Renegade Thai army general shot in head helping Red Shirt protestors

A renegade army general accused of leading a paramilitary force among Thailand's Red Shirt protesters was shot in the head as he spoke with foreign reporters on a street near a downtown Bangkok subway station.

A second person was shot in the head by soldiers in ensuing clashes that continued in the night. At least three other people were injured.

The General was shot following a government warning it would shoot "terrorists" in its latest effort to end the two-month-long siege by thousands of Red Shirts.

"(The military) are allowed to shoot anyone armed with weapons, which could be anything from handguns to assault rifles to grenades or bombs. These armed people could be threats to others and are deemed terrorists."

"If the government doesn't quit, I will not leave. I will fight until I die. Everyone is ready to sacrifice their lives today."

He is currently in hospital intensive care. The protesters, mostly rural poor, are occupying a 1-square-mile area in an upmarket neighbourhood to pressure the prime minister to resign and call elections.

Dressed in military-style fatigues, Khattiya was being interviewed outside the Silom subway station at the edge of the protest zone when a bullet struck him in the head. The area is surrounded by tall office buildings, leading to suspicions the shot was fired by a sniper.

Khattiya was suspended from the army in January and became a fugitive from justice last month when an arrest warrant was issued against him and two dozen others linked to the Red Shirts for their purported roles in the violence.

Later in the evening, small clashes broke out between protesters and soldiers. At one point, hundreds of protesters threw rocks and firecrackers at the group of soldiers, and the soldiers responded with gunfire. One man was shot in the head. Soldiers opened fire again after an ambulance took away the man. His condition was not immediately clear.

The Red Shirts are demanding an immediate dissolution of Parliament. They believe Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's coalition government came to power illegitimately through manipulation of the courts and the backing of the powerful military.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Renegade
• Thai
• army
• general
• shot
• head
• helping
• Red
• Shirt
• protestors

[MrShwekayin]

@PANNATORN fuck you, you fucking asshole. Many of red shirts are well educated.They have family members in foreign countries as well, those red shirts are not just peasants. The main reseason anti-red shirts worry about losing business in Bangkok but it's just temperary. Your fucking new current prime minister is a piece of chicken shit. Fucking coward prime minister!!!!!

[KhmerSerey1]

SAE DANG WILL NOT DIE IN VAIN,THE GOVERNMENT WILL NOT HAVE THEIR SATISFACTION,THAILAND STILL BELONG TO THE PEOPLE !!!!

[onna5256]

“อย่าให้พวกเผาเมืองยึดประเทศไท­ย”

[yangjackie2011]

These are well educated people because they understand other forms of government. They want democracy instead of monarchy/parliamentary rule.

[carl137]

Bunch of stupid peasants. All they accomplished was to burn the city center!

[cannabudlee]

@krongtheep BOOM HEADSHOT HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

[krongtheep]

Long live Sae Daeng! Spirit of Sae daeng is with thai people.

[marx369]

@MrShwekayin well educated doesn't mean you smart to choose choices moran

[thaisoldier1786]

@krongtheep ไอ้สัตย์เอ้ย