Monday, April 12, 2010
Bangkok
All the weaponry seized by the red shirt guards & protesters, left by the soldiers that retreated after a failed attempt to disperse the demonstrators
In another telling clue in the mystery of the case of who shot who first, autopsy results indicated high powered rifles possibly used in conjunction with scopes and tri -pod bases normally associated with sharpshooters, were responsible for 9 deaths. One was caused by heart failure not related to the shooting deaths. The shooter targeted the fatal shots in the head or the heart, and it would have certainly precipitated any escalation of conflict had they been the initial shots fired in either of the stand offs. Speculation will no doubt target the military, but reports have shown Red Shirts also targeted the army commander on the scene with either a grenade or rifle shot or both, leaving the army forces without a commanding officer, while severely wounding his deputy commander.… Major Gen. Khattiya, the Red shirts’ rogue military commander has personally corroborated the strategy at which he was likely present, … So obviously, among the participants in the ‘protest demonstrations’ and counter riot forces as well, it’s likely that there were present some extremely murderous people bent on deadly force. Or was there a ‘third hand’…
I doubt some determined people on both sides care how many they kill, as the means justify the ends in their minds.
Who were they? Obviously, the Red Shirts have their hard core, violent elements and the tendency for violence to increase in the context of mob rule is well established unless pressed upon them by some leadership or authority structure, and we’re sure some of those in positions of power within the police, military and government harbor violent tendencies as well. Others… ?
Sick individuals, paid assassins, soldiers or ‘third hands’ ? Terrorists, perhaps as some, including Prime Minister Abhisit allege, although we may never truly know.
The scenes at Khok Wua viewable by viral videos posted on You Tube, and documenting the events on an 8-9 minute clip, narrated by a likely American or Canadian amateur videographer or journalist at the scene continues through to when grenades were thrown and more shots fired at Khok Wua intersection at 8.30 on Saturday evening. In the first moments before the violence erupted, a string of shots rang out numbering approximately a dozen, breaking the scene into initial chaos and violence. The majority of shots fired by the army were either blanks, rubber bullets or shot in the air, as numerous more fatalities would have been resulting from the number of shots later heard in the packed area of protesters, and would have been likely in the range of forty, fifty or more as well as a larger number shot and wounded. A scene full of of bullet marks and holes are easily visible from the walls and upper areas around the site, so the majority were in the form of warning shots.
Co-Founder of LifeBangkok.com team together with Arisman, picture taken 2 hours before the mayhem started at saturday evening April 10th.
The first grenade blast tossed from the Red Shirts side left as many as perhaps a dozen or more soldiers hit, lying or crawling wounded or dead in a pool of blood as Bang Lamphu residents watched disgusted and terrified.
Residents appeared along the road to assist the soldiers and offer them moral support as they moved in to begin dispersing the Red Shirt crowd at Phan Fa Bridge led by Arisman Pongruengrong, who told the protesters to stand their ground in order to keep soldiers from advancing further towards the stage at Phan Fa Bridge.
Armed with wooden spears, clubs, sticks, rocks and Molotov cocktails, the Red Shirts battled fiercely against the advancing troops who were supported with trucks mounted with loudspeakers and armored personnel carriers, which were later attacked with Molotav cocktails.
The soldiers were then forced to retreat after an unknown type of explosive was thrown at them followed by a string of gunshots.
Was this “democracy” playing out or armed, violent anarchy ?
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“The majority of shots fired by the army were either blanks, rubber bullets or shot in the air, as numerous more fatalities would have been resulting from the number of shots later heard in the packed area of protesters, and would have been likely in the range of forty, fifty or more as well as a larger number shot and wounded. A scene full of of bullet marks and holes are easily visible from the walls and upper areas around the site, so the majority were in the form of warning shots.”
Not true. I was there myself and faced the soldiers at 50 meter distance. After they retreated we (red shirts, journalists, reporters) have found thousands of live ammunition (used as well), high velocity bullets and extreme powerful (automatic) weapons, not to mention the extreme powerful automatic sealed on the roof on 1 of the armoured personnel vehicle in which we had to shelter at one point. we could hear the bullets glancing of the armor from the vehicle we were sitting in. rubber? haha.
I have 1 bullet looking at me on my desk…. i think you dont bring these to a protest just for fun. especially not 0.5mm
By saying all that, I dont dismiss the reports of real live bullets and grenades coming from the protesters side.
all of this is not a question wether this happened or not, what is more important is who made the order(s) and who had the intention(s) of doing so …. all sides, that is….
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http://www.nationmultimedia.com/specials/nationvdo/showvdo.php?id=2879&cateid=13
Type in this video link posted on You Tube as well as many others as well as on Thai media outlets and watch it, as this was the video referred to, for there are lots of conflicting sides.. Truth be told many more deaths and serious injuries occur every year at this time from Songkran road related accidents and fatalities, which have a much higher potential cause for injuries and deaths, usually numbering up in the 30-40,000 range every year…but thanks for your insight and please do be careful…
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I have received this link over 10 times now. I was there, I heard the shots, I have seen people carrying and shooting guns, I have looked them in the eye. AND I have spoken with people that seem to be more close then these youtube heros or self-proclaimed journalists with a camera. (no offense to bill and rich, i know them pretty well, good guys.. funny dudes)
Yes, There is a lot of confusion… guess why that is…. it is because people are screaming, judging and talking too much without even knowing anything, they havent even seen anything for themselves. This includes Abhisit himself. was he there? did he know what was going on in some of these soldiers heads? while standing there with a m16 loaded with live bullets?
leave alone the internet heros with their conclusions and ideas… so many of these poor souls start creating their own little fantasy logic and story of what happened. There are a lot of conflicting sides, I would be the last one to deny this, but I do find it troubling that these same people are making statements based on what they read or saw.
Songkran deaths & injuries is another story. It would be wrong to bring that in the debate as an argument. Whats next? Next time we should only allow protests to take place on the rooftop of a condo? yeah that way we can avoid traffic accidents, and traffic accidents ARE BAD! no .. i got it … we should rewrite the constitution that every protester should wear a helmet, at least that way 1 guy wouldnt have his brains flew all over the soi… A M E N.
Some people like to do get out and do things and are ok with taking a risk(s). that is their choice. nobody is above them or specialy selected or blessed to keep them from what they want to do. especially not when we are talking about adults. some could find this form of ‘advice’ disrespectful or intruding. from my experience you find this type of behaviour mostly with americans, especially christian americans. for some reason, they just cant keep their hands at their own…. fear is in the eye of the beholder… so is predjudice
http://www.france24.com/en/20100411-exclusive-france-24-footage-payen-show-soldiers-firing-crowd-riot-clashes-violence-demonstration-bangkok-thailand-crack
a video filmed by a guy that i have been walking together with in the same group a few minutes at the time of the soldiers retreating…. hope you enjoy the last 10 seconds.
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Well, you’re certainly entitled to your ‘opinion’.
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And we can only thank god for that….