Central Bangkok explosion wounds 4 people-officials

July 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

July 25 (Reuters) – An explosion wounded four people in central Bangkok on Sunday, emergency officials said, but it was unclear what caused the blast and if it was related to a closely watched special election in the Thai capital.

The explosion occurred near a busy intersection at the heart of Bangkok’s commercial district, the same area occupied by thousands of “red shirt” anti-government protesters for several weeks until an army crackdown on May 19.

“We were told by the police that there are four wounded from the incident,” said a spokesman for the Erawan Emergency Centre, adding the blast took place opposition Central World, a shopping area that was set on fire by protesters in May.

It coincided with a Bangkok by-election that is being seen as a referendum on Thailand’s recent political unrest. (Reporting by Ploy Ten Kate; Writing by Jason Szep; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

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A week after riots, Thai capital prays for peace

May 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Thousands of Thais prayed for peace and unity in Bangkok on Wednesday, a week after a deadly military crackdown on protesters sparked a terrifying night of arson and riots that levelled buildings and killed 54 people.

But analysts say without major reforms to a political system that protesters claim favours an “establishment elite” over the rural masses, such prayers and forgiveness will not end a polarising crisis costing the economy billions of dollars.

Hundreds of yellow-robed Buddhist monks received food from well wishers along a shopping strip occupied by anti-government protesters for six weeks until they were dispersed by troops and armoured vehicles last week.

Next to them were Christian, Muslim and Sikh leaders, who also conducted prayers to bless the riot-torn city of 15 million people as predominantly Buddhist Thailand grapples with widening social and political rifts that have spiralled dangerously into the open in the past five years.

“It is very important for all of us in Bangkok to forgive and move ahead,” said Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra, a member of the ruling Democrat Party, who hosted the “Restore the City With Religious Ceremony” event.

He told Reuters Television the event was meant to “wipe away a bad path and to create a better future”.

That may be difficult.

After nine weeks of the worst political violence in modern Thai history, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has embraced a reconciliation plan of political reforms, social justice and an investigation into clashes that killed 85 people and wounded nearly 2,000, mostly in fighting between protesters and troops.

But analysts say the plan is unlikely to get far without the participation of an anti-government movement that broadly backs ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra and claims Abhisit has no popular mandate after coming to power in a 2008 parliamentary vote to head a coalition assembled with help from the military.

The mostly rural and urban poor “red shirt” protesters consider last week’s tough crackdown an indicator of the double standards in a political system they say favours the rich over the poor. They want immediate elections and demand the government shoulder some blame for recent violence.

“Lasting reconciliation begins with accountability,” said Elaine Pearson of the New York-based Human Rights Watch, calling on Abhisit to set up an independent commission to carry out a “prompt, comprehensive, and impartial investigation” into abuses by all sides during the protests.

In 2008, yellow-shirted protesters who opposed Thaksin’s allies in the previous government occupied the prime minister’s office for three months and then blockaded Bangkok’s main airport until a court expelled the government.

Instead of going to jail, one of the figures of that movement, Kasit Piromya, went on to become foreign minister.

Leaders of the red shirts, however, face criminal charges.

Cases like that are at the heart of the discontent among the rural and urban poor in a country where the richest 20 percent of the population earn about 55 percent of the income while the poorest fifth get 4 percent.

“When the leader of the party we voted for became the prime minister, we saw street protests, an illegal siege on the prime minister’s office, and the airport,” said Thamrong Phuttichote, a food vendor in Ratchaburi province, two hours’ drive from Bangkok, who supports the red shirts.

“But their leaders still walk freely. This is what I called injustice,” Thamrong said. (Additional reporting by Papitchaya Boonngok; Editing by Jason Szep)

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Britain eases advice against travel to Thailand

May 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Britain’s Foreign Office eased its advice against travel to the Thai capital on Tuesday, as Bangkok slowly returned to normal after protests and riots.

Britain had advised against all travel to Bangkok earlier this month as battles between the military and anti-government protesters raged, eventually killing 85 people and wounding more than 1,400. Anti-government leaders have since surrendered.

“We are now advising against all but essential travel to Bangkok. This replaces the previous advice, which advised against all travel to Bangkok,” the Foreign Office said in a statement.

(Reporting by Mohammed Abbas: Editing by Ralph Boulton)

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Fighting spreads in Thai capital, 17 dead

May 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Thai troops fired at protesters on Saturday in a third day of fighting on Bangkok’s streets that has killed 17 people as soldiers struggle to isolate a sprawling encampment of demonstrators seeking to topple the government.

