By Martin Petty
BANGKOK (Reuters) - The Thai army cracked down on anti-government protesters on Monday, firing warning shots in a major junction of the capital at activists who responded by hurling petrol bombs at them, a Reuters reporter said.
An army spokesman said soldiers trying to clear a main road in Bangkok were shot at by protesters before dawn, and had fired back. Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd told a radio station that troops fired into the air first in response to tear gas and smoke bombs thrown at them by protesters but then fired real bullets.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva declared a state of emergency in Bangkok on Sunday after red-shirted supporters of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra forced the cancellation of an Asian summit in the southern beach resort of Pattaya.
At the Din Daeng intersection, Bangkok's biggest, troops repeatedly charged groups of protesters to clear a major road leading out of the city as Thailand began celebrating its three-day New Year's holiday on Monday.
A Buddhist monk with a megaphone was standing in the intersection pleading for calm and telling the soldiers: "Don't shoot, think about your country."
Huge fires from the petrol bombs blazed in the streets, and ambulances and firetrucks were at the scene. Police on motorbikes were shuttling between troops and demonstrators in an apparent effort to mediate.
Sansern said troops roamed the area in vehicles with loudspeakers asking the "red shirts" to lift a blockade at the junction but they did not respond.
"We have instructions to fire into the air in order to scare away the protesters," he told Channel 3 television. More than 10 soldiers had been wounded, mostly by being hit by buses driven by the protesters, he said.
An official at the government emergency medical service told Reuters they had treated 50 people.
A sizeable number of protesters had been arrested, Sansern said.
One "red shirt" protester on a motorcycle holding a wooden stake said defiantly: "We won't go. We're doing this for the people."
HUMILIATED AT SUMMIT
Abhisit had threatened on Sunday to take tough action against protesters who then began gathering in force in Bangkok.
He had been humiliated before his Asian peers when Thaksin supporters bowled over riot troops at the summit in Pattaya and smashed their way into meeting venue. Some leaders had to flee by helicopter.
The canceled Asian summit and now the heightened tensions in the capital have undermined confidence in the government and dealt another blow to the economy, still reeling from political chaos last year and the global financial crisis, analysts said.
Troops fired into the air on Sunday when anti-government protesters stormed the interior ministry. The crowds mobbed the prime minister's car and beat it with clubs as he drove away from the ministry.
After declaring victory there, the "red shirt" Thaksin supporters gathered at Government House in central Bangkok. By Sunday evening they numbered around 40,000.
The protesters set up makeshift road blocks and men, some with sticks, manned the barricades. Near midnight, the crowd remained large, although some had begun trickling home.
Thaksin, who has been making nightly phone calls to his supporters from exile, said on Sunday it was now the "golden time" to rise up against the government.
He repeated his call for a "people's revolution" and said he was ready to move back to Thailand to lead a people's uprising if there was a coup.
Thailand has seen 18 coups since 1932 and another one is certainly a possibility if there is blood in the streets.
After midnight (1700 GMT), however, Abhisit appeared on television, flanked by army commanders, to dispel any talk of a possible military coup.
"I can confirm that the government and security agencies are still unified. You can see all the heads of the armed forces meeting with me right now," he said. The camera panned to the commanders of the army, navy, air force and deputy police chief.
Source: www.reuters.com/article/worldNews
BANGKOK (Reuters) - The Thai army cracked down on anti-government protesters on Monday, firing warning shots in a major junction of the capital at activists who responded by hurling petrol bombs at them, a Reuters reporter said.
An army spokesman said soldiers trying to clear a main road in Bangkok were shot at by protesters before dawn, and had fired back. Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd told a radio station that troops fired into the air first in response to tear gas and smoke bombs thrown at them by protesters but then fired real bullets.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva declared a state of emergency in Bangkok on Sunday after red-shirted supporters of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra forced the cancellation of an Asian summit in the southern beach resort of Pattaya.
At the Din Daeng intersection, Bangkok's biggest, troops repeatedly charged groups of protesters to clear a major road leading out of the city as Thailand began celebrating its three-day New Year's holiday on Monday.
A Buddhist monk with a megaphone was standing in the intersection pleading for calm and telling the soldiers: "Don't shoot, think about your country."
Huge fires from the petrol bombs blazed in the streets, and ambulances and firetrucks were at the scene. Police on motorbikes were shuttling between troops and demonstrators in an apparent effort to mediate.
Sansern said troops roamed the area in vehicles with loudspeakers asking the "red shirts" to lift a blockade at the junction but they did not respond.
"We have instructions to fire into the air in order to scare away the protesters," he told Channel 3 television. More than 10 soldiers had been wounded, mostly by being hit by buses driven by the protesters, he said.
An official at the government emergency medical service told Reuters they had treated 50 people.
A sizeable number of protesters had been arrested, Sansern said.
One "red shirt" protester on a motorcycle holding a wooden stake said defiantly: "We won't go. We're doing this for the people."
HUMILIATED AT SUMMIT
Abhisit had threatened on Sunday to take tough action against protesters who then began gathering in force in Bangkok.
He had been humiliated before his Asian peers when Thaksin supporters bowled over riot troops at the summit in Pattaya and smashed their way into meeting venue. Some leaders had to flee by helicopter.
The canceled Asian summit and now the heightened tensions in the capital have undermined confidence in the government and dealt another blow to the economy, still reeling from political chaos last year and the global financial crisis, analysts said.
Troops fired into the air on Sunday when anti-government protesters stormed the interior ministry. The crowds mobbed the prime minister's car and beat it with clubs as he drove away from the ministry.
After declaring victory there, the "red shirt" Thaksin supporters gathered at Government House in central Bangkok. By Sunday evening they numbered around 40,000.
The protesters set up makeshift road blocks and men, some with sticks, manned the barricades. Near midnight, the crowd remained large, although some had begun trickling home.
Thaksin, who has been making nightly phone calls to his supporters from exile, said on Sunday it was now the "golden time" to rise up against the government.
He repeated his call for a "people's revolution" and said he was ready to move back to Thailand to lead a people's uprising if there was a coup.
Thailand has seen 18 coups since 1932 and another one is certainly a possibility if there is blood in the streets.
After midnight (1700 GMT), however, Abhisit appeared on television, flanked by army commanders, to dispel any talk of a possible military coup.
"I can confirm that the government and security agencies are still unified. You can see all the heads of the armed forces meeting with me right now," he said. The camera panned to the commanders of the army, navy, air force and deputy police chief.
Source: www.reuters.com/article/worldNews
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