protesters have stockpiled food, water, and supplies in the encampment since Thursday when the assassination of a major-general allied to the red shirts, and an army operation to pressure them, sparked the latest wave of violence that has killed 68 people and wounded more than 1,700 since the demonstrations began in mid-March.

 

(Additional reporting by Nopporn Wong-Anan; writing by Jason Szep; editing by Bill Tarrant)

[ThaiHome]

Smoke cloud at Silom/Rama IV about 15 minutes ago. Chula hospital is not on fire, but smoke must be bad.

TH

 

 

 

[LizardKing]

Good. Let's put this into perspective. You have a crazed gunman barricaded in a house with a 10 year old girl. No amount of negotiation will get him to surrender, even after 10 weeks. You do what you have to do: go in and get him and hope you are good enough at this to spare the child.

 

This is no different.