Soldiers crouched behind sandbags or atop buildings fired live rounds at protesters armed with petrol bombs, guns and homemade rockets in clashes around the business district. One was shot in the chest while trying to ignite a tyre.

At Din Daeng intersection, north of the protest site, three bodies were evacuated on stretchers, a Reuters witness said. Two suffered head wounds. Troops also swarmed into a parking lot at the popular Dusit Thani hotel outside the protest site.

That followed a long night of grenade explosions and sporadic gunfire as the army battled to set up a perimeter around the 3.5 sq-km (1.2 sq-mile) barricaded encampment where thousands refuse to leave, including women and children.

“We’ll keep on fighting,” said Kwanchai Praipana, a leader of the red-shirted protesters, calling on Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to resign and take responsibility for Thailand’s deadliest political crisis in 18 years.

He said supplies of food, water and fuel were starting to run thin as their usual delivery trucks were blocked but that they had enough to last “days”.

Hardcore protesters, gathering in small numbers, set fire to vehicles, including an army truck, and hurled rocks at troops who set up razor wire at checkpoints and asked residents to show identification cards to stop people from joining the mostly rural and urban poor “red shirts”.

A sign at one intersection warned residents not to enter a “live bullet area”. Another warned of a “rubber bullet area.”

The crisis has paralysed Bangkok, squeezed Southeast Asia’s second-biggest economy, scared off tourists and choked investment in one of Asia’s most promising emerging markets.

It has also stunned “Bangkokians” as one of the world’s most bustling cities and tourist hot spots descends into a war zone.

“My ears are ringing with all the shooting last night,” said Ratana Veerasawat, a 48-year-old owner of a hole-in-the-wall grocery store north of the protest encampment where many residents were leaving for safer locations.

“It’s just awful and getting worse. Best to leave now.”

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon expressed concern over “the rapidly mounting tensions and violence”.

“He strongly encourages them to urgently return to dialogue in order to de-escalate the situation and resolve matters peacefully,” his spokesman said in a statement.

The Canadian government urged both sides to return to talks after a Bangkok-based Canadian journalist was shot three times, one of three journalists wounded in fighting that has spiralled into chaotic urban warfare where front lines shift quickly.

“UNLIKELY TO END QUICKLY”

The government said on Friday it would restore order “in the next few days” as the city of 15 million people braced for a final crackdown in the area of high-end department stores, luxury hotels, embassies and expensive residential apartments.

The number of protesters in the main encampment dropped overnight but several thousand remained, many singing and listening to speeches by protest leaders. Some leaders, including the movement’s chairman, haven’t been seen for days. Several leaders wore flak jackets, fearing snipers.

“I am not scared,” said Sanae Promman, a 37-year-old protester frying vegetables in a wok under a tent at the site. “Some of my friends have left because they are scared but many are still here to fight. We will fight until we die if we must.”

They have barricaded themselves behind walls of kerosene-soaked tyres, sharpened bamboo staves, concrete blocks and razor wire.

“It’s unlikely to end quickly,” said a source close to army chief Anupong Paochinda, fearing more protesters would arrive to surround and attack soldiers.

The Erawan Medical Centre in Bangkok said 17 people had been killed and 147 wounded in the latest fighting.

Before fighting began on Thursday with the shooting of a renegade general allied with the protesters, the two-month crisis had already killed 29 people and wounded about 1,400 — most of whom died during an April 10 gun battle in Bangkok’s old quarter.

The fighting is the latest eruption in a polarising five-year crisis between a royalist urban elite establishment, who back the prime minister, and the rural and urban poor who accuse conservative elites and the military’s top brass of colluding to bring down two elected governments.

Those governments were led or backed by exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, a graft-convicted populist billionaire ousted in a 2006 coup who is a figurehead of the protest movement.

The red shirts and their supporters say the politically powerful military influenced a 2008 parliamentary vote, which took place after a pro-Thaksin party was dissolved, to ensure the British-born, Oxford-educated Abhisit rose to power.

“I don’t think many see the end of this protest as the end of the crisis,” said Danny Richards, Asia editor at the Economist Intelligence Unit. “When there’s an election, either side will reject the legitimacy of the other. We’ll be back to square one.”

(Additional reporting by Martin Petty and Damir Sagolj; editing by Bill Tarrant)

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Fighting spreads in Thai capital, 16 dead

May 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Thai troops fired at protesters on Saturday in a third day of fighting on Bangkok’s streets that has killed 16 people as soldiers struggle to isolate a sprawling encampment of demonstrators seeking to topple the government.

