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21 dead. 858 injured. These were the casualties during the Saturday violent clash between Red Shirt protesters and soldiers in Thailand. Bloggers were in the middle of the action documenting the bloody encounter. Here are their storiesPost-Thumbnail
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Français: Thaïlande : Les blogueurs racontent les violents affrontements বাংলা: থাইল্যান্ড: ব্লগাররা রক্তক্ষয়ী সংঘর্ষের প্রমাণাদি সংগ্রহ করেছে 21 dead. 858 injured.
These were the casualties in yesterday’s violent clash between Red Shirt protesters and soldiers in Thailand. The Red Shirts, which have been protesting in the streets for one month already, want Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to resign, dissolve the Parliament and call for a new round of elections.
Tony Joh documented the violent clash between protesters and soldiers at Phan Fa bridge.
Tony’s brief narration of the bloody event
Earlier in the day the army had pushed their way into Phan Fa bridge and had forced the protesters back, well this evening the protesters decided to mount a comeback.
At first the situation was relatively calm with the army playing soft soothing music to try and keep the situation peaceful. However that all changed in a split second as gunfire erupted and the crowd attacked with plastic water bottles and bamboo sticks.
The army, outnumbered and perhaps sensing that they were losing control opened fire on the crowd. People ran and ducked for cover as the sound of automatic gunfire range out over the protest site. Soon the protesters were picking up even deadlier weapons and suddenly the army was hit by a barrage of rocks and Molotov cocktails.The army at this point decided to retreat and surrendered their thanks and armour personnel carriers to the red shirts, who attacked them with sticks and shields.
Nirmal Ghosh was also an eyewitness of the violent clash
The army had bizarrely set up a sound truck which was blasting out '70s disco hits in an attempt to keep the mood light. When I got there they were playing Boney M's “Rasputin.” A local truce was negotiated between a red shirt and the army unit commander.
But red shirts reinforced their fellow protestors in large numbers both at Ratchaprasong and at Rajadamnoen, and by nightfall it seemed inevitable that the army’s push to clear Rajadamnoen and Pan Fah, would go wrong.
The mood at Ratchaprasong where the main red shirt protest is camped was stable and even upbeat. But at Rajadamnoen in the Democracy Monument-Kao San road area, hours of standoffs and some skirmishes erupted into nasty full scale pitched battles with troops shooting directly at red shirts with both rubber and live bullets.
At Khao San road, an area swarming with tourists, violence also erupted
Journotopia's twitter feed is must-read: “Barricades going up at Khao San. Reds preparing for soldiers' return. Several pools of blood on road…. Don't listen to bland Thai govt reassuarances. Khao San is a dangerous place. I've seen 2 tourists with injuries… Khao San lis shuttered up, red shirts everywhere. It looks like a warzone… Pitched battles in streets around Khao San. Tourists ducking for cover. A red shirt with an AK47. Scenes of chaos at Khao San. Tourists tell me they saw horrific inuries, an old man with an eye hanging out.”
A short video clip showing the tense atmosphere at Khao San Road
A reader sent this email to New Mandala. This report describes the impact of the clash between soldiers and protesters.
Walking toward the protest, I noticed that there was a feeling of defiance in the air, but also weariness. All those walking back in the other direction looked extremely tired, and many were covered in grime, if not cuts and bruises. I also noticed here and there individuals (as well as an entire family, children included) who appeared to have “souvenired” some police helmets, riot shields and batons somewhere along the way.
A column of Armoured Personnel Carriers extending into one of the side streets. Swarming all over them were hundreds of red shirts, who were literally tearing them to pieces with their bare hands. Occasionally, they would stop so a middle-class Bangkok family could come and pose in front of the APC’s, perhaps lifting their children up on top for a better shot, but it wasn’t long until the demolitions began again in earnest.
