Bangkok airport closed; Protestors overrun terminal, besiege PM's office

[CougarKing]

More chaos in Bangkok:

Bangkok airport closed; terminal stormed

Protests turn violent

Agence France-Presse
First Posted 22:54:00 11/25/2008


BANGKOK--(UPDATE 2) Rampaging anti-government protesters forced the closure of Thailand's main international airport Tuesday as a second day of demonstrations in Bangkok descended into violence with 11 injured in clashes.

Thousands of supporters of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) breached police lines and stormed Suvarnabhumi Airport, a key Asian transport hub, in their effort to pressure the premier to resign.

"I decided to shut down services after the protesters broke the door on the fourth floor of the terminal and stormed into the departure lounge. I had no alternative," airport director Saereerat Prasutanont said.

Flights into Suvarnabhumi -- a key Southeast Asian hub for millions of travellers and tourists -- will be diverted to the northern city of Chiang Mai or the southern island of Phuket, a spokeswoman said.

Hours earlier, a clash erupted on a road to another, disused air terminal where thousands of activists behind a six-month campaign to topple the government have besieged the makeshift base of premier Somchai Wongsawat.

A nurse at the Paolo Memorial Hospital near where the clashes happened said they were treating 10 men and one woman who sustained injuries in the incident.

A senior Metropolitan police officer told AFP that the wounded were pro-government supporters, eight of whom were shot by members of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) anti-government group.

"One of them is in a critical condition as he was shot in the chest," he said.

Television footage showed two men wearing yellow armbands over camouflage jackets firing pistols. Opposing groups, including some wearing red shirts of the pro-government camp, hurled stones at each other beneath a Bangkok flyover.

PAD protesters drape themselves in yellow shirts and headbands to symbolise their loyalty to Thailand's revered monarchy.

The airport closure and clashes came a day after protests by the PAD -- a loose coalition comprising royalists, Bangkok's old elite and the middle class -- forced the cancellation of a parliamentary joint sitting on Monday.

The alliance has said it is in a "final battle" against the government elected in December, which it accuses of being a corrupt puppet of exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. Thaksin was ousted in a 2006 coup.

Riot police have largely refused to tackle protesters amid fears of a repeat of clashes between protesters and police on October 7 that left two people dead and 500 injured, the worst political violence in Thailand for 16 years.

"The PAD needs to increase the level of the demonstration and use non-violent protest and close Suvarnabhumi Airport to send a final word ... to Somchai and his cabinet," the group in a statement.

"Resign immediately and without conditions."

Somchai, who is Thaksin's brother-in-law, has rejected calls to quit.

"Anyone who wants to overthrow or resist the government is attempting a rebellion," Somchai told the Thai National News Agency on board a flight from an APEC summit in Peru.

Somchai's plane had already been diverted from the main airport and will land at an undisclosed locations on Wednesday evening.

Early on Tuesday about 10,000 protesters surrounded Bangkok's old Don Mueang international airport where Somchai is temporarily based.

Protesters have occupied the prime minister's official office in Bangkok since August.

The PAD, which launched huge street protests in 2006 that led to the Thaksin coup, called this week's rallies in response to a grenade attack on Thursday that killed one protester.

Hundreds of PAD supporters also went to Thai military headquarters, but army chief General Anupong Paojinda dismissed their calls for the army to step in.

"The armed forces have agreed that a coup cannot solve our country's problems and we will try to weather the current situation and pass this critical time," Anupong told reporters.

Billionaire Thaksin fled Thailand in August this year to avoid corruption charges, but has said in an interview that he wants to return.

"With me at the helm I can bring confidence quickly back to Thailand," he told Arabian Business magazine in an interview published Sunday on its website.

 

[CougarKing]

Hopefully things don't get any worse there.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081127/ap_on_re_as/as_thailand_political_unrest

Bangkok, Thailand

Thai authorities shut down Bangkok's second airport Thursday after it was overrun by anti-government protesters, completely cutting off the capital from air traffic as the prime minister rejected their demands to resign, deepening the country's crisis.