Clashes continued across central Bangkok as soldiers behind sand bags or atop buildings fired live rounds at protesters armed with petrol bombs. One was shot in the chest while trying to ignite a tyre in Bangkok’s usually bustling business district.

At Din Daeng intersection, north of the protest site, three bodies were evacuated on stretchers, a Reuters witness said. Two suffered head wounds. Troops also swarmed into a parking lot at the popular Dusit Thani hotel outside the protest site.

That followed a long night of grenade explosions and sporadic gunfire as the army battled to set up a perimeter around the 3.5 sq-km (1.2 sq-mile) barricaded encampment where thousands refuse to leave, including women and children.

“We’ll keep on fighting,” said Kwanchai Praipana, a leader of the red-shirted protesters, calling on Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to resign and take responsibility for Thailand’s deadliest political crisis in 18 years.

He said supplies of food, water and fuel were starting to run thin as their usual delivery trucks were blocked but that they had enough to last “days”.

Hardcore protesters, gathering in small numbers, set fire to vehicles, including an army truck, and hurled rocks at troops who set up razor wire at checkpoints and asked residents to show identification cards to stop people from joining the mostly rural and urban poor “red shirts”.

The crisis has paralysed Bangkok, squeezed Southeast Asia’s second-biggest economy, scared off tourists and choked off investment in one of Asia’s most promising emerging markets.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon expressed concern over “the rapidly mounting tensions and violence”.

“He strongly encourages them to urgently return to dialogue in order to de-escalate the situation and resolve matters peacefully,” his spokesman said in a statement.

The Canadian government urged both sides to return to talks after a Bangkok-based Canadian journalist was shot three times, one of three journalists wounded in fighting that has spiralled into chaotic urban warfare where front lines shift quickly.

“UNLIKELY TO END QUICKLY”

The government said on Friday it would restore order “in the next few days” as the city of 15 million people braced for a crackdown to end a six-week protest by thousands of “red shirts” packed into an area of high-end department stores, luxury hotels, embassies and expensive residential apartments.

The Erawan Medical Centre in Bangkok said 16 people had been killed and 141 wounded in the latest fighting.

“It’s unlikely to end quickly,” said a source close to army chief Anupong Paochinda, fearing more protesters would arrive to surround and attack soldiers.

“There will be several skirmishes in the coming days but we are still confident we will get the numbers down and seal the area,” added the source, who declined to be identified by name.

The number of protesters in the main encampment appeared to have dropped overnight but several thousands remained, many singing and listening to speeches by protest leaders. Some leaders, including the movement’s chairman, have disappeared.

Protesters are barricaded behind walls of kerosene-soaked tyres, sharpened bamboo staves, concrete blocks and razor wire.

Before fighting began on Thursday with the shooting of a renegade general allied with the protesters, the two-month crisis had already killed 29 people and wounded about 1,400 — most of whom died during an April 10 gun battle in Bangkok’s old quarter.

The fighting is the latest flare-up in a polarising five-year crisis between a royalist urban elite establishment, who back the prime minister, and the rural and urban poor who accuse conservative elites and the military’s top brass of colluding to bring down two elected governments.

Those governments were led or backed by exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, a graft-convicted populist billionaire ousted in a 2006 coup who is a figurehead of the protest movement.

The red shirts and their supporters say the politically powerful military influenced a 2008 parliamentary vote, which took place after a pro-Thaksin party was dissolved, to ensure the British-born, Oxford-educated Abhisit rose to power.

Five-year Thai credit default swaps, used to hedge against debt default, widened by more than 30 basis points on Friday — the biggest jump in 15 months — to 142 basis points.

“With gun battles and grenades going off, investors will look elsewhere,” said Danny Richards, an analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit.

“I don’t think many see the end of this protest as the end of the crisis. When there’s an election, either side will reject the legitimacy of the other and we’ll be back to square one.”

(Additional reporting by Martin Petty and Adrees Latif; Editing by Bill Tarrant)

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Fighting spreads in Thai capital, 16 dead

May 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Thai troops fired at protesters on Saturday in a third day of fighting on Bangkok’s streets that has killed 16 people as soldiers struggle to isolate a sprawling encampment of demonstrators seeking to topple the government.

Clashes continued across central Bangkok as soldiers fired live rounds at protesters. One was shot in the chest while trying to ignite a rubber tyre in the business district, witnesses said.

