Red Shirt general shot in Bangkok unrest

LONG-SIMMERING UNREST in Bangkok flared up yet again yesterday when a 25-year-old anti-government protester was killed during clashes with soldiers, the latest bloody incident in Thailand’s ongoing political crisis.

Fighting began after Maj Gen Khattiya Sawasdipol, an active-duty soldier who has sided with the Red Shirt supporters of ousted former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, and who helped build barricades of tyres and bamboo around the downtown business district, was shot in the head. The soldier, also known as Seh Daeng (Commander Red), was unconscious in intensive care at a Bangkok hospital. He was shot during an interview with foreign media.

Gen Khattiya is a best-selling author who once threatened to hurl poisonous snakes and grenades at rival Yellow Shirt demonstrators. The government has branded him a “terrorist”, and his strident calls for a “people’s army” to take on government forces have led some Red Shirt leaders to keep their distance from him.

Gunshots and five grenades thrown on Silom Road, a major business area downtown next to the protest site, injured three people, according to police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri.

There had been signs that the situation might be improving, but now there are worries the violence may spark more clashes after efforts to find a peaceful solution to the standoff broke down.

Various skirmishes between troops and protesters have killed 29 people over the past two months, fuelling Thailand’s worst political violence in 18 years.

Embattled prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva stepped up his pressure on the protesters after they failed to quit the occupied area after a midnight deadline.

He has withdrawn an offer of fresh elections on November 14th and the army has started to cut electricity, water and phone signals to the occupied zone, and blocking off roads and canals. Anyone seeking access to the area faces two years in jail, according to a televised announcement.

The Red Shirts tend to have a stronger showing at the weekend as people come to the city from their farms in the countryside, prompting the Thai government to extend a state of emergency to cover 17 provinces to prevent rural protesters from joining the anti-government protests in Bangkok.

The 22-member Red Shirt leadership council has struggled to find common ground on how to end the protests, and appeared in disarray as chaos loomed yesterday. Its chairman and several others have not been seen in days.

The military is said to be getting ready to deploy armoured vehicles around the protesters’ 3 sq km site, which has become an unofficial home to tens of thousands of protesters who back Mr Thaksin, as well as other groups who want greater representation in Thailand and accuse Mr Abhisit of abusing their democratic rights.

Companies and embassies in the area sent staff home early and have activated back-up plans for today. Public transportation was being diverted from the area.