Home » topic sections » Agonist » Agonist Travel Journals

More Explosions In Bangkok Today


Apparently the 'Red Shirts' (pro-government) are taking the fight to the airports now. The early hours of Tuesday saw more grenade attacks. This time at the second of two airports the 'Yellow Shirts' (PAD, opposition protesters) are occupying here in Bangkok. I don't know how many grenades were lobbed into the protesters this time. But one protester has been killed and up to 30 wounded. The 'Yellow Shirts' announced yesterday they were abandoning their overnight stays at the Prime Minister's office in favor of focusing on the airports, mostly out of safety concerns. Apparently this move hasn't worked out as the 'Yellow Shirts' had hoped. The violence here in Bangkok continues and I imagine it will intensify in the lead up to tomorrow's High Court ruling.

Three articles out on today's news in Bangkok worth reading. The New York Times has good background on the issues before the High Court. The Guardian has a decent, if short, overview. And Paul Watson at the LA Times has a good piece on the role of the King's Birthday celebrations in relation to the protests and on the role the King has played in the past and what he might possibly do in the current environment. Watson's reporting on Thailand has been the best I've seen so far.

More as it develops.


Sean Paul Kelley December 2, 2008 - 12:11am
Sean Paul Kelley's diary | printer friendly version | digg
( categories: Agonist Travel Journals | Asia: South-East )

I agree, Watson

has very good understanding of the "situation" IMO.

Celsius 233 December 2, 2008 - 1:14am
login or register to post comments
I'm supposed to call him on Wednesday, I hope to meet up

with him at some point.

“Is not our first thought to go on the road? The road is our source, our vault of treasures, our wealth. Only on the road does the ‘traveller’ feel like himself, at home.”
Ryszard Kapuscinski

Sean Paul Kelley December 2, 2008 - 2:06am
login or register to post comments
Thai court orders PM Somchai's party to be disbanded

02 Dec 2008 06:10:26 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Adds PPP members vow to form new government)

By Nopporn Wong-Anan

BANGKOK, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Thai judges ordered Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat's ruling People Power Party (PPP) disbanded on Tuesday after it was found guilty of vote fraud, but party members vowed to "move on" and form another government.

"The verdict comes as no surprise to all of us," former minister Jakrapob Penkair told Reuters. "But our members are determined to move on and we will form a government again out of the majority that we believe we still have."

Jakrapob, a close associate of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was speaking from outside Thailand but refused to give his precise location.

The Constitutional Court also barred the party's top leaders, including Somchai, from politics for five years, raising the risk of clashes between his supporters and thousands of anti-government protesters blockading the capital's two airports.

more

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined." -Henry David Thoreau

Tina December 2, 2008 - 1:45am
login or register to post comments
Get out of there

You do not want to be in the middle of a Civil War.

Synoia December 2, 2008 - 2:18am
login or register to post comments
May I suggest that

the view from without is rarely the view from within. These are two small groups in relatively small areas of Bangkok. It is a bad situation but dangerous for the protesters, not the general population.

Celsius 233 December 2, 2008 - 3:23am
login or register to post comments
Thai airport protests called off

bbc

Thai anti-government protesters have agreed to end their occupation of Bangkok's airports, allowing thousands of stranded tourists to leave.

Passenger flights from the main international airport are to resume on 4 December, say correspondents.

Protests had shut down Thailand's two main airports for more than a week.

The deal follows a court ruling that forced Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat to step down over election fraud and disbanded his governing party.

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined." -Henry David Thoreau

Tina December 2, 2008 - 6:59am
login or register to post comments
After threatening to

keep protesting until the new appointee was known, the protest is now (apparently) over. The Kings birthday is Friday the 5th and was probably instrumental in the courts decision to disband the present government. This fire is out but there will be more in the future; one only has to look at the past here to know the future. Sad but true.

Celsius 233 December 2, 2008 - 7:15am
login or register to post comments

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.