Bomb in Bangkok

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Troops confront Bangkok protests
An anti-government protester flees from teargas smoke, 7th Oct
Police used teargas against anti-government protesters

Troops have been deployed on the streets of the Thai capital Bangkok after police failed for a second time to disperse anti-government protesters.

Protesters have been gathered outside the parliament building trying to stop the Prime Minister, Somchai Wongsawat, from leaving.

Mr Somchai has been holding emergency talks with military commanders on how to resolve the stand-off.

Earlier, a woman died when a suspected car bomb exploded near the parliament.

The protesters are from the staunchly royalist People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD).

The BBC's Jonathan Head, in Bangkok, says the appearance of troops outside parliament is a clear sign that the government is struggling to maintain its authority.

Mr Somchai reportedly managed to leave the parliament building by climbing through a barbed wire fence at the back of the building, before being flown to safety.

The protesters accuse him and his recently ousted predecessor, Samak Sundaravej, of just being proxies for former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

The demonstrators are members of the PAD, a group that wants to replace the one-man, one-vote system with one in which some representatives are chosen by professions and social groups rather than the general electorate.

Mr Thaksin, Mr Somchai's brother-in-law, was forced from office in a military coup in 2006.

The protesters have been occupying the grounds of government buildings for six weeks, but until Tuesday the demonstration had been largely peaceful.

Several thousand PAD protesters broke out of the compound where they had been staying and marched to the parliament late on Monday.

They tried to seal off the building by putting up barriers of old tyres and barbed wire.

The police responded with teargas, injuring more than 100 people. Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh said he was resigning over the clashes.

The protesters have now regrouped - they have locked some lawmakers inside the building and cut off their power supply.

The new government says it wants to start negotiations with the PAD, but it is also pushing ahead with controversial plans to amend the constitution, a key grievance of the protesters who see it as part of a plan to rehabilitate Mr Thaksin.

The alliance says the government must resign because of its links to Mr Thaksin, who lives in the UK and has requested political asylum there.

It accuses him of corruption and abuse of power while he was in office, and has also suggested that Mr Thaksin and his allies have a hidden republican agenda, a serious charge at a time when the country is beset by anxiety over the future of the monarchy.


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Two dead, 400 injured in police crackdown on Thai anti-Govt protests 
The Nation: 7 Oct 2008


PARLIAMENTARY MAYHEM: Policy reading creates a bloody mess
The Nation: 8 October, 2008

Two dead, 400 hurt after police crackdown sparks day of clashes with PAD protesters

Two people are dead and about 400 were injured after a crackdown on protesters at Parliament early yesterday sparked a day of rioting in central Bangkok.

The Somchai government's move to use force to clear the way for the prime minister to read its policy statement in Parliament created mayhem on the streets.

Angry mobs attacked and shot at police, but violence came out from both sides.

Dozens of protesters were injured in the initial crackdown just after dawn, then many police were hurt in clashes through the day - stabbed, shot and crushed by a truck driven by protesters.

A bomb exploded in front of Chart Thai Party headquarters, killing a man, hundreds of metres from Parliament.

The Jeep Cherokee vehicle was thought to belong to a member of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), the loose coalition of conservative elite and business opponents backing the prolonged protest against the government, which they damn as a proxy of deposed premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

Police said an unknown man was killed instantly when the bomb went off, and he may have accidentally ignited the explosion.

The first clash in front of Parliament occurred at about 6.30am as police tried to clear a way for the MPs and senators to a session to hear the Somchai government's policies. Protesters had surrounded Parliament since Monday night.

More than 70 of protesters were injured, including Thanya Kulkaeow, who lost his left leg, and two others, who lost a foot and a hand, respectively.

Officials could not explain how tear gas canisters could hurt protesters so critically. Doctors said such injuries were caused by a powerful explosive. And there was speculation that unknown parties launched a grenade or device from behind the police line.

Further clashes occurred after the parliamentary session as police tried to clear the way for ministers and MPs to leave the compound.

Protesters later began to use force against officials. The first police casualty was Pol Sgt Maj Taweep Klanniam, who was stabbed by a sharp flagpole. He was rushed to an intensive care unit at Phramongkutklao Hospital.

"A flagpole pierced his right rib and went deep into his liver," the hospital's public relations chief Dr Pirapol Pokpong said.

Three police were injured as protesters fired shots at them during a clash in front of the Parliament. The wounded police were locked in the Parliament building for hours as protesters blocked the gate.

PAD spokesman Suriyasai Katasila said the gunmen were not members of the group and maintained a claim that PAD protesters never used violence.

Police Captain Kraingkrai Tinsamee, deputy superintendence at Tao Poun station, was injured when a protester drove a pickup truck on him while he met with colleagues at U-Tong Nai intersection. He was still unconscious late last night.

More rounds were fired at about 7pm at the Metropolitan Police headquarters, injuring at least four people including Police Major General Kosin Bounsrang, deputy commander of Border Police, who came to help maintain law and order in the capital.

One woman died after being admitted to Ramathibodi Hospital.

It was a bloody way to start a new government.
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Powerful explosive' destroy man's leg
The Nation Published on October 8, 2008

Police insist they only used tear gas to disperse protesters outside Parliament yesterday but a hospital chief said some of the injuries could only have been caused by "powerful explosives".

Vachira Hospital director Dr Chaiwan Charoenchokthavee said some protesters' wounds were not likely to be the result of police use of tear gas against members of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD).

"Judging from wounds of the victims we saw in the operation room, we believe the wounds were not caused by tear gas," Chaiwan said.

Doctors said the wounds were caused by powerful explosives, which could destroy tissue and bones.

Some 61 PAD protesters were treated at the hospital yesterday: 34 men and 27 women. Most had wounds on their bodies.

