Shots, blasts as protest rivals clash on Thai election eve

[pbeukelm]

Hitler'a army also was a regular army, very disciplined and under control of politicians. Most people focus too much on labels and too little on principles. In principle their is no difference between a hit man and a soldier. Both kill people on request for money. Give it whatever name you want.

[pbeukelm]

The label anti government protesters is silly. They are not anti government, they just want different rulers. Some want the yellow whip, others want to be lashed with the red whip, that's the difference. No one wants liberty.

[Emptyset]

To expand on the PDRC cowardice. They first hid behind portraits of HM, then wrapped themselves in the flag. Then they marched behind the ICRC flag and now they are wearing press armbands and endangering the press. most of whome are not fascists.

Few truck loads of armed PRDC also filmed leaving asoke area to go and help them.

Will the army come in on the right side this time, of will they defend Suthep down to his last man?

PDRC guys in the stills are quite cleary Army and the pics circulating wildely so some one will out them tonight for sure. Seen the pic all over facebook. wife got it on pantipcom and its all over twitter... oh and here. they are forces and need to be outed.

Shock Horror!! The PDRC have weapons!!!

Evil Men, criminals, terrorists, thugs, fascists, murderers.

Of course, everyone fails to mention the nightly attacks on their protest sites by REAL cowards, the assassination of one of their leaders, and the apparent torture and murder of one of their supporters.

The very people employed to stop these acts, the police have done absolutely nothing, so who should be surprised if the protesters are armed and willing to protect themselves.

Certainly Pipkins won't be spreading the word on the crimes committed by his beloved red shirts.

That torture could've been done by the PDRC themselves. No one knows for sure but it's as plausible as blaming the other side. I certainly don't support the nightly attacks* - they should be dispersed by the police for their own safety and that of others (as their leadership is clearly unwilling to negotiate). Or at least moved to a less disruptive area. If they were peacefully protesting in a park, there wouldn't be any attacks. Problem is, as you've seen, should police try to disperse them, you're going to have a situation akin to that of 2010. Could be a train wreck of similarly monumental proportions, with many dead on both sides. Police would have no choice but to deploy snipers and the like. So what is to be done?

*Though if you read Shawn Crispin's latest article, it may be more complicated than simply pointing the finger at the red shirts. Apparently mafia elements may be involved. Not sure how much creedence I give that, but it's certainly the case there could well be more than two groups involved.

I'm staying firmly out of this bun-fight of hysterical accusations, but really? That the protesters after shooting themselves, throwing grenades at themselves now are torturing themselves?

This situation is messy enough without farang adding to it and whipping the hysteria even higher.

Stay safe everyone, yes even you shit-flingers.

I didn't accuse the PDRC - but then I didn't accuse the government side either. The reason I think it possible relates to precisely the fact that police think he was hung up and tortured before being shot. I related that to the reports of alleged torture carried out by PDRC guards on those they believed to be red shirt spies:

This is a quote by man who says he is a garbage collector who was caught by PDRC guards who erroneously took him to be a red shirt infiltrator:

“After that in the afternoon, I was taken to Chatuchak Park, where there was a group of five to six men. They talked about whether to kill me or let me go. It seemed they had done a background check on me. They may have thought I am not really a trouble maker. However, I was beaten up until I lost consciousness again. Then they released me at the back of Rot Fai Park.”

“I thought I would be killed. If I had died, I wouldn’t have had to be tortured.”

http://www.prachatai.com/english/node/3845

Note both of these guys are from the NE. You'll also probably know that the PDRC guards are extremely paranoid about this Koh Tee fellow who's known as a bit of a rabble rouser and troublemaker. The guy who was found dead was from the NE, had a criminal record (according to the police) and worked as a labourer around BKK. Sounds like one of Koh Tee's boys - or at least someone the guards might suspect to be one of Koh Tee's boys.

Anyway, that's what led me to conclude that the PDRC *could* be responsible yet I realize there are several other possibilities which may be just as plausible. I didn't accuse them though, but given the above I thought it was worth discussing as a possibility instead of automatically assuming the red shirts or police were behind it. Also, I'm not one of those who believes the PDRC are shooting and bombing themselves. I did consider the possibility of a third hand briefly, but it became apparent to me it was just too much for that to be the case. I think there might be more than just two groups involved in the violence though.

[Cricketnut]

Quite clearly here you can see the PDRC guy has a gun hidden in a bag.... So peaceful arn't they.

We been saying for weeks, there is a group of armed masked men marching with Suthep and there to protect him and the mob. Video of the day this and had a great outing on Twitter as well. Which means Reauters, AFP, BBC. All seen Sutheps peacuful protesters not obstructing polls.

