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Bangkok turns into war zone
15 May 2010
Thai troops clashed with protesters for a third day in Bangkok on Saturday as streets in the Thai capital became battlegrounds and authorities struggled to contain demonstrators demanding the prime minister's resignation.
The spiraling violence has raised concerns that Thailand - a longtime tourism magnet that promotes its easygoing culture as the "Land of Smiles" - was teetering toward instability.
The political uncertainty has spooked foreign investors and damaged the vital tourism industry, which accounts for 6 percent of the economy, Southeast Asia's second largest.
Troops have used tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds on demonstrators after they set fire to tires and a police bus on Friday. The government accuses them of using guns, grenades and firebombs.
On Saturday, soldiers unrolled razor wire across roads leading to the Ratchaprarop area - a commercial district north of the main protest site - and pinned Thai and English-language notices saying "Live Firing Zone" and "Restricted Area. No Entry."
Ratchaprarop houses high-rise buildings, posh hotels and designer shops. It was the scene of some of the worst fighting Friday night between troops and anti-government protesters.
Sporadic clashes resumed in several parts of the city Saturday, and explosions once again echoed through streets emptied of shoppers and tourists, as plumes of black smoke rose amid skyscrapers and hotels.
The army says it is not shooting to kill, but protesters crawled along sidewalks to slowly drag away corpses of three people near the city's Victory Monument traffic circle in the Ratchaprarop area.
They told an Associated Press photographer army snipers had shot all three in the head.
The latest violence erupted Thursday after the Red Shirts' military strategist - a former army general - was shot in the head and critically wounded, apparently by a sharpshooter, as he spoke to foreign journalists.
15 May 2010
Thai troops clashed with protesters for a third day in Bangkok on Saturday as streets in the Thai capital became battlegrounds and authorities struggled to contain demonstrators demanding the prime minister's resignation.
The spiraling violence has raised concerns that Thailand - a longtime tourism magnet that promotes its easygoing culture as the "Land of Smiles" - was teetering toward instability.
The political uncertainty has spooked foreign investors and damaged the vital tourism industry, which accounts for 6 percent of the economy, Southeast Asia's second largest.
Troops have used tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds on demonstrators after they set fire to tires and a police bus on Friday. The government accuses them of using guns, grenades and firebombs.
On Saturday, soldiers unrolled razor wire across roads leading to the Ratchaprarop area - a commercial district north of the main protest site - and pinned Thai and English-language notices saying "Live Firing Zone" and "Restricted Area. No Entry."
Ratchaprarop houses high-rise buildings, posh hotels and designer shops. It was the scene of some of the worst fighting Friday night between troops and anti-government protesters.
Sporadic clashes resumed in several parts of the city Saturday, and explosions once again echoed through streets emptied of shoppers and tourists, as plumes of black smoke rose amid skyscrapers and hotels.
The army says it is not shooting to kill, but protesters crawled along sidewalks to slowly drag away corpses of three people near the city's Victory Monument traffic circle in the Ratchaprarop area.
They told an Associated Press photographer army snipers had shot all three in the head.
The latest violence erupted Thursday after the Red Shirts' military strategist - a former army general - was shot in the head and critically wounded, apparently by a sharpshooter, as he spoke to foreign journalists.
