Curfew imposed as Bangkok burns

BANGKOK – Rioting and fires swept Bangkok yesterday after troops stormed a protest encampment, forcing protest leaders to surrender, but sparking clashes that killed at least four people and triggered unrest in northern Thailand.

Protesters torched at least five buildings, including the Thai stock exchange and Central World, Southeast Asia’s second-biggest department store complex, and attacked local Channel 3 television station as riots spread across the city of 15 million people.
About 100 employees of the TV station were trapped on the roof of the of the high-rise and most have been rescue by helicopters, local media said..
Power was lost in typically bustling Sukhumvit Road district, an area packed with tourists and high-end residential complexes, just hours after the army said the situation involving thousands of anti-government protesters was under control.
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva imposed a curfew in Bangkok from from 20h00 yesterday until 06h00 today. The curfew – details of which were read out on national television – was meant to allow security authorities perform their duty, Abhisit said in the order.
The chaos followed a military operation in the morning in which troops in armoured vehicles and firing semi-automatic weapons advanced on an area occupied for more than six weeks by thousands of the ‘Red Shirt’ demonstrators.
As they surrounded the main protest site, top protest leaders offered to surrender, as supporters urged them to fight on, many screaming and crying as gun fire rang out nearby.
Moments later, live television showed four ‘Red Shirt’ protest leaders in police custody and an army spokesman said in a television broadcast the protest site was under army control and the military had halted operations.
But that didn’t stop the unrest after six days of chaotic street fighting between protesters and troops that descended into urban warfare, killing 41 people and wounding more than 330.
Minutes after they surrendered, three grenades exploded outside the main protest site, badly wounding two soldiers and a foreign journalist, a Reuters witness said. Rioting was seen in five areas of the city as protesters lit fires and burned tires. Some hotels set up wooden barricades.
Several media organisations including The Bangkok Post and The Nation newspapers evacuated their office after a threat from protesters accusing them of biased reporting.
‘The situation is worse than expected now and it’s very difficult to stop,’ said Kavee Chukitsakem, head of research, Kasikorn Securities. ‘After the red shirt leaders surrendered, things were out of control. It’s like insects flying around from one place to another, causing irritation. We don’t know who they are and why they are doing this.’ – Nampa-Reuters

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