Thailand's powerful army commander, who has remained neutral in the conflict, stepped into the fray Wednesday, urging Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat to step down.

He also asked thousands of protesters to end their siege of the main Suvarnabhumi International Airport. It has been shut since Tuesday night, forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights, and drawing world attention to a turmoil that has reduced Thailand to a dysfunctional nation.

The anti-government protests, which gathered pace three months ago, have paralyzed the government, battered the stock market, spooked foreign investors and dealt a serious blow to the tourism industry.

The crisis worsened early Thursday as authorities shut down the Don Muang domestic airport, which had been receiving some diverted flights from Suvarnabhumi.

 

[CougarKing]

Another update:

Thailand's chaos: What lies ahead
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view/20081202-175703/Thailands-chaos-What-lies-ahead

By Ed Cropley
Reuters
First Posted 17:12:00 12/02/2008

BANGKOK--Thailand's Constitutional Court disbanded the ruling People Power Party (PPP) for vote fraud on Tuesday, plunging the country deeper into chaos and raising the prospect of a violent backlash by government supporters.

The court also barred Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat and other PPP leaders from politics for five years.

The following scenarios look at how things might pan out:

Constitutional paralysis

- Most rank-and-file PPP MPs have escaped the ban and are simply switching to Puea Thai (For Thailand), a "shell" party already lined up.

A spokesman said Puea Thai wanted parliament to meet on Dec. 8 to vote for a new prime minister.

As long as the six-party ruling coalition led by the PPP/Puea Thai hangs together -- and it has vowed to stay united -- it should have the parliamentary numbers needed to choose a new prime minister and thereby form the next administration.

The only problem will be getting parliament to convene.

Activists from the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which says the PPP is simply a front for ousted and exiled leader Thaksin Shinawatra, are sure to converge on parliament in their thousands, as they did last week, to try to force postponement of the session.

If parliament cannot meet, Thailand will slide deeper into chaos, with no government and the constitution paralysed.

Various reports doing the rounds of Bangkok's chattering classes suggest the judiciary will break the deadlock by suspending the constitution and appointing an interim council, mainly of judges, to run the country.

Street violence

- Even before Tuesday's court ruling, the pro-government Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship (DAAD) condemned any dissolution as a "judicial coup".

At any point in the coming days or weeks, DAAD anger at what it sees as Bangkok's royalist elite stealing control of the country from an elected government may boil over into an attack on the PAD or its allies in the opposition Democrat party.

Major street violence could trigger a military coup, even though the army, whose natural sympathies probably lie with the pro-palace PAD, is loath to intervene since it will then be the target of DAAD wrath.

And the airport?

- The court ruling gives the PAD a face-saving exit from its blockade of Bangkok's $4 billion Suvarnabhumi airport, which is costing the economy millions of dollars a day and losing the PAD its more moderate support.

However, it knows it has the government over a barrel as long as it controls the airports and, as with all the other strategic and symbolic sites it has captured in the past six months, it is more likely to stay put.

King steps in

- It is not known what King Bhumibol Adulyadej thinks about the PAD and its central claim to be protecting the monarchy from an alleged Thaksin plot to turn Thailand into a republic.

However, the king has openly criticized government economic policy and his wife, Queen Sirikit, attended the funeral of a protester killed in clashes with police in October, raising fears the palace's official political neutrality had been compromised.

The king is due to address soldiers at a Trooping the Colour ceremony on Tuesday afternoon -- his first public comments since the PAD launched its "final battle" a week ago.

He will also give a longer address to the nation on Thursday, the eve of his 81st birthday.

His previous speeches in the past three years of high political tension have been nuanced and balanced, calling for tolerance and national unity -- a plea that seems to have fallen on deaf ears.

 

[CougarKing]

And the unrest reignites once again into strong protests and restless rallies in Bangkok as if nothing has changed since last year.

          Agence France-Presse - 4/8/2009 6:04 AM GMT
Tens of thousands rally against Thai PM
Tens of thousands of protesters rallied in Bangkok in their biggest bid yet to topple premier Abhisit Vejjajiva, sparking fears of a violent new twist to Thailand's political crisis.

