Breaking: Ahbisit truimped ! Red Shirts surrender

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A man walks past armoured vehicles parked on a street in Bangkok May 22, 2010.
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Australian defence attache Colonel John Blaxland (2nd R) and his counterpart from the U.S. Colonel Edward Swanda (3rd R) look at weapons seized from "red shirt" anti-government protesters before a news conference at the Thai Army 11th Infantry Regiment in Bangkok May 22, 2010.
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Thai people watch as municipal workers clean the area where anti-government protesters encamped, at Lumpini park in downtown Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, May 22, 2010.

A Thai municipal worker takes out identity cards of Red Shirts anti-government protesters from a roadside sewage at Lumpini park in downtown Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, May 22, 2010
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People ride on a motorcycle past armoured vehicles parked on a street in Bangkok May 22, 2010.
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BANGKOK RIOTS
Victims seek govt assistance
By Kornchanok Raksaseri,
Somroutai Sapsomboon
The Nation
May 22, 2010

Affected people cry for the government's urgent help and plan to rally at Central World today.
Wandee Saetang, 52, yesterday stood at the Saladaeng Intersection at 2pm with the hope to meet reporters. She worked at the Central World canteen.
"I don't know what else I can do. Now I'm at the dead end. I don't understand why we never caused the government any trouble, but the gov�ernment never sees us. On the other hand, the protesters caused many problems but the government helped them with many things without any request," she said tearfully.
She said her employer told her that the shop has to be closed on critical days. But the government would help the daily workers upon registration. They registered with the government since April 1213 but they had not received any help.
"The officials from the Labour Ministry said they could not help us as we don't have any social security card. But I think that the more they must help us," she said, adding that she had yet to pay two months of house rent at the end of this month, otherwise, they will have to move out.
The rent of the house she's been living for 30 years is Bt3,000 a month. With the wage Bt350 a day, she has to be responsible for a 13yearold daughter and her 80yearold parents.
She went to Central World, where used to be her office, since 10am. She met some people who also used to work there.
This morning, (Saturday) they plan to bring more excolleagues and meet again at the intersection before marching to the burnt Central World.
Wandee's excolleague Phochana Kongkamnan, 33, said she and about a dozen of her friends came to the intersection almost every day as they had nowhere to go.
"It's too stressful to stay at home. I can't do anything there. I come out here I might be lucky enough to get a job," she said.
She took the government's free bus service to the area.
Phochana said during the period she is jobless since April 3, when the red shirt came to rally at Rajprasong Intersection, she had to borrow money from relatives and loan sharks to survive.
Being a daily worker with Bt250 wage, Phochana has no savings but must take care of her 7yearold daughter and a niece.

"Reality is sadder than in novels. (Sad but real) She said tearfully. "I hope somebody helps me before I lose my last breath."
"I haven't had a meal since the morning," she said and showed the only bottle of water that kept her stay. "I am a grownup, I can stand it. But children can't."
She called for urgent assistance as the landlord asked her to leave after failing to pay two months of the rent.
She suggested that, at least, the government to help talk to the landlords to allow them to stay further.
Boonnam Somsaksiri, a 47yearold vendor in Silom, is still luckier than Wandee and Phochana he has some savings. He wanted somebody to ensure that the government would not desert them and give urgent help.
"In the early period when the government took the post, it could give away Bt2,000. Now it should give some money urgently to help the troubled people survive," he said.
Tour guide Nitat Rachdee, 49, said he came to take photos at Saladaeng Intersection for his memory and his pleasure.
"Every corner of this area is where I made a living. Today is the first day in the past two months that I have a mall group of Spanish tourists," he said.
He usually earned more than Bt50,000 each month. But after the red shirt started rallying in March 12, his income dropped until he barely earned.
"As a tour guide, I want to ask the government to fix the country's image so that tourism industry can come back as soon as possible," he said.

 

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A girl gets her photograph done in front of Thailand's biggest shopping mall, Central World.

