Bangkok: Policeman Killed, 7 Policemen, 2 Civilians Injured In Double Attacks

[TAWP]

Don't be silly, Thaksin isn't the enemy...he cut poverty in half during his term in office...the only PM to do anything for the poor...I don't get all these people blinded by hatred...hatred uses up so much energy...stop hating and open your mind...

You are blinded by propaganda if you think he cut poverty in half in any factual way. Or that is the only PM to do anything for the poor.

[Jingthing]

Shouldn't the protest be getting smaller, not bigger? If the reds really want to participate in the roadmap they should start going home, not calling for a million people to join them in Bangkok (I know they will never get that many). Letting more people into the protest is just another massive failure by the police. You'd think they'd be motivated to get things under control after last night.

For every day that the red shirts stay at Ratchaprasong after tomorrow, the election date should be pushed back two days.

Speaking of which, why are MORE red shirts streaming INTO Bangkok? Didn't they agree to move OUT of Bangkok? Something fishy is going on.

[givenall]

Woo looks like to be safe when you want to protest in this county is to carry a weapon so you can use against these guys who don’t like what you do which exactly what they do

[cdnmatt]

Abhisit should ask the US Air Force if they could conduct some war games over Bangkok airspace. Fly a few F22's around, and have a squadron of Apache's fly overhead the red-shirts. Maybe shoot off some flares for good measure. Then maybe alot of the peaceful protesters would go home. From there, roll the rest over with military force.

Problem solved!

[lazurus]

Come on red leader give us a date for the dissolution of the protest. Don't just tell us May 15, give us the year as well.

[whybother]

Shouldn't the protest be getting smaller, not bigger? If the reds really want to participate in the roadmap they should start going home, not calling for a million people to join them in Bangkok (I know they will never get that many). Letting more people into the protest is just another massive failure by the police. You'd think they'd be motivated to get things under control after last night.

For every day that the red shirts stay at Ratchaprasong after tomorrow, the election date should be pushed back two days.

Speaking of which, why are MORE red shirts streaming INTO Bangkok? Didn't they agree to move OUT of Bangkok? Something fishy is going on.

Three possible reasons:

1) They need help getting all the weapons out.

2) They need help packing up.

3) It's the last chance for the protestors to get a couple more days pay.

[devaram]

The red shirt leaders cannot control events like this or prevent them.

There are many groups and individuals who could have done this including black shirts, communists, anarchists, anti-monarchists and the so called terrorists that Abhisit keeps referring to.

I doubt the red shirts would do this.

It is clearly the work of those who want to destabilize the situation as the article implies.

[dragenon]

u all thai people show how stupid u r.

while big bosses living in a paredise. they just give u 2 t-shirt with deferent colors and u do the fight.

u let all the world laugh on how small ur mimd it is.

all of u poor people thats why its easy to slave u.

if one day i will become a melionair i will creat a green t-shirt and i will start the fight agine .

all the asian countrise around u become better than u in every things and u going worest.

so think of ur country and of ur self and the future , not worried about those 2 guys .. taksin and the new PM.

no more comment .

god bless u all.

[Pi Sek]

Oh dear - I’m posting on ThaiVisa again! It’s been years since I last did, as the flaming, some really ignorant posts and some “vested interest” posts spoiled it for me in the past. However, the daily news updates during the UDD rally have been very useful and have drawn me back.

Firstly, again we have violence on the streets, which is unacceptable. Condolences (again) to all who have suffered and continue to suffer.

I personally suspect that Maj Gen Khattiya “Seh Daeng” Sawasdipol (on orders from Thaksin) and his Black Shirt warriors are responsible for most, if not all, of the losses sustained on April 10, for the Saladaeng bombings and for the shooting of a soldier near Don Muang – NOT the government, Prem, the military, the southern insurgents, the USA, the tooth fairy or whoever else. Let me qualify the first part: it’s possible that some of the soldiers panicked when the Colonel was killed and took his live ammunition for use in self-defense which, to me, is totally acceptable. It’s clear that an element of the Red Shirt protesters themselves were firing at the soldiers as well as Khattiya’s “ronin” snipers, although I don’t think any of the ammunition “confiscated” by the UDD earlier that day was live (not to say they didn’t already have live ammunition). There are Thaksin-employed propaganda artists (well done to the ThaiVisa editors for combating this when they spot it, by the way) who will claim that the government is directly responsible for the deaths but, I’m sorry, this doesn’t hold much water for me.

