Bangkok Descends Into "Total Chaos"
Thai soldiers unleashed hundreds of rounds of automatic weapons fire to clear rock-throwing anti-government protesters from a major intersection in the capital in the pre-dawn darkness Monday.
Forty-nine people were reported hurt in the first serious clash between the two sides in ongoing protests that have roiled this southeast Asian nation and came a day after the country's ousted prime minister called for a revolution.
CBS News correspondent Celia Hatton reports that the violcence is the latest round in a political tug-of-war between the "red shirts," who support the former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and the "yellow shirts," who back the current government. The reds are mostly from Thailand's poor majority; the yellows come from the country's urban middle classes, Hatton reports.
While the government has declared a state of emergency, protesters controlled many streets in the capital Bangkok. They had earlier commandeered public buses and swarmed triumphantly over military vehicles in defiance.
In the starkest example of the chaos, a mob of the red-shirted protesters smashed cars carrying Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his aides.
The clash began between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. Monday, as troops in full combat gear lined up and advanced to disperse the protesters, according to witnesses and television footage.
The soldiers fired hundreds of rounds from their M-16 automatic rifles as they advanced, though it was unclear whether they were firing at or over the protesters. Some witnesses said tear gas was also fired.
The official Erawan emergency coordination center said 49 people were injured on both sides and taken to hospitals.
Protesters set fires that were still burning 1-1/2 hours later and retreated into side streets near the Din Daeng intersection, where there is an on-ramp to the main expressway leading north from the capital.
The clash appeared to be an isolated one, taking place several miles away from the main encampment of thousands of protesters outside the prime minister's offices.
Police Gen. Vichai Sangparpai said up to 30,000 demonstrators were scattered around the city. Police vans at some intersections were abandoned and looted. Protesters used buses to barricade several major roads.
Thaksin, regarded by most of the protesters as their leader, called for a revolution and said he might return from exile to lead it.
Thaksin fled the country last year, before a court convicted him in absentia of violating a conflict of interest law.
"Now that they have tanks on the streets, it is time for the people to come out in revolution. And when it is necessary, I will come back to the country," he said in a telephoned message to followers outside Abhisit's office.
The message was broadcast over a video link projected on giant screens and relayed on supporters' Internet sites.
Political tensions have simmered since Thaksin was ousted by a military coup in 2006 for alleged corruption and abuse of power. He remains popular in the impoverished countryside for his populist policies.
His opponents - many in urban areas - took to the streets last year to help bring down two pro-Thaksin governments, seizing Bangkok's two airports in November for about a week.
The emergency decree bans gatherings of more than five people, forbids news reports that threaten public order and allows the government to call up military troops to quell unrest.
Army spokesman Col. Sansern Kaewkamnerd said soldiers and police were being moved to more than 50 key points in the city, including bus and railway stations.
He said the military presence was not a sign of an imminent coup - a common feature of Thai political history.
Abhisit, speaking in a nationally televised address just before midnight, called on the public not to panic and to cooperate to end the crisis.
"In the next three to four days, the government will keep working to return peace and order to the country," he said.
Protests were also reported in several provinces of northern and northeastern Thailand. The protests could prompt the military to intervene - a high possibility in a country that has experienced 18 military coups since the 1930s.
In an apparent attempt to dispel speculation of a breakdown in the security chain of command, Abhisit was flanked by Cabinet members and top military and police officers during the address.
"They have tried to spread the rumor that there is no unity in the operation of (security) officials," he said. "We will try to continuously communicate correct information to the public."
His government suffered a major humiliation Saturday when it failed to stop hundreds of demonstrators from storming the venue of a 16-nation Asian summit, forcing its cancellation and the evacuation of the leaders by helicopter and boat.
There were signs Sunday that the government might again not be able to contain the protesters.
Demonstrators swarmed over two armored personnel carriers outside a luxury shopping mall, waving flags in celebration. An old lady atop one of the vehicles screamed "Democracy!"
Outside the Interior Ministry, a mob attacked Abhisit's car with poles, a ladder and flower pots as it slowly made its escape. At least six people were injured, including two security guards for Abhisit. Police in riot gear did nothing.