Make is so much harder for the army to coup now. This video speaks a million words about this disgusting spectacle of a mob let loose in Bangkok by the Elites in order to get at their prize. Which is also out in the open now.

Yes, a PDRC man with a rifle hidden in a bag firing at red shirts.

By the way they were moving, one behind the other, the man behind spotting for the shooter, they look military trained in my opinion.

PDRC appear well armed, but then, they have lots of money behind them and powerful figures preventing the police from arresting them or taking action against them

All in my opinion of course.

Can I ask how you know for certain that was PDRC?

Sent from my XT1032 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Don't embarrass yourself anymore. The Green arm bands and head bands, the flags stage truck and and. the reporters who shot the footage were with the PDRC side.

Please do read more off Nation news. and by that I don't mean bluesky.

Ignorance can be bliss through the perception of a foogy mind.

Sent from my i-mobile i-STYLE 8.2 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[tonytigerbkk]

Another video, it looks like a rear guard for Sutheps lot threw bombs and fired shots at the pro-democracy protestors. We know the gunman was with the Suthep group, and we know he has a modern army weapon.

Here is another video showing the shot man. Yes he is a pro-democracy one.

(girl)"elder don't go anywhere"

"he's hiding in the box in the middle of the road"

(man)"police police up there up there"

(girl)"ours got shot" (I think she's pro-democracy)

(girl) "pull him back pull him to safety"

(girl)"he hide in the box on the middle of the road"

(girl)"the box middle of the road, he there"

(shot) (shot) (shot)

(guy 3:00) "on the bridge on the bridge"

(man)"call the ambulance, ambulance"

(girl) "hey don't move it yet"

can you please explain exactly what this video is supposed to prove?! one person (presumably red-shirt), hiding behind a car, recording 4 minutes of video of absolutely nothing, and a 30 second dialog of a rumour told by someone else hiding and seeing (or knowing) absolutely nothing for sure. i do not choose a side in this situation (actually i choose neither), but this posting was just a waste of space and a post count boost .

Very near the one and only International in Bangkok. You can even hear a jet landing in the back ground.

Still safe for Farang tourist? You decide yourself.

The Tollway on top will be closed soon (said protest leader yesterday), so the only way to get to/from the only International in Bangkok is the one that appears on the clip.

Have you ever been to Thailand?

The International airport is Suvarnabhumi Airport in Samutprakarn, which is nowhere near Lak Si.

The nearest airport to Lak Si is Don Muang, which ceased to operate as the International airport when Suvarnabhumi Airport was opened in September 2006.

[lovetotravel]

There are more people WANTING to vote than there are protesters trying to stop the vote, and you can be sure there are some short tempered, prone to violence Thai among the larger group, which DOES NOT categorically make them Red Shirts, as some on here with their biased, prejudicial beliefs seem to automatically brand them as.

The poll that just came out showed the majority did not want an election right now. It was in the Post.

Poll of 100 from Chinatown & a hi so neighborhood?

It was an ABAC poll. Trying to find a source other than the Post. I think it was several thousand who were polled. Hardly in one area. But it did show a majority in Bangkok didn't feel the vote was appropriate right now.

[Bluespunk]

Steady there people, you pro Suthep nutjobs cannot start coming out and defending the very thing youve been accusing reds of doing along with all your outraged rhetoric .... two wrongs to not make it right ... im sicked to see the mamby pamby peace claiming shills here now attempting to justify full on terrorist activity..

This is 2014 NOT 2010 and your BS of peaceful protests here has been going out the window week by week, incident by Gestapo guard incident ... now its totally blown have the decency to accept your peaceful lot are just as bad and violent as the reds were..

Some of you hypocrites make me sick, sitting there behind your keyboards tying to defend these killers ... pathetic. They will not kill democracy the people will not let them and for that they are shot and still some try to justify it... disgusting

good night and stay safe during the elections

The problem is that a lot of the pro PT posters here have been defending violence against the protesters, who on the main are not any of the stream of abusive terms they have been labeled with (terrorist, murderers, anti-democratic). They want change and an end to corruption. They may be going about it the wrong way but they do not deserve the violent campaign launched by those who oppose them.

Any on the anti-govt side who are involved in violence should be prosecuted but do should those cowards who have been terrorising the protesters at night and during the day. The majority of the violence has been carried out by these cowards, not the protestets and the majotity of the victims have also been the protesters

Also to say the protesters carried out the attacks on themselves to get the army involved/gain sympathy when the truth is nothing like that or that they wouldn't have been harmed if they weren't there is rank BS.

