BANGKOK: More than 100K at 9pm. Many More Coming. JAMS 50km Long. ArbiSHIT SHITTING!

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Major General Khattiya Sawasdipol talks to guards as he checks the barricades at a fortified camp in Bangkok's shopping district in this May 12, 2010 file photo.

May 13 (Bloomberg) -- A renegade Thai general backing anti- government protesters in a central Bangkok commercial district was shot in the head as security forces moved to seal off an area where 6,000 protesters are based.

Major-General Khattiya Sawisdipol, an active-duty soldier who helped build barricades around the business district, was shot during an interview with the New York Times, the newspaper reported. Gunshots and a grenade injured others on Silom Road, a business artery next to the protest site, Channel 5 reported.

“I have heard he is dead,” Sean Boonpracong, a spokesman for the protest group, said by phone, referring to the general known as Seh Daeng. “Within the past couple of days protesters were counting on him to provide combat experience to the guards on the barricades. It’s a psychological blow.”

The shooting may spark more violent clashes after efforts to find a peaceful solution to the two-month standoff broke down. Clashes between troops and protesters killed 29 people over the past two months, Thailand’s worst political violence in 18 years.

Khattiya, one of nine protest leaders facing terrorism charges, is unconscious in the intensive care unit of a Bangkok hospital, Samart Ariyakul, a doctor from Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s medical department, said in an interview with state-owned Thai PBS television​

 

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Thai hospital workers carry the injured Major-General Khattiya Sawasdipol into a hospital in Bangkok on May 13, 2010.

Thai emergency medical staff rush Maj. Gen Khattiya Sawasdiphol, also known as "Seh Daeng" to surgery after he was shot Thursday, May 13, 2010, in Bangkok, Thailand. The renegade army officer accused of marshaling a paramilitary force among Thailand's Red Shirt protesters was shot in the head Thursday, apparently by a sniper, an aide said. Gunfire and at least four explosions were heard Thursday night in central Bangkok where Red Shirt anti-government protesters are camped.​

 

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Thai soldiers stand guard during the arrival Major-General Khattiya Sawasdipol at a hospital in Bangkok on May 13, 2010.​

 

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Soldiers rest near the site of an anti-government rally in Bangkok May 13, 2010. The chief military advisor of Thailand's anti-government protesters was injured in the head, after an explosion and bursts of automatic gunfire were heard near Bangkok's business district on Thursday night.​

 

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Thai soldiers in riot gear patrol the streets around the 'Red Shirt' fortified camp in downtown Bangkok on May 13, 2010.​

 

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Thai commando units stand guard during the evacuation of Major-General Khattiya Sawasdipol at a hospital in Bangkok on May 13, 2010.​

 

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Re: BANGKOK: More than 100K at 9pm. Many More Coming. JAMS 50km Long. ArbiSHIT SHITTI

Thomas Fuller/The International Herald Tribune
Gen. Khattiya Sawatdiphol, a renegade Thai general also known as Seh Daeng, was shot minutes after this photograph was taken on Thursday.

By THOMAS FULLER
Published: May 13, 2010
BANGKOK — A renegade Thai general was shot in Bangkok on Thursday as the military prepared to encircle the barricaded encampment of anti-government protesters.
The general, Khattiya Sawatdiphol, 58, was struck in the head by a bullet during an interview with this reporter about 7 p.m. on the street in central Bangkok, near a park occupied by his hard-line followers. This reporter, who was facing the general and about two feet away, heard a loud bang not unlike a firecracker. The general fell to the ground, with his eyes wide open, and protesters took his apparently lifeless body to the hospital, screaming out his nickname.

“Seh Daeng has been shot! Seh Daeng has been shot!” protesters shouted amid growing panic.

Gunshots were heard in the minutes following, and there were later reports that 20 people had been injured, though whether from gunfire, a stampede, or some other cause was unclear. Within hours, protesters were clashing with security forces in Bangkok’s Lumpini Park.

The general was abhorred by both the government for disloyalty and also by most of the protest leaders for what they suspected was his role in fomenting violence. Still, he had assumed control of security for the protesters, placing his own black-shirted paramilitary fighters at entrances to the makeshift barriers around their encampment, and he claimed the loyalty of a small but intense group of protesters.

