Tourists Shaken As Bloodshed Erupts In Bangkok

[webfact]

Tourists shaken as bloodshed erupts in Bangkok

by Rachel O'Brien

BANGKOK (AFP) -- "People started running and screaming. We were being shot at," says 19-year-old Briton Sarah Colvin, one of the many foreign tourists caught up in the political violence sweeping Bangkok.

"It shook us up a lot. We needed valium to sleep," she says, surveying the aftermath of Saturday's bloody battles just by Khaosan Road, Bangkok's iconic backpacker strip. "A lot of people we've spoken to are getting out of here."

Clashes between anti-government "Red Shirts" and security forces, which left 20 people dead and over 800 injured in the Thai capital, have delivered another severe blow to the country's vital tourism industry.

"I won't be coming back to Bangkok. Maybe the islands, but not Bangkok. I'm going to leave tonight. Yesterday was really scary," said Flavia Kupka, 32, a waitress from New Zealand on her first visit to the "Land of Smiles".

The Southeast Asian nation has been beset by repeated demonstrations by rival red- and yellow-clad protest groups, hitting an economy that sank into recession last year for the first time since 2000 amid a severe global economic crisis.

One of the most economically damaging protests in late 2008 saw the pro-establishment Yellow Shirts blockade Bangkok's two airports for nine days, stranding hordes of angry travellers.

But Saturday's violence, which followed almost a month of rallies by the Reds, was the country's worst for 18 years and shook visitors as it spread into normally tourist-friendly Khaosan Road.

"There were bullets coming all over us. Bombs as well, petrol bombs within about 10 feet of us," said factory worker Tony Doohan from Ireland, standing by debris and pools of blood covered with Thai flags and red roses.

"I saw Red Shirts with a gun they must have stolen off the cops. They all had sticks and were throwing glass bottles... anything they could find really," the 25-year-old said. "It's a bad time to be here."

Retail and tourism sectors have taken a battering by the Reds' weeks of protests -- especially since they took over Bangkok's main commercial hub on April 3, disrupting traffic and causing major shopping centres to close.

The Thai Retailers Association said Thursday -- a day after a state of emergency was declared -- that the protesters' occupation of that district had caused more than one billion baht (about 31 million dollars) in losses.

Further west at the Dang Derm Hotel on Khaosan Road, receptionist Jaringa Jaiya said Sunday that fearful guests had begun checking out after the violence intensified.

"Sure it will be bad for business. I think visitors will be shocked that this happened in Thailand. People want to get out of Bangkok," she said.

April is the month of Songkran, a water festival for the Thai new year, and usually attracts thousands of tourists. Bookings were already down this year, and now the celebrations are reported to have been cancelled in Khaosan.

Hong Kong was one of the countries to step up warnings over the city late Saturday, raising its travel alert for Bangkok to the highest level of "black" meaning that travellers' safety would be under "severe threat".

But not all visitors were deterred from a return trip to the kingdom, famous for its paradise beaches, fiery cuisine and glittering temples.

"We were told they didn't want to hurt tourists because they live off tourism. It was scary but it wouldn't put us off coming again," said Danish backpacker Charlotte Stage, 19.

"Both the Reds and the army were really nice to us," added French tourist Eva Minassian. "They were actually protecting us -- both sides -- so I don't think we're very much in danger".

-- ©Copyright AFP 2010-04-11

Published with written approval from AFP.

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[webfact]

Norwegian Randi Hit by Gunshot Just Outside Her Bangkok Hotel

A Norwegian tourist Randi Fagertun Søderholm was hit by a gunshot when she and her daughter Iris left heir hotel Saturday night.

Just outside the hotel entrance Randi, 54, broke down while she was telling her daughter that she had been hit by something, writes the Norwegian tabloid VG.

Seconds later a bullet fell to the ground.

No wonder that Norwegian tourist’s ribs are still sore.

“I am a very lucky woman. No reason to bye lottery tickets anymore” she jokes.

“The bullet must have done something though. Because I think it hit me sideways”, Randi Fagertun Søderholm.

The hotel where Randi and her daughter stayed after almost finishing three weeks of vacation had been one of the main centers of the Red Shirt demonstrations which have plaque Bangkok.

“We had heard the noise of shots before but we thought it was Chinese fireworks. After I was hit I realized that it was real gunshots we heard”, Randi says.