Condemn in equal measure all violence or condemn none.

[oldsailor35]

What lovely friendly gentle PDRC SCUM !

[LomSak27]

Where is the Police and the Army?

Having a whiskey or three

[bkkjames]

What lovely friendly gentle PDRC SCUM !

Exactly, just like the one's who murdered one of their leaders last week right. I assume you forgot this part so I took the liberty of putting it in for you.

[Farma]

The nearest airport to Lak Si is Don Muang, which ceased to operate as the International airport when Suvarnabhumi Airport was opened in September 2006.

@ tonytigerbkk

Don Muang currently operates as an international airport for low cost airlines.

[Suriya4]

Something interesting from last night's shooting on Chaeng Wattana that might provide some information for the "Tavor v shotgun" debate. This is the photo of the "apprehended" shooter. The weapon looks like it could easily fit in that bag.

https://twitter.com/Nalinee_PLE/status/429701058906951680/photo/1

Surely the guy shooting at Chaeng Wattana was presumably anti-anti-govt right... doesn't seem likely it'd be the same guy. Anyway, I thought people were pretty certain it was an M16 given the guy next to him is pictured carrying an M16 clip.

Is is a Tavor clip, and Tavor spent cartridge.

Confirm from Google Image search.

[Soi Dog]

In most countries that allow elections, voting is an act of civic responsibility. In Thailand it has become an act of courage and, ultimately, futility.

[LomSak27]

Protest leader said it wasn't them - but video shows they fired first it seems. Not nice.

well after the tossed a grenade and killed their own supporter, its not like this is unexpected

[tezzainoz]

To expand on the PDRC cowardice. They first hid behind portraits of HM, then wrapped themselves in the flag. Then they marched behind the ICRC flag and now they are wearing press armbands and endangering the press. most of whome are not fascists.

Few truck loads of armed PRDC also filmed leaving asoke area to go and help them.

Will the army come in on the right side this time, of will they defend Suthep down to his last man?

PDRC guys in the stills are quite cleary Army and the pics circulating wildely so some one will out them tonight for sure. Seen the pic all over facebook. wife got it on pantipcom and its all over twitter... oh and here. they are forces and need to be outed.

Yes my friend today there are many blind fools who are demanding their right to vote

But what are they voting for ?

How can you vote for democracy. When their is only 1 party to vote for

Todays vote is for democracy or dictatorship

If today you vote in a government that has no opposition only one party in power it is a dictatorship not democracy

The protestors have learnt

you can good some Thais all of the time

But you can no fool all Thais all of the time

[Suriya4]

Another video, it looks like a rear guard for Sutheps lot threw bombs and fired shots at the pro-democracy protestors. We know the gunman was with the Suthep group, and we know he has a modern army weapon.

Here is another video showing the shot man. Yes he is a pro-democracy one.

(girl)"elder don't go anywhere"

"he's hiding in the box in the middle of the road"

(man)"police police up there up there"

(girl)"ours got shot" (I think she's pro-democracy)

(girl) "pull him back pull him to safety"

(girl)"he hide in the box on the middle of the road"

(girl)"the box middle of the road, he there"

(shot) (shot) (shot)

(guy 3:00) "on the bridge on the bridge"

(man)"call the ambulance, ambulance"

(girl) "hey don't move it yet"

can you please explain exactly what this video is supposed to prove?! one person (presumably red-shirt), hiding behind a car, recording 4 minutes of video of absolutely nothing, and a 30 second dialog of a rumour told by someone else hiding and seeing (or knowing) absolutely nothing for sure. i do not choose a side in this situation (actually i choose neither), but this posting was just a waste of space and a post count boost .

Very near the one and only International in Bangkok. You can even hear a jet landing in the back ground.

Still safe for Farang tourist? You decide yourself.

The Tollway on top will be closed soon (said protest leader yesterday), so the only way to get to/from the only International in Bangkok is the one that appears on the clip.

Have you ever been to Thailand?

The International airport is Suvarnabhumi Airport in Samutprakarn, which is nowhere near Lak Si.

The nearest airport to Lak Si is Don Muang, which ceased to operate as the International airport when Suvarnabhumi Airport was opened in September 2006.

Have you been to Thailand? I just flew in from India last week. India part of Thailand? My flight was 100% international (not domestic).

There is only 1, and only 1 airport in Bangkok. It is in Don Muang district of Bangkok.

DMK fly to All 12 ASEAN countires PLUS India, Sir Lanka, Bangladesh, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan. I am talking scheduled commercial flights, and have not counted privet chartered.