Security forces guarded key government locations as supporters of fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra massed here, one day after activists raised tensions by attacking Abhisit's car and smashing a window.

Police said around 60,000 red-clad protesters chanting "Bring Thaksin back, Abhisit get out!" gathered outside Abhisit's office in the capital, where demonstrators have been staging a sit-in for the past two weeks.

A potential flashpoint arose when they later surrounded the house of King Bhumibol Adulyadej's top adviser, General Prem Tinsulanonda, who has been accused by Thaksin of orchestrating the coup that toppled him in 2006.

"We came here to expel the government," protest leader Nattawut Saikuar told the cheering crowd. He added that Prem should also quit for "inciting the military to turn against democracy."

Dozens of soldiers stood guard inside the adviser's house.

The accusations against Prem have broken a major taboo in Thai society, where the royalty is revered, and fuelled the risk of what Abhisit described earlier this week as a "civil war" after more than three years of instability.

British-born Abhisit warned the protesters of strong action if there was any violence, and rejected their demands to dissolve his four-month-old government and hold fresh elections.

"The government will act decisively with any provocateurs," he said. "I will not dissolve the house because of violence."

Abhisit said that some protesters wanted to trigger "chaos on the streets", adding that the attack on his motorcade showed that there were deliberate efforts to provoke the government.

The unrest has prompted mounting speculation that the army could try to mount another coup, despite the fact that Abhisit and his ministers are accused by their opponents of being the military's stooges.

But powerful army chief General Anupong Paojinda ruled out talk of a putsch. "No matter how the situation deteriorates, we will abide by the law and use no other extra power," he said.

The so-called "Red Shirts" remain furious about the way Abhisit took power in December, after a court decision that removed billionaire Thaksin's allies from government.

That ruling came after months of protests by rival, yellow-clad protesters claiming allegiance to the monarchy, who occupied Government House and mounted a crippling blockade of Bangkok's airports late last year.

Thaksin, who is living in an undisclosed foreign country to avoid a prison term for corruption, promised that the protests would mark a "historic day for Thailand."
"We will come peacefully but we need as many people as possible to show that the Thai people will not tolerate these politics any more," he said in a speech via videolink to supporters outside Government House late Tuesday.

Major General Suporn Phansua, a spokesman for Bangkok Metropolitan Police, said around 10,000 security forces had been deployed at major sites including Government House and Prem's residence.

The nation remains deeply divided between Thaksin's followers, mainly among the urban and rural poor in northern Thailand, and his foes in Bangkok's traditional power cliques of the palace, military and bureaucracy.

The government is under extra pressure to keep the peace ahead of a key summit of Asian leaders due to start Friday in the resort town of Pattaya -- the place where Abhisit came under attack Tuesday.      

 

[CougarKing]

Another update: To think the protestors were able to storm their way into the ASEAN summit's meeting hall? 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090411/ap_on_re_as/as_asia_summit

Protesters force Thailand to cancel Asia summit
Anti-government demonstrators storm through the 14th ASEAN convention hall

Saturday, April 11, 2009, … By AMBIKA AHUJA, Associated Press Writer Ambika Ahuja, Associated Press Writer – Sat Apr 11, 6:31 pm ET
PATTAYA, Thailand – Thailand evacuated Asian leaders by helicopter after hundreds of anti-government protesters stormed into their summit site Saturday, forcing the country's embattled prime minister to cancel the meeting.

The latest fiasco in Thailand's political crisis increased the threat of violence and a possible military crackdown.

More than 1,000 demonstrators broke through a wall of unarmed soldiers, smashed through the convention center's glass doors and ran through the building, blowing horns, waving Thai flags and shouting demands for Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to resign...