“At first, I wondered if there was someone who had shot with a slingshot, but realized immediately that it wasn’t. But I wasn’t afraid either. Hello. I mean what are the odds of being struck by a bullet"? Randi is asking.

source: scandasia.com

-- 2010-04-11

[Mosha]

Shock horror. 43 countries issue travel warnings, and they are surprised at events.

[londonthai]

yestarday at 21:10 "Prachatai reporter from Kok Wua intersection reported that two foreign tourists were injured by soldiers. One was shot at the chest after having shouted 'fuc_k You!' to the soldiers. They have been sent to hospital." http://www.prachatai.org/english/node/1726

Edited April 11, 2010 by londonthai

[ray23]

Ya you had to be living in a world void of input not to realize where this was going. I did notice the international media seemed to pay very little attention to it. Don't bleed don't read. Well it reads now.

[PuddingDis]

Wow, holy crap. But it IS their fault for staying so close to the "danger zone".

[Somtamnication]

Somnamna! For weeks now this has been on a boiling point, and yet they still chose to drop by and watch the events and then are surprised by what is happening.

[aussimike]

Not sure if its the heat or just another crazy episode in thai politics --- well one this is for sure after two years of war in the streets - and the airport closures by the untouchable yellow shirts -- who is going to bother coming back here again for songkran or for that matter any other reasons to visit the "land of smile" - this has to be the death blow for the tourism sector - as if the world economy was not enough -- well maybe the PM can create a new project to plant more rubber trees and mass produce rubber duckies -=- VNAT - Vietnamese Association of tourism will be rubbing there hands in glee -the next major tourist destination - feel sorry for the hospitality industry workers also who are sure to face layoffs because of all of this --

if normal practice in riot control were applied -- and not the use of live rounds - things may have been a little different - maybe not - but without the high body count -- so much for the govt saying they were using international standards in riot control -- maybe i have missed reading something about the police and army shooting live bullets into the protesters - tear gas and water cannons are the most common methods used -

[rorr]

Ignorance can be temporary, but stupid is forever.

[aussimike]

Ya you had to be living in a world void of input not to realize where this was going. I did notice the international media seemed to pay very little attention to it. Don't bleed don't read. Well it reads now.

WELL ITS SURE GETTING WORLD ATTENTION NOW -- PAYING LITTLE ATTENTION - DONT THINK SO -- EVEN THE WHITE HOUSE HAS SPOKEN OUT AGAINST IT = EVERY TV AND NEWS PAPER IN OZ IS COVERING IT - AND GOOD COVERAGE ON THE BBC -- CNN - AND I AM SURE IN JAPAN - AFTER ONE OF THEIR OWN WAS KILLED ---

[elcent]

di d the reds clear the guest houses and hotels to stay there? We will see ...

[scubarick]

Wow, holy crap. But it IS their fault for staying so close to the "danger zone".

One tourist is quoted as saying "It's a bad time to be here."..... ha ha, no sh*t Sherlock.

Why are people so dumb as to be in BKK at the moment. I have no sympathy with them.... idiots

Not a sausage of a problem in my beautiful Phuket.

[mizzi39]

Sorry to hear the idiot was shot; very stupid Farang to not have enough brains to keep his mouth shut; sounds like an ugly american; just thinking...I came here to Udon Thani becuse I hated watching foreigners make complete asses of themselves. Seems Faraangs here have enough sense to stay away from danger...

It could have been a Brit with that dry sense of humor.

[londonthai]

those tourists were taken by surprise what happened to them - the old town is for the genuine tourists the most interesting part of bangkok and many would like to stay as close to it as possible.

for the last month it was a peaceful area, yestarday events shocked everyone, thai and foreigners.

bullets and tear gas can be fired from far away (those fired in air as well can injure and kill), they can land in a seemingly "peaceful" street or inside hotel room

Edited April 11, 2010 by londonthai

[PuddingDis]

I'm in Bangkok right now, there's no problems here and I am leaving soon. But foreigners shouldn't come here expecting the place to be all nice and dandy if 40+ countries issued travel warnings, much less if they ignore the warnings and go to the danger zones.

Just because they're foreigners it doesn't mean they won't get shot at.

Idiots.

Wow, holy crap. But it IS their fault for staying so close to the "danger zone".

One tourist is quoted as saying "It's a bad time to be here."..... ha ha, no sh*t Sherlock.

