|Video Courtesy of NTDTV |
BANGKOK—A large crane truck began dismantling the red shirt anti-government protesters’ razor wire, tire, and bamboo barricade on Sukhumvit Road, Wednesday mid-afternoon.
Two construction vehicles made further inroads to reduce the barricade so Thai soldiers could make their way towards the massive red shirt camp a half a mile ahead.
The 100-or-so soldiers were relatively relaxed; leaders of the protest red shirt movement—more formally known as United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD)—surrendered an hour-and-a-half earlier, effectively halting the Thai military’s assault from the southern area of the encampment, and avoiding what many believed was going to be a bloodbath.
As the two construction vehicles continued their work, soldiers missed (or failed to act upon) a small quick burning plume of smoke that was emerging from an intact part of the barricade. Quickly the smoke became a fire and then a series of small explosions, which ended with one big bang from either a grenade or a gas cylinder.
While there were no casualties, the booby-trap stalled the military’s momentum, and a bottle neck of media representatives formed along with the bizarre phenomena of a dozen male western tourists, backpackers or expats (or various ages and social standing) who wanted to come along for a look.
As a bomb disposal soldier gave the thumbs up and the troops began to move forward, a foreigner on a bicycle came from the opposite direction after having spent the last 20 days inside the protester’s camp.
“People (protesters) got angry at their leadership when they announced they were surrendering,” said Chris, a 37-year-old German student who preferred to withhold his surname.
“Immediately after the leaders said ‘we will stop and go home’ then the army [attacking from the south] seemed to stop everywhere—the army just stopped shooting,” he said adding that most of the protesters were now seeking shelter in a Buddhist temple.
Chris said the fighting stopped short of reaching the intersection where the red shirts’ stage was and he did not see anyone being shot, unlike two days earlier when he witnessed a teenage boy shot by soldiers for throwing a firecracker. A near state of urban warfare erupted late last week between the red shirts and the military.
Mopping Up
Inside the camp, the troops who had just arrived were doing a small mopping up operation in the area which previously was best known for its ritzy high-end shopping centers and hotels. The red shirts had held this area hostage since April 5, as part of their bid to force Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to dissolve the Thai Parliament and call an early election.
Abandoned outdoor furniture, ground matts, clothing, food, and posters of the red shirts’ patron—exiled former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra—littered the area.
A dozen or so international media were in front of the center stage, where thousands of red shirts once cheered their leader’s fiery speeches condemning Prime Minister Abhisit’s administration as being a mere front for the military and elite establishment.
One pressman attempted to get a comment from a distraught red shirt Buddhist monk being led away by soldiers, but had little luck and so turned his attention to the sole protester in sight—an elderly woman proudly wearing a red shirt outfit and holding a red flag.
She told him that she has been with the protests since they began in mid-March and never went home. As she explained her reasonings, the rights and the wrongs of her being there, the young Thai reporter began to weep.
Smoke drifted across from the nearby blaze, engulfing South-East Asia’s second largest department store that red shirts set on fire, caused some press to wear face masks. Before the night’s end, the red shirts set fire to more than 25 buildings across the city. There are also reports of looting.
Beyond the burning department store, an estimated 1,500 protesters are both inside of, and in front of the Buddhist temple where they seek refuge. No soldiers are in sight, but a journalist for the Canadian newspaper, the Globe and Mail said several people were shot within the walls of the temple compound. Later, media reports said nine bodies were found in the temple grounds.
Bullet Holes and Blood Stains
Closer to where the army’s assault first began, there were bullet holes and blood stains on bus shelters, phone booths, and parked cars. An expat resident said he found an assault rifle and bullets laying on the ground. Already, council workers were on the scene by no later than 4 p.m., who helped clean up before making their way towards the red zone’s center.
Not far away, a group of Special Forces soldiers were holding a position on the corner of a road, opposite Lumpini Park, with their assault rifles readied. Three western pressmen approach and begin taking photos until one fed-up soldier raised his hand and said: “No! Enough!”
No one one argued.
The red camp may have been taken by the military, but violence continues throughout the city and a curfew has been declared. Outside of the city, there are reports of red shirt unrest and acts of violence in at least three north-eastern provinces.
