A Bangkok monk says claims by the Thailand government that the army only fired blanks at red-shirted pro-democracy supporters at Din Daeng last Monday are not true and that those shot include a Buddhist monk.

The accusations by the head monk of a Bangkok city temple come despite repeated claims by Thailand Prime Minister Abhisit Veijajiva that the only fatalities from the government crack-down on pro-democracy supporters were the result of clashes between protesters and residents in the Nang Lerng market area on Monday (April 13th) night.

The monk, who chose the pseudonym “Sajja” (the word truth in Thai) for his safety and asked that his temple not be named, said he went to the Din Daeng area around 6.00am on April 13 after hearing reports of clashes earlier that morning between the Thai army and red shirt protesters.

Claims that the Thai army only fired over the heads of red-shirt protesters is repudiated by this photo clearly showing soldiers at Pratunam taking aim. Photo: John Le Fevre

Puea Thai officials take a statement from relatives of a man shot by Thai soldiers on April 12. Photo John Le Fevre

Prakal Riddiloy, a PPT complaints officer said “we know many people have been killed, hurt or are missing after the military action earlier this week. We intend to raise this matter as soon as parliament opens next week.”

The state of emergency and clash between red shirt protesters loyal to fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and government troops was the latest in a long-running back-and-forth battle over Thailand’s political future following the ouster of the elected People’s Power Party government of Thaksin Shinawatra by a military coup d’état in September 2006.

Late last year hundreds of thousands of tourists were stranded after both of Bangkok’s airports were seized by yellow-shirted so-called People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) supporters.

The siege ended when Thailand’s Constitutional Court disbanded the ruling People’s Power Party (PPP) under changes to Thailand’s constitution introduced by the military junta in 2006.

Following the de-registration of the PPP a number of former government coalition members, including members of the PPP, switched sides enabling the Democrat Party lead by Mr Abhisit to form government. Those PPP members who did not change sides formed the PPT party.

The so-called “red shirts” formed under the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), a group with close links to Shinawatra, first laid siege to Thailand’s Government House on March 26 demanding prime minister Abhisit dissolve parliament and call fresh elections.

The UDD stepped up its campaign against the government of Mr Abhisit with a mass rally on April 8 which attracted over 150,000 people.

On April 11 thousands of red shirt protesters caused Thailand enormous loss of face when they stormed the luxury Royal Cliff Hotel and Resort in Pattaya forcing the 10 Asean member heads of state plus those of six regional dialogue nations to flee and the 14th Asean Summit to be postponed.

ENDS:

© John Le Fevre, 2009

More background on Thailand’s political problems can be found at Thailand on the edge ahead of mass pro-democracy protest

Photos of Monday’s clash between red shirt protesters and the Thai military can be found at Battle for Bangkok photo special

A video compilation of the five days is at Songkran Battle for Bangkok, April 8 – 13, 2009, red shirt pro-democracy protests in Bangkok

A video clip distributed by the UDD showing two military assaults on red shirt protesters at Din Daeng on April 13, 2009 can be found here Battle for Bangkok – Thai army verses red shirt protesters.

More video on the Thailand military action at Din Daeng can be found here:
Din Daeng military action – ทหาร vs นปช สลายการชุมนุม สามเหลี่ยมดินแดง and also here:
“Din Daeng” – ทหารยิง m16 ปะทะเสื้อแดง 13.04.09

Comments in either Thai or English are welcome by clicking the Comments tag below. However, please also provide a translation of any comments written in Thai. Comments that are derogatory to HM the King of Thailand will be edited due to Thailand’s strict lèse-majesté laws.

Thailand, Thailand politics, Thailand current events, Peoples Alliance for Democracy, Abhisit Vejjajiva, United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, Thaksin Shinawatra, 14th Asean summit, Democrat Party, Thailand Government House, PAD, Thailand military, People’s Power Party, “Red-shirts”, “Yellow shirts”, Buddhism, Thailand Constitutional Court, Phak Puea Thai, Human rights, Human rights abuse

• Bio
• Latest Posts

John Le Fevre

Editor at Photo-journ.com

John Le Fevre is an Australian national with more than 25 years' experience as a journalist, photographer, videographer and copy editor. He has spent extensive periods of time working in Africa and throughout Southeast Asia and previously held senior editorial staff positions with various Southeast Asia English language publications and international news agencies. He has covered major world events including the 1991 pillage riots in Zaire, the 1994 Rwanda genocide, the 1999 East Timor independence unrest, the 2004 Asian tsunami, the 2009 Songkran riots in Bangkok, and the bloody 2010 red-shirt protests in Bangkok. In 1995 he was a Walkley Award finalist, the highest awards in Australian journalism, for his coverage of the 1995 Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) Ebola outbreak. In addition to news and feature writing he also writes for commercial websites and performs SEO, SNM, and SEM services at Pattaya Web Services

Latest posts by John Le Fevre (see all)

• Thailand Labour Day 2013 – Photo Special - May 2, 2013
• Is Myanmar another Rwanda genocide in the making? - March 31, 2013
• Hold the phone, Thailand telcos “worse than unanaesthetised root-canal” - January 3, 2013
• Thailand Internal Security Act shows rattled Thai Government - November 23, 2012