 

[tomahawk6]

A red shirt anti government protester revives a Thai army soldier who collapsed at the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit plus six venue, held in the popular hillside hotel of the Royal Cliff Beach resort and PEACH convention centre, after anti government red shirt protesters stormed inside the site, causing the Thai government to cancel the 16 nation summit and declare a state of emergency in Pattaya, Thailand, 11 April 2009. Clashes occurred in the streets of Pattaya between anti-government and pro-government supporters. Thailand was hosting the ASEAN plus three and six summits including leaders of China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, and New Zealand, with South East Asian leaders

Thai Minister of Foreign Affairs Kasit Piromya (R) and his wife Jintana Piromya (L) are carried by security guards to depart the hotel by speedboat after anti-government protesters storm to the venue of ASEAN summit in Pattaya city, Chonburi province, Thailand, 11 April 2009. Thai government decided to postpone indefinitely the Asean summit after thousands of red-shirts protesters loyal to fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra broke into a hotel where is the venue of the summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) at the Thai seaside resort of Pattaya

 

[CougarKing]

And the Thai military begins its crackdown on the anti-govt. protestors/rallies.

POLITICAL TURMOIL
CRACKDOWN BEGINS

At least 77 were injured as troops, firing tear gas and shots into the air, moved in to retake the Din Daeng intersection near Victory Monument from protesters.

(...)

TV news footage showed soldiers firing shots into the air. Tear gas was also fired, TV reporters at the scene said. A few hundred troops were involved in the operation.

At around 7.20 am, the government announced it was in control of the situation at Din Daeng.

(...)

The troops were pushing from the Din Daeng intersection toward the Victory Monument. Protesters were scattered and retreated from the intersection to the moment. It appeared that the troops were in almost complete control of the Din Daeng intersection after 6 am.

Col Sansern Kaewkamnerd, Army spokesman, said 300 protesters were in the area when security forces including soldiers and police moved in. He said the troops first tried to negotiate with the protesters, who were allegedly armed with molotov cocktails and tear gas themselves.

He said the talks broke down after some protesters tried to ram buses against the troops. 

"The troops had to fire into the air. I repeat. They fired into the air and took action against the protesters," he said.

Some arrests were made, he said, adding that "reluctant participants" of the protest who were forced to stay by fellow protesters were released.

(...)

Earlier, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has assured the nation that there is no disharmony within the government as well as key agencies responsible for enforcing law and order.

In a late-night television address, Abhisit was flanked by all key government, military and police leaders...
++http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2009/04/13/headlines/headlines_30100388.php

 

[CougarKing]

photos from Thailand:

-- Thai soldiers drive their tanks on the road in Bangkok, Thailand Sunday, April 12, 2009. Thailand's embattled government, humiliated by demonstrators who shut down a 16-nation Asian summit, declared a state of emergency in the capital Sunday in an attempt to stem the tide of protest across the country. (AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong)

(guys, what is this tracked armored vehicle? BMP-3?)

-- Protesters surround and beat the car carrying Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva at the interior ministry in Bangkok April 12, 2009. Troops fired into the air as Thai anti-government protesters stormed the country's interior ministry on Sunday after Abhisit declared a state of emergency in the capital. (REUTERS)

-- Thai soldiers take up a position in Bangkok, Sunday, April 12, 2009. Thailand's ousted prime minister called for a revolution Sunday after rioting erupted in the capital, with protesters commandeering public buses and swarming triumphantly over military vehicles in unchecked defiance after the government declared a state of emergency. Bands of red-shirted anti-government protesters roamed areas of Bangkok, with some furiously smashing cars carrying Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his aides and others beating up motorists who hurled insults at them. (AP Photo / Wason Wanichakorn)

-- Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva walks in the interior ministry after a news conference in Bangkok April 12, 2009. Abhisit declared a state of emergency on Sunday to quell political unrest and vowed to take tough action against protesters after they forced cancellation of an Asia summit. REUTERS/Stringer (THAILAND POLITICS CONFLICT)

-- A supporter of former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra waves a national flag during a declared state of emergency at the royal plaza in Bangkok April 12, 2009. Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, whose gentle treatment of protesters at an Asian summit led to its collapse in chaos, struck back on Sunday, declaring a state of emergency to quell protests in the capital. REUTERS/Kerek Wongsa (THAILAND POLITICS CONFLICT IMAGE OF THE DAY TOP PICTURE)

 

[George Wallace]

Not a BMP 3.

