Thai protest leaders surrender after deadly army assault on Bangkok camp... but violence rages on

By Mail Foreign Service

Darkness descends: Thick black smoke from the protesters' encampment plummets through the air behind Chulalongkorn hospital. Despite protest leaders surrendering, the violence continued


Seven top leaders of the Red Shirts surrender to police

But enraged protesters refuse to give up and target a ritzy shopping mall

Red Shirts set fire to the Stock Exchange building and TV station headquarters


Bangkok has become a raging battleground as the army stormed a fortified protest camp and toppled the Red Shirt leadership, enraging demonstrators who fired grenades and set fires that cloaked the skyline in a black haze.

Seven leaders of anti-government protest group the Red Shirts surrendered to authorities today, and the army declared itself in full control, but the violence continued.

Surreal scenes of warfare erupted soon after dawn in one of the ritziest parts of the capital - a city of ten million people - as troops armed with M-16s converged on the central business district.

The chaotic end to the Red Shirt campaign is certain to deal a heavy blow to the economy and tourism industry of Thailand.


Fatality: The body of an anti-government protester lies on the ground. At least four people have been killed, prompting senior Red Shirt leaders to end the sit-in


Capitulation: One of seven protest leaders is led away by police after surrendering


The Red Shirts are demanding the ouster of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's government, the dissolution of Parliament and new elections.

At least 42 people have been killed, most of them civilians, in a week of violence in Bangkok as the military attempted to blockade the protesters, who have been camping out for more than four weeks.

Seven top Red Shirt leaders turned themselves in, saying they could not see their supporters being killed anymore.

'Brothers and sisters, I'm sorry I cannot see you off the way I welcomed you all when you arrived here. But please be assured that our hearts will always be with you,' Nattawut Saikua, a key leader, said as he was being arrested.

'Please return home,' he urged supporters.
Another senior leader called for protesters to give up and go home.
'I apologise to you all but I don't want any more losses. I am devastated too. We will surrender,' Jatuporn Prompan said from a stage in the protest camp.


'Give up and go home': Protesters chant and cry inside the camp as the leaders of their movement announce their surrender


Flee: Anti-government protesters evacuate the body of an Italian photographer on a motorbike after he was shot during clashes


Flashpoint: Anti-government protesters set fire to tyres near the Pratunam crossroads in Bangkok this morning. Thai troops opened fire into their fortified encampment, killing at least four people


Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn declared the first stage of the army operation to secure the area around Lumpini Park successful.

But the advance was stalled by sniper fire from protesters. Bullets flew overhead and several grenades exploded near the soldiers, forcing them to pull back and take cover briefly before pushing forward.

By mid-afternoon in the capital, the army announced it had gained control of the protest zone and the operations had ended - nine hours after troops launched the pre-dawn assault.

'Police officers and soldiers have now stopped their operation,' army spokesman Colonel Sansern Kawekamnerd said.

Despite the army statement and the surrender by the leaders, many enraged protesters refused to give up.


Assault: Soldiers rammed armoured vehicles into tyre-and-bamboo barricades


'D-Day': A soldier fires his rifle at Lumpini Park as part of this morning's operation


Retaliation: Thick smoke from several fires is seen near the Siam Paragon shopping complex in Bangkok. Dissappointed protesters started looting, setting fires, shooting and throwing bombs after their leaders surrendered to police
Rioting spread to other previously unaffected areas of Bangkok and the northeast of the country.

A high-end shopping mall, Central World, was set on fire and smoke was seen rising from several places in the capital.

There were also reports that the Red Shirts had set fire to government offices in the northeastern province Udon Thani and vandalised a city hall in Khon Kaen, also in the northeast.


Earlier toady, sharpshooters with armored shields took up positions on an elevated rail track as troops marched past upscale apartment buildings and a hospital to retake the area around manicured Lumpini Park, which has been under the control of the so-called Red Shirt protesters camped there for weeks.

The move to surrender came after soldiers rammed armoured vehicles into tyre-and-bamboo barricades in a crackdown after a week of deadly clashes, killing at least five people, including an Italian photographer.