"The government can't do anything," said Lada Yingmanee, a 37-year-old protester. "We will show them what tens of thousands of unarmed civilians can do. The people will finally rule our beloved Thailand."
Demonstrators from the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship say Abhisit's four-month-old government took power illegitimately and want new elections. They also accuse the country's elite - the military, judiciary and other unelected officials - of undermining democracy by interfering in politics.
Parliament appointed Abhisit in December after a court ordered the removal of the previous pro-Thaksin government for election fraud, sparking Thaksin supporters to take to the streets. Their numbers grew to 100,000 in Bangkok last week.
© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Forty-nine people were reported hurt in the first serious clash between the two sides in ongoing protests that have roiled this southeast Asian nation and came a day after the country's ousted prime minister called for a revolution.
CBS News correspondent Celia Hatton reports that the violcence is the latest round in a political tug-of-war between the "red shirts," who support the former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and the "yellow shirts," who back the current government. The reds are mostly from Thailand's poor majority; the yellows come from the country's urban middle classes, Hatton reports.
While the government has declared a state of emergency, protesters controlled many streets in the capital Bangkok. They had earlier commandeered public buses and swarmed triumphantly over military vehicles in defiance.
In the starkest example of the chaos, a mob of the red-shirted protesters smashed cars carrying Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his aides.
The clash began between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. Monday, as troops in full combat gear lined up and advanced to disperse the protesters, according to witnesses and television footage.
The soldiers fired hundreds of rounds from their M-16 automatic rifles as they advanced, though it was unclear whether they were firing at or over the protesters. Some witnesses said tear gas was also fired.
The official Erawan emergency coordination center said 49 people were injured on both sides and taken to hospitals.
Protesters set fires that were still burning 1-1/2 hours later and retreated into side streets near the Din Daeng intersection, where there is an on-ramp to the main expressway leading north from the capital.
The clash appeared to be an isolated one, taking place several miles away from the main encampment of thousands of protesters outside the prime minister's offices.
Police Gen. Vichai Sangparpai said up to 30,000 demonstrators were scattered around the city. Police vans at some intersections were abandoned and looted. Protesters used buses to barricade several major roads.
Thaksin, regarded by most of the protesters as their leader, called for a revolution and said he might return from exile to lead it.
Thaksin fled the country last year, before a court convicted him in absentia of violating a conflict of interest law.
"Now that they have tanks on the streets, it is time for the people to come out in revolution. And when it is necessary, I will come back to the country," he said in a telephoned message to followers outside Abhisit's office.
The message was broadcast over a video link projected on giant screens and relayed on supporters' Internet sites.
Political tensions have simmered since Thaksin was ousted by a military coup in 2006 for alleged corruption and abuse of power. He remains popular in the impoverished countryside for his populist policies.
His opponents - many in urban areas - took to the streets last year to help bring down two pro-Thaksin governments, seizing Bangkok's two airports in November for about a week.
The emergency decree bans gatherings of more than five people, forbids news reports that threaten public order and allows the government to call up military troops to quell unrest.
Army spokesman Col. Sansern Kaewkamnerd said soldiers and police were being moved to more than 50 key points in the city, including bus and railway stations.
He said the military presence was not a sign of an imminent coup - a common feature of Thai political history.
Abhisit, speaking in a nationally televised address just before midnight, called on the public not to panic and to cooperate to end the crisis.
"In the next three to four days, the government will keep working to return peace and order to the country," he said.
Protests were also reported in several provinces of northern and northeastern Thailand. The protests could prompt the military to intervene - a high possibility in a country that has experienced 18 military coups since the 1930s.
In an apparent attempt to dispel speculation of a breakdown in the security chain of command, Abhisit was flanked by Cabinet members and top military and police officers during the address.
"They have tried to spread the rumor that there is no unity in the operation of (security) officials," he said. "We will try to continuously communicate correct information to the public."
His government suffered a major humiliation Saturday when it failed to stop hundreds of demonstrators from storming the venue of a 16-nation Asian summit, forcing its cancellation and the evacuation of the leaders by helicopter and boat.
There were signs Sunday that the government might again not be able to contain the protesters.