Most likely a YW 531 H ( Chinese Type-85)

 

[CougarKing]

Not a BMP 3.

Most likely a YW 531 H ( Chinese Type-85)

Thanks for the correction. My second guess had been it was some sort of APC variant of the Stingray tank type their Army uses. Obviously I was wrong.

More updates:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090414/ts_nm/us_thailand_politics;_ylt=Ao.wfHMUk8JegT0Sv7FXAn934T0D

Thai protest ends peacefully
By Martin Petty and John Ruwitch Martin Petty And John Ruwitch – Tue Apr 14, 8:00 am ET
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thai anti-government protesters in Bangkok surrendered on Tuesday, giving the harried prime minister some breathing space to try to fix the worsening economy.

"We have to stop because we need to look after the lives of our supporters," said Jatuporn Prompan, one of the leaders of the red-shirted protesters loyal to former premier Thaksin Shinawatra who still commands widespread loyalty among the rural poor.

The government extended the New Year's holiday for the rest of the week for "public safety" in case the red shirts regroup in Thaksin strongholds and come back to the capital, government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn told Reuters.

"Overall, I don't think this is the end of the story," said Danny Richards, senior economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit in London. "This crisis still has a long way to go." "But in terms of this protest in itself, Abhisit has managed to remain in control, and I think you'd have to say he has avoided a major crisis of confidence in his government."

Thailand's intractable political divide broadly pits royalists, the military and the urban middle-class against the rural poor loyal to Thaksin.

S&P DOWNGRADE

Standard & Poor's downgraded its local currency sovereign rating for Thailand on Tuesday and said political tension would remain high, whichever side was in power.

"We believe that investor confidence has been damaged significantly as a result of the latest developments while, in the near term, inbound tourism will also be affected negatively," said S&P credit analyst Kim Eng Tan.

The tourist sector was barely picking up after a one-week shutdown of Bangkok's airports by protesters opposed to Thaksin late last year when a government allied to him was in power.

Abhisit was made to look foolish after the "red shirts" forced the cancellation of an Asian summit in the resort of Pattaya on Saturday, an event the prime minister had trumpeted as proof Thailand was returning to normal.

Protesters had besieged his office at Government House since March 26, demanding he resign and new elections be held.

But Abhisit restored some of his lost credibility after the military quelled violent protests on Monday between red shirts and troops at a major junction in the capital without too much bloodshed.

Two people died, both of them in skirmishes between residents and someone riding on a motorbike, while 123 people were injured in the clashes between soldiers and protesters, mostly from tear gas, authorities said.

Abhisit said on Tuesday the emergency in greater Bangkok that he imposed on Sunday would remain for the time being to restore order in parts of the capital where protests were still taking place "but without their red shirts on."

Thousands of red shirt protesters were put on buses back to their home provinces after their leaders surrendered to the military at Government House.

The violence has damaged Thailand's crucial tourist industry at a busy holiday time. Several countries have issued advisories on travel to Thailand.

However, a festive spirt returned on Tuesday, as people came out onto the streets to soak each other with water, a tradition of Songkran, the Thai New Year.

The government announced the three-day holiday would be extended for the rest of the week, although financial markets will open as normal on Thursday.

Arrest warrants have been issued for Thaksin and 13 other pro-Thaksin United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) leaders for violating the state of emergency, which forbids gatherings of more than five people for political reasons.

"DO OR DIE"

Army spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said red-shirted protesters had tried to stop transmission of a state television channel in two places on Monday, and Thaksin supporters were thwarted from setting up a blockade in his northern Chiang Mai stronghold, police there said.

"This is not the end," one protest leader, Nattawut Saikuar, told Reuters. "We'll be back. Our leaders will meet after Songkran to discuss our next move."

Abhisit told Reuters in the early hours of Tuesday it was a "do-or-die" moment for the rule of law and he would not negotiate with Thaksin.

