Thailand Live Saturday 1 Feb 2014

[george]

[george]

Clashes grip Thai capital on eve of vote; 7 hurt

BANGKOK (AP) — Gunfire rang out across a busy intersection in Thailand's capital for more than an hour Saturday as protesters and government supporters clashed on the eve of tense nationwide elections. At least seven people were wounded, including an American photojournalist.

People caught up in the mayhem crouched behind cars and ducked on a pedestrian bridge while others fled inside a nearby shopping mall. Several masked gunmen wearing armored vests bent down under a highway overpass as one of them fired a weapon concealed in a sack.

The confrontation began after a group of pro-government supporters marched to a district office in the northern Bangkok suburb of Laksi. The office, which housed ballot boxes, had been surrounded by protesters who have been trying to derail Sunday's vote.

As gunfire rattled the area and people screamed in fear, an enraged mob of pro-government supporters wielding huge sticks smashed the windshields of a car carrying protesters that sped away. The two sides also fought with rocks and firecrackers. Associated Press journalists saw a gunman firing an assault rifle, and another firing a pistol as he lay on his stomach on the road.

According to the city's emergency services, at least six Thais were wounded, including a reporter for the local Daily News newspaper. An American photojournalist, James Nachtwey, was grazed by a bullet in the leg.

The violence is part of a monthslong struggle being waged by protesters who have seized half a dozen major intersections in Bangkok and are trying to overthrow Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's beleaguered government, which they accuse of corruption.

At least 10 people have been killed and nearly 600 wounded since late last year. The latest flash point is Sunday's election, which the protesters oppose because they say they want reforms first and that it will do nothing to end the crisis.

There has been almost no campaigning, and none of the traditional contests between candidates vying for office.

Instead, the vote is shaping up as a battle of wills between protesters and the government — and those caught in between who insist on their civil rights. On one side are demonstrators who say they want to suspend the country's fragile democracy to institute anti-corruption reforms, and on the other, Yingluck's supporters and civilians who know the election will do little to solve the nation's crisis but insist the right to vote should not be taken away.

"How did we get to this point?" asked Chanida Pakdeebanchasak, a 28-year-old Bangkok resident who was determined to cast her ballot Sunday no matter what happens. "Since when does going to vote mean you don't love the country?"

The protesters, a minority that cannot win power at the polls, are demanding the government be replaced by an unelected council that would implement political and electoral reforms to combat deep-seated problems of corruption and money politics. Yingluck has refused to step down, arguing she is open to reform and such a council would be unconstitutional.

In the run-up to Sunday's vote, Thailand's muted capital has been gripped by a palpable sense of dread and uncertainty over whether demonstrators will physically block voters from getting inside polling centers. Campaign posters bearing Yingluck's images have been ripped apart and punched through, defaced with a blunt message: "Get Out."

Although unrest already hit Bangkok and polling stations may not open in some parts of the south if ballot materials don't arrive in time, voting is expected to proceed smoothly in most of the country.

Police said they will deploy 100,000 officers nationwide, while the army is putting 5,000 soldiers in Bangkok to boost security. More than 47 million people are registered to vote.

Whatever happens, the outcome will almost certainly be inconclusive. Because protesters have already blocked candidate registration in some districts, Parliament will not have enough members to convene. That means Yingluck will be unable to form a government or even pass a budget, and Thailand will be stuck in political limbo for months as by-elections are run in constituencies that were unable to vote.

A power vacuum may entice the military to step in and declare a coup as it did in 2006, when Yingluck's elder brother, ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, was deposed. Thaksin lives in exile but has remained a central — and highly polarizing — figure in Thailand's political strife ever since. The rural majority in the north adore him for his populist policies, such as virtually free health care, while Bangkok's elite and many in the south consider him and his family a corrupting influence on the country. Protesters say Yingluck is a puppet of her billionaire brother.

Another possibility is what is being called a "judicial coup." Analysts say the courts and the country's independent oversight agencies all tilt heavily against the Shinawatras' political machine, and Yingluck's opponents are already studying legal justifications to nullify Sunday's vote.

"I think probably we are moving toward a judicial coup of some sort," said Chris Baker, a Bangkok-based political analyst and writer. "I think we are moving toward a position in which some part of the judicial machinery, be it the Anti-Corruption Commission, the Constitutional Court, some combination of this, will somehow bring down this government."

The protests began in earnest late last year after the ruling party tried to push through an amnesty bill that would have allowed Thaksin to return from exile.

Desperate to defuse the crisis, Yingluck dissolved the lower house of Parliament in December and called new elections. But protests only intensified, and Yingluck — now a caretaker prime minister with limited powers — has found herself increasingly cornered. Thai courts have begun fast-tracking cases that could see Yingluck or her party banished from power, and the army has pointedly left open the possibility of intervening again if the crisis is not resolved peacefully.

-- AP 2014-02-01

[george]

UPDATE
Shots, blasts as protest rivals clash on Thai election eve

by William DAVIES

BANGKOK, February 1, 2014 (AFP) - Explosions and heavy gunfire rattled Bangkok Saturday as pro- and anti-government protesters clashed on the eve of controversial Thai elections seen as unlikely to end a cycle of violence in the kingdom after months of opposition rallies.

Bystanders, security personnel and journalists raced to take cover in a shopping mall after a masked gunman man began spraying bullets from an assault rifle during confrontations between government supporters and opposition demonstrators, according to an AFP reporter.

At least six people were injured as a busy intersection in a northern suburb of the capital was turned into a battle zone with volleys of sustained gunfire ricocheting off buildings for over an hour in a daylight attack that sent shockwaves across the city.

