Here’s a map that the Bangkok Post is running today. I couldn’t find this on their Web site, so I scanned it in.
It shows where the major violence took place yesterday. Click the image for a bigger version.
Also, as a reminder, here’s the Google Map of protest sites, and here’s another map of red shirt-controlled areas.
The situation is obviously fluid; for real time updates, follow me on Twitter.
Map source: Bangkok Post.
Still no time to blog, but I continue to post text and images to Twitter in real time. (Also, note that my list of Thailand Twitterers — 129 folks and growing — is here.)
Friends in the U.S. might hear a short radio piece I recently filed for ABC News Radio. And pals in Asia may see me on Channel NewsAsia.
More soon…
Quite a day here in Bangkok. No time to write a detailed post at the moment, but you can see what I wrote throughout the day on Twitter.
Stay tuned…
Khattiya Sawasdipol — the rogue army general and red shirt leader better known as “Seh Daeng” — was shot in the head here in Bangkok last night. It’s unclear who is responsible for the shooting. He is in the hospital and is in critical condition.
Seh Daeng, whose nickname means “Commander Red,” is sympathetic to the red shirts and has been quite visible at the protest site, particularly near the bamboo barricade in Silom.
He has made provocative statements in the past, threatening violence against various figures and even recently falling out with and being marginalized by fellow red shirt leaders.
Tom Fuller of the IHT/NYT was interviewing Seh Daeng at the time the general was shot. Here’s the story. And here’s an accompanying photo gallery.
As you’ll recall, the government announced on Wed. that army forces would move to seal off the protest site at 6 p.m. yesterday. Authorities said that they would shut off power supplies, water, mobile phone service, and public transport at this time.
I was at Rajaprasong — where the main stage is set up — and toured Phetburi Rd., soi Chidlom, Sarasin Rd., and Silom between roughly 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. No army troops were visible then. (I posted a series of Tweets, and a few images, in real time last night.)
But soon Seh Daeng would be shot in Lumphini Park, on the southern edge of the protest site. And there further clashes broke out throughout the evening.
Afterwards, I made my back up to Rajaprasong, and although the power had been cut, the red shirt protests continued, thanks to electricity from generators.
For photos from the evening, check out Austin’s post, which includes an image of Seh Daeng not long before he was shot.
And for the latest info, here’s an AP story from today. And here’s a story from BBC News.
As ever, stay tuned. It seems likely that there will be additional clashes.
Below are some images of the red shirt demonstrations that I snapped on Friday, May 7. I haven’t had a chance to post these photos until now, but I thought they’d be helpful in providing a sense of how things looked at the red shirts’ protest site as of several days ago.
But first, the latest news: The government said today (Wed.) that at midnight tonight, it will cut off water, electricity, phone services, public transportation, and food deliveries to the Rajaprasong area in order to force red shirt protesters to disperse.
Here’s an NYT story with more details. And here’s a story from the BBC, as well as one from Reuters. For some analysis, I suggest checking out this post from BP about the current state of affairs.
On to the images from Friday. As I noted on Twitter at the time ((Yes, I also tweeted a Seh Daeng sighting…)), the red shirt protesters appeared as dug in — and as resolute — as ever. You get the sense, walking around, that — as they’ve shown — they’re there to stay, at least until they get what they (or the red shirt leaders) want.
The protest site, as I’ve told others, resembles a massive tent city. It is a demonstration site, yes. But it is also a village in and of itself. There are facilities for sleeping, bathing, eating, and sanitation. There are red shirt “guards” who control roads leading to and within the site (see image below).
There are tents with TVs and DVD players set up, where footage of the April 10 clashes are played on a loop. There are foot massage services. And in addition to every manner of red shirt merchandise being on sale, there are even mobile phone charging services (see image below).
The bamboo barricade, near Silom, wasn’t heavily manned when I was there; most demonstrators had pulled back several hundred meters away, toward Rajaprasong. Below are several photos; there are a few more in the complete Flickr photoset.
The AP ran an important story yesterday about an issue that hasn’t received as much international attention as I would have thought: ongoing web censorship in Thailand. Give it a read.
For more, there’s this May 7 Bangkok Post story.
And here’s a GlobalVoices post from April 29 with more details. 2Bangkok.com also has some info on the topic.
Red Shirt leaders say they won’t leave the Rajaprasong protest site ((Again, Bangkok protest site maps are here and here. And my photos from Rajaprasong and elsewhere are here (May 1), here (April 6), and here (April 4).)) until an exact date for potential new elections is set. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva earlier proposed Nov. 14 for a new poll. ((Interestingly, I noticed earlier today that there is already a Wikipedia page called Thai general election, 2010.))
But the red shirts say they want to ensure that the Democrats’ coalition parties are on board with the plan, and the reds point out that only the election commission, not the PM, can call new elections. Red Shirt leaders also say they want to know the exact date that Parliament will be dissolved, which would determine the date for a new poll.
Meanwhile, the PAD — the yellow shirt group that shut down Bangkok’s international airport for a week in Nov. 2008 — have voiced their displeasure with Abhisit’s plan. They say he should step down if he cannot enforce the rule of law, and that he shouldn’t give in to the Reds’ demands.
Earlier, there was a sense that the red shirts might take the deal, and that it would be a few days until they dispersed. Not anymore.
Here are stories about the current state of affairs from the BBC, WSJ, and Reuters.
Red shirt leaders have said they accept, in principle, Prime Minister Abhisit’s proposal for new elections in November. This would be 13 months before Abhisit was originally due to face new polls. But there are a few sticking points.
First, as political analysts have pointed out, both sides want to be in control of the government in September. That’s when the military re-shuffle, or promotions, are set to occur. ((For previous posts about divisions within the Thai military, see here, here, and here.)) And this is also when the national budget it set.
Second, red shirt leaders say they want more details about how the new elections will come about. Some leaders have said that Abhisit himself lacks the power to call new elections, and that only the election commission can take such action.
For more, here’s a CSM story from yesterday. And for more on the Thai military, I suggest reading this WSJ story from today.
The latest here in Thailand is the ongoing fallout from the red shirts’ invasion of a hospital on Thurs. night. Here’s a story from the BBC that explains what happened.
Meanwhile, below are a few miscellaneous images I’ve snapped over the last few days. There have been various troops stationed in Bangkok’s Asoke area (in addition to other areas around town); here are a few soldiers standing guard. (There have been no sizable red shirt protests or “mobile rallies” in this area, so far.)
The other images here are photos I snapped at the Rajaprasong intersection — home of the main protest site — yesterday.
