[Tlc] T-riots

[justinm at ucr.edu]

Forward from Bonnie Brereton.
Thanks,
justin

PAD siege broken     


(BangkokPost.com)

Riot police launched a surprise tear-gas raid Tuesday morning to break up a siege and tear down barricades at parliament erected up overnight by supporters of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD).

At around 6.20am, the PAD protesters retreated as unarmed police with shields and face masks moved through the barbed-wire barricades on Sukhothai and Rachavithi roads and tore them down.

Several people, including a local radio news reporter, were injured but it was not clear how their wounds occurred. One man appeared to have been hit by a tear-gas grenade as he he ran, breaking or tearing off part of his leg. Several people were carried from the protest by fellow demonstrators after the short tear-gas attack.

"I don't think there are many injuries," said Pol Maj Gen Viboon Bangthamai, who was at the scene.

Prime Minister and Defence Minister Somchai Wongsawat ordered police to clear the way into parliament for the scheduled policy debate on Tuesday morning. He had called an urgent cabinet meeting late Monday night after PAD human shields ringed parliament to prevent the meeting.

About five companies of police massed in riot formation marched up to parliament shortly after sunrise at 6am. Officers armed with grenade launchers immediately began firing tear gas cannisters at the barricades.

Most of the gas grenades burst in piles of tyres placed by the demonstrators as part of their barricade. With the CS gas still heavy in the air and wafting over the area, police moved in to tear down the steel gates and barbed wire that had been strung by the PAD.

Most of the policemen had no protection against the gas, and covered their faces with handkerchiefs. The PAD crowds pulled back from the area as police moved in to open roads and remove the protesters' barricades.

PAD supporters screamed at police through the loudspeaker system as officers moved in.

>From the rear, PAD leader Somsak Kohsaisuk called on the PA system, "I call on our followers from all over the country to come to Bangkok to join us. The police are using tear gas, bombs and guns on us."

PAD founder and leader Sondhi Limthongkul could be heard deploring the "police attack on children in our midst" but he also did not come to the foreground of the action. 

______________
Dr. Justin McDaniel
Dept. of Religious Studies
3046 INTN
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521
951-827-4530
justinm at ucr.edu