But one didn’t need video evidence to know that violence had taken place there. The doors of all the shop-houses up and down the streets were riddled with the dents of rubber bullets. The streets themselves had been transformed into a mosaic of broken glass, stones and other debris. And then there was the blood
Nicholas Day shares his experience during the commotion. He also gives a clearer characterization of the Red Shirt protesters
Whether the bullets were live or just blanks I do not know. If they were live then they must not have been fired into the crowd in that confined space or a large number of people would have been dead. We did not move back far, we didn’t even get back onto Rajadamern road. People stopped their retreat and stayed on, although maybe at a slightly safer distance than before. People were saying that they were not real bullets. The people who did not move at all were the red-shirt guards who stayed right where they were at the front of their barricade. These guys must either be crazy or very determined and well disciplined, or maybe a bit of both.
I have learnt a few things in these last few hours. One is that tear-gas is really nasty stuff; the other is that the soldiers will need to use a hell of a lot of it to remove the red-shirts from Rajadamnern road.
Bloggers have already posted several pictures of the bloody confrontation in Bangkok. Some soldiers were hostaged by protesters during the encounter. They were released the following day.
After touring the site of confrontation, Thailand's Troubles concludes that soldiers didn't use live rounds in dispersing the crowd
The Prime Minister's claim of troops only shooting into the air with live rounds is incorrect and may be an outright lie. It has yet again been shown that Thai troops are ill-led, ill-equipped and ill-trained for tackling civil unrest without resorting to deadly force. Whether troops mounted their assault with orders to shoot at demonstrators or did so for reasons of personal malice may again never be known. But sending under-trained and poorly-led troops, with little experience of such imbroglios, into a tense and difficult situation with live rounds is a recipe for trouble.
Thai officials wanted protesters to end the rallies which have been hurting the economy, especially the tourism sector. Because of the violent clash, the political standoff is expected to worsen.
>via: http://globalvoicesonline.org/2010/04/12/thailand-citizen-videos-of-violent-clash/
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This post is also available in:
| 繁體中文: | 泰國：民眾記錄暴力衝突 |
| 简体中文: | 泰国：民众记录暴力冲突 |
| Italiano: | Tailandia: materiali e reazioni dei cittadini online dopo le recenti violenze |
The crackdown on the Red Shirt protesters in Thailand last Saturday by the military turned violent killing 21 people and injuring almost 900 individuals. The clash took place in a busy street in Bangkok which allowed bystanders and tourists to document the violence.
Both the soldiers and protesters accuse each other of using real bullets and hand grenades. We may never know who is telling the truth but the videos below allow us to view some of the violent scenes last Saturday.
Via Bangkok Pundit, a brief description of the videos
This video (at the 39 second mark) shows some kind of firefight and then some kind of explosive device (M79 grenade?) landing in the middle of a group of soldiers then soldiers retreating….
…Another video where you can see some guys dressed in dark clothing (red guards? or the third hand Panitan was referring too?) in the distance. At least one has an automatic gun and fires (based on other video of the area from earlier) in the direction of the soldiers.
At Vaitor’s weblog, a tourist who was shot in the arm while documenting the clash
At the moment I just have one working arm/hand to write which is quite annoying, but here are some Pics and Video Footage I took today at the heavy clashes between protesters and the police! Unfortunately I got shot and broke my right arm…
A partial list of names of people killed in Bangkok. Protestersparaded some of the dead in the streets of Bangkok as they vow to continue to push for the resignation of the Prime Minister.
FACT – Freedom Against Censorship Thailand blames all the major political forces for the violence which took place last Saturday
You are all to blame. Violence has never yet solved society’s problems and differences of opinion
We mourn the fallen Reds. We mourn the fallen police and soldiers. We mourn the innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire. Their blood was spilled in vain by the ammart. Only if we really want freedom and democracy will Thai blood mean anything. But if we only have elections to put a new crowd of fatcat dinosaurs into office, and that means Pheu Thai, things will never change in our beloved Thailand.
The soldiers simply obeyed their orders. They did not fire on those who gave the command nor put politicians in their gunsights.
Government spokesmen are now saying that no live rounds were fired at demonstrators. The high toll of dead and injured, including at least two foreign journalists, prove they lie!