At Din Daeng intersection, north of the protest site, three bodies were evacuated on stretchers, a Reuters witness said. Two suffered head wounds. Troops had also swarmed into a parking lot at the popular Dusit Thani hotel outside the protest site

Protesters set fire to vehicles, including an army truck.

That followed a long night of thundering grenade explosions and sporadic gunfire as the army battled to set up a perimeter around a 3.5 sq-km (1.2 sq-mile) protest site of red-shirted demonstrators who refuse to leave.

“We’ll keep on fighting,” said Kwanchai Praipana, a leader of the red-shirted protesters, calling on Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to resign and take responsibility for Thailand’s deadliest political crisis in 18 years.

He said supplies of food, water and fuel were starting to run thin but they had enough to last “days”.

The crisis has paralysed parts of Bangkok, squeezed Southeast Asia’s second-biggest economy and scared off tourists.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon expressed concern over “the rapidly mounting tensions and violence”.

“He strongly encourages them to urgently return to dialogue in order to de-escalate the situation and resolve matters peacefully,” his spokesman said in a statement.

The Canadian government urged both sides to return to talks after a Bangkok-based Canadian journalist was shot three times, one of three journalists wounded in fighting that has spiralled into chaotic urban warfare where front lines shift quickly.

By Saturday, troops had taken control of checkpoints on at least three roads surrounding the main protest site, checking identification cards in an attempt to stop people from joining thousands in the area, including women and children.

“UNLIKELY TO END QUICKLY”

The government said on Friday it would restore order “in the next few days” as the city of 15 million people braced for a crackdown to end a six-week protest by thousands of “red shirts” packed into an area of high-end department stores, luxury hotels, embassies and expensive residential apartments.

The Erawan Medical Centre in Bangkok said 16 people had been killed in the latest fighting.

“It’s unlikely to end quickly,” said a source close to army chief Anupong Paochinda, fearing more protesters would arrive to surround and attack soldiers.

“There will be several skirmishes in the coming days but we are still confident we will get the numbers down and seal the area,” added the source, who declined to be identified by name.

The number of protesters in the main encampment appeared to have dropped overnight but several thousands remained, many singing and listening to speeches by protest leaders. Some leaders, including the movement’s chairman, have disappeared.

Protesters are barricaded behind walls of kerosene-soaked tyres, sharpened bamboo staves, concrete blocks and razor wire.

Before fighting began on Thursday with the shooting of a renegade general allied with the protesters, the two-month crisis had already killed 29 people and wounded about 1,400 — most of whom died during an April 10 gun battle in Bangkok’s old quarter.

The fighting is the latest flare-up in a polarising five-year crisis between a royalist urban elite establishment, who back the prime minister, and the rural and urban poor who accuse conservative elites and the military’s top brass of colluding to bring down two elected governments.

Those governments were led or backed by exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, a graft-convicted populist billionaire ousted in a 2006 coup who is a figurehead of the protest movement.

The red shirts and their supporters say the politically powerful military influenced a 2008 parliamentary vote, which took place after a pro-Thaksin party was dissolved, to ensure the British-born, Oxford-educated Abhisit rose to power.

Five-year Thai credit default swaps, used to hedge against debt default, widened by more than 30 basis points on Friday — the biggest jump in 15 months — to 142 basis points.

“With gun battles and grenades going off, investors will look elsewhere,” said Danny Richards, an analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit.

“I don’t think many see the end of this protest as the end of the crisis. When there’s an election, either side will reject the legitimacy of the other and we’ll be back to square one.”

(Additional reporting by Martin Petty and Adrees Latif; Editing by Paul Tait)

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10 killed in Bangkok violence

May 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Bangkok, May 15 (IANS) At least 10 people were killed in clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces in the Thai capital Friday, officials said.

About 110 people, including security personnel, were injured in the clashes, the Bangkok Emergency Medical Service Centre told Xinhua.

The latest violence erupted after the Centre for Resolution of Emergency Situation (CRES) announced that it would keep up the pressure on ‘red-shirt’ protesters to end their rally.

The protests in the Thai capital started March 12 and the Rathchaprason Intersection in central Bangkok is the main rally site

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U.S. official to meet Suu Kyi, Myanmar ministers – diplomat

May 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

United States Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell will visit army-ruled Myanmar in the next two days to meet with government ministers and pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, a diplomat said on Saturday.

Campbell, Washington’s top official for East Asia and the Pacific, will travel to the new capital, Naypyitaw, on Sunday to meet officials from the ruling junta. He is expected to meet Suu Kyi and opposition politicians the following day.

