Gunfire becomes new norm in Thai capital

[monkeycountry]

National security chief Paradorn Pattanathabutr: "As for the perpetrators, we still don't know who they are," he told Reuters. "Recently we have been seeing more incidents like this happening more frequently ... It is noticeable that there are incidents like this every day."

Do you care? Or were you also cheering at the red shirt stage like your fellow policemen upon hearing that children had been murdered?

[ALLSEEINGEYE]

Perhaps Paradorn can explain the complete lack of police success in apprehending the culprits.

Police are not allowed in by Suthep's guards.

The gunfire is coming from outside and directed in. The police should obviously be set up on the outside with strategic road blocks and check points to catch these cowardly child killers. The shooting goes on for hours and still the police do not respond. Most likely they are not interested in arresting their own as it would be a bit embarrassing for them.

[3NUMBAS]

sutheps cowboy army is to blame ,if they werent carrying out their thugish behavior it would be calm as usual.

you can compare Suthep to a Klingon always inciting trouble and mayhem in their neighborhood .

theres is no peace and quiet when he is around .

[lostmebike]

It shouldn't be the norm!

Red, yellows or whatever colour they are shouldn't be allowed to just terrorize each other and the innocent, general public as they are doing.

'Peaceful protests'!?!? Terrorists, all of them.

[bkk75]

sutheps cowboy army is to blame ,if they werent carrying out their thugish behavior it would be calm as usual.

you can compare Suthep to a Klingon always inciting trouble and mayhem in their neighborhood .

theres is no peace and quiet when he is around .

IF No Luck and her band of incompetent hooligans ran the country PROPERLY, no one would be supporting Suthep.

[Tanlic]

sutheps cowboy army is to blame ,if they werent carrying out their thugish behavior it would be calm as usual.

you can compare Suthep to a Klingon always inciting trouble and mayhem in their neighborhood .

theres is no peace and quiet when he is around .

IF No Luck and her band of incompetent hooligans ran the country PROPERLY, no one would be supporting Suthep.

You seem up to date onwhat's what perhaps you can answer this....If the present government washed their hands of her, her loving brother and anyone else in his pocket would any of this be happening?

That is not a statement it's a question as I know very little about what is what.

[phantomfiddler]

"We still don,t know who the shooters are" ! Well, I do, and they are not the Yellow Shirts and anti government protesters. I,m sure we all know who is behind it all, and find such behaviour repugnant but totally within character

[falangadang]

When you read all these articles on gunfire/bombings it is always someone else attacking the protesters that starts it, we are all aware the protest guards are armed but they are armed for their own safety otherwise we would be seeing multiple deaths from the assailants. Doesnt matter how our own tv reds try to paint the picture, the protesters have only ever defended themsleves, there is no shootings etc when they are left alone, it is the other side that is instigating it all yet they are totally immune to the police with no arrests as yet, why is that.

Self protection with Tavor / M16 and some pop corn

1391270679-1798141740-o.jpg

Great camouflage for the M16 by using the Popcorn Bag,.. but the black balaclava and walkie-talkie are a dead giveaway!

[unanimosity]

What a terrible headline, overly dramatic or not.

TAT will be working on it.

A hub for targets

Can just see TAT spinning this

THE GRATE ESCAPE

Crosshair tours see the sights while in the sights

Thrill as the bullets whizz past you

Gasp at the smiling corpses

Shop til you drop

Welcome to the land of smites

That's it, the new hub of "Shop Till You Drop" tours.

[OldgitTom]

The Red-Yellow fight is superficial. Never mind the surface waves & froth of events. Note the way the deeper current is pulling. Washington has arranged several 'regime changes' recently - eg., Egypt, the Ukraine, & the ongoing attempt in Syria. Mystery snipers play a common role in all. Nobody can identify the gunmen, so they stirred up the chaos & turmoil on the streets. Why? Becoz who controls oil & gas, controls the world. Thailand has aligned with ASEAN economically, which is tied-in with the BRICS trade group (Asia-Pacific nations). BRICS is attempting to break away from US dollar domination, which is ultimately, only based on the petro-dollar. The Big Oil/Gas cartel is not happy. Watch out for regime change coming your way, Thailand.

[unanimosity]

sutheps cowboy army is to blame ,if they werent carrying out their thugish behavior it would be calm as usual.

you can compare Suthep to a Klingon always inciting trouble and mayhem in their neighborhood .

theres is no peace and quiet when he is around .

IF No Luck and her band of incompetent hooligans ran the country PROPERLY, no one would be supporting Suthep.

