Tourists Shaken As Bloodshed Erupts In Bangkok

[sceneitb4]

Passing judgement and opinion on internal political problems is fruitless. Sad but true. The ruling elite of Thailand, regardless of what color shirt they wear (sponsor) are determined to maintain power no matter who suffers or dies. They exploit the poor by advancing populist low interest loan programs, 30 Baht health care , buying a Premier Football Team and opening a 'Football Academy'(remember that one folks?), what ever it takes to win an election and stay in office. If a party is found to have violated voting laws through bribery and vote buying, just form a new party with whoever is left!!!

Our reflex sentiment is to try and cast our right and wrong values on a people who for the most part, aren't even woriied about month end bills! Try driving a car daily and count the number of traffic infractions you witness. How many times do we shake our heads at the site of a baby in the arms of a mother on the back of a motorcycle. The point is, Thailand and it's people, eletist or otherwise will do whatever they think serves their own immediate needs and agenda. Our values mean zip.

Fourteen years of marriage, three kids, houses, cars, business should have brought me a level of understanding and insight. But the longer I'm here, the further away I am from figuring out our lovely hosts.

[Hollywood]

I could have told you one month ago when the Red Shirts started gathering it was not going to end well with either the airport closing again or this type of blood bath. No groups larger than 10 red shirts should have been permitted from day one.

Most people are staying away from Mexico now because of the drug wars and I see Thailand joining them.

[sceneitb4]

I could have told you one month ago when the Red Shirts started gathering it was not going to end well with either the airport closing again or this type of blood bath. No groups larger than 10 red shirts should have been permitted from day one.

Most people are staying away from Mexico now because of the drug wars and I see Thailand joining them.

Good point, the tarvel advisory's and foreign media will have a huge impact on tourism.

[Sheryl]

Keep it civil. folks.

And a tad of sensitivity wouldn't hurt....

This board gets read by worried/grieving families and friends

[doglover]

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 -

Yup.....you missed something. The army is firing RUBBER bullets, tear gas and water cannons. The red shirts are firing REAL bullets, jabbing bamboo spears into soldiers and hurling grenades, molotovs, rocks and bottles at the soldiers!

[JRinger]

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...

Where does it say, the foreigner that got shot was an American ?

[Chris Lawrence]

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 ---

Mike no need to shout. Actually coverage is very poor. Similar to ThaiV; which seems to only report from a very conservative level. The Nation does not give a good coverage. I have been reading from a site called Thai Newspapers.

[manarak]

well, we still don't know what the guy was shot with - could have been anything from water cannon, rubber ball to assault rifle bullet?

The guy was still alive and went to hospital, so I would guess it was a rubber ball - painful, can crack a rib or two, but not lethal.

[wlcart]

That is the great thing about the internet, you can move up to Udon Thani and make a complete ass of yourself.

But seriously, it is real sad for anyone who has been hurt or killed, they deserve some sympathy, even if they are an idiot. As long as they do not physically threaten anyone, they have the right not to be shot, true?

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...

[Chris Lawrence]

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.

Were they shot before or after they said f..ku to the soldiers. I can relate if it was after?????they were shot. But at the moment I think it would be very hard to believe what is coming from the Govt sourced media. In any event it is a terrible sentence for uttering words that are just words. There is no need to be killed for this!

[Ijustwannateach]

Posts insulting or addressing other members in a negative way have been deleted IN THEIR ENTIRETY, along with all replies IN THEIR ENTIRETY, along with a number of off-topic and inflammatory posts. Some warnings may be issued shortly.

As in other political threads, if you value your time in posting, avoid insults and offensive comments towards other posters and avoid responding to posts which include them. Most of such posts have not received warnings in this round of deletions but future problematic posts will also earning warnings.

[philw]

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

Worthy of a Darwin Awards Entry for sure.

Really ??

It's ok for unformed members of the "Royal Thai Army " to react to verbal insults with lethal force ???

lol my ass.....................

[doglover]

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.

Personally, I thought the lack of diplomacy and cowboy response to the farang who should have nothing to do with the situation in the first place is classic. Important point being that he has survived. Kudos to the soldier that had the cajones to put him in his place.

[caligirl4u2]

I don't get it. It has been all over the news about what is going on in Bangkok.

Why would anyone go there when there are so many other places in Thailand to visit that are not being impacted with the Red Shirt protest nuts? Please give me a clue.

[on-on]

Not a sausage of a problem in my beautiful Phuket.

Unless you want to jet ski, park your car or take a tuk tuk somewhere, heh.

[manarak]

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

The woman wasn't shot.

She caught a bullet that probably had been shot in the air previously and which had lost already almost all of its kinetic energy.

These bullets can still be dangerous if the angle of fire is too flat. They can still carry for 2 to 3 Km depending on the type of rifle and ammo.

If they penetrate through the eye or another soft body part, they can cause death. A bone will stop them though.

So yes, it is "a bit" dangerous everywhere.

[on-on]

And a tad of sensitivity wouldn't hurt....

This board gets read by worried/grieving families and friends

On Thai Visa? This board is chock full of know it alls who think anything that happens to anyone is their fault. It's absolutely bizarre. Ha Ha, what were those tourists thinking being tourists? TOO RIGHT. SOM NAM NA! Look back a week or a month and I bet you can find the same people in other threads complaining about tourists being scared off by the harmless protests.