When the bullet struck him General Khattiya was inside the barricades, facing a road, overpass and a business district with several tall buildings. Wearing his usual camouflage uniform, he was answering a question about whether the Thai military would be able to penetrate the area.

The government announced earlier on Thursday that armored personnel carriers would be used to cordon off the area in what appeared to be the beginning of an operation to disperse the thousands of protesters who are camped out outside shopping malls and luxury hotels.

General Khattiya’s last words before being shot were, “The military cannot get in here.” Those words were spoken in Thai; he sometimes also spoke in broken English.

The protesters, known as the red shirts, started their mass demonstration two months ago seeking the dissolution of Parliament. But the movement has fractured, and the leaders’ ultimate aims have become less clear. In talks, the government recently agreed to allow early elections, but the breakthrough faltered as some protesters dug in, demanding that someone be held responsible for violence on April 10, when some 25 people were killed.

The general had been called a terrorist by the prime minister, who named him as the chief obstacle to the compromise plan.

Commanding his own paramilitary force of former rangers, General Khattiya was suspended without pay from the armed forces. A special committee was considering whether to strip him of his rank. His involvement with the protest movement underlines fractures within the military and more broadly in Thai society after four years of political turmoil.

In an interview on Sunday, he denied being responsible for any violence. “I deny!” he cried in English, with a laugh, when asked about the dozens of bombings that have set Bangkok on edge and about the mysterious black-shirted killers who escalated the violence on April 10. “No one ever saw me.”

A tentative deal had been reached between the protesters and the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, only to fall apart this week.

A half-hour before he was shot, the General Khattiya was addressing a scrum of reporters at sundown at the barricades. Most peeled away, leaving the general in a conversation with this reporter.

The general commented on his uniform, saying it was the one he had worn when fighting communists three decades ago. He spoke about his role working with the protesters and how this task was different from his previous military missions.

He described himself as leading a “people’s army” that was bracing for a crackdown by the military.

This clash would be “free-form,” he said. “There are no rules.”


Seth Mydans contributed reporting.

 

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Major General Khattiya Sawasdipol is carried to an ambulance after being shot in the head behind the barricades at a fortified camp in Bangkok's shopping district May 13, 2010.​

 

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Maj. Gen. Khattiya Sawasdiphol, a renegade army general accused of leading a paramilitary force among Thailand's Red Shirt protesters, is treated by doctors and nurses at a hospital in Bangkok, Thailand after he was shot in the head Thursday, May 13, 2010. In an interview with The Associated Press about 90 minutes before he was shot apparently by a sniper, Khattiya said he anticipated a military crackdown soon, as security forces moved to seal an area of central Bangkok which has been occupied by thousands of the protesters for weeks.
(AP Photo)

My father is in a coma : Lt Gen Katthiya's daughter
Katthiya, the daughter of Lt Gen Khattiya Sawasdipol, said her father is critically injured and is in a coma.

"If he does not pull through, I will decide later what should be done next," she said.

​

 

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Re: BANGKOK: More than 100K at 9pm. Many More Coming. JAMS 50km Long. ArbiSHIT SHITTI

I guess that is the end of the rebels.

bamboo and tires cannot stop armour carrier.

 

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Seh Daeng shrugged off dangers before shooting

"I'm not afraid of dying. They've marked my head. If I'm afraid, who will lead the red shirts?" army specialist Khattiya Sawasdipol told the Bangkok Post in a telephone interview yesterday.

Maj Gen Khattiya sits down for a meal in Siam Square about three hours before he was shot in the head and left in critical condition near Sala Daeng intersection last night. KITJA APHICHONROJAREK

Later in the day, about 7.30pm, Maj Gen Khattiya, better known as Seh Daeng, was shot in the head near the Sala Daeng red shirt rally site. He was inspecting security barriers and giving an interview to a group of foreign reporters at the time.

''All I have on me is a small pistol and a stick ... If anyone comes to arrest me, I can assure you I'll shoot and fight to the end ... Soldiers are on to me. There are snipers out there. But they'll never get me,'' Maj Gen Khattiya said.

He insisted he would not remove his soldier's uniform even though it made him a target.

''I'm a [red shirt security] commander-in-chief, I can't fear anything,'' Maj Gen Khattiya, 59, said.