A senior U.S. State Department official said on Friday Campbell would only go to Myanmar if he was allowed by the regime to meet the long-detained Suu Kyi.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party was effectively disbanded on Friday after it chose not to re-register as a political party ahead of this year’s long-awaited election in the former Burma.

“Frankly, I don’t think his visit will produce any outcome that will have some meaningful impact on ties between the regime and the NLD,” an Asian diplomat, who requested anonymity, told Reuters on Saturday.

“I understand that the regime will go ahead with the elections with or without the NLD. All Campbell can do is to urge the regime to make the elections free and fair,” he added.

The U.S. embassy in Bangkok said Campbell, currently in Manila, will brief reporters in the Thai capital on Sunday morning but made no mention of his visit to Myanmar.

DEEPER ENGAGEMENT

Phyo Min Thein, chairman of the Union Democratic Party (UDP), one of 30 which have applied to run in the election, told Reuters he was making arrangements through U.S. diplomats for the UDP and other parties to meet Campbell in Yangon.

The United States embarked on a policy of deeper engagement with Myanmar last year in the hopes of spurring democratic reforms in the country, which has been under military rule for nearly five decades.

Myanmar plans this year to hold elections that critics have derided as a sham designed to entrench army rule by letting the military keep control of key ministries while pulling the strings behind a civilian-fronted government.

Campbell and a U.S. delegation made a landmark visit to Myanmar last November, the first of its kind in 14 years by a country that has been largely dismissive of the military regime and has strict sanctions on the isolated country.

After the visit, Campbell’s deputy, Scot Marciel, told reporters in Bangkok the United States was taking a “pragmatic approach” to the elections and did not expect immediate results.

He urged the junta to ensure the polls were free, fair and inclusive, adding that an election without Suu Kyi or her party would be “very hard to see as credible”.

The NLD had given no indication at that time that it would boycott the polls, which it said were unfair and unjust. The NLD’s snub has angered many of its supporters, who say the move has played into the hands of the ruling generals.

(Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Sugita Katyal)

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Political unrest causes match switch from Bangkok

April 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The AFC Cup match between Thai Port and Hong Kong’s Tai Po has been moved from Bangkok to Phuket because of the political unrest in the Thai capital, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said.

The match in the second tier Asian club tournament had been scheduled for April 27 at Supachalasai National Stadium in Bangkok but the continuing political protests led to the switch to the holiday island.

Another tie between Thai and Hong Kong clubs, Muang Thong United and South China, on Tuesday was also moved to Phuket from Bangkok.

Thailand’s tense political standoff was nearing a climax on Thursday with anti-government protesters preparing for imminent battle in central Bangkok against tens of thousands of armed troops.

(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney in Beijing, editing by Ossian Shine.

To comment, email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

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Thai “red shirts” gather after botched arrests

April 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Thousands of Thai anti-government protesters gathered at a central Bangkok site on Friday after police botched an attempt to arrest three of their leaders as the authorities vowed to crack down on “terrorists”.

One protest leader slid down a rope from a hotel balcony to escape riot police, while others were rescued by hundreds of “red shirts”, who heavily outnumbered security forces at a Bangkok hotel owned by the family of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

The three leaders later joined around 10,000 of their supporters at a shopping centre in the middle of the city, now the main site of month-long protests in the Thai capital.

“If they use force to disperse us, we will flatten the entire neighbourhood,” said Jatuporn Prompan, a protest leader who was not among the three escapees, on a red shirt stage at the intersection of posh shopping malls and luxury hotels.

For a graphic: http://link.reuters.com/rap67j

The government, which had previously said it would not directly confront the protesters, also stepped up the rhetoric, although there were no troops on the streets of Bangkok.

“We will arrest and suppress the terrorists. We have set up special task forces hunting for the terrorists,” Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said.

The move against leaders of the red shirts on Friday follows a failed attempt by troops to eject protesters from one of their encampments in the city last weekend. At least 24 people were killed and more than 800 injured in Thailand’s worst political violence since 1992.

STOCKS FALL

The risk of further instability in Thailand sent stocks down 2.1 percent and the the market has now lost almost all its gains this year.

Thailand’s five-year credit default swaps (CDS) , often used as a measure of political risk, were trading at 110/115.57 against 105/111 bps on Monday, the last trading day prior to a three-day holiday.

The “red shirts” back Thaksin, who was ousted in a 2006 coup, and want Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to step down immediately and call early elections, which he has refused to do.

Abhisit had been due to hold his first news conference in four days at 1 p.m. local time (0300GMT) but it was delayed, although no reason was given.

Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij told Reuters on Thursday Abhisit would not resign as it would “be very negative for the country”.

Protesters called off plans to march on television stations that they accused of biased coverage, removing one potential flashpoint with security forces. They hunkered down at their base in a central Bangkok shopping district, which they vowed to make a “final battleground” with the security forces.

The government has also said it would crack down on people it believed to be financing the red shirts and issued summonses under emergency powers for 60 people to report to a military barracks, where Abhisit has set up emergency headquarters.

The violent protests have hit Thai tourism, with occupancy rates less than a third of normal levels in Bangkok, according to a tour operator body.

According to a report from investment bank Morgan Stanley, losses to tourism, which accounts for 6 percent of gross domestic product, could clip 0.2 percentage point from economic growth this year.

The government believes Thailand’s economy could grow 4.5 percent this year, although Korn warned that forecast could prove optimistic.

(Additional reporting by Viparat Jantraprap; Writing by David Chance; Editing by Alan Raybould and Bill Tarrant)

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Bangkok braces for mass protest

March 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

More than 50,000 security personnel are fanning out across Bangkok as authorities brace for a three-day protest that starts later today.

The red shirt supporters of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra will begin arriving in the Thai capital today.

They aim to have a million people on the streets by Sunday and say they will stay until they topple the government.

The protesters want new elections which they believe will be won by parties allied with the red shirts.

Thailand’s cabinet has enacted strict new security laws that give the army the role of policing the city.

Travel warnings have been upgraded for Australian tourists who are being urged to avoid certain parts of the city, including the famed tourist strip Khao San Road.

There have been a number of small grenade attacks in Bangkok in recent weeks and Thailand’s prime minister is considering sheltering in a safe house until the protests are over.

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Pakistan reality TV contestant dies performing task

September 1, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, August 31 (ANI): A contestant on a Pakistani reality TV show died while meeting a challenge for the show, a spokeswoman for the show’s sponsor has revealed.

Fareshte Aslam, the information officer for Unilever Pakistan, said that Saad Khan was swimming across a lake in Bangkok with a 7 kg backpack, when he shouted for help and drowned.

According to Bangkok’s Kom Chad Luek newspaper, his co-contestants and the crew were unable to save the 32-year-old due to the murky waters of the Thai capital, reports Times Online.

Khan’s body was later discovered by divers, and returned to his family in Karachi.

Investigators are probing whether the cause of the death was accidental or negligence.

Khan, after being eliminated, had made a comeback on the programme for a special task to bag a spot in the finals. (ANI)

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Ex-Thai PM urges protesters to reconcile

April 18, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Thursday urged his supporters, who recently staged paralyzing protests, to join reconciliation talks with the Thai government.

Tens of thousands of his followers recently paralyzed the Thai capital for days with violent demonstrations, demanding new elections. They called off protests Tuesday after facing a major military crackdown.

“If the government wants to reconcile, I will encourage the red shirts to participate,” Thaksin said in an interview with The Associated Press.

He has been on the run since fleeing Thailand ahead of a corruption conviction last year. His passport was revoked by Thai authorities on Sunday for inciting protesters.

Thaksin said he also wanted Thailand’s widely respected King Bhumibol Adulyadej to help resolve the long-simmering political conflict — which began with his ouster in a 2006 coup — in a bid to quell future unrest.

Since he was removed from office, his supporters and opponents have alternately taken to the streets in bids to force several governments from power and bring their preferred leaders in.

“I humbly urge his majesty to intervene … that’s the only solution,” he said during the 20-minute interview in Dubai.

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Ex-Thai PM urges protesters to reconcile

April 18, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Thursday urged his supporters, who recently staged paralyzing protests, to join reconciliation talks with the Thai government.

Tens of thousands of his followers recently paralyzed the Thai capital for days with violent demonstrations, demanding new elections. They called off protests Tuesday after facing a major military crackdown.

“If the government wants to reconcile, I will encourage the red shirts to participate,” Thaksin said in an interview with The Associated Press.

He has been on the run since fleeing Thailand ahead of a corruption conviction last year. His passport was revoked by Thai authorities on Sunday for inciting protesters.

Thaksin said he also wanted Thailand’s widely respected King Bhumibol Adulyadej to help resolve the long-simmering political conflict — which began with his ouster in a 2006 coup — in a bid to quell future unrest.

Since he was removed from office, his supporters and opponents have alternately taken to the streets in bids to force several governments from power and bring their preferred leaders in.

