A state of emergency has been imposed here in Bangkok after a protester was killed and several were seriously wounded in clashes between anti-government and pro-government demonstrators early this morning.
For ongoing coverage, check out:
Here’s a story from the Straits Times: “Emergency in Bangkok: At least one killed by PAD gunfire in pitched battle between pro and anti-government mobs.”
And here’s an AP video report on YouTube: “Thai PM Declares Emergency in Capital”
Here’s a 1 minute, 42-second audio slide show I just created after spending a few hours snapping photos and recording audio at the site of massive anti-government protests here in Bangkok today.
Protesters are rallying against Thailand’s Prime Minister, Samak Sundaravej. The protests has been organized by the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which accuses Samak of being a proxy for ousted PM Thaksin Shinawatra. People at the event who I talked to said they want Samak to resign, and they want Thaksin — who has fled to England — to return to Thailand to face corruption charges.
For more information on the situation, you can search Google News.
Update 1: Those of you reading this via my rss feed will need to click through to view the audio slide show on my site.
Update 2: Here’s my newest audio slide show about the protests, from Tues. Sept. 2.
AP: “Protesters lay siege to Thai television station”
Bloomberg: “Thai Protesters Storm TV Station in Bid to Oust Samak”
Reuters: “Thai PM says losing patience with anti-govt protests”
And Bangkok Pundit is live-blogging the protests.