In the Wake of the Seh Daeng Shooting

[Gaybutton]

As of the time of this post, Seh Daeng is still alive. The only statement I have been able to find as to the prognosis is that the bullet has successfully been removed from his head, but he remains in critical condition and doctors are still not sure if they can save him.

 

Meanwhile, Thaksin has condemned the shooting and is in touch with Seh Daeng's daughter.

 

Veera, one of the Red-Shirt leaders, has resigned, saying the Red-Shirt leadership is divided as to whether to continue the protest. He wants the protest to end.

 

I have not yet seen any reports as to whether the Red-Shirt leadership is planning retaliatory moves following the Seh Daeng shooting.

 

I have not yet seen any further publicity about Chonburi, including Pattaya, being under a state of emergency. As of the time of this post, nothing has changed in Pattaya and everything is still perfectly normal.

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Seh Daeng shrugged off dangers before shooting

 

Published: 14/05/2010

 

"I'm not afraid of dying. They've marked my head. If I'm afraid, who will lead the red shirts?" army specialist Khattiya Sawasdipol told the Bangkok Post in a telephone interview yesterday.

 

Later in the day, about 7.30pm, Maj Gen Khattiya, better known as Seh Daeng, was shot in the head near the Sala Daeng red shirt rally site. He was inspecting security barriers and giving an interview to a group of foreign reporters at the time.

 

''All I have on me is a small pistol and a stick ... If anyone comes to arrest me, I can assure you I'll shoot and fight to the end ... Soldiers are on to me. There are snipers out there. But they'll never get me,'' Maj Gen Khattiya said.

 

Seh Daeng shrugged off dangers before shooting

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Thaksin condemns shooting of Maj Gen Khattiya

 

Fugitive ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra said in his twitter that he telephoned daughter of Maj Gen Khattiya Sawasdipol who has been in a coma after being shot at the head reportedly by a sniper on Thursday night.

 

Thaksin condemns shooting of Maj Gen Khattiya

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UDD leadership in disarray as Veera is said to have quit

 

Red shirts divided over whether to end protest

 

Published: 14/05/2010

 

A split has emerged in the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship as Veera Musikhapong has quit as its leader, a source says.

 

Conflict within the ranks of UDD co-leaders had led Mr Veera to resign, the source said yesterday.

 

UDD co-leader Korkaew Pikulthong admitted the red shirt bosses have been split down the middle.

 

UDD leadership in disarray as Veera is said to have quit

[Gaybutton]

The latest news is Seh Daeng is still alive. Police have entered the hospital. Seh Daeng will be arrested on terrorism charges if he survives.

[Gaybutton]

Thai Army Says it Did Not Shoot Protest Leader

 

By the CNN Wire Staff

May 14, 2010

 

Bangkok, Thailand (CNN) -- Thailand's army had nothing to do with the shooting of an opposition leader in downtown Bangkok, a military spokesman said Friday.

 

The Thursday incident is under investigation, said Col. Sansern Kaewkumnerd, an Army spokesman.

 

Downtown Bangkok's Lumpini Park turned into a mob atmosphere amid gunshots and explosions Thursday as anti-government protesters massed there.

 

Video footage showed one protester dead on the pavement. There was also footage of Red Shirt movement leader Maj. Gen. Khattiya Sawasdipol lying on the ground, bleeding from a gunshot wound near the neck, as frantic protesters attempted to move him and get help.

 

The renegade general is better known as Seh Daeng, or Red Commander.

 

Thai forces were slowly getting control of the downtown area Friday, a government official told CNN.

 

But sporadic gunshots could be heard ringing out from the area.

 

Thai Army says it did not shoot protest leader - CNN.com

[Gaybutton]

Wounded Seh Daeng's Chance of Survival 'Low'

 

Published: 14/05/2010

 

Maj-Gen Khattiya Sawasdipol has swelling of the brain and has little chance of surviving, Dr Chaiwan Charoenchokethawee, director of Vajira Hospital, said on Friday.

 

"His chance of survival is quite low," Dr Chaiwan said in a television interview.

 

Dr Chaiwan said Seh Daeng was on life support and still unconscious. Medical teams were monitoring his condition minute by minute.

 

He confirmed that Maj-Gen Khattiya was shot once through the temple.

 

Surgeons had operated to remove blood clots from his brain and reduce the swelling, he said.

 

Wounded Seh Daeng's chance of survival 'low'

[PattayaMale]

GB,

If your still looking for news that Chonburi is under State of Emergency see

Pattaya One

[Gaybutton]

GB,

If your still looking for news that Chonburi is under State of Emergency see

Pattaya One

Yes, I've seen it. I posted last night on another thread that the state of emergency has been confirmed.

 

But you would never know it. I haven't seen anything different in Pattaya at all. You live here. Have you seen anything unusual?

 

I haven't been outside of Pattaya since last week. I think the state of emergency probably consists of roadblocks outside of Pattaya in an effort to prevent more Red-Shirts from going to Bangkok. That's just a guess on my part.

 

Meanwhile, everything is perfectly normal in Pattaya. A technical state of emergency might exist, but on a practical level there really is nothing.

 

The headline in that Pattaya One article says, "Message from Pattaya: Don’t be scared, everything is normal." I agree. I don't see any reason at all for people who had plans to come to Pattaya to alter their plans. I'll bet most farang present in Pattaya would agree with me. Everything is fine here, except the weather has been hot as hell lately.