“I humbly urge his majesty to intervene … that’s the only solution,” he said during the 20-minute interview in Dubai.

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Two killed as Thai crisis deepens

April 17, 2009 By Leave a Comment

At least two people were killed and 90 injured on Monday when Thai troops fought pitched battles and opened fire on demonstrators here as former Premier Thaksin Shinwatra accused the embattled Prime Minister of “covering up” deaths in the army crackdown.

According to government and hospital sources two men were killed in protests.

Minister to the Prime Minister’s Office Sathit Wongnongtoey said a man had been gunned down in Bangkok’s Nang Lerng area in the evening after a street gunbattle.

“One hour ago there was a serious clash near Government House between protesters and local residents,” cabinet minister Satit Wonghnongtaey said on local television.

The man identified as Pom, 54, was among local residents who clashed with anti-government protesters.

Hospital sources said that a 19-year-old man had also been killed.

Despite a state of emergency declared in the Thai capital, demonstrators, demanding Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s unconditional resignation, commandeered at least two buses, rigged the steering wheels and sent them toward police officers — who fired at the vehicles in response.

“They trapped the people… Many people died… They even take the dead bodies up on the truck and take them away.

They are trying to confuse everything,” Thaksin, who was ousted in a military coup in 2006, told CNN from an undisclosed location.

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Thailand tours cancelled for 3,000 Hong Kong holidaymakers

April 16, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Hong Kong – Around 150 tours to Bangkok from Hong Kong involving 3,000 holidaymakers have been cancelled because of the unrest in the Thai capital, tour operators said Wednesday. Travel companies in the wealthy city of 7 million have scrapped all tours to Bangkok until April 22 because of what they described as the “unclear” situation following violent demonstrations.

The decision came after the Hong Kong government issued an unusually stern travel advisory Tuesday, telling its residents to avoid Bangkok.

Hong Kong’s main airline Cathay Pacific put bigger jumbo jets on flights from Bangkok Tuesday to allow everyone who wanted to get out of the Thai capital early to do so.

Airlines in Hong Kong have been offering no-penalty options to cancel flights to Bangkok while tour operators have been refunding package holidays costs minus a service fee of between 20 and 40 US dollars.

Bangkok, less than three hours’ flight from Hong Kong, is a hugely popular holiday destination for people from the former British colony. Around 8,000 Hong Kongers took Easter holiday flights there. (dpa)

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Hardcore anti-government protestors surrounded by troops

April 14, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Bangkok – Anti-government protestors in the Thai capital said Tuesday they were to defy the authorities by remaining dug in outside the seat of government at Bangkok in the face of an army crackdown. The capital was quiet as troops continued to consolidate their positions around the remaining 5,000 protestors loyal to fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra who was overthrown in a September 2006 military coup.

“Brute military force is clearing the streets but we remain to air our legitimate grievances and to give people the hope of true democracy in the future,” Jatuporn Phrompan, a protest leader, said.

Two people were killed Monday when angry local residents clashed with protestors near the main rally site at Government House, the first confirmed deaths as Bangkok braces for the expected army crackdown.

The city medical services said over 100 people, including soldiers, were injured yesterday as troops swept through barricades firing guns in the air and lobbing tear gas.

Many Thais appear stunned by the breakdown of law and order that threatened when the security forces appeared unable or unwilling to restrain the so-called Red Shirt protestors who at one point last week numbered perhaps 100,000 people.

On Saturday a group of Red Shirts deeply embarrassed Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and the military by invading a 16 nation Asia summit being hosted by Thailand at a nearby seaside resort, causing it to be cancelled.

Abhisit told reports Tuesday he would not negotiate with Thaksin, who has incited his supporters to “revolution” and “historical change” in Thai society in almost nightly addresses to the protestors via video link or phone.

The prime minister said he understands the sincere belief of many protestors that there is injustice in society, but said he had no time for bad people with ulterior motives. “We want peace. We want to violence to stop. And then we must work and talk to bring stability and happiness to the country,” he said in brief remarks Tuesday morning.

Many of the protestors come from distant provinces in the north and north-east were Thaksin is particularly admired for his populist economic policies during his time in office from 2001 to 2006. Thaksin is, however, loathed and distrusted by much of the military, the urban elites and middle class.

