THAILAND: Grenade attack raises tension as Thais protest in Bangkok

Record ID: 359145

  • Title: THAILAND: Grenade attack raises tension as Thais protest in Bangkok
  • Date: 16th March 2010
  • Summary: BANGKOK, THAILAND (MARCH 15, 2010) (REUTERS) FORENSIC POLICE INSPECTING BOMB SITE AT MILITARY BARRACK POLICE INSPECTING AREA NEAR TREE TREE BRANCH ON GROUND VARIOUS OF SOLDIERS LOOKING ON POLICE TALKING POLICE TAKING PICTURES OF EVIDENCE NUMBERS MARKING EVIDENCE ON GROUND VARIOUS OF SOLDIERS ROLLING OUT A CABLE VARIOUS OF POLICE TALKING TO SOLDIERS EXTERIOR OF M
  • Embargoed: 31st March 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Thailand
  • Country: Thailand
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA6EYF5H8O3FJEC697GU0N9HX7X
  • Story Text: Grenade explosions that wounded two soldiers at a Thai military base raised tensions in Bangkok on Monday (March 12) as tens of thousands of anti-government protesters massed at another barracks on the outskirts of the city.
    It was unclear who was behind the attack or whether it was directly linked to the protests by red-shirted supporters of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
    But it came shortly after Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva rebuffed demands by protesters to dissolve parliament and call fresh elections by midday.
    Backed by the powerful military and establishment elite, Abhisit told a live national broadcast, flanked by members of his shaky coalition, the time was not right for a poll, which analysts say Thaksin's allies would likely win.
    Army Colonel Nattawat Attanibutt said an initial investigation showed the grenades were fired into the sprawling army compound by a M-79 grenade launcher from outside the base on Viphavadi-Rangsit Road.
    The injured soldiers were hospitalised and were treated for their injuries -- one was injured in the abdomen and the other was wounded in the arm.
    The turbulence adds to a seemingly intractable political crisis pitting the military, urban elite and royalists -- who wear yellow at protests and back Abhisit -- against mainly rural Thaksin supporters who wear red and say they are disenfranchised.
    The protesters had marched to a separate military base on the outskirts of Bangkok where Abhisit set up a crisis headquarters.
    After their deadline for dissolving parliament passed, protesters retreated from the military base to their main protest site, reinforcing speculation Abhisit would prevail in the "red shirt" showdown.
    The protests, which began on Friday (March 12), amassed as many as 150,000 people on Sunday (March 14) but have been peaceful and orderly.
    Most of the protesters travelled from Thailand's poor, rural provinces, piling into pick-up trucks, cars and even river boats, illustrating Thaksin's influence despite his removal in a 2006 coup, a graft conviction and self-imposed exile.
    Thaksin's allies are likely to win the next election, which must called by the end of next year, just as they have won every poll held since 2001. The military and urban elite could seek to thwart that result, possibly with a coup, as in 2006, or a judicial intervention, as in 2008.
    Thailand was plagued by political upheaval in 2008, when 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 international airport until a court ousted the government.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register