He said he would not put on protective clothing.

''Such dress would make me feel like one who fears death, and would prevent me from leading others who do not have protective clothing.''

Maj Gen Khattiya had seemed to be the only soldier in the country who could walk into the red shirt rally site wearing a military uniform.

Every evening, he would visit the rally site, particularly the Sala Daeng barricade, wearing his uniform and a cloth hat to inspect security.

The routine put him at risk, said an observer.

Earlier, Maj Gen Khattiya insisted he would not give up on the red shirt rally and would replace the current leaders.

Maj Gen Khattiya, a supporter of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, had been branded a terrorist by the government following the April 10 bloody clash, which resulted in 25 deaths.

He led former paramilitary rangers to serve as guards at the red shirt rally.

Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon had recommended that Maj Gen Khattiya be dismissed from duty.

Gen Prawit signed Maj Gen Khattiya's dismissal papers last Sunday and had forwarded the documents to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

The prime minister would then have to leave the decision with His Majesty the King, however it was unclear whether Mr Abhisit had forwarded the papers.

Observers said the attack on Maj Gen Khattiya could lead to the red rally ending soon. ''It's a clear attempt to decapitate the red shirt military leadership,'' said Anthony Davis, a security consultant with IHS-Jane's. ''It's a smart tactical move that will cause confusion in the red shirts' military ranks and send a message to the leadership that if they don't want to negotiate and come out, they can expect extreme consequences,'' he told Reuters.

 

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This images taken from video shows Maj. Gen. Khattiya Sawasdiphol, a renegade army general accused of leading a paramilitary force among Thailand's Red Shirt protesters, being helped at the scene in Bangkok, Thailand after he was shot in the head Thursday, May 13, 2010. In an interview with The Associated Press about 90 minutes before he was shot apparently by a sniper, Khattiya said he anticipated a military crackdown soon, as security forces moved to seal an area of central Bangkok which has been occupied by thousands of the protesters for weeks​

 

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Anti-government protesters confront a busload of Thai policemen forcing it to u-turn and leave the area close to anti-government protesters' encampment on Thursday May 13, 2010 in Bangkok, Thailand. Thailand's government planned a massive lockdown Thursday on a posh Bangkok neighborhood occupied by thousands of protesters and warned that troops will not hesitate to shoot armed "terrorists" who resist.

Anti-government protesters confront a busload of Thai policemen.​

 

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Thais yell at military forces during a brief clash with soldiers near Lumphini Park on May 13, 2010 in central Bangkok, Thailand. The Black Shirt Guards are used as security forces for the anti-government 'red shirt' protesters. Protesters and military forces clashed in central Bangkok after the government launched an operation to disperse anti-government protesters who have closed parts of the city for two months.​

 

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Thais seek cover during a brief clash with soldiers near Lumphini Park on May 13, 2010 in central Bangkok, Thailand.​

 

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Thai red shirt demonstrators run for cover after soldiers opened fire trying to disperse a crowd of people moving towards the red shirts fortified camp in the central financial district of downtown Bangkok on May 13, 2010.

Anti-government protesters take cover outside Lumpini park during a rally in Bangkok May 13, 2010.​

 

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A Thai red shirt demonstrators take cover after soldiers open fire trying to disperse a crowd of people moving towards the red shirts fortified camp in the central financial district of downtown Bangkok on May 13, 2010.
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A man holds the hand of a wounded Thai red shirt demonstrator after he was shot by soldiers trying to disperse a crowd of people moving towards the red shirts fortified camp in the central financial district of downtown Bangkok on May 13, 2010.

An anti-government protester is attended to after being shot in the head by Thai security forces May 13, 2010 in Bangkok, Thailand.

An anti-government protester breaks down in tears after a compatriot was shot in the head in the streets of Bangkok May 13, 2010. An anti-government protester in Thailand was shot in the head on Thursday near the "red shirt" encampment in central Bangkok, a Reuters witness said.
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A man (C) removes a camera from around the neck of a wounded Thai red shirt demonstrator after he was shot by soldiers trying to disperse a crowd of people moving towards the red shirts fortified camp in the central financial district of downtown Bangkok on May 13, 2010.​

 

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An anti-government protester who was shot in the head is carried away to a hospital, in Bangkok May 13, 2010.​