However – and this is the first time I have EVER defended the Red Shirts – I am not sure that the UDD is responsible for last night’s violence. Of course it’s possible that the likes of Khattiya, Kwanchai and Arisaman are stirring up trouble again to prolong the protests with a view to gaining criminal amnesty, but it seems more likely to me that PAD extremists would have more to gain from such an action (i.e. forcing a dispersal crackdown).

But, whoever is responsible, this unfortunately highlights that the PM’s decision not to violently disperse the protest was perhaps a mistake. Abhisit didn’t want to see any further bloodshed and so prevented the army’s call to go in all guns blazing last weekend, but again we have bloodshed. I don’t think that bloodshed can be avoided as we have extreme views and a system where these views can be voiced through undemocratic acts seemingly without recourse to the Law.

My political stance – I suppose I am now a “Multicolour”, as I believe Abhisit is one of the only politicians around with any integrity or fairness. Although I would personally have issued notice to the protesters that a violent crackdown was imminent within a couple of hours and that they should disperse immediately (offering transport home of course), then send in the armed forces to shoot on sight, in many ways I admire him for not violently dispersing the protesters to prevent further social divisions and further bloodshed.

As for the UDD: I think that their leaders are liars and thugs, who exploit the poor much more than they would have us believe the “elite” do, as they are at the head of the social and business hierarchy whose best interests depend on keeping the poor where they are (i.e. uneducated, un-wealthy and dependant on their rice-milling “big brother” landlords); whereas 90% of the protesters are there to express concern about the social injustice that we all recognise should be addressed, although they unfortunately don’t acknowledge they are actually representing those who exploit them; the other 10% are hired thugs and corrupt officials who don’t want any of this “transparency” or “no-one is above the Law” rubbish (PTP chairman Chalerm, the historically violent Kwanchai, and Pattaya mayor Itthipol are three great examples of this). I imagine there is also a percentage that recognise the lies and no longer support the red cause but have been coerced to stay at the rally.

I was a strong supporter of the Pantamit until they invaded Government House and (to an extent) defended their policy of civil disobedience to rid the public sector (the government) of over-influence from the private sector (Thaksin and his proxies), so it’s hard for me to condemn those Red Shirts who feel they are protesting for civil rights – whether they are misinformed or not is irrelevant (this is something that can only be addressed through truthful education).

Obviously, with such a long post, I think I know a lot about the real situation here, but I do have one question: what’s the difference between the UDD and the DAAD? Are they separate groups in alliance; is one a splinter of the other; or are they one and the same?

[DLock]

u all thai people show how stupid u r.

while big bosses living in a paredise. they just give u 2 t-shirt with deferent colors and u do the fight.

u let all the world laugh on how small ur mimd it is.

all of u poor people thats why its easy to slave u.

if one day i will become a melionair i will creat a green t-shirt and i will start the fight agine .

all the asian countrise around u become better than u in every things and u going worest.

so think of ur country and of ur self and the future , not worried about those 2 guys .. taksin and the new PM.

no more comment .

god bless u all.

"u all thai people show how stupid u r."

Oh, the irony for your first post. You Fail.

[noahvail]

The red shirt leaders cannot control events like this or prevent them.

There are many groups and individuals who could have done this including black shirts, communists, anarchists, anti-monarchists and the so called terrorists that Abhisit keeps referring to.

I doubt the red shirts would do this.

It is clearly the work of those who want to destabilize the situation as the article implies.

Let's see..

red shirts;

black shirts;

communists;

anarchists;

anti-monarchists;

terrorists.

You've almost got it to six degrees of separation!

I can't quite imagine someone up here in Issan saying, "Hi, I'm an anarchist, and I want a few thousand of you to drive down to Bangkok with me this Saturday. Good food and music!"

On the other hand, I *can* imagine a red shirt leader making a quiet phone call to a couple of supporters and the phone tree kicking in.

Perhaps I have a limited imagination. But you left out the yellow shirts, the multi-coloured shirts, the plaid shirts, and the paisley shirts. So yeah, more than six degrees of separation, the red shirt leaders could never have done that. <insert irony smiley>

But since the red shirt leaders can't control or prevent these events, as you say, then they don't speak for the people, do they? And if they don't speak for the people, how can they make demands, or even negotiate, an end to an occupation they can't control or prevent?

