BANGKOK NEWSFLASH 14/05/2010 – Following the violence last night, tens of thousands of Thai soldiers armed with live ammunition, riot control equipment, water cannon trucks and armoured personnel carriers, are deployed onto the streets of Bangkok. The American and British Embassies have closed today, due to the ongoing violence. Some offices and shops in the Silom district have also closed and sent their staff home. Meanwhile, the situation in Bangkok remains very tense…
MY EYEWITNESS REPORT FROM THE SOI NANA INTERSECTION
BANGKOK BOMB – On Thursday night a rogue Thai Army General known as ‘Seh Daeng’ was shot in the head in Silom and is reported to be in a coma. Violence broke out in several areas of Bangkok during last night. I was an eyewitness outside the entrance to Soi Nana, where I saw clashes between Thai troops and the red shirt mob.
Heavily armed Thai troops blocked Sukhumvit Road outside the JW Marriott Hotel to prevent red shirts marching towards the red shirt rally site at Central World. I was standing outside the JW Marriott Hotel, next to the soldiers… BOOM! Suddenly, a bomb went off near Nana Square, which was directly opposite us. Fortunately, nobody was hurt, because it landed in open space. Meanwhile, the red shirt mob were hurling bottles, rocks and insults at the Thai soldiers. I saw several ambulances race past the Nana intersection heading towards Asoke. I have never seen anything like this in over 22 years in Thailand. The Thai troops showed restraint and did not fire any rounds, but they did advance and chased the red shirts away. Inside Nana Petrol Station, I witnessed several members of the red shirt mob being arrested by soldiers. I had an interesting conversation with a CNN cameraman, who was filming the violence around the Soi Nana area. Earlier in the evening, it is reported that 20 red shirt protesters had been injured by rubber bullets in Lumpini Park. Some time passed, it went quiet, I flagged down a taxi and finally went home. How was your evening?
