Flashermac Posted January 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2014 Ratchaprasong protesters rush to Government House to 'rescue' peers A scene of commotion broke out on Rama I Road in front of Soi Siam square 1 at 2.55pm Saturday when demonstrators rushed to march from the Ratchaprasong stage to the Government House. They were urged to rush to help the Students and People Network for Thailand's Reform (STR) protesters who rally near the government office. Their leaders said the STR protesters have been besieged by police. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/Ratchaprasong-protesters-rush-to-Government-House--30224617.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted January 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2014 South hit hard by PDRC shutdown campaign A huge number of offices in Thailand's southern provinces have been in limbo over the past week in response to the 'shutdown' call by the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC). The protest has seen state offices closed or hit by work stoppages, as the PDRC has urged supporters to undertake a campaign of civil disobedience to help bring down the national government. PDRC supporters, as a result, have blocked access to provincial halls in Phang Nga, Phatthalung, Surat Thani, Songkhla, and Nakhon Si Thammarat. Government services at the halls have been brought to a halt. In Ranong, more than 60 government agencies and offices of local administrative organisations have shut down under pressure from PDRC demonstrators, who kept campaigning across the province for days. In Chumphon, most government officials stopped coming to work although their offices remained open. In Phuket, very few officials were seen at their offices as most of their colleagues headed to Bangkok to help with the PDRC-led 'Bangkok Shutdown'. The PDRC has occupied major intersections in the capital since Monday in a bid to force caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to stand down. Only four of the 14 southern provinces - Krabi, Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala - have seen government officials come to work as usual this week. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/South-hit-hard-by-PDRC-shutdown-campaign-30224587.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted January 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2014 Southern rail line bombed in Cha-am The Southern rail line linking Phetchaburi with Bangkok was damaged in a predawn bomb explosion today which local authorities suspected was an attempt to prevent southern trains from carrying anti-government protesters to join the mass protests in Bangkok. The explosion happened eight minutes after the Bangkok-Trang train left the Cha-am railway station. The scene of explosion is about 500 meters from the station. Phetchaburi Governor Monthien Thongnit inspected the damaged rail line with railway officials this morning and said the bombing might be intended to prevent people from the south joining the protests in the capital. Explosive Ordnance Disposal police said C4 plastic explosive was used in the bombing, which ripped off the rail. Railway workers are expected to repair the broken line and put it back in service before noon today. http://englishnews.t...ine-bombed-cha/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted January 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2014 Government House: KPT There is a rumor that the police will try to clear the Government House area tonight. KPT was prepping with gas masks, goggles, etc. If the police really do plan to attack tonight, surprise has been lost as KPT reinforcement are arriving. On the other hand, if they plan to clear somewhere else, or just poke KPT to cause them to react, there might be something else going on. KPT says they take gunfire every night, though normally nobody is hit. https://www.facebook.com/MichaelYonFanPage/posts/10151917065845665 KPT is the Thai abbreviation for the students' group Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted January 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2014 A Brief Description of Today's Protest March There are seven main PDRC protest venues in Bangkok. This does not include any venues by farmers which are separate but related protests against the Yingluck/Thaksin government. Each morning, marches begin from the main venues. Thousands of people are camped out at each venue and the marches are sizable. Yesterday, a march led by Suthep was attacked with a grenade, wounding 35 and killing 1. Suthep and the protestors re-doubled their efforts and went back out today. The crowd was massive, yet most of the participants seemed to be the people waiting on the sides of roads -- for miles -- to cheer on and donate to the procession aimed at overthrowing the government. As the march progressed, other smaller parades joined and hour by hour it grew. On closer observation, one notices that the crowd is not all under PDRC, but there are many sub-crowds with varying agendas but a common goal of overthrowing the regime. Many of the people who have joined for the common cause are actually typically political opponents, and even heated opponents, but for this they have bound together in harmony. That is a revelation about the character of Thailand. In Burma, the major groups fighting the government for many decades cannot find it between them to cooperate long enough to wipe out the government which has been a pestilence to them all. Outsiders have tried to bind the waring ethnic parties together in Burma for that common goal, but they seem incapable of setting differences aside long enough to fight their common disease. This is true in many countries, but in Thailand many otherwise opponents naturally are binding together and are intent on toppling this corrupt government. https://www.facebook...151917187815665 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waerth Posted January 18, 2014 Report Share Posted January 18, 2014 Richard Barrow â€@RichardBarrow 56s 11:30pm News just in, a protest guard at Lad Prao rally site has just been shot (Via @Nalinee_PLE) pic.twitter.com/n9pdKDUvRC veena T. â€@veen_NT 1m Injured PDRC guard is Somsak Pannoppa, 54, from Songkhla province TR @Nalinee_PLE cr. @settha_TRnews pic.twitter.com/Fbo5ezYFJS #BKKShutdown Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted January 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2014 'Keep children out of protests' Some parents have brought their children to join the anti-government protests in the hope that they might learn about democracy and be part of the historic events, but experts warn the experience could have a negative effect on children's mental and physical health due to the exposure to loud noise and over-crowded conditions. Children might also end up copying the bad behaviour of some protesters, they said. "Grandpa, tomorrow is my day off, please take us with you to the protests," 67-year-old Boonserm Wong-ruampaiboon quoted his two granddaughters, aged 5 and 9, as saying. It was his reason for taking them to the rally site at Bangkok's Ratchaprasong intersection, he said. However, he added that as a precaution, he only took them during daytime and would return home before evening when the crowd began to get much larger. Images of parents protesting or sitting with their children in front of the protest stages - listening to passionate speeches through booming speakers - is not uncommon. Boonserm believes his granddaughters - although still very young - were able to absorb the atmosphere and understand that the protests were against corruption. While he admitted that some of the speeches were coarse, he said that daytime speeches tended to be milder and there was a lot more musical entertainment. If rude remarks were made, Boonserm said he would try to distract his granddaughters' attention away from the rude remarks. Another demonstrator, Patcharawan Padpai, who brought her five-year-old son to join the Pathumwan intersection rally, said she came during the daytime when there were not too many people. She said she would leave quickly if the situation began to deteriorate into violence. She said she believed children should participate in the rally so that they could see the process of positive change, and so that they would learn that wrongdoers could not stand in the way of a peaceful society. Her son had also asked to join the rally, she added. Asked why he wanted to join the rally, the boy said he wanted to wave a flag and blow his whistle. Dr Panpimol Wipulakorn, deputy director of the Department of Mental Health, said children aged 1-6 could only understand simple matters and that those who attended the rally with their parents would only be able to absorb the atmosphere. However, children aged 7-12 might understand more through simple explanations and parental guidance, she said. Panpimol cited as an example a child's experience in choosing a fellow classmate to be "leader of the classroom". Children, she said, would be able to understand that the purpose of having a student as the leader was to take care of fellow classmates, but if that leader did something wrong, then that might lead to changes which could be peacefully adopted through discussion. An explanation of this kind, which was relevant to the direct experience of a child, could help them to understand the protest situation more clearly, she said. Panpimol also warned that children might pick up rude words and behaviour, and it was therefore important for parents to explain that some of the remarks made at the rallies were inappropriate in daily life. She also urged parents to leave the rally sites from time to time, so that their children could take time off to relax and play. However, she added that taking very young children to the rallies was inappropriate, and that they should be left at home with a babysitter. She also warned that prolonged exposure to loud noises beyond the safety level of 50 decibels might affect their hearing, while overcrowded conditions amid changing weather conditions could lead to them catching flu. http://www.nationmul...s-30224638.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted January 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2014 53-year-old PDRC guard shot and injured at Lat Lat Phrao rally site A 53-year-old security guard was shot and was severely injured at the Lat Phrao rally site at 11:20 pm Saturday, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA)'s Erawan Emergency Medical Services Centre announced. He was rushed to the intensive care unit of the Mayo Hospital. He was transferred to the Bhumibhol Hospital at 3:45 am. The centre said the man is a security guard of the People's Democratic Reform Committee. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/53-year-old-PDRC-guard-shot-and-injured-at-Lat-Lat-30224648.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Specialist Posted January 19, 2014 Report Share Posted January 19, 2014 Oops. "Police are seeking two men, one believed to be an aide of a former Democrat MP, seen in a video clip of the grenade explosion that killed one protester and injured scores of others in the rally at Banthat Thong Road on Friday afternoon." Looks like someone may have gotten careless, and the Third Hand of the Democrats might've been caught on camera, manufacturing a horrible incident to blame on the Red Shirts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavanami Posted January 19, 2014 Report Share Posted January 19, 2014 Southern rail line bombed in Cha-am The Southern rail line linking Phetchaburi with Bangkok was damaged in a predawn bomb explosion today which local authorities suspected was an attempt to prevent southern trains from carrying anti-government protesters to join the mass protests in Bangkok. The explosion happened eight minutes after the Bangkok-Trang train left the Cha-am railway station. The scene of explosion is about 500 meters from the station. Phetchaburi Governor Monthien Thongnit inspected the damaged rail line with railway officials this morning and said the bombing might be intended to prevent people from the south joining the protests in the capital. Explosive Ordnance Disposal police said C4 plastic explosive was used in the bombing, which ripped off the rail. Railway workers are expected to repair the broken line and put it back in service before noon today. http://englishnews.t...ine-bombed-cha/ ...or to stop the Army from getting troops to the south...an explanation can work both ways... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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