THAILAND: Thai troops fire warning shots, order protesters to leave

Record ID: 763657

  • Title: THAILAND: Thai troops fire warning shots, order protesters to leave
  • Date: 20th May 2010
  • Summary: BANGKOK, THAILAND (MAY 19, 2010) (REUTERS) ARMOURED VEHICLES PARKING ON ROAD VARIOUS OF ARMORED VEHICLES MOVING VARIOUS OF SOLDIERS TAKING POSITIONS ARMOURED VEHICLES PARKING AT ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTEST BARRICADE ON RAMA IV ROAD VARIOUS OF SOLDIERS TAKING POSITION SOLDIERS CARRYING RIFFLES ARMOURED VEHICLES ON RAMA IV ROAD VARIOUS OF ARMOURED VEHICLES MOVING SOLDIE
  • Embargoed: 4th June 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Thailand
  • Country: Thailand
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAZZHTJ993OGSSF3OKQSQLJ9RS
  • Story Text: Thai troops line up next to anti-government protest camp, army asks protesters to leave.
    Thai troops massed in Bangkok's main business district and fired warning shots into the air ahead of a possible operation to evict anti-government protesters from their encampment on Wednesday (May 19).
    A reporter from Channel 9 television said troops fired gunshots into the air and called on protesters and civilians to leave the main encampment and surrounding areas immediately.
    Soldiers sprayed a water cannon at a wall of tyres at the fortified entrance to the protest encampment in an attempt to prevent fuel from being ignited.
    Large numbers of Thai troops and armoured vehicles gathered early on Wednesday near a fortified encampment of anti-government protesters in Bangkok in what may be the start of a crackdown to disperse them, witnesses said.
    A leader of the red-shirted protesters called on supporters to hold their ground, saying he feared an imminent offensive on their protest site occupied by thousands in the heart of Bangkok's commercial district for more than six weeks.
    Protest guards were seen pouring kerosene over their main three-metre (10 ft) high barricade, as at least two dozen armoured personnel armoured carriers approached the encampment.
    Some troops were as close as 200 metres (650 ft) to the protesters' barricade, a Reuters photographer said.
    At least four pick-up trucks carrying soldiers also arrived in the area.
    About 3,000 of the mostly rural and urban poor protesters, who broadly support former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, remain in the encampment in Bangkok's high-end shopping, hotel and diplomatic district, refusing to leave.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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