Demonstrators swarmed over two armored personnel carriers outside a luxury shopping mall, waving flags in celebration. An old lady atop one of the vehicles screamed "Democracy!"
Outside the Interior Ministry, a mob attacked Abhisit's car with poles, a ladder and flower pots as it slowly made its escape. At least six people were injured, including two security guards for Abhisit. Police in riot gear did nothing.
"The government can't do anything," said Lada Yingmanee, a 37-year-old protester. "We will show them what tens of thousands of unarmed civilians can do. The people will finally rule our beloved Thailand."
Demonstrators from the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship say Abhisit's four-month-old government took power illegitimately and want new elections. They also accuse the country's elite - the military, judiciary and other unelected officials - of undermining democracy by interfering in politics.
Parliament appointed Abhisit in December after a court ordered the removal of the previous pro-Thaksin government for election fraud, sparking Thaksin supporters to take to the streets. Their numbers grew to 100,000 in Bangkok last week.
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Thank you for your contribution to this unforgiven incident...I was graduated from usc,there's so many things that poor thais student must learn the meaning of "democracy",cause when they grow up they will help promote thailand with democracy thinking and act as democracy...they don't have any compulsive study of democracy both in term of comparison amont well developed democracy and developing democracy countries.......'Thanksin never promote thais both adult and young in democracy study or compulsory in school...but now he mentioned about democracy...what is he trying to do?
Lol!
More like YOU THE FASCISTS will go to prison for tax evasion if you are feeling rabbit enough to jump. You will be gathering at most 20 kkk rallies in the few backwater areas where your repudiated and repugnant ideology is still tolerated.
So go ahead rabbit, jump. It will do this old rheumy heart good to see you and your ilk going to jail. Who knows, they might even let you stay in the neonazi section, where the instruments used to invade your most personal privacy when you pick up the soap will at least be "White" ones.
Posted by PVperson2
Funny, but it's not "Conservatives" who attended a church for 20 years with a pastor who said "GOD DAMMN AMERICA!" behind the pulpit like your nationalized cult leader Obama did.
Here's a newsflash for you creep, it IS NOT "Anti-American" to oppose SOCIALISM/MARXISM and the rest of Obama's policies.
WE WERE NOT BUILT ON SOCIALISM/COMMUNISM, and you can BE REST ASSURED, that WE THE PEOPLE will take a stand on tax day this week and our voices WILL BE HEARD in 2,000 cities across America which will be holding T.axed E.nough A.lready parties opposing Obama's evil agenda to bring the American people to their knees to the government.
Posted by StopTheLoonyLeft
I TOTALLY agree. Part of America waking up will be seen on tax day this week, when 2,000 cities in America are holding T.axed E.nough A.lready parties to oppose Obama's Socialist/Marxist agenda to bring the American people to their knees to the government.
The evil agenda of the liberals is becoming more apparent every day, and if WE THE PEOPLE don't wake up in a hurry, we'll end up the
U.nited S.ocialist S.tates of A.merica
God bless the people across this nation who are standing up against the Government's overtaxing and spending on tax day this week in the Tea Parties. May God protect them from the psychotic liberals and ACORN employees who intend on instigating chaos at the rallies.
May the LORD protect them from these evil doers who are entrenched with Obama's lies that have totally corrupted their souls.
He's getting his chaos, slowly but surely. That's why 2,000 cities in America are having T.axed E.nough A.lready parties on Tax day this week, to protest the Marxist/Socialist Obama's agenda and to get this country back to WE THE PEOPLE, and not some Communist nation as Obama is pushing for.
to respond to the "red-shirt" protesters in a lawful and non-violent manner. As a result Mr. Thaksin has incited the protesters to commit violent acts and has succeeded in damaging various infrastructures and disrupting peace-loving citizens' daily life. Perhaps you can help educate the American citizens about what has really been going on here. These "red-shirts" claim they are advocating democracy, but they don't really know what "Democracy" means. As a result of their actions the rest of the world has started to perceive of Thailand as a violent and dangerous place that should be avoided. That is not at all the situation and not at all the true vision of Thailand that they should be seeing.