Edit: typo

Edited May 8, 2010 by noahvail

[kratiam]

Abhisit should ask the US Air Force if they could conduct some war games over Bangkok airspace. Fly a few F22's around, and have a squadron of Apache's fly overhead the red-shirts. Maybe shoot off some flares for good measure. Then maybe alot of the peaceful protesters would go home. From there, roll the rest over with military force.

Problem solved!

Idiot!

[bangon04]

In most countries, when a policeman is murdered, the police take it very personally and make it a priority, even a crusade, to get the perpetrators, sometimes at the cost of bending the rules to get even.

In Thailand it doesn't appear to work that way. ?

[OzMick]

folks, when groups of people start using M-16's, M-79's, grenades and bombs, this is either terrorism or cival war, plain and simple. a rose by any other name is still a rose.

You obviously know who to blame, so why don't you tell the police who is behind the random attacks? There is motives for various "unknowns" on both sides to disturb the fragile peace we've seen since Abhisit announced his roadmap.

Your dictionary must have a different meaning for "Random". Attacks have been widespread, against army, against police, politicians homes, banks, government offices, army bases, BTS station - but strangely NOT ONE has hit the red camp or Lumpini Park. that to me rules out random.

And before any red apologist comes back with "false flag" attacks to discredit the reds; with that number of attacks, a false flag would be dangerously close to having changed sides, don't you think?

[Tod Daniels]

<SNIPPED FOR CLARITY>

no more comment .

That was possibly the smartest thing you've said yet. Certainly it was the one thing which made the most sense . ..

Great first post.

My advice;

Keep up on those "ESL" courses, they're certainly paying off but hang in there. ..

In other news; I find it a bit strange that there are no soldiers stationed around Asok/Sukhumvit today.

I guess they're all down closer to Rachaprasong hemming in newly arrived red-rabble-replacements from Khon Kaen.

[noahvail]

Well prepared preventive measures for rally-affected schools at Ratchaprasong clarified

BANGKOK, 8 May 2010 (NNT) – The Ministry of Education has prepared measures to facilitate students in term of safety and convenience before the new school semester starts on 11 May.

Education Minister Chinnaworn Boonyakiat disclosed to a local news agency that the measures were now ready to deal with all rally-related incidents because the ministry had constantly called relevant units to the meeting for thoroughly discussing the prepared measures in all focal points including school’s duty guard preparation and entrance and exit arrangement in order to ensure the highest safety level and reliability for the students because some schools in the neighborhood of the gathering might start their new semester on 11 May.

Mr Chinnaworn also stated that the parents and the lecturers could make immediate contact when the emergency situation occurred while the students would be taught on how to solve all facing problems when they were under intense pressure from unexpected incidents.

[lazurus]

Last night there were two separate attacks, the drive by shooting, and the grenades. Is anyone sure that the same group is responsible for both? Could be that both the reds and the yellows are taking advantage of the situation to cause more mayhem. I for one won't be spending the evening near Silom tonight.

[noahvail]

If Mr Chinnaworn can teach all the students "how to solve all facing problems when they were under intense pressure from unexpected incidents" I am in awe. What a great life skill!

Perhaps his expertise could be better used in some of the services of the national and local governments.

But if I had a kid at one of those schools, I'd make sure he called in sick until things were safe, and home-school him until it was safe enough to attend school again.

[djlest]

And in such a HIGHLY PROTECTED AREA?

With army and Police everywhere

Where are the CCTV Cameras, surely they installed more to prepare after the grenade attacks last month?

Oh and how come whenever a supposed actual attack on the yellows, never actually kills any yellows...

Seems to me only the pawns or passers by get hurt... but never any one wearing a shirt...

The mind boggles!!!

[gemini81]

Last night there were two separate attacks, the drive by shooting, and the grenades. Is anyone sure that the same group is responsible for both? Could be that both the reds and the yellows are taking advantage of the situation to cause more mayhem. I for one won't be spending the evening near Silom tonight.

We all know who did it. Doesn't take Yoda to put it together.

[Grey11]

Really sad. But the question remains who will have an advantage from this new act of violance? The Police is considerate as "Red Friendly". So why should the Reds ambush the Police? It smells a bit fishy to me. It could well be that the Group who reject the so called road map is interested to cause chaos and trouble and blame it on the Reds. Just a thought...

