THAILAND: Thai anti-government protesters hold a memorial ceremony after two people are killed and several injured in a Bangkok blast

Record ID: 214188

  • Title: THAILAND: Thai anti-government protesters hold a memorial ceremony after two people are killed and several injured in a Bangkok blast
  • Date: 23rd February 2014
  • Summary: BANGKOK, THAILAND (FEBRUARY 23, 2014) (REUTERS) **CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY** PROTEST LEADERS STANDING IN FRONT OF STAGE PROTEST LEADER SUTHEP THUAGSUBAN STANDING VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS CRYING MUSICIAN PLAYING FUNERAL MUSIC ON STAGE VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS AT MEMORIAL CEREMONY
  • Embargoed: 10th March 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Thailand
  • Country: Thailand
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA13397EM34SUSRFN4ZSW3DNYMI
  • Story Text: Thai anti-government protesters held a memorial ceremony after two people were killed and several wounded in a Bangkok blast on Sunday (February 23).
    Protest leader Suthep Thuagsuban led the anti-government protesters in laying flowers in memory of those killed in the explosion.
    A bomb killed two people and wounded at least 22 in a busy shopping district of the Thai capital, hours after supporters of Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra promised to get tough with demonstrators paralysing parts of the city.
    The bomb exploded near one of the few large protest sites remaining, leaving a trail of blood and sandals on the streets of the popular Rachaprasong shopping area, much of it in front of a store selling tee-shirts emblazoned "Land of Smile".
    Three children suffered serious head injuries, Erawan Medical Center, which monitors hospitals, said. One died.
    Suthep blamed the government for the deadly explosion.

    "It is an act from the slave of Thaksin's regime, under the control of Thaksin and Yingluck. They want to kill people, threaten and scare people until people decide to go home," he said.
    The crisis pits mostly middle-class anti-government protesters from Bangkok and the south against supporters of Yingluck from the rural north and northeast of the country.
    On the same day, government supporters, the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), or the so-called red-shirts, called for support, preparing themselves for uncertainty.

    "Right now, our big strategy is to make ourselves strong in this uncertain situation," said Thida Thavornseth, red-shirt leader at a large gathering in the northeastern Nakhon Ratchasima province.
    Leaders of the pro-government UDD had vowed to "deal with" anti-government leader Suthep, setting the scene for possible confrontation between pro- and anti-government groups.
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