Three foreign journalists are also believed to have been shot during the operation.
'This is D-Day,' said one soldier when asked if this was the final push to clear the protest zone.

Staff at the Thai local TV station Channel 3 say their building has been attacked by Red Shirt protesters.

One employee said cars parked outside the building were set on fire and protesters then entered the Channel 3 building.

A journalist said the Red Shirts also set fires at the Stock Exchange of Thailand building.

Journalists at Bangkok Post daily said they were evacuating their building following threats from the Red Shirts.

Protesters have accused local media of being biased toward the government.

The violence has also taken its toll on foreign media with one Italian photographer shot dead, a dutch journalist wounded by a gun shot to the leg, and another journalist in his late 40s also shot in the leg.

The Thai government claimed that the army has been successful in its latest push to clear the area.

The demonstrators marched into Bangkok in mid-March to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, dissolution of Parliament and immediate elections.

They created an encampment in Bangkok's wealthy Rajprasong district in April, surrounding themselves by a barricade of tires and bamboo spears, some of which appeared to be in flames this morning.

'This is the last push. Looks like the government really wants to end it this time,' said Senator Lertrat Rattanawanit, who had tried to mediate between the two sides.

'They have laid out the steps, giving out deadlines for people to move out and all that. It's a pity that using force is inevitable.'

Asked if losses could be prevented, he said: 'It's impossible.'


Dangers of the job: Rescue workers transport a Dutch journalist, who was shot in the leg in the violence


Troops, trailed by journalists, run for cover. Three foreign reporters have been shot during the military operation, one of whom is thought of died


At the protest zone's barricades, bamboo spears splintered as two armoured personnel carriers rammed into the barrier, then backed up and tried again.

They repeated the process several times and punched large holes, pushing the wall into a crumpled mass but not bringing it down entirely.

An army commander said some Red Shirt protesters were about 200 yards inside the barricade.

Soldiers tightened their blockades around the protest site at dawn and used loudspeakers to tell all people to return to their homes.

A government building was on fire in another part of Bangkok.

The government first tried to clear another encampment in the historic part of Bangkok on April 10, but the operation ended disastrously when 25 people were killed and more than 800 wounded.

A second military operation, to blockade the consolidated Rajprasong camp to cut off protesters' supplies, was launched last Thursday, triggering almost daily clashes between troops and protesters.

Today's assault began with hundreds of troops and police, many armed with M-16 assault rifles, gathering in nearby streets and alleys before dawn.

Three armoured personnel carriers parked in front of the upscale Dusit Thani hotel, across the street from the southern edge of the barricade. Their machine gun mountain turrets pointed toward the barricade wall of tyres, and troops crouched behind the vehicles.


The operation came after Abhisit rejected protesters' unconditional offer to negotiate yesterday and insisted there would be no talks until the dwindling anti-government movement abandoned Rajprasong.

The troops appeared to be pushing from the southern border of the encampment in a bid to force some 3,000 protesters still holed up inside into buses waiting at the northern exit.

The Red Shirts say Abhisit's government came to power through manipulation of the courts and the backing of the powerful military, and that it goes against results of a 2007 election to restore democracy after a military coup.

Protest leaders have argued over whether they should continue to resist or negotiate a truce with the government to end the street violence.

On Tuesday, the mood in the core protest zone was subdued, with none of the dancing and festivities that previously lent the area a carnival-like atmosphere.

Periodically, protest leaders delivered fiery speeches, meant to keep the crowd motivated. But the crowd responses were not as full throated as before. Gone also were most food vendors, and mounds of rotting garbage piled up outside the camp's sharpened bamboo gates.

Previous attempts to negotiate an end to the stand-off have failed. A government offer earlier this month to hold November elections fell apart after protest leaders made more demands.

The violence in Bangkok, a popular stop for tourists heading to Thailand's world-famous beaches, has caused concern internationally and raised doubts about the stability of this South-East Asian nation.


Decision time: Protest leaders have argued over whether they should continue to resist or negotiate a truce with the government to end the street violence


source: dailymail