I blame it on the Reds because they came to Bkk to overthrow the government by any means necessary. Period. The Reds (thaksin) paid people that are violent that hate Bangkok, what they call the elites, the success of the businesses, any person who is successful and blame their failures in life on them. One can rise above poverty. But, it takes an entire family to do that - for their children to be successful. Violence solves nothing. Yeah, maybe the Red Shirts are convinced that it will get Thaksin back to rule and they will be given top jobs in the government. Then they will seek revenge by any means necessary through their inherit ways of corruption. The Reds (Thaksin) hired black shirts to be their military wing, to incite, to bomb, to kill. Once those in Bkk came out to counter their demonstrations they sought to wound and kill as many as possible. To the Reds the police are protecting the "elites" of Bkk that they hate so much and any and all people of Bkk who are successful.

PM Abhisit was damned if he did and damned if he didn't. His compassion for all the people of Thailand and his belief that he could compromise with these hired guns of Thaksin, was a victory for the Reds who wanted no peace, no compromise but was seen as a weakness by the so-called "elites" who believed that 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 6 weeks, 8 weeks of the Reds blocking hotels, hospitals, government buildings, streets and other businesses was too long and that the Reds only understand their own tactics, violence, force. I tend to believe that the government lost the publicity war as the foreign media took the side of the Reds seeking "democracy" - they do not know what it means & were intent on overthrowing the government. To the vast majority of people in the world, the Reds would be classified as "terrorists." Now, even when the PM is willing to step down one year early, it is not enough for the Reds (UDD, Pueau Thai Party, Thaksin, all one & the same). So Abhisiit ended up looking weak to the Reds AND those who supported the Democrat Party.

These demonstrations and the violence done and incited by the Reds has killed tourism in Thailand and given the country a bad name. I had a friend cancel her three week vacation to Thailand - visits planned for here in Phuket, Bkk, & Chiang Mai. Hotel occupancy in Phuket is at 19% of capacity and is at 12% in June. Most visitors take in Bkk & Phuket. It is the poor that the Reds say Thaksin and they care so much about who are losing their jobs working in the hotels, restaurants, and all other jobs having to do with tourism. It is ALL about Thaksin and his push for Power. And, it will take Thailand years to recover from this travesty brought on strictly and 100% by Thaksin's violent Red Shirts. Why weren't the leaders arrested the second weak? Without these firebreathing, hate speakers, the peasants would have no leadership. They are followers. They know no better. So Thaksin turned Thai against Thai for his own selfish purposes. I am retired in Thailand. My wife is Thai and what has happened in Bkk because of the violent Red Shirts & Thaksin affects ALL of us. Now, it will be years before we can sell our house in Phuket and move to a cheaper area. I think PM Abhisit is the most intelligent, closest to honest that Thailand has ever had and ever will have. My hope now is that Thaksin's Pueau Thai party is defeated in the next election. Does Thaksin & his lackeys in the north have enough money to pay millions of Thais to vote for the Pueau Thai Party (Thaksin) and have him fly his private jet back? I can only hope that enough educated voters have seen, especially with the blood, the attacks on the hospital and other dispicable acts of Thaksin's troops, that for the good of Thailand, we do not want these thugs controlling the country.

[ETatBKK]

About 2,000 red shirts from Khon Kaen pass through Ayutthaya checkpoint

About 2,000 red-shirt people from Khon Kaen travelling on over 200 pick-up trucks reached the Ayutthaya checkpoint at 7 am.

Troops let the trucks pass through after they searched the vehicles and did not find any weapon.

Talking about not being in control of a situation - who gave the order to let them through ?

The state of emergency forbids gatherings of more than 5 - ???????

This is total incompetence

They should have been stopped - and arrested if they refused to return to where they came from

There seems to be no control over the situation left what so ever

What can the army do other than check for the existence of weapons? There's too many to arrest and they can't expect them to go home if they are told to turn around.

While all this is happening it's costing somebody more and more...

simply confiscate the cars and have buses available to take them home. When cars or trucks are used in an illegal act, the law is clear on this subject and that it is an illegal act during a state of emergency is also clear.

Also, the army must have by now established some detention/processing camps outside of Bangkok to deal with a very large number of arrested if a clampdown is going to happen. Simply dispersing the crowd will not work, they will just re-group and cause havoc.

Only in camps like this will it be possible to sort the buffalo from the snakes - the rice farmer from the terrorist - and deal with them as needed

Herm points out the most important aspect of the issue - incomptence !

that applies to the police, the army and whatever the security forces !