[costalot]

Shocked, why?? this has been boiling for ages now. Why would any 'tourist' want to come to this G6D forsaken country????

[Polemi]

I agree, if you are a tourist in Thailand you avoid the trouble in BKK. If you end up being in it because your hotel is close by to the trouble, you either stay indoors or you check out and leave.

My husband was supposed to go to BKK on his way back home this friday, he is now staying put where he is until the day he has to go to the airport in BKK. You just dont take any chances for a bit of shopping!!!!

[chesneychez]

Why did they go near the "war zone". The Reds and the army / police have no intention of hurting foreigners. Tourists will be safe as long as they stay away from the protest areas. I believe those foreigners who got hit must have gone near to "watch" or maybe to "cheer" for a particular group. Not saying that they deserved to be hit but they could only blame under this situation.

[mostcurious]

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 -

You are right visited Hanoi, first welcome to Vietnam at customs, then stayed at Ba Din district, the business district, was stopped at the street and asked to have my picture taken with their children, I am tall Vietnam Vet. Was surprised with their hospitality and made a few friends there which I am still in contact with. With LOS that left with this administration. Sorry I rather have the old military Generals back in power instead of this.

Quite agree, with all this trouble the tourism industry must be taking a battering, as for Vietnam - if flights to Saigon (Ho Chi Min city) were similar in price to flights to Bangkok then a lots more tourists would be enticed to go there instead. Right now for me the main reason for travelling to Thailand is to use it as a base to travel to neighbouring countries like Cambodia and Vietnam.

[jonclark]

I find it amazing that given the total amount of confusion that occured last night that we have a direct quote from a tourist involved, but no other information. What did the soliders do to make him say what he supposedly said. Was it actuallya solider or a fake red soider. Can't access the web site prachatai, so some more info would be useful. Often on this forum we heard of tourists in places like puket getting into scrapes with tuk tuk guys - personally i think there is more to this than just a simple <deleted>*k you. Also worth noting no interviews with this tourist after being shot , surely pictures of a shot tourist would make great red propaganda, just can't remember seeing any.

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

Worthy of a Darwin Awards Entry for sure.

[Netfan]

Why did they go near the "war zone". The Reds and the army / police have no intention of hurting foreigners. Tourists will be safe as long as they stay away from the protest areas. I believe those foreigners who got hit must have gone near to "watch" or maybe to "cheer" for a particular group. Not saying that they deserved to be hit but they could only blame under this situation.

Uh, the "war zone" came to them. Khao San Road. Even a lot of tourists at Victory Monument. But it would have been wise to stay indoors, not watch from the street like it was tv show being filmed.

[lannarebirth]

I find it amazing that given the total amount of confusion that occured last night that we have a direct quote from a tourist involved, but no other information. What did the soliders do to make him say what he supposedly said. Was it actuallya solider or a fake red soider. Can't access the web site prachatai, so some more info would be useful. Often on this forum we heard of tourists in places like puket getting into scrapes with tuk tuk guys - personally i think there is more to this than just a simple <deleted>*k you. Also worth noting no interviews with this tourist after being shot , surely pictures of a shot tourist would make great red propaganda, just can't remember seeing any.

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

Worthy of a Darwin Awards Entry for sure.

The prachatai site is not blocked. I can be accessed from the link embedded in your post.

[neverdie]

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.

It amazes me that people with absolutely NO IDEA and NO EXPERIENCE in the field think they know best. Coming from this type of background I can tell you theres absolutely no way I would be taking orders to walk into this situation without live amunition.

Wake up and smell the coffee, this is the real world not the movies, do you think the bad guys actually annouce their intention to switch to real weapons allowing the military to retreat and gather up their arms before the action starts.

[manarak]

helloohooo... we still don't know what the guy has been shot with !!!

[ballpoint]

Chances are better than even that these bullets came from the reds. Just like the one on the video that clearly shows them shooting their own. They will stoop at nothing to try and bring public opinion against the government, but when the truth comes out it will backfire on them spectacularly. Montenegro could have a few more citizens before too long.

[regfrancis]

Suprise suprise...we live in primative times.

In thailand (as everywhere)..its the old money verses the new money. Both sides only have to look at history. Eventually the new money will take over, and the cycle will repeat till eternaty. The best solution is to see the transition through doing as little damage as possible.

In the global village internet age, it´s no longer OK for anyone (reguardless of position) to say ´´black is white´´ and get away with it.

[khaowong1]

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

yeah, shouting obscenity to the soldiers and police is a nice way to soak up the Thai culture. Try that in the U.S. , guarantee you will get the attention your looking for.

[BWPattaya]

"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.

Bullets all around? Bombs? Petrol bombs less than 10 feet away? You must have kissed the blarney stone with your luck.

43 countries issuing travel warnings and tourists still go to Bangkok? Some people think they are invincible. "It won't happen to me!" then are surprised when they get caught up in the troubles (there's an Irish term for yer man with the petrol bombs.)

Seriously though, (as if the above isn't serious enough!) it is a shame it has come to this, Thai fighting Thai solely to help a criminal who cares nothing for them, just wants to grab power and more money.