Jotman believes the Red Shirts could gain more supporters from the provinces
The cause of the red shirts has been consecrated in blood. The movement now has its martyrs. Red shirts can be expected to arm themselves better in preparation for any future street confrontation. Many more supporters of the rural opposition movement, privy to evidence of the heartless brutality shown by government forces towards visitors to the Thai capital from the countryside, sickened by Bangkok's denials, are bound to step out of the woodwork. Tensions within the Thai armed forces may lead to outright fractures.
Saksith Saiyasombut thinks that the Red Shirts are no longer mere supporters of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra as the movement is now a loose coalition of forces which want to overthrowthe elitist system of government
What many like to neglect is that the red shirt movement is now more than just a proxy mob of Thaksin, not just a tool of anyone to overthrow the current government. It is a true unavoidable force in Thai politics with legitimate claims, with a sound political consciousness that is now haunting the political elites and bureaucrats for failing to recognize the sign of times. The problems cannot be solely linked back to Thaksin (as he is trying to promote himself as the beacon of freedom and democracy, while there is no doubt that he is not) – it is a collective failure!
A few twitter reactions:
gnarlykitty: @tambourinequeen There were eerier stuff. Smashed cars, confiscated/found bullets/casings, but there were too many people moong-ing.
jfxberns: I'm for elections. I just think that protest -> violence -> dissolution -> new government -> protest is a cycle that needs to be broken.
For background information about the political crisis in Thailand,Topic Thailand summarizes the major issues. Pictures of the violent clash are available in Pantip and Nation’s State.
TOPIC: THAILAND
Resources for learning more
NEWS ANALYSIS
- “Thai Violence Hits Occupancy In Bangkok Hotels” [Reuters/NYT, April 15, 2010]
- “Where Are Thailand’s Red Shirt Protests Headed?” [The Atlantic, April 14, 2010]
- “Inside Story: Thailand on Edge” [Al Jazeera English, April 13, 2010 ]
- Phatra Securities: Thailand Economics: Little room for resolution? [April 12, 2010]
- Economist: Red with Bloodshed [April 12, 2010]
- AFP: Thai FM slams international community over crisis [April 13, 2010]
- WSJ: Tensions Simmer in Bangkok [April 11, 2010]
- TIME: Parsing the Color Codes of Thailand
- Reuters Q+A: What is aim of Thailand’s “red shirts” movement?
- Reuters Q+A: What is Thaksin’s strategy in challenging Thai government?
- Bloomberg: Thai Rifts May Spur More Turmoil in ‘Land of Smiles’
- Reuters: SCENARIOS — Will Thailand’s political crisis deepen?
BOOKS ABOUT THAI POLITICS AND SOCIETY
- A History of Thailand, by Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit.
- Thaksin: The Business Of Politics In Thailand , by Pasuk Phongpaichit and Chris Baker.
- Guns, Girls, Gambling, Ganja: Thailand’s Illegal Economy and Public Policy, by Pasuk Phongpaichit
- Thailand: A Short History, by David K. Wyatt
- Tearing Apart the Land: Islam and Legitimacy in Southern Thailand, by Duncan McCargo
ACADEMIC PAPERS
- Understanding Thailand’s political crisis, by Duncan McCargo in e-IR.
- Contextualizing the Pattaya Summit Debacle, by Michael J. Montesano in Contemporary Southeast Asia: A Journal of International and Strategic Affairs.
BLOGS ABOUT THAILAND AND THAI POLITICS
- New Mandala — “New perspectives on mainland Southeast Asia” from the Australian National University
- Bangkok Pundit — Thai political analysis from an anonymous blogger
- Andrew Marshall — British freelance journalist reporting for TIME and other publications.
- 2Bangkok.com — Web site about life in Thailand and Thai politics
LOCAL ENGLISH-LANGUAGE MEDIA
- The Bangkok Post newspaper
- The Nation newspaper
WIKIPEDIA PAGES
- 2005–2006 Thai political crisis
- 2008–2009 Thai political crisis
- List of political parties in Thailand
- April 2009 Thai political unrest
- 2010 Thai political protests
>via: http://topicthailand.com/2010/04/09/resources-for-learning-more/