Re: BANGKOK: More than 100K at 9pm. Many More Coming. JAMS 50km Long. ArbiSHIT SHITTI
Thai forces set deadline for final assault against Red Shirts
Thailand's government has set a deadline for opposition protesters to surrender women and children before it mounts a final assault on the Red Shirt encampments in central Bangkok.
16 May 2010
Red Cross workers were told they would be given safe passage through a "live firing zone" until mid afternoon Monday to remove the vulnerable from the 3,000-strong crowd of demonstrators.
Two people were killed on Sunday as army snipers targeted activists behind burning tires and bamboo spiked barricades. At least 30 people have now been killed and hundreds wounded in three days of urban warfare in the Thai capital.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, the Eton-educated leader, has struggled to quash mass protests by the opposition Red Shirts, who are loyal to Thaksin Shinawatra, the ex-premier who was ousted in a coup in 2006.
Mr Abhisit announced a curfew would be imposed to isolate the demonstrators.
"There is no turning back in our efforts to maintain a legal state," he said "Losses will have to be endured. It is the only way to righteousness."
But within hours an army spokesman said the plans for a curfew had been abandoned in favour of a deadline to vacate the site.
The army is thought to have resisted the government's demand for an immediate full scale assault on the opposition.
Col Sansern Kaewkamnerd, the spokesman, indicated troops would move on the barricades after tightening the cordon around the camp.
The government also declared Monday and Tuesday as public holidays but banks and the stock market said they would continue trading.
The number of people camped out Sunday was about half that at the beginning of the blockade on Thursday evening as troops ringing the area have kept out new arrivals.
Nattawut Saikai, a Red Shirt leader, told protesters they were free to go if they wished and called for fresh talks with Mr Abhisit's aides.
"We call on the government to cease fire and pull out troops. We are ready to enter a negotiation process immediately," Nattawut Saikai. "We have no other condition. We do not want any more losses."
However, the government's gambit appeared destined for failure as most of the Red Shirt loyalists expressed their defiance and vowed to stay no matter what.
Chotika Chongweerakorn, 34, said she would stay to the bitter end. "We can't step back now. We will not be pushed around by this corrupt government. We haven't come this far to leave now," she said.
Retired shipping merchant, Thirvadh Upaphongs, 59, has camped out under an awning for all nine weeks and has no inclination to throw in the towel.
"Perhaps the army will try to storm the place," he said. "If they do I'm not sure who will win. But the world must hear the truth about this government.
I'm not afraid to die because I'm older."
Residents of the area, Bangkok's most glamorous address, have been caught up in the fighting. Gumpun, a Thai pop star was shot on his 23rd floor balcony, and foreign residents complained the area had become uninhabitable with the power and water supply turned off.
Tony Segadelli, 39, was one of the few expatriates willing to stay on for the final showdown. "Everybody else keeps telling me to get out, but as long as they keep firing that way instead of this way I'll stay," he said. "I suspect I'm the only one left in my building."
The picture across Bangkok was complicated by the spread of opposition positions to least five different places. Anger at the spate of deaths had drawn fresh support for the demonstrations.
One man said: "This is not just about the Red Shirts, it's about democracy."
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