IF these action units perform their duties well, the 'pain' will be deep but short, and won't go through all the silly things like searching the Chulaongkorn Hospital :-(

[ETatBKK]

Well prepared preventive measures for rally-affected schools at Ratchaprasong clarified

BANGKOK, 8 May 2010 (NNT) – The Ministry of Education has prepared measures to facilitate students in term of safety and convenience before the new school semester starts on 11 May.

Education Minister Chinnaworn Boonyakiat disclosed to a local news agency that the measures were now ready to deal with all rally-related incidents because the ministry had constantly called relevant units to the meeting for thoroughly discussing the prepared measures in all focal points including school's duty guard preparation and entrance and exit arrangement in order to ensure the highest safety level and reliability for the students because some schools in the neighborhood of the gathering might start their new semester on 11 May.

Mr Chinnaworn also stated that the parents and the lecturers could make immediate contact when the emergency situation occurred while the students would be taught on how to solve all facing problems when they were under intense pressure from unexpected incidents.

sadly, there are very high deferment rate for the schools and the universities around the Silom / Limipini area. I mean so high that it is more than 20% ! not from the students, but from the parents and they call in everyday and ask for the details of deferment !

whatever safety and security measure in place, is not the point of discussion. parents won't feel safe to let their kids to schools. full stop.

another big panelty of the red rally

[Redsunset]

Shouldn't the protest be getting smaller, not bigger? If the reds really want to participate in the roadmap they should start going home, not calling for a million people to join them in Bangkok (I know they will never get that many). Letting more people into the protest is just another massive failure by the police. You'd think they'd be motivated to get things under control after last night.

For every day that the red shirts stay at Ratchaprasong after tomorrow, the election date should be pushed back two days.

Speaking of which, why are MORE red shirts streaming INTO Bangkok? Didn't they agree to move OUT of Bangkok? Something fishy is going on.

Yes.. but it is not fishy... it is obviously threatening the government: "If you do not follow our counter roadmap, which we will unveil soon, we will not leave, so you better agree with it."

See, this whole gamesmanship is for the birds.... I say put Prayuth in charge and let him disperse the protesters..... if you build up their numbers, that will be harder to do... this is why Abhisit is so dam_n indecisive.... he just can't force a decision through... if he cannot, he should resign, really... just go....

[ETatBKK]

folks, when groups of people start using M-16's, M-79's, grenades and bombs, this is either terrorism or cival war, plain and simple. a rose by any other name is still a rose.

You obviously know who to blame, so why don't you tell the police who is behind the random attacks? There is motives for various "unknowns" on both sides to disturb the fragile peace we've seen since Abhisit announced his roadmap.

Your dictionary must have a different meaning for "Random". Attacks have been widespread, against army, against police, politicians homes, banks, government offices, army bases, BTS station - but strangely NOT ONE has hit the red camp or Lumpini Park. that to me rules out random.

And before any red apologist comes back with "false flag" attacks to discredit the reds; with that number of attacks, a false flag would be dangerously close to having changed sides, don't you think?

aha . . . from the short history of last 6 to 7 weeks, we all learn the real meaning of denial, apology and all the 'false flag'

even worst, it may suggest to us that 'it will come again'

[noahvail]

Mods, if you find this inappropriate, feel free to delete - which I guess you would

I haven't seen this posted before, and I'm only thinking out loud here...

The desire of the government and others is to disperse the red shirts.

The main red shirt main camp is surrounded by stacks of tyres they have erected, some of which reportedly have kerosene in them. If, after carefully checking the wind, the army were to send in some troops with flame-throwers and light three sides of the tyre wall, it would force the protesters out through the open fourth side (assuming there are four sides, there may be six or seven, but the basic assertion remains). It would make breathing difficult for many, but that is preferable to taking a bullet or shrapnel.

At the same time, put a gauntlet of several thousand soldiers with gas masks outside the fire-free side to check for weapons and then move the people into waiting buses, and take them to a soccer stadium; there they can get treatment for smoke inhalation, and line up for buses to take them back home, whether that is Issan or Bangkok.

Then the fire department can move in and foam the tyres. It would no doubt take several days to ensure the fire is completely out - tyre fires are very nasty - but if the red shirts were going to torch them anyway, this is a way to control the fire so that people can escape with their lives.

