THAILAND: Anti-government protesters drive through Bangkok with empty coffins in memory of comrades killed at weekend
Record ID:
212747
THAILAND: Anti-government protesters drive through Bangkok with empty coffins in memory of comrades killed at weekend
- Title: THAILAND: Anti-government protesters drive through Bangkok with empty coffins in memory of comrades killed at weekend
- Date: 13th April 2010
- Summary: BANGKOK, THAILAND (APRIL 12, 2010) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (AGENCY POOL) VARIOUS OF MILITARY VEHICLES DAMAGED IN SATURDAY'S VIOLENCE SEEN THROUGH SHATTERED CAR WINDOW POLICEMAN ON MOTORBIKE NEAR DAMAGED MILITARY VEHICLES (SOUNDBITE) (Thai) UNIDENTIFIED RED SHIRT PROTESTER, SAYING "Just like our leaders say, we have to keep going towards victory, keeping hold of the moral high ground of those who are fighting for democracy and calling for a fair constitution. We are standing by our demands." VARIOUS OF RED SHIRT PROTESTERS SITTING ON THE GROUND AT RALLY, BANNER READING IN ENGLISH "We want democracy" PROTESTER SPEAKING ON STAGE VARIOUS MORE OF PROTESTERS SITTING ON THE GROUND CORRIDOR AT INSTITUTE OF FORENSIC MEDICINE WHERE AUTOPSIES OF PEOPLE KILLED DURING SATURDAY'S VIOLENCE ARE BEING CARRIED OUT RELATIVES AND COLLEAGUES OF DEAD STANDING IN THE CORRIDOR SIGN READING IN ENGLISH "CEREMONY ROOM" SPOKESMAN FOR THAI POLICE ARRIVING, SHAKING HANDS, WALKING INTO CEREMONY ROOM VARIOUS MORE OF PEOPLE IN CORRIDOR, WOMAN COMING OUT OF CEREMONY ROOM CRYING (SOUNDBITE) (English) THAI POLICE SPOKESMAN, LIEUTENANT GENERAL PONGSAPAT PONGCHAROEN, SAYING "We try to explain to the society, all the people, it doesn't matter, the government side, or the Red Shirt side, or whoever: They got to make, to believe that the police have to do the right thing, in the middle way, it's not on the left or on the right, something like that. So we try to prove that." EXTERIOR OF INSTITUTE OF FORENSIC MEDICINE VARIOUS OF CARS CARRYING EMPTY COFFINS AND RED SHIRT PROTESTERS WITH FLOWERS AND FLAGS DRIVING DOWN ROAD VARIOUS OF WOMAN WAVING TO PROCESSION FROM THE SIDE OF THE ROAD VARIOUS OF MOTORBIKES RIDING IN PROCESSION MORE OF CARS WITH PROTESTERS AND EMPTY COFFINS VARIOUS OF WOMAN WATCHING PROCESSION, WIPING TEARS FROM HER EYES MORE OF PROCESSION DRIVING DOWN ROAD, ONLOOKERS CHEERING
- Embargoed: 28th April 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Thailand
- Country: Thailand
- Topics: Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA2E8CX9CRN8QXMZFZ1Y8FWFMTW
- Story Text: Bangkok was calm on Monday (April 12), but broken military vehicles in the streets were a reminder of the violence at the weekend.
Saturday's fighting, some of it in well-known Bangkok tourist areas, ended after security forces pulled back late in the night. The capital has been calm since then, while authorities ponder whether to renew a potentially bloody crackdown on the month-long protests or make some concession to demands for immediate polls.
The clashes left 21 protesters and security personnel dead and more than 800 injured in the country's worst political violence in 18 years.
The "red shirt" protesters, mostly rural and working-class supporters of ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra who was ousted in a coup in 2006, want Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to dissolve parliament and leave the country.
"Just like our leaders say, we have to keep going towards victory, keeping hold of the moral high ground of those who are fighting for democracy and calling for a fair constitution. We are standing by our demands," one of the Red Shirts said on Monday.
Thousands of protesters were in a defiant mood after the army failed to move them from one of two Bangkok bases where they have camped out for a month. One is in an upmarket shopping and hotel area, where big malls have had to close their doors.
At the Institute of Forensic Medicine, autopsies of those killed during Saturday's violence were being carried out. Among the dead was Reuters TV cameraman Hiro Muramoto, a 43-year-old Japanese national.
Thai police spokesman Pongsapat Pongcharoen said the police was not taking sides in the conflict.
"We try to explain to the society, all the people, it doesn't matter, the government side, or the Red Shirt side, or whoever: They got to make, to believe that the police have to do the right thing, in the middle way, it's not on the left or on the right, something like that. So we try to prove that."
Red Shirt anti-government protesters drove through the city in a procession carrying empty coffins in memory of comrades killed at the weekend. - Copyright Holder: POOL (CAN SELL)
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