He said dissolving parliament in order to hold elections could lead to electoral violence, but he would listen to the grievances of protesters.

The end to the protests is a blow to Thaksin, ousted in a 2006 coup and living in exile to avoid jail on a corruption conviction. He had been calling for a "people's revolution" that for now has fizzled.

(Additional reporting by Bangkok bureau; Writing by Bill Tarrant; Editing by Sugita Katyal)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090414/wl_asia_afp/thailandpoliticsprotest;_ylt=AmfxCt8VLfGFXvsftVFNKsJ34T0D

Thailand seeks Thaksin's arrest over protests
          by Boonradom Chitradon Boonradom Chitradon – 1 hr 26 mins ago
BANGKOK (AFP) – Thailand issued an arrest warrant Tuesday for fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra for inciting street battles between anti-government protesters and troops that left two dead and 123 hurt.

The move came just hours after thousands of pro-Thaksin demonstrators abandoned their three-week rally at Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's office, fearing a potentially bloody crackdown by government troops.

A court issued warrants for Thaksin and 12 supporters, three of whom were detained by police and charged with crimes relating to the unrest, which saw soldiers and protesters fight running battles in Bangkok on Monday.

"Thaksin and his allies were charged by the court for illegal assembly of more than 10 people, threatening acts of violence and breach of the peace, punishable with five years in jail," the warrant said.

It said he was also accused of inciting people to break the law and cause unrest, a charge punishable by seven years in prison.

Thaksin was ousted in a coup in 2006 and is living in an unknown country to avoid a jail term for corruption, but he gave a string of video and telephone speeches to the rally calling for "revolution" over the past three weeks.

The peaceful end to the protests appeared to have strengthened Abhisit, whose four-month-old government had appeared on the verge of collapse after the protesters also managed to derail a weekend Asian summit.
"I don't consider this a victory or defeat but it's a victory for peace in society," Abhisit said in a televised national address that showed him flanked by government ministers and top brass including the chief of the army.

"We now consider that the unrest has ended. I thank all parties concerned for helping."

The premier said a state of emergency imposed on Sunday in Bangkok and surrounding areas would remain in place while isolated "incidents" of protest were dealt with and promised to prosecute all protest leaders.

But analysts warned that the violence had merely widened the rift between largely poor supporters of Thaksin and the government backed by the army and the Bangkok elite.

"We have stopped the protest but we haven't stopped the fight for democracy. We will continue the movement," said Nattawut Saikuar, one of the leaders who was charged.

Thailand has been through weeks of chaos as Thaksin supporters, in their trademark red shirts, took to the streets to demand the resignation of Abhisit, whom they say is in office because Thaksin allies were illegally pushed out.

The government declared two extra public holidays on Thursday and Friday to extend the three-day Thai New Year festival this week "in order to ensure public security and clean up places affected by the protests."

But the Thai stock market and banks announced they would open on Thursday and Friday.

Shopping malls closed down by the violence quickly reopened, a boost for the struggling economy and the vital tourism industry after television images of the chaos in Bangkok flashed around the world.

In Monday's violence troops used tear gas and fired automatic weapons to clear demonstrators who sent buses hurtling towards lines of soldiers and torched a government ministry with petrol bombs.

As night fell the army corralled about 2,500 remaining protesters behind barricades in an area around Abhisit's offices at Government House.

Troops then moved towards the site as dawn broke on Tuesday, while armoured personnel carriers and other vehicles blocked off all access points and the military used loudspeakers to warn protesters to go home.

Army spokesman Colonel Sunsern Kaewkumnerd said troops had also suppressed protests in three provinces on Monday, during which demonstrators took control of a television station and a railway terminal.

Several countries have advised tourists not to travel to Thailand or to exercise caution if already there, while the US State Department condemned the "unacceptable violence" by the protesters.

Bangkok emergency services said Tuesday that the toll from clashes between security forces, demonstrators and local residents stood at two dead and 123 wounded, 44 of whom were still in hospital.