Why are people so dumb as to be in BKK at the moment. I have no sympathy with them.... idiots

Not a sausage of a problem in my beautiful Phuket.

[CTM]

Not sure if its the heat or just another crazy episode in thai politics --- well one this is for sure after two years of war in the streets - and the airport closures by the untouchable yellow shirts -- who is going to bother coming back here again for songkran or for that matter any other reasons to visit the "land of smile" - this has to be the death blow for the tourism sector - as if the world economy was not enough -- well maybe the PM can create a new project to plant more rubber trees and mass produce rubber duckies -=- VNAT - Vietnamese Association of tourism will be rubbing there hands in glee -the next major tourist destination - feel sorry for the hospitality industry workers also who are sure to face layoffs because of all of this --

if normal practice in riot control were applied -- and not the use of live rounds - things may have been a little different - maybe not - but without the high body count -- so much for the govt saying they were using international standards in riot control -- maybe i have missed reading something about the police and army shooting live bullets into the protesters - tear gas and water cannons are the most common methods used -

Not a good idea to have live rounds at all. In the stress and heat of a situation, it is very easy for a soldier to load the wrong bullets or forget if has rubber or live rounds in the weapon. Even if the army was shooting into the air the bullets will fall back to earth and potentially injure or kill someone.

[Moonrakers]

Wow, holy crap. But it IS their fault for staying so close to the "danger zone".

One tourist is quoted as saying "It's a bad time to be here."..... ha ha, no sh*t Sherlock.

Why are people so dumb as to be in BKK at the moment. I have no sympathy with them.... idiots

Not a sausage of a problem in my beautiful Phuket.

Because for rather a lot of us Bangkok is home, Sherlock.

[chantorn]

yestarday at 21:10 "Prachatai reporter from Kok Wua intersection reported that two foreign tourists were injured by soldiers. One was shot at the chest after having shouted 'fuc_k You!' to the soldiers. They have been sent to hospital." http://www.prachatai.org/english/node/1726

I am take it with a grain of salt. However, I though prachtai was banned by the government. How did you access the webpage? Through proxies?

[aussimike]

Wow, holy crap. But it IS their fault for staying so close to the "danger zone".

YA JUST LIKE THE FEMALIE TOURIST AND HER DAUGHTER - WALKED OUTSIDE THEIR HOTEL - HEARD THE NOISE AND THOUGHT IT WAS FIRECRACKERS - NO WARNING FROM THE HOTEL - AND SHE WAS SHOT -- HER FAULT ????? NA -- WAKE UP AND DONT MAKE STUPID COMMENTS -

Rdit: Posting in caplocks is considerd SHOUTING. Please refrain from doing so in future - mario2008

[ray23]

Well any of us who have lived here for awhile realize the potential for thing to go terribly wrong and know to stay out of harms way. I think Thailand is really misunderstood by tourist, in general. However that is exactly what Thailand counts on and most times it works out. Takes some time to understand that Thai's don't always smile and sometimes that smile is fully misunderstood.

But this one a simple check with the embassy would have told them a lot. Sorry bud not the ugly American read it again. Your Udon Neighbor, you know the ugly American :D :D :D

Edited April 11, 2010 by ray23

[PuddingDis]

They should know WHERE they are. If there's red shirts near their hotel they should be smarter and guess it's not firecrackers.

Edit:

Also, how in the world do they HEAR shots but not SEE policemen or red shirts or anything 'til it hits them?

Also, no need to use caps, it's against the forum rules and it's seen as SHOUTING.

Wow, holy crap. But it IS their fault for staying so close to the "danger zone".

YA JUST LIKE THE FEMALIE TOURIST AND HER DAUGHTER - WALKED OUTSIDE THEIR HOTEL - HEARD THE NOISE AND THOUGHT IT WAS FIRECRACKERS - NO WARNING FROM THE HOTEL - AND SHE WAS SHOT -- HER FAULT ????? NA -- WAKE UP AND DONT MAKE STUPID COMMENTS -

Edited April 11, 2010 by PuddingDis

[chantorn]

Today's Sunday Observer.

Page 3 of the newspaper: "Ten die in Bangkok as protestors battle troops"

Back page of The Observer Magazine supplement: "There has never been a better time to visit Amazing Thailand, from the incredible buzz of Bangkok...." (full page ad from Eva Air, Centara resorts, and Virgin Holidays).

I just cannot stop laughing.

