Thai soldiers arrest leaders
The curfew imposed on Bangkok on 19 April allowed the government troops to begin a steady march into the protest area of Bangkok, surrounding the red-shirt camp and moving in to arrest the leaders of the group. According to reports, troops ‘made no attempt at secrecy, opening fire almost as soon as they entered the camp’. Troop carriers were driven at barricades of tyres and sharpened bamboo sticks, and despite claims that the red-shirted protestors had no weapons with which to defend themselves, many were seen with hand guns and assault rifles. In the early afternoon of Wednesday 19 May, the leader of the red-shirts, Jatuporn Prompan, told his fellow protestors to leave the area peacefully, saying: “Though the fight didn’t reach our goal, we tried our best. Go home. We are sorry for not sending you home earlier.” After 68 days of protest, and one protestor killed for each day, the thousands of protestors that had followed him left the area. As the leaders of the protest surrendered themselves to police to be charged with offences including terrorism, some of the other protestors showed their displeasure at the situation by looting shops, setting buildings on fire and attacking bystanders. The Channel Three news station was set on fire, while staff on the English-language newspapers, The Nationand Bangkok Post, were evacuated after threats were made against employees. Across regional Thailand, red-shirt supporters staged their own rallies, prompting the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to issue warnings against travelling to Chiang Mai. According to the FCO website: “The Foreign Office is now advising against all travel to the city of Bangkok in view of the highly uncertain security situation and the currently unpredictable violence across the Thai capital. We judge that the risk to the safety of British nationals has increased and have amended our travel advice accordingly.” It continued: “We have also decided to advise against all but essential travel to Chiang Mai due to the worsening security situation there.”
The curfew imposed on Bangkok on 19 April allowed the government troops to begin a steady march into the protest area of Bangkok, surrounding the red-shirt camp and moving in to arrest the leaders of the group. According to reports, troops ‘made no attempt at secrecy, opening fire almost as soon as they entered the camp’. Troop carriers were driven at barricades of tyres and sharpened bamboo sticks, and despite claims that the red-shirted protestors had no weapons with which to defend themselves, many were seen with hand guns and assault rifles.
In the early afternoon of Wednesday 19 May, the leader of the red-shirts, Jatuporn Prompan, told his fellow protestors to leave the area peacefully, saying: “Though the fight didn’t reach our goal, we tried our best. Go home. We are sorry for not sending you home earlier.” After 68 days of protest, and one protestor killed for each day, the thousands of protestors that had followed him left the area.
As the leaders of the protest surrendered themselves to police to be charged with offences including terrorism, some of the other protestors showed their displeasure at the situation by looting shops, setting buildings on fire and attacking bystanders. The Channel Three news station was set on fire, while staff on the English-language newspapers, The Nationand Bangkok Post, were evacuated after threats were made against employees. Across regional Thailand, red-shirt supporters staged their own rallies, prompting the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to issue warnings against travelling to Chiang Mai.
According to the FCO website: “The Foreign Office is now advising against all travel to the city of Bangkok in view of the highly uncertain security situation and the currently unpredictable violence across the Thai capital. We judge that the risk to the safety of British nationals has increased and have amended our travel advice accordingly.” It continued: “We have also decided to advise against all but essential travel to Chiang Mai due to the worsening security situation there.”