what happened at the temple

[Flashermac]

I saw an interesting picture in the Khom Chat Luek newspaper's photo report on the red shirts and the clashes. It is a photo of a Buddhist monk whacking a soldier in riot gear with his safron umbrella, holding it by the top and belting the soldier with the pole. Somehow I don't think this is quite what the Buddha taught.

 

p.s. Allegedly, the gunmen were in the bushes inside the temple or just beyond it. All sorts of stories going around, none yet backed up by facts.

 

 

[cavanami]

...should be some cameras/videos to record the event

[Wallenda]

Seems to me that if there were armed people inside the temple shooting at the Army made anyone inside the temple a target it they were anywhere near them.

 

I'm sorry, but if I am being shot at even by one person, anyone that is close to that person is going to be shot at if I see them. I do not have time to wait and see if they are armed or are going to shot at me again.

 

To think anything else ignores the reality of combat and the rules of self preservation that are uppermost in your mind at that time.

TH

 

Not sure it's as simple as that -- if people were armed inside the temple, but I haven't heard any reports side that there were, let alone anyone firing from there. The govt designated that area as a safe zone for people to go to, so there'd need to be a really good reason to be firing into it -- shots coming from inside, ok -- weapons spotted, not so sure.

 

I'm not saying there weren't gunmen in there, just that I haven't seen any evidence there were.

 

Interesting there's no eyewitnesses coming forward with any info. If they haven't by now, probably there won't be.

[ThaiHome]

..., but I haven't heard any reports side that there were, let alone anyone firing from there. ...I'm not saying there weren't gunmen in there, just that I haven't seen any evidence there were.

 

Interesting there's no eyewitnesses coming forward with any info. If they haven't by now, probably there won't be.

 

Army task force denies role in killing 6 at temple

Questions raised over 'skytrain special forces'

Published: 25/05/2010 at 12:00 AM

Newspaper section: News

 

The circumstances surrounding the deaths of six people found shot dead at Wat Pathumwanaram remain fiercely disputed.

 

An army task force assigned to carry out an operation in front of the temple last Wednesday has denied involvement in the killings, but questions have been raised over the role special forces soldiers stationed on the nearby skytrain track might have played in the shootings.

 

Maj Gen Kampanat Ruddit, commander of the 1st Division of the King's Guard, the unit assigned to take position in front of the temple, denied his troops were responsible for the shootings.

 

He said soldiers from his division had been assigned to approach Ratchaprasong intersection along Rama I Road in a bid to pressure the red shirt protesters to leave the area.

 

The unit did not reach as far as the temple, which is about half-way up Rama I Road between Phaya Thai and Ratchaprasong roads. It stopped at the neighbouring Siam Paragon shopping complex. He said troops from his division stopped before reaching the temple to leave the area open for red shirts who wanted to leave the compound.

 

"There were armed militants firing weapons from a rear area of the temple," Maj Gen Kampanat said.

 

The bodies of six people who had been shot dead, including that of a Red Cross volunteer, were found at the temple on Thursday. An initial autopsy revealed they were killed by high-velocity bullets fired from different weapons on Wednesday evening.

 

A lower ranking army source involved in Wednesday's operation said that even though soldiers from the 1st Division of the King's Guard did not reach the temple, there were other army special forces stationed on the overhead skytrain track.

 

The special forces had been assigned to provide cover for troops on the ground. "Those special forces might have had to fire at some targets in front of the temple to prevent protesters from moving to burn the Siam area and Paragon," he said.

 

"But they did not fire into the temple. Protesters inside the temple moved people who had been shot in front of the temple into the compound so they could be treated."

 

A monk at the temple told the Bangkok Post he saw protesters shot in front of the temple and the gunfire had come from the skytrain track. He said other protesters moved the wounded into the temple.

 

"First aid volunteers also emerged to help injured people and they were shot," the monk said.

 

Military officers responsible for overseeing the temple area said they suspected several monks in the temple were red shirt supporters and helped harbour armed militants.

 

The monk said most of the monks at the temple came from the Northeast but he denied that they were red shirt supporters or that they had allowed armed militants to hide out in the temple.

And

 

 

Red shirts 'fired temple shots"

 

News Desk

The Nation (Thailand)

Publication Date : 09-06-2010

 

A key eyewitness has claimed that the shots that killed six people at Pathum Wanaram Temple during the red-shirt protest last month came from red-shirt guards, not soldiers, a special investigation department source said Tuesday.

 

The unnamed witness saw two men gunned down from an unknown direction, and Katekamon Arhard, a nurse volunteer, was hit when she was trying to drag the two men into a tent for first aid, the source said.

Some guards, most armed with pistols and some with war weapons, openly told demonstrators that "it's dangerous outside, and anyone who leaves will die" in the evening of May 19 after the red-shirt leaders turned themselves in to authorities.

 

"Then there was a salvo of about 10-15 shots, likely from the red-shirt guards," said the witness, who will soon come under DSI protection.

 

The witness, frightened and distressed, hid in a monk's quarters until dawn. The witness' account appears to confirm autopsy reports that showed that all six victims were shot horizontally, not from an inclined angle from soldiers stationed on Skytrain tracks or skywalks, the source added.

 

 

[shygye]

... maybe the army "disappeared" any witnesses, just like they did in previous times.

[Flashermac]

I saw a report in a Thai paper of a young witness to the shootings being protected by police. Wonder what that means.

 

But not to worry, David Cameron will apologise for it all.

 

 

[cardinalblue]

I think a real legitmate concern is the lack of Thai abilty to conduct a technical investigation...

 

1.lack of competent people, equipment, training, systems, etc

 

2.lack of honesty and integrity in the Thai culture..

 

When you have both together, all you can say is "Next problem please..."

 

The public will never know the truth..

 

CB

[Flashermac]

Thais complain about double standards, but what they really mean is they object to double standards when it does not benefit them! Otherwise, it's perfectly acceptable.

 

 

[jitagawn]

Dead on.