You seem up to date onwhat's what perhaps you can answer this....If the present government washed their hands of her, her loving brother and anyone else in his pocket would any of this be happening?

That is not a statement it's a question as I know very little about what is what.

This would be happening regardless of who threatened the good old boy hi-so fraternity by actually winning elections, something the good old boys seem incapable of doing. It has nothing to do with Y and T. The good old boys can't win an election so elections must be bad and we need reforms. Not there's a concept only self-serving, corrupt, minority rule, autocrats could love.

This is about all those opposition guys--with one hand in the corruption jar facilitating that which needs no facilitation for 30% while the other hand waves a flag--losing their sphere of influence and their skim. It is that simple. They are threatened with losing their meal ticket. Thaksin schmacksin; totally inconsequential. Anybody that becomes popular and advocates empowering the masses is a threat to the good old boy clan of special interests.

[RtotheC]

In 11 years, never seen, or heard anything remotely like gunfire, etc. Guess I'm lucky- according to Reuters I am living in a war zone...

In just a single year in Bangkok i was fortunate enough to at one point and time be stuck in my apartment in Ramkamhaeng for several days listening to gunshots and explosions at random hours. I can still remember the smell of the burning bus. Certain areas are warzones, you should consider yourself lucky.

[hansnl]

Perhaps Paradorn can explain the complete lack of police success in apprehending the culprits.

He can not do that.

He promised

[Greenhill]

The Thai security authorities have no clues. There is a total breakdown with security in Thailand.

You mean the paid guards?

Stop paying them then.

The 'paid guards' should be the Police!!!

[PaullyW]

What a terrible headline, overly dramatic or not.

TAT will be working on it.

TAT......."Amazing Thailand....It Begins With Sporadic Gunfire"

Amazing Thailand! Come get a shot of Thainess!

[ggold]

The Red-Yellow fight is superficial. Never mind the surface waves & froth of events. Note the way the deeper current is pulling. Washington has arranged several 'regime changes' recently - eg., Egypt, the Ukraine, & the ongoing attempt in Syria. Mystery snipers play a common role in all. Nobody can identify the gunmen, so they stirred up the chaos & turmoil on the streets. Why? Becoz who controls oil & gas, controls the world. Thailand has aligned with ASEAN economically, which is tied-in with the BRICS trade group (Asia-Pacific nations). BRICS is attempting to break away from US dollar domination, which is ultimately, only based on the petro-dollar. The Big Oil/Gas cartel is not happy. Watch out for regime change coming your way, Thailand.

There will be change but not because the USA is orchestrating it, because if they were it would be in Thaksins favour! because if I'm not mistaken he and Hun Sen of Cambodia have agreed to share the wealth of any oil or gas that may be found in the gulf of Thailand!

[wolfmanjack]

What a terrible headline, overly dramatic or not.

TAT will be working on it.

The new slogan can be ...............

"Welcome to Bang Bang Bangkok"

[Crushdepth]

Grenade was fired at ThaiPBS tonight. Intimidation of the media time.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Centrum]

The Thai security authorities have no clues. There is a total breakdown with security in Thailand.

You mean the paid guards?

Stop paying them then.

And stop paying the police as well.

[diehard60]

Perhaps Paradorn can explain the complete lack of police success in apprehending the culprits.

How about they are working for suthep or they are from down south.

[diehard60]

The Red-Yellow fight is superficial. Never mind the surface waves & froth of events. Note the way the deeper current is pulling. Washington has arranged several 'regime changes' recently - eg., Egypt, the Ukraine, & the ongoing attempt in Syria. Mystery snipers play a common role in all. Nobody can identify the gunmen, so they stirred up the chaos & turmoil on the streets. Why? Becoz who controls oil & gas, controls the world. Thailand has aligned with ASEAN economically, which is tied-in with the BRICS trade group (Asia-Pacific nations). BRICS is attempting to break away from US dollar domination, which is ultimately, only based on the petro-dollar. The Big Oil/Gas cartel is not happy. Watch out for regime change coming your way, Thailand.

There will be change but not because the USA is orchestrating it, because if they were it would be in Thaksins favour! because if I'm not mistaken he and Hun Sen of Cambodia have agreed to share the wealth of any oil or gas that may be found in the gulf of Thailand!

Where's your proof?