The protestors want the government to resign to hold fresh elections which Thaksin, with his big rural support, might still win. Abhisit’s Democrat party gained power four months ago after the military and bureaucracy disabled pro-Thaksin governments and a parliamentary faction defected from the Thaksin camp. (dpa)

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Two dead as Thai protestors clash with local residents – Update

April 14, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Bangkok – Two men were killed in the Thai capital after anti-government protestors clashed with residents near their main rally site on Monday night, said reporters at the scene. As the city braced for a final army move against protestors who closed down much of the city over the weekend anti-government demonstrators – so-called Red Shirts – fired shots at people not far from the main rally site.

Two men, aged 54 and 19, were killed and a dozen injured said a government spokesman on television and a member of a medical foundation in local press reports.

Eyewitnesses said people who live around a food market objected to protestors positioning a burning bus near their homes – and so moved it. Gunmen later arrived to shoot at residents, some of whom fired back.

Gunfire was also heard around Government House where the protestors have set up their main rally. A leader of the Red Shirts, Jakrapob Penkair said the authorities are running a dirty tricks campaign to discredit the movement using agent provocateurs and thugs.

There are reports of clashes elsewhere in Bangkok and in the provinces following Monday’s expected army crackdown against an anti- government movement whose members invaded a 16-nation Asian regional summit in the nearby resort of Pattaya on Saturday. The summit was cancelled greatly damaging Thailand’s image.

Thousands of battle-ready troops spread out across the city Monday to clear away barricades, firing bullets into the air and using tear gas to take control of the many key road junctions that had been seized after the Red Shirt success in cancelling the summit.

By nightfall, the demonstrators had mostly withdrawn to the area around Government House where they have been rallying for three weeks.

Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the protest leader in self-exile, demanded in a CNN interview the army stop using unreasonable force against unarmed protestors – and he accused the government of covering up the “many” deaths in the crackdown.

“They even take the dead bodies up on the truck and take them away,” Thaksin said.

Scores of people, including soldiers, were injured earlier when troops swept down streets, firing in the air and shooting directly at buses driven at them by protestors.

Protest leader Nattawut Saikua called for the demonstrators to regroup to their base in front of Government House by evening.

As the sun set on Monday, a pall of smoke hung over the Government House area of the city from tires and buses set alight by protestors. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has said that no-one has been killed by the military, although.(dpa)

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Two dead as Thai protestors clash with local residents

April 14, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Bangkok – Two men were killed in the Thai capital after anti-government protestors clashed with residents near their main rally site on Monday night, said reporters at the scene. As the city braced for a final army move against protestors who closed down much of the city over the weekend, so-called Red Shirts fired shots at people not far from the main rally site. Two male residents, aged 54 and 19, were killed and a dozen injured, said a government spokesman on television. A member of a medical foundation also confirmed the deaths in local press reports.

Gunfire was also heard around the government house where the protestors have set up their main rally. A Red Shirt leader, Jakrapob Penkair, said the authorities are running a dirty tricks campaign to discredit the movement using agent provocateurs and thugs.

There are reports of clashes elsewhere in Bangkok and in the provinces following Monday’s expected army crackdown against an anti- government movement whose members invaded a 16-nation Asia region summit in the nearby resort of Pattaya on Saturday. The summit was cancelled greatly damaging Thailand’s image.

Thousands of battle-ready troops spread out across the city Monday to clear away barricades firing bullets into the air and using tear gas to take control of the many key road junctions that had been seized after the Red Shirt success in cancelling the summit.

By nightfall, the demonstrators had mostly withdrawn to the area around Government House where they have been rallying for three weeks.

Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the protest leader in self-exile, demanded in a CNN interview the army stop using unreasonable force against unarmed protestors – or face the condemnation of the world.

Scores of people, including soldiers, were injured earlier when troops swept down streets, firing in the air and shooting directly at buses driven at them by protestors.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said 70 people had been wounded, 23 of them soldiers. No one had died, he stressed. (dpa)

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Hong Kong travellers warned away from riot-torn Bangkok

April 14, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Hong Kong travellers warned away from riot-torn BangkokHong Kong – The Hong Kong government Monday issued a travel warning for its residents to stay away from Bangkok as anti-government protests escalated in the Thai capital. Secretary for Security Ambrose Lee said the government of Hong Kong was the first to issue such a severe warning.

Lee called on tour operators and individuals to scrap their plans to Thailand due to the political unrest and said several tour operators had already cancelled packages.

He said he hoped tour groups already in Thailand would cut short their itinerary, urging operators to put travel safety first.

The minister added that the government had contacted airlines to ensure there would be enough seats for those who wish to return as soon as possible.

Only about 1,000 Hong Kong residents were believed to be still in Thailand by Monday evening, as most of those who took Easter holiday there had returned, officials estimated. (dpa)

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