Tensions are high in the capital ahead of snap elections on Sunday, which opposition demonstrators have vowed to block as they seek to prevent the likely re-election of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
Bangkok has been rocked by weeks of sometimes bloody political violence during rallies by a loose coalition opposed to Yingluck and the enduring influence of her brother Thaksin Shinawatra -- a former premier ousted by the military in 2006.

Saturday's clashes happened after demonstrators blocking ballot boxes from being delivered from the Lak Si district office -- one of 50 in the capital -- were confronted by a group of some 200 government supporters, some armed with sticks and metal bars.

At least two explosions were heard in the area before the firing began.

"The clash point is the intersection, gun shots seemed to be fired from both sides," said Sunai Phasuk, a senior researcher with New York-based Human Rights Watch, who was at the scene.

He said a reporter was among the injured.

The firing started after talks between the rival groups broke down in the area, which is roughly split between Yingluck's supporters and those backing the opposition protests, Sunai added.

"This is what we forecast for tomorrow. Tensions could flair up into violence very easily," he told AFP, adding that protesters had been evacuated and tensions appeared to have calmed after nightfall.

At least 10 people have been killed and hundreds injured in clashes, grenade attacks and drive-by shootings since the opposition rallies began three months ago.

The unrest is the latest round of political instability to hit Thailand since royalist generals ousted Thaksin seven years ago, unleashing a cycle of sporadically-violent street protests.

In 2010 clashes and a military crackdown on pro-Thaksin Red Shirts demonstrating against the previous government left more than 90 people dead and nearly 1,900 injured.

The backdrop to the protests is a years-long political struggle pitting the kingdom's royalist establishment -- backed by the courts and the military -- against Thaksin, a billionaire tycoon-turned-politician.
The current protesters are mainly made up of Thaksin's foes in the Bangkok middle classes and southerners, backed by factions in the elite.

They are demanding Yingluck's elected government step down to make way for an unelected "people's council" that would oversee loosely defined reforms to tackle corruption and alleged vote-buying.

"The government is corrupt. If we let the vote go on then they will come back, so we should not hold the election," said opposition protester Sirames, who gave only one name, at the Lak Si office before the violence broke out.

Yingluck's opponents say she is a puppet for her elder brother Thaksin Shinawatra, who lives in Dubai to avoid a prison term for graft.

The protests were initially triggered by a failed amnesty bill that could have allowed Thaksin to return without going to jail.

Around 130,000 police are set to protect 93,000 polling stations across the country on Sunday.
Yingluck is likely to win the poll, helped by strong support in Thaksin's north and northeastern heartlands.

But uncertainty hangs over the results, with unrest threatening polling and several constituencies without a candidate.

Authorities on Saturday said protesters were also blocking ballot boxes being delivered to polling stations across southern Thailand -- the stronghold of the opposition Democrat Party.

The elite-backed Democrats -- which has not won an elected majority in around two decades -- is boycotting the election.

Advance voting was blocked in several parts of the capital last Sunday and some 440,000 people were prevented from casting ballots. They are due to vote on February 23.


-- (c) Copyright AFP 2014-02-01

[george]

Soldiers deployed to help police handle clashes

February 1, 2014 6:01 pm

Some 150 soldiers from the 11th Infantry Regiment were deployed to support police unit in handling the clashes between red shirts and the anti-government protesters in Lak Si district on Saturday.

The combined forces will try to negotiate with both sides that have confronted each other near IT Square Center in the district, Lak Si district director Narong Jamfah said Saturday.

The protesters camped outside the Lak Si district office on Chang Wattana Road in their attempt to block delivery of ballot boxes to polling booths in the area.

The redshirts who supported the tomorrow snap election gathered from nearby areas and tried to enter the site reportedly to get out the ballot boxes from the district office.

Female and children protesters retreated into the district office buildings, leaving men and security guards at the gate.

During the confrontation, giant firecrackers were thrown into the protesters, injuring three people, including a reporter of Daily News newspaper.

A female reporter tweeted from inside a police booth near the site that somebody shot into the police booth where she and other reporters were hiding.

One of her photos showed a bullet hole at the glass window of the booth.


-- The Nation 2013=4-02-01

[george]

RT @dngbbc: Staff at Bangkok hospital tell BBC 6 wounded in #Thailand pre-election clash. 70 year old man seriously hurt.

[george]

Several TV channels report main confrontation started when PDRC reinforcements arrived from Lat Prao in close proximity to redshirts. /@terryfrd

[george]

Wild west in Bangkok. Pro shooters w/ handguns & war weapons seek to stop election. The authorities are AWOL. /CGMOOREAUTHOR

[george]

Pol Maj Gen Piya Uthayo said Criminal Court today approved arrest warrant against PDRC's Issara Somchai for obstructing advance voting.-NNA

[george]

Shocking how reports on Laksi incidents totally contradictory depending on belief. IED thrown into/out of car…

[george]

Orders from govt to poll workers: talk to protesters if they show up, but if it looks as if there will be violence, close the polling booth /@2Bangkok

[george]

Erawan center reports 7 wounded from the Laksi shooting incident, 5 men 2 women, including 1 foreigner.-@Thairath_Pol

[george]

Both pro and anti-government claim the injured seen on the ground belong to their side, nothing confirmed. /@TulipOum

[george]

"National picnic day" RT @kamonwan: Celebrities telling Thais not to go vote tomorrow and to join them for a picnic

[Lite Beer]

to continue:

Thailand Live Sunday 2 Feb 2014

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/701358-thailand-live-sunday-2-feb-2014/