Street war in Bangkok
Violence erupts as thousands turn up for ‘final battle’
By Nirmal Ghosh & Leslie Lopez
BANGKOK: Bursts of tear gas outside the Thai Parliament shortly after dawn yesterday signalled the start of a vicious battle between police and protesters that left one dead and hundreds injured.
Two protesters had legs blown off and two policemen were stabbed with flag poles, as the early morning clashes in clouds of tear gas outside parliament spilled over into chaotic street battles.
The bloodshed came after days of growing tension in a test of wills between the government headed by new prime minister Somchai Wongsawat and People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protesters who accuse him of being the proxy of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
The police moved in at 6.20am. Their mission: to clear a path through thousands of protesters laying siege to Parliament to allow Mr Somchai to give his policy address before the legislature.
Police said the gathering, which had swelled overnight into the thousands after the PAD called for volunteers for a ‘final battle’, had became rowdy, but eyewitnesses told The Straits Times there was no attempt to negotiate or issue a warning before police fired tear gas directly into the crowd.
‘They were not shooting over our heads. They were pointing their guns at us,’ said a protester who identified himself only as Ari.
Around 70 people were injured in the initial clash, and bloody protesters were seen fleeing as police cleared a path into Parliament for the PM and lawmakers.
‘How can they do this to the people?’ one PAD supporter shouted in the morning, his T-shirt soaked with sweat. Like many of the PAD’s frontline ‘guards’, he was wearing a helmet.
The battle was not over. At around 11am on the other side of the large leafy compound, not far from the royal palace, protesters - many of them, armed with steel pipes, bamboo batons and iron-rods - began lobbing firecrackers at police, prompting a fresh volley of tear gas.
Within the hour, the protesters had the upper hand, and as police retreated into a nearby building, the demonstrators were again able to seal off Parliament, this time with ministers and MPs trapped inside.
Mr Somchai was forced into an undignified exit when the parliamentary session ended, escaping the mob by climbing a fence before being ferried away by helicopter from an adjacent building.
Lawmakers had to wait until police could again clear an exit for them, which they did by firing tear gas on the crowd for the fourth time, shortly after 4pm.
‘We ran, ran, ran,’ said legislator Niyom Vejkarma, who whipped off his tie and jacket and fled, eyes smarting from the chemicals in the air.
Sporadic clashes continued during the day and late into the evening.
Cars and vans were overturned and set on fire. A man was killed when a bomb he may have been handling exploded, incinerating him and his vehicle outside the headquarters of the Chart Thai party, a member of the six-party ruling coalition. Local media said the vehicle was ‘believed to belong to anti-government protesters’.
There were reports throughout the day of gunshots being fired. According to a report by The Nation, protesters were seen firing handguns at police officers.
Adding to the threatening atmosphere, many protesters wore motorcycle goggles with their helmets, and many had their faces covered with scarves.
PAD supporter Sami Nath Pandey, 53, told The Straits Times: ‘We are going to stand our ground, it’s do or die.’
But by 9pm, most protesters had retreated to the nearby Government House, which remains occupied by the PAD, leaving behind a trail of charred vehicles, bloodied sidewalks and an uneasy calm.
Source : Straits Times - 08 Oct 2008
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