A girl poses as if she is crying while getting her photograph done in front of Thailand's biggest shopping mall, Central World, after it was set fire by anti-government protesters following an army assault on a protest site on Wednesday in downtown Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, May 22, 2010.

A poster seeking UN help is posted as Thai soldiers guard in the front of Central World, Thailand's biggest shopping mall, which was burnt down by protesters on Wednesday in downtown Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, May 22, 2010. Thai​

 

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Workers wait to clean Silom Avenue Sunday, May 23, 2010, in Bangkok, Thailand. Thousands gathered in the Thai capital to begin the massive clean up following the worst political violence in decades.

Workers scrub Silom Avenue at the start of a cleanup operation Sunday, May 23, 2010, in Bangkok, Thailand.
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Debris waits for collection at the former anti-government rally site Sunday, May 23, 2010, in Bangkok, Thailand


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A Thai family scavengers through debris left by anti-government protesters Sunday, May 23, 2010, in Bangkok, Thailand. Thousand of Bangkok residents also gathered in the former anti-government held areas to begin a massive clean up following the worst political violence in decades.
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A storm develops over the skies of Bangkok on the eve of May 23, 2010​

 

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Thai people take photos in front of Thailand's biggest shopping mall, Central World, after it was set fire by anti-government protesters on Wednesday, in downtown Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday, May 23, 2010. Despite the political upheaval in the country, there were increasing signs that the residents of Bangkok were trying to get back to normal routine with the city's two main mass transit systems, the Skytrain and the subway, reopened Sunday after a week's closure as thousands of residents mobilized in cleanup squads to clear the streets of mountains of garbage and rubble left by the protests and violence.​

 

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Foreign tourists take a sit in front of a shopping mall at downtown Bangkok on May 24, 2010.

Foreign tourists take tuk-tuk, a three wheeler taxi, to travel at downtown Bangkok on May 24, 2010. Thailand's prime minister said that Bangkok would get back to business on after a massive clean-up, and defended a crackdown on protest rallies that unleashed a rampage of arson and looting.​

 

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Thai pray at a small temple in front of a shopping mall in downtown Bangkok on May 24, 2010.

A Thai woman arranges her roadside shop near Lumpini park where anti-government protesters encamped, in downtown Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, May 24, 2010.
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A Thai girl eats beside her parents waiting for customers at their roadside shop near Lumpini park, where anti-government protesters encamped, in downtown Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, May 24, 2010

Thai girls eat ice cream as they walk on a busy street near Lumpini park, where anti-government protesters encamped, in downtown Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, May 24, 2010.​

 

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Passers-by take pictures of burnt shops at the site of recent bloody clashes between anti-government "red shirt" protesters and Thai troops in central Bangkok May 24, 2010.

Policemen are pictured in front of damaged shops at the site of recent bloody clashes between anti-government "red shirt" protesters and Thai troops in central Bangkok May 24, 2010. Thailand expects resilient economic growth for the year, despite the worst political mayhem in its modern history and political uncertainties ahead, as battle-scarred Bangkok re-opened for business on Monday.​

 

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Thai technicians inspect the damage at a burnt-out theatre in Bangkok on May 24, 2010, caused in the wake of the military crackdown on anti-government protesters.​

 

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A waitress cleans the window of a cafe in Bangkok's financial district May 24, 2010.

Residents line-up for money transactions inside a branch of Bangkok Bank, Thailand's largest bank, in the financial district of Bangkok May 24, 2010. The Thai capital resumed business on Monday after the worst riots in modern history.​

 

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Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva walks inside the Government House in Bangkok May 24, 2010.​

 

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Military personnel from the air force walk inside the Government House in Bangkok May 24, 2010.​

 

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Friends and relatives of slain Italian photograher Fabio Polenghi pays their respects at his funeral at a temple in Bangkok on May 24, 2010. Polenghi, a freelance photographer and documentary maker, was shot while covering the military offensive to close down long-running 'Red Shirts' demonstrations in the capital on May 19.