Number of passengers in 2013 is 15,562,753 (source from Wiki). Yes, MORE than a million a month/

http://donmueangairportthai.com/

Suvarnabhumi Airport is in Samutprakarn province. You said it yourself. Samutprakarn province is NOT Bangkok. Here is a wiki link to prove you are wong http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samut_Prakan_Province

[RKASA]

take away people's basic human rights and you can expect a backlash

most of the world fights FOR elections - and Thailand fights to STOP them

Your words show your ignorance of the situation.

Human rights are an abstract (and modern) concept created by the a few countries in the West. There is no such thing as human rights!

I'm sure you're not concerned overly with so called human rights when you're hiring a woman.

"There is no such thing as human rights!"

Now you see the true color of a Suthep fascist follower. How does your ignorance allow you to assume another hires women - odds maybe, but more assuming from a point of hate toward another group is at its core reason you state that assumption as fact - more likely some rooted race thing going on in your head.

All people are born with equal rights - not just in the west ether - it is people like you that F--- it up later.

[belg]

and where is the police ??????????????????????

[Boxclever]

A nice summary shot, showing the various shooters where they were in the PDRC mob. Looks like the man behing the box can be matched too.

Connects all the shooters to the PDRC mob.

At least a few of these gunmen and spotters/aids are ex or current paramilitary. Very damning and sad to see

Former Tahaan Phran from the South perhaps? Certainly this guy looks like he's not seen active service for a while:

Looks pretty armless to me...

[whybother]

What lovely friendly gentle PDRC SCUM !

And what about the pro-government people shooting at them?

[zydeco]

CNN

• NEW: At least six are wounded, medical center says
• At least eight gunmen emerge from the ranks of the anti-government protests
• They open fire for about 30 minutes toward police and pro-government demonstrators
• Elections kick off Sunday, but anti-government protesters want to stop them

well, if CNN said it then it MUST be true!

CNN

ABC

SBS

AFP

REUTERS

BBC

Don't know about AFP, but all the others were cheerleading the invasion of Iraq because of all those WMDs. Yep, they have a monopoly on truth and must always be listened to as if they are the word of God.

[bkkjames]

What lovely friendly gentle PDRC SCUM !

And what about the pro-government people shooting at them?

Old one eye has his point of view WB.

[whybother]

Have you been to Thailand? I just flew in from India last week. India part of Thailand? My flight was 100% international (not domestic).

There is only 1, and only 1 airport in Bangkok. It is in Don Muang district of Bangkok.

DMK fly to All 12 ASEAN countires PLUS India, Sir Lanka, Bangladesh, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan. I am talking scheduled commercial flights, and have not counted privet chartered.

Number of passengers in 2013 is 15,562,753 (source from Wiki). Yes, MORE than a million a month/

http://donmueangairportthai.com/

Suvarnabhumi Airport is in Samutprakarn province. You said it yourself. Samutprakarn province is NOT Bangkok. Here is a wiki link to prove you are wong http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samut_Prakan_Province

Suvarnabhumi is Bangkok's main international airport. Don Muang is Bangkok's second international airport.

More than 45 million people fly into Bangkok through Suvarnabhumi. Saying that Don Muang is Bangkok's only international airport is not really true.

[tonytigerbkk]

Very near the one and only International in Bangkok. You can even hear a jet landing in the back ground.

Still safe for Farang tourist? You decide yourself.

The Tollway on top will be closed soon (said protest leader yesterday), so the only way to get to/from the only International in Bangkok is the one that appears on the clip.

Have you ever been to Thailand?

The International airport is Suvarnabhumi Airport in Samutprakarn, which is nowhere near Lak Si.

The nearest airport to Lak Si is Don Muang, which ceased to operate as the International airport when Suvarnabhumi Airport was opened in September 2006.

Have you been to Thailand? I just flew in from India last week. India part of Thailand? My flight was 100% international (not domestic).

There is only 1, and only 1 airport in Bangkok. It is in Don Muang district of Bangkok.

DMK fly to All 12 ASEAN countires PLUS India, Sir Lanka, Bangladesh, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan. I am talking scheduled commercial flights, and have not counted privet chartered.

Number of passengers in 2013 is 15,562,753 (source from Wiki). Yes, MORE than a million a month/

http://donmueangairportthai.com/

Suvarnabhumi Airport is in Samutprakarn province. You said it yourself. Samutprakarn province is NOT Bangkok. Here is a wiki link to prove you are wong http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samut_Prakan_Province

Technically, yes Suvarnabhumi Airport is in Samutprakarn but it is just on the border of Bangkok, in fact it is so close that it is also called Bangkok International Airport.