This takes also takes away the threat by the red shirts against the armed forces, which would have them crashing through a wall of blazing tyres, sharpened bamboo sticks, and razor wire.

A couple hours of misery versus death by bullets from both sides? Perhaps a bit Machiavellian, but since it appears the government will have to use force to disperse the reds, would this be a chance to do so with the minimum of casualties?

I certainly don't know. Better minds than mine exist on TV, and I'd really like to hear what you have to say....of course, constructive criticism only, please.

[granuaile]

Shouldn't the protest be getting smaller, not bigger? If the reds really want to participate in the roadmap they should start going home, not calling for a million people to join them in Bangkok (I know they will never get that many). Letting more people into the protest is just another massive failure by the police. You'd think they'd be motivated to get things under control after last night.

For every day that the red shirts stay at Ratchaprasong after tomorrow, the election date should be pushed back two days.

Speaking of which, why are MORE red shirts streaming INTO Bangkok? Didn't they agree to move OUT of Bangkok? Something fishy is going on.

Yes.. but it is not fishy... it is obviously threatening the government: "If you do not follow our counter roadmap, which we will unveil soon, we will not leave, so you better agree with it."

See, this whole gamesmanship is for the birds.... I say put Prayuth in charge and let him disperse the protesters..... if you build up their numbers, that will be harder to do... this is why Abhisit is so dam_n indecisive.... he just can't force a decision through... if he cannot, he should resign, really... just go....

I see, so the redshirt leaders once again demonstrate that they are liars and incompetents. If they refuse to leave the PM has indicated that he will continue the roadmap without new elections, which I believe to be a good thing - tackling the social issues without caving to the demands of the terrorist redshirts. Hopefully that will also send a signal to the military that something needs to be done,...

Say no to redshirt fascism and thuggery....!!!

[bkkbrad]

The redshirts are on the verge of getting what they want. It is more much likely that it is someone else who wants to disrupt the peacetrain.

Agreed.

It didn't take long for the conspiracy theorists to gather.

Wake up and smell the coffee...there are rogue elements within the reds camp that the leaders have no control over as has been seen previously with grenade attacks to the Silom BTS station and the hideous incursion of Chulalongkorn hospital.

[lannarebirth]

The redshirts are on the verge of getting what they want. It is more much likely that it is someone else who wants to disrupt the peacetrain.

Agreed.

It didn't take long for the conspiracy theorists to gather.

Wake up and smell the coffee...there are rogue elements within the reds camp that the leaders have no control over as has been seen previously with grenade attacks to the Silom BTS station and the hideous incursion of Chulalongkorn hospital.

That's probably so but their continued presence at Rajprasong provides cover for these elements. Dispersal will either send them packing or flush them out.

[Old Man River]

Shouldn't the protest be getting smaller, not bigger? If the reds really want to participate in the roadmap they should start going home, not calling for a million people to join them in Bangkok (I know they will never get that many). Letting more people into the protest is just another massive failure by the police. You'd think they'd be motivated to get things under control after last night.

For every day that the red shirts stay at Ratchaprasong after tomorrow, the election date should be pushed back two days.

Speaking of which, why are MORE red shirts streaming INTO Bangkok? Didn't they agree to move OUT of Bangkok? Something fishy is going on.

Yes.. but it is not fishy... it is obviously threatening the government: "If you do not follow our counter roadmap, which we will unveil soon, we will not leave, so you better agree with it."

See, this whole gamesmanship is for the birds.... I say put Prayuth in charge and let him disperse the protesters..... if you build up their numbers, that will be harder to do... this is why Abhisit is so dam_n indecisive.... he just can't force a decision through... if he cannot, he should resign, really... just go....

I think you are right.

I would never say that the people I talk to make up the prevailing thought for all of Bangkok. That would be ludicrous. However, for sure, there are a load of people in Bangkok who feel embarrassed to see their favorite government bow down and kiss the feet of those who threatened to burn the city down, and then brought no more than a tenth of what they said and were still able to take over 2 square miles of the city center, pour blood on the PM's front gate, shoot army officials, kill innocent citizens, over run two hospitals stealing dead bodies and scaring innocent sick people, kidnap heads of companies, piss and crap in the streets, and make bamboo and tire barricades that blocked off major thoroughfares. The Reds may have won this battle, but there are now deep rooted hatreds that never existed in the past. This thing isn't over by a long shot.