I remeber the front page of a local news paper headline the death of the 1-2-Go Phuket crash. Next to it is a (on-going) 1-2-Go advertismenet of BKK-Phuket for xxx Baht or something like that.

[wintermute]

yestarday at 21:10 "Prachatai reporter from Kok Wua intersection reported that two foreign tourists were injured by soldiers. One was shot at the chest after having shouted 'fuc_k You!' to the soldiers. They have been sent to hospital." http://www.prachatai.org/english/node/1726

Yelling fuc-k you??????? Good. I hope they are dead.

There's some truly retarded tourists around but this takes the cake.

[Jing Joe]

A quote from a posting on today's live update states exactly this from the red shirts;-

"Did anybody inform the king that his children were killed in the middle of the road without justice?" Reds' leader Jatuporn Prompan asked protesters. "Is there anyone close to him who told him of the gunfights?"

Likewise it has to be asked >>> Has anybody informed those "authorities" about a particular Red Shirt offshore web site that totally slams those

they are calling on to "intervene".

The vile stuff coming from that web site would be enough to put them in jail if they could get their hands on them or maybe face execution, if Thailand has such punishment.

[tigerboy]

Quote from OP:

"BANGKOK (AFP) -- "People started running and screaming. We were being shot at," says 19-year-old Briton Sarah Colvin, one of the many foreign tourists caught up in the political violence sweeping Bangkok.

"It shook us up a lot. We needed valium to sleep," she says, surveying the aftermath of Saturday's bloody battles just by Khaosan Road, Bangkok's iconic backpacker strip. "A lot of people we've spoken to are getting out of here.""

Dang!! Thought that stuff (valium) would end you up in jail over here?!? Wonder where they got it from and if it as legit or not?

...

[Netfan]

A quote from a posting on today's live update states exactly this from the red shirts;-

"Did anybody inform the king that his children were killed in the middle of the road without justice?" Reds' leader Jatuporn Prompan asked protesters. "Is there anyone close to him who told him of the gunfights?"

Likewise it has to be asked >>> Has anybody informed those "authorities" about a particular Red Shirt offshore web site that totally slams those

they are calling on to "intervene".

The vile stuff coming from that web site would be enough to put them in jail if they could get their hands on them or maybe face execution, if Thailand has such punishment.

Exactly. They rant about a "New Thai State" and then when things get tough they cry for His Majesty to step in. Pathetic. As is the tourist who said f-you to the soldier. these soldiers have been under incredible strain for a week, and then have some punk mouth off- only sympathy here is for the soldier.

Edited April 11, 2010 by Netfan

[mythBuster]

I suppose that Reuters will be ordered to pack up and leave Thailand too. After their staff had reported that the army was using live ammunition, their cameraman got killed. Maybe because they distorted information. I assume that the hunt is on for the English teacher that tipped the BBC too with a movie from his mobile. After all the Thai army simply says that they have not used any such ammunition just like last year. This government has never done anything for Thailand except that they have kept the corrupt elite in power. The economic figures are as fake as the courts are. The reason that companies do not want to invest are solely to blame on the government and it i shame on the army and their generals that they forced conscripts to do the dirty work.

Abhsiist and Anupongs successor are finished. If foreigners are hurt Abhisit's British passport comes out handy for the courts in Europe. In a matter of fact Thai people could take legal action against him in the UK.

[AdoboLove]

I was watching CNN, it reports that one of the dead is a Japanese citizen from Reuters news agency.

Also, in the middle of the clash, there was caucasian woman, who seems like a curious tourist rather than a journalist, taking pictures of the riot.

[thequaife]

Yelling fuc-k you??????? Good. I hope they are dead.

Bad language punishable by death?

Welcome to your fascist utopia.

Not nessecary. But in this case Yes. This kind of people is too stupid to live in this world. If they are not dead now they will soon anyway. Unfortunately they will die by their own stupidity not by natural cause.

[Oberkommando]

As is the tourist who said f-you to the soldier. these soldiers have been under incredible strain for a week, and then have some punk mouth off- only sympathy here is for the soldier.

The soldier showing just how unprofessional he is, shooting at a foreigner with verbal provocation.

No wonder there is chaos on the streets of Bangkok.

But in this case Yes. This kind of people is too stupid to live in this world.

A similar sentiment no doubt expressed by many of the upper-classes towards those people in the firing line today and yesterday, on both sides.