[ggold]

The Red-Yellow fight is superficial. Never mind the surface waves & froth of events. Note the way the deeper current is pulling. Washington has arranged several 'regime changes' recently - eg., Egypt, the Ukraine, & the ongoing attempt in Syria. Mystery snipers play a common role in all. Nobody can identify the gunmen, so they stirred up the chaos & turmoil on the streets. Why? Becoz who controls oil & gas, controls the world. Thailand has aligned with ASEAN economically, which is tied-in with the BRICS trade group (Asia-Pacific nations). BRICS is attempting to break away from US dollar domination, which is ultimately, only based on the petro-dollar. The Big Oil/Gas cartel is not happy. Watch out for regime change coming your way, Thailand.

There will be change but not because the USA is orchestrating it, because if they were it would be in Thaksins favour! because if I'm not mistaken he and Hun Sen of Cambodia have agreed to share the wealth of any oil or gas that may be found in the gulf of Thailand!

Where's your proof?

get off your ass and search if you want proof!

[bander]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Police are not allowed in by Suthep's guards.

The shooting are aimed at the protesters not from within the protest site! So why don't the police stop those shooting at the protesters?

Because if the police try, the guard will beat the police up. Not like it has never been done before.

Please read my comment again and try to answer the question. It is not about the police being let into the protest area it is about the police stopping shooters outside the protest area is it not?

My guess is they get a thick envelope from the man in Dubai not to interfere with the shooters, welcome to anarchy and chaos dear TV posters

[OldgitTom]

ggold,

Thaksin & Hun Sen look big frogs to you only becoz they live in very small ponds. The USA couldn't care less what deals they do, or think they do. Thailand is currently being 'leaned on' by the 400kg gorilla. The USA is very keen to break away any nation in BRICS, which includes Russia & China. If the BRICS Asia-Pacific trading group can dump the dollar as number one world currency, the dollar will be finished, & so will the USA as dominant power. That's what behind Thailand's 'troubles', not the little stage villains most people are watching in their petty squabbles.

[techboy]

What a terrible headline, overly dramatic or not.

TAT will be working on it.

TAT......."Amazing Thailand....It Begins With Sporadic Gunfire"

Looks like you're in danger! Better skedaddle

[EyesWideOpen]

Whew !! Guess with the protest winding down, gunfire in Thailand can now resume

at its more normal location, which is a karaoke bar or pub full of drunk Thai men.....

So as long as you avoid those places, you should be ok.

[techboy]

Reporting the violence is one thing but this is a smear. Sensationalist trash.

[rhythmworx]

hardly the norm. isolated pockets near the protest sites. the rest of us are living our lives like we always have through coups, protests states of emergency and the like. Bangkok always goes on business as usual despite politics.

My pockets are always isolated when in Thailand.

[Jimjim]

In 11 years, never seen, or heard anything remotely like gunfire, etc. Guess I'm lucky- according to Reuters I am living in a war zone...

You do know about the street protests, right? Obviously, if you are not going near them, you are unlikely to hear the gunfire. Seems pretty clear to me.

And even then, of course they are not fighting all the time.

How about the red shirt protests when 91 died? There was lots of gunfire then. If you had gone around those areas then on the right days, you would have seen and heard plenty of violence. You can see hundreds and probably thousands of videos of violent warfare on the streets of Bangkok on youtube. Many areas of Bangkok were indeed war zones during that time. Not nearly as close to that this time, according to reports I read.

But of course you know all of this, so what indeed was the point of your comment? They may have overstated it a bit but it's certainly not normal for Bangkok to be the site of gun battles and minor explosions, which it is. But obviously these incidents are confined to very specific areas.

As for gunfire for other reasons, it took me less than 6 months of living in Bangkok before I saw and heard gunfire very close to me. It was a terrifying incident.

It was back on December 31, 2003 right before midnight at the New Year's celebration by the World Trade Center Mall (now Central World, that was, of course, burnt down a few years back and rebuilt) and two groups of young drunk guys started a small brawl with each other (bottles flying through the air and hitting innocent bystanders) not more than 50 feet from us. The police that were nearby just decided to start shooting into the crowd at these guys. Once the fight had started most of the crowd had panicked and there was a mass stampede out of there but as we were running I looked back and saw the police shooting into that small brawl. My friend had a viper grip on my shoulder and was pulling his wife and myself down as we were all terrified of the sound of gunshots. I, for so me reason, wanted to keep looking back at what the shooting was about but he pulled me on. The shooting stopped pretty quickly but people in the crowd around us were crying, shouting in terror, you name it. Then an ambulance came and took away someone who had been shot by the police. We never found out the whole story as there was news report in English, that we could find.

So yeah, guess you're lucky.