Ask any local where Bangkok International Airport is and they will direct you to Suvarnabhumi.

In fact it is even stated in the link that you posted.

Granted, international flights do operate from Don Muang but only very few (your passenger numbers are flawed as most of these are from domestic flights).

In your post you try to twist the facts by asking whether it is still safe for Farang tourist by making it sound like they will have to run the gauntlet after getting out of the airport, when in reality only a tiny percentage of Farangs enter the Kingdom through Don Muang

Have I been to Thailand? Well I have lived here for 17 years, so that would be a yes.

Edited February 2, 2014 by tonytigerbkk

[BlueNoseCodger]

sheesh... make that 300 deletions

What's your vested interest in censorship?

Makes no difference to me.

Your issue is with Forum Admin.

I just want to save posters from wasting their time posting unsourced and copyrighted photos and those replying to those posts, as they are all destined for deletion, as they have in other threads.

But it's cameraphone footage, and the official press is largely made of other people's camera phone footage too, so not their copyright and the people who distributed it, want it distributed.

Rubbish. You hope they will censors all this evidence, showing Suthep's mob shooting and throwing bombs.

Edited February 2, 2014 by BlueNoseCodger

[mikemac]

All you clowns who are getting your jollies over the anti-government protesters arming themselves want taking out the back and flogging.

What do you expect them to do when attacked by the murderous red scum ? Throw bananas ? Grow a brain between you if that is at all possible. Any Thai people who read your stupid comments would be justified in not liking foreigners.

[tx22cb]

CNN

• NEW: At least six are wounded, medical center says
• At least eight gunmen emerge from the ranks of the anti-government protests
• They open fire for about 30 minutes toward police and pro-government demonstrators
• Elections kick off Sunday, but anti-government protesters want to stop them

well, if CNN said it then it MUST be true!

CNN

ABC

SBS

AFP

REUTERS

BBC

Don't know about AFP, but all the others were cheerleading the invasion of Iraq because of all those WMDs. Yep, they have a monopoly on truth and must always be listened to as if they are the word of God.

Should we wait to see what BlueSky says then? If they had an English soundtrack, we might be able to do so.

Besides, not all foreign media were "cheerleading the invasion of Iraq because of all those WMDs". The media were reporting what the US & UK govts were saying - the media were the messengers for the most part.

The Thai mainstream channels do not seem to show a lot of these clips - and virtually no probing questions asked. Plus they are in Thai.

We have to rely on the foreign media, or various websites, to get the news.

[whybother]

sheesh... make that 300 deletions

What's your vested interest in censorship?

Makes no difference to me.

Your issue is with Forum Admin.

I just want to save posters from wasting their time posting unsourced and copyrighted photos and those replying to those posts, as they are all destined for deletion, as they have in other threads.

But it's cameraphone footage, and the official press is largely made of other people's camera phone footage too, so not their copyright and the people who distributed it, want it distributed.

Rubbish. You hope they will censors all this evidence, showing Suthep's mob shooting and throwing bombs.

Who was shooting at and throwing bombs at the anti-government protesters?

[simondan]

Government by chaos. Its a sad joke.

[kimamey]

Have you been to Thailand? I just flew in from India last week. India part of Thailand? My flight was 100% international (not domestic).

There is only 1, and only 1 airport in Bangkok. It is in Don Muang district of Bangkok.

DMK fly to All 12 ASEAN countires PLUS India, Sir Lanka, Bangladesh, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan. I am talking scheduled commercial flights, and have not counted privet chartered.

Number of passengers in 2013 is 15,562,753 (source from Wiki). Yes, MORE than a million a month/

http://donmueangairportthai.com/

Suvarnabhumi Airport is in Samutprakarn province. You said it yourself. Samutprakarn province is NOT Bangkok. Here is a wiki link to prove you are wong http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samut_Prakan_Province

Suvarnabhumi is Bangkok's main international airport. Don Muang is Bangkok's second international airport.

More than 45 million people fly into Bangkok through Suvarnabhumi. Saying that Don Muang is Bangkok's only international airport is not really true.

Actually it's completely untrue. Don Muang is supposed to be domestic only but I think they're using it while Suvarnabhumi is running over capacity. I assume it will change back once Suvarnabhumi is extended. Of course the current events are probably taking some of that problem away.

I don't know how this affects the airport as it's outside the city but there may be problems with access.

I always fly into Suvarnabhumi and did so on December 26th and my sister and her husband are arriving on Thursday to the Land of Smiles.

Edited February 2, 2014 by kimamey