Nearly a third - 17 - had to undergo surgery for severe wounds. They included Bancha Boonkaew, a 50 year old man who lost a leg.

Chaiwan said Bancha's left leg was destroyed by a powerful explosive - not tear gas - and the medical team had had to remove it.

"We could not save his left leg," he said. "We are trying to treat complications, which could cause severe strain on his heart," he said.

A 47yearold woman said she was near to Bancha and a minute after police fired tear gas into the crowd of protesters, she saw Bancha's leg bloody and destroyed by an explosive. Chap Polpakdee, 80, from Chumphon, said his thumb was injured by cement sent flying by the explosion.

Ubonwan Boonyoprapas, 47, said she saw 100 teargas canisters thrown into the crowd of protesters, when her right leg was hurt.

"Why did they [police] use tear gas to disฌperse us? We did not have any weapons to fight them. We had only handclapping devices," she said.

Ubonwan travelled from Chanthaburi province to join the antigovernment protest on Monday morning.

Somchai SaengArunsilp, 43, from Bangkok, said he was shot in the right shoulder by a rubber bullet. Some of his shoulder tissue was destroyed.

"The situation should not be like this. I did not think police would use violence to disperse us.

"The government should take responsibility for this," he said.

There had been no sign from the police that they would use tear gas to disperse demonstrators and no negotiations with the protesters, he said.

Chaiwan said Her Majesty the Queen had expressed worry about the police's use of tear gas to disperse antigovernment protester. She has donated Bt100,000 to Vachira Hospital and took all the injured under royal patronage.Bangkok Metropolitan Administrative (BMA) permanent secretary Pongsak Semsan said he had urged all hospitals in Bangkok to be alert for victims of violence and provide immediate emergency care. In response to the Queen's appeal, he said BMA would take responsibility for the cost of victims' medical treatment.

Meanwhile, Public Health Ministry records showed some 108 people were injured, with 21 treated at seven hospitals. Nine people were admitted at Vachira Hospital, two at the BMA hospital, two at Chulalongkorn Hospital and eight at Ramathibodhi.

Permanent secretary for Health Dr Prat Boonyawongvirot said he had ordered 26 emergency medical teams to be prepared to treat patients.

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THAI Airways refuses to allow PPP MPs to board planes 
Bangkok Post: 8 Oct 2008
THAI refuses to take 3 PPP MPs on board

Three People Power party (PPP) MPs were denied boarding flights of Thai Airways International Airlines (THAI) on Wednesday morning.

The three MPs included including MP for Surin province Farida Sulaiman, MP for Nong Bua Lamphu province Chaiya Promma, and MP for Nong Khai province Chomphu Chantathong.

At around 6am Wednesday, the captain of flight TG 1040 from Bangkok to Khon Kaen, whose name was not revealed, refused to allow the PPP MPs to board his flight because he did not want to accept politicians who hurt the general public.

Mrs Farida had to take another flight and later said she would like relevant parties to look into the mental state of the captain who could not distinguish cause from effect. She said it would not be safe for passengers to board on flights with such individual.

THAI personnel also rejected PPP MPs Chaiya and Chomphu to board their flights on Wednesday.

Following the incidents, THAI issued a statement claiming that its personnel did not let the PPP MPs to board their flights due to the passengers’ safety.

According to the statement, other passengers might not be satisfied with the PPP MPs during the flight and confrontations may occur.

Meanwhile, no THAI employees went on strike to join the anti-government demonstration led by the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) yet.
 

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Update: Thai Airways suspends pilot who denied boarding of PPP MP 
The Nation: 8 Oct 2008
THAI suspends pilot who denied boarding of PPP MP

Thai Airways International will suspend pilot who refused to allow an MP of People Power Party to board his flight on Wednesday.

Rahas Ployyai, deputy THAI vice president, said his office will summon the pilot, Jakrit Pongsirim who is now in Udon Thani back to Bangkok to be investigated into the incident.

"Pending investigation, that captain will be suspended. We will also invite all staffs involving in the incident to give information. The investigation will be about one week," he said.

Rahas apologised and regretted that the incident happened. "We will organise a meeting of pilots to make sure that such incident will not happen again."

Three MP members of the People Power Party were denied permission on Wednesday to board domestic Thai International Airways flights following the fatal clashes street between anti-government protesters and police.

Surin MP Farida Sulaiman, who reportedly wore a jacket with a PPP logo and name on the back, was about to board the TG 1040 flight scheduled to leave Don Muang Airport for Khon Kaen at 6.15am.

But eyewitnesses said the captain came out of the cockpit and announced his flight would not allow "tyrants, PPP MPs or politicians who harm people" to board.

Farida told reporters when she approached the aircraft a man in captain's uniform asked her if she was a PPP MP. When she said yes, the man said she was not allowed to board the flight. Farida replied, "Thank you for your service", to which the captain smiled and returned to the cockpit.

She identified the captain as Jakrit Pongsiri and said she would put the complaint to THAI executives because international aviation regulations allowed a flight captain to deny only passengers who appeared drunk or carried a weapon.

Two others MPs who had to change their flights were Chaiya Promma of Nong Bua Lumphu and Chompu Chantatong of Nong Khai. Both were to board TG 1002 from Don Muang Airport to Udon Thani at 9.20am, but the captain of the flight, believed to be Jakrit, would not allow them to board.

Chaiya said Thai Air, its union and aviation authorities should take action against the captain for mixing his political views and agenda with his duties, damaging the service sector's good image. He said he would table this case with the Parliament's Committee on Transport next week to explain why they were prevented from boarding the flights. Chaiya said he might not have to file a formal complaint because other THAI ground officials disagreeing with Jakrit's action apologised and took care of them.