WARZONE !!!!
Thai Crackdown Leaves 20 Dead;
Troops, Protesters Call Truce
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By Supunnabul Suwannakij and Suttinee Yuvejwattana
Thai troops and protesters maintained a cease-fire in Bangkok a day after clashes left 20 dead and 842 injured, as demonstrators extended their occupation of two areas of the capital to push for fresh elections.
Soldiers used rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse crowds and protesters fought back with guns and bombs, army spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said yesterday. Both sides agreed to pull back to avoid further bloodshed, he said.
“I want to affirm to all Thais that my government and I still have a duty to resolve this situation,” Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said in a televised address late last night. “We will do everything to bring normality and peacefulness back to the country.”
Abhisit declared a state of emergency in the capital last week after a month of mostly peaceful protests seeking his ouster. Yesterday’s clashes were the deadliest since 1992, when more than 40 demonstrators were killed during a four-day crackdown by security forces.
“We will continue fighting,” protest leader Nattawut Saikuar said yesterday, before the clashes became violent. “We will not stop demonstrating until the parliament is dissolved.”
Many demonstrators support exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who won over the poor by giving them cheaper health care and loans before he was ousted in a 2006 coup. The protesters say Abhisit embodies a privileged class of military officers, judges, bureaucrats and royal advisers that sit above the law.
Seeking Royal Intervention
The protesters called on the nation’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej to intervene in the crisis to prevent further deaths, Agence France-Presse reported, citing protest leader Jatuporn Prompan. While the king has no formal political role, he is seen as a unifying figure.
“With people dying, it will likely move the king to act sooner rather than later,” said Song Seng-Wun, an economist in Singapore at CIMB-GK Research Pte, today in a telephone interview. “The bottom line is that it will have a negative impact on the markets, and the next few hours will be critical whether the army steps up or the king intervenes.”
The clashes occurred near Government House, in Bangkok’s historic district.
The U.S. government urged “restraint by both protesters and security forces” in Thailand, National Security Council spokesman Michael Hammer said in an e-mailed statement. “We deplore this outbreak of political violence” and “urge good- faith negotiations by the parties to resolve outstanding issues through peaceful means,” Hammer said.
Soldiers, Journalist Killed
Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement it is “deeply concerned about this development” and “urges all parties to exercise utmost restraint so as to avoid escalation of violence and find a peaceful resolution to their differences.”
The 20 dead included five soldiers and a Japanese journalist, said Chatree Charoencheewakul, head of the government’s emergency medical center, talking by phone today. The number of injured climbed to 842 as of 6 a.m. local time, he said. The demonstrators also took five soldiers hostage, Agence France-Presse reported.
The army resisted dispersing people who have been camped out in the heart of the city’s tourist and shopping district for the past week because of concerns about casualties. Abhisit called for an independent investigation into the deaths.
Possible Negotiations
After the clashes, protest leader Nattawut told the crowd of demonstrators near Government House that the group may restart negotiations with the government, the NBT television network reported.
Abhisit’s opponents earlier this month rejected his offer to call an election within nine months, demanding he step down before this week’s Thai New Year holiday.
Abhisit two days ago vowed to return the streets to the people after protesters defied the emergency decree and forced authorities to restore the signal of an anti-government satellite television station. The government had blocked People Channel on April 8, saying the station’s broadcasts were threatening national security.
The emergency decree, last used a year ago, bans gatherings of more than five people, allows detention without charge and gives soldiers immunity from prosecution.
--With assistance from Anuchit Nguyen and Yumi Teso in Bangkok, Daniel Ten Kate and Shamim Adam in Hanoi and Ron Harui in Singapore. Editors: Tony Jordan, Ann Hughey.
To contact the reporters on this story: Supunnabul Suwannakij in Bangkok at
[email protected] Suttinee Yuvejwattana in Bangkok at
[email protected]
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In a televised statement, Abhisit expressed regret to the families of the victims and said the army was only allowed to use live bullets "firing into the air and in self-defence".