 

HeyGay, if you're reading this, why do I think you went to Saranrom Park despite all this madness . . . ?

[Guest painai]

Meanwhile, everything is perfectly normal in Pattaya. A technical state of emergency might exist, but on a practical level there really is nothing.

I went by the Red Cafe near the Day Night Hotel. It was very tense, the Pattaya red shirts have the soi blocked off. Emotions are very high now. I understand the emergency degree can prevent them from leaving Pattaya to join the red shirts in Bangkok.

[PattayaMale]

Neither have I seen anything out of the ordinary in Pattaya. Truthfully, we farangs seem more absorbed with what is going on than the Thais here that I know. I have asked my Thai friend so many times to come inside and tell me what the Bangkok news is saying, he now says the same thing, "problem in Bangkok". That is it!

 

I am sorry for the people that are getting hurt, but feel it is now there own fault for not leaving the protest site, rolling burning tires at troops, invading a hospital, etc.

 

Bringing change to such a corrupt society must be very hard. It certainly is beyond me to understand how correcting this can happen.

 

Those thinking of coming to Pattaya for this low season should probably be safe. But do be careful not to stay out in the sun too much. It is indeed hot!

[Gaybutton]

the Pattaya red shirts have the soi blocked off.

The Red-Shirts have blocked off Soi Day-Night? Why? What on earth is blocking off Soi Day-Night supposed to accomplish besides making it a bit more difficult for some to get to Sunee Plaza?

[Gaybutton]

Bringing change to such a corrupt society must be very hard.

Especially when the only real change likely to happen in the long run would be replacement by another corrupt government. That's my opinion, anyway.

 

The truth is, I'm finding it very difficult to even care who ends up prevailing. Maybe Thailand will end up with an Abhisit government. Maybe a Thaksin government. Maybe a military government. Maybe someone we've never heard of. But whoever it is, does anyone truly believe that in the "big picture" anything much is likely to change in the long run? Does anyone truly believe that five years or ten years down the road that Thailand and corruption will essentially be any different from what it is right now?

 

I believe that whoever prevails, there won't be any less corruption. The only change I can foresee would be a different set of people profiting by it.

 

Once the dust settles from this protest, how long do you think it will be before the next protests or the next coup?

 

As for whoever ends up sitting at the Prime Minister's desk, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." The way things seem to happen in Thailand, whoever it is won't last very long anyway.

[Gaybutton]

I'm somewhat surprised there isn't already a barrage of speculation as to who shot Seh Daeng. From what has been published so far, it was a professional 'hit' by a skilled sharpshooter. Who was behind it? Abhisit denies having anything to do with it. The military and CRES deny having anything to do with it. Then who did? Was it a lone assassin acting on his own? Was it a conspiracy? Was Seh Daeng set up? Was there a second assassin on the Grassy Knoll?

 

Don't get me wrong. I really do feel badly for Seh Daeng and I think shooting him was a terrible thing, but the incident has all the makings of a good Frederick Forsythe novel.

 

Who shot J.R.?

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Sniper 'targeted Khattiya from high-rise'

 

By Thanong Khanthong

The Nation

Published on May 15, 2010

 

A sniper who shot Maj-General Khattiya Sawasdipol on Thursday appeared to have used a Winchester rifle with a .308 bullet and fired it from a tall building, a military expert said.

 

The expert said the bullet, which struck Khattiya on the right temple before passing through his throat and the back of his neck, was travelling at an angle of between 45 to 75 degrees.

 

"This can only mean that the sniper must be a real pro and stalking Seh Daeng from a tall building," he said.

 

Khattiya collapsed unconscious the moment he was struck by the bullet at around 7pm, right in front of the underground MRT Silom station. He was rushed to Hua Chiew Hospital before being transferred later to the Vajira Hospital. He is now in a critical condition. Only a miracle can save his life, according to medical sources.

 

Sniper 'targeted Khattiya from high-rise'

[Guest tdperhs]

I don

[Gaybutton]

What you say makes a lot of sense to me. You did leave out one possibility, though. What about the idea of cutting off the head of a snake? I think you're right, but I can also see a scenario in which someone thought by taking out Seh Daeng, then the protest would quickly die without his presence and influence.

 

It is obvious that whoever shot him was a skilled sharpshooter. But it would also have had to be someone who knew where Seh Daeng would be and when he would be there. The shooter would have had to select a place from which to shoot where he knew he would be close enough to his target to hit him, close enough to recognize him, but far enough away so that he could escape.

 

Then there's the question of timing. About 7:00pm. That's just after nightfall in Thailand. It makes sense to me that there must have been a reason.

 

The way I see it, the shooting had to have been planned hours or even days in advance and the shooter had to have been someone not only skilled, but someone capable of pulling off an assassination without hurting anyone else and making a clean getaway. And it would have had to be someone who had access to the kind of weapon capable of such an assassination.

 

I see a conspiracy theory coming up. Who did it? Was it a lone assassin? A hired killer? And why? Why was Seh Daeng shot? Who was behind it? Why him in particular? Are the other Red-Shirt leaders now in danger of meeting the same fate?

[Smiles]

Every faction involved in this whole sad affair are now falling all over themselves denying any involvement in the shooting (possibly killing) of Seh Daeng: ( Parties deny role in hit on Seh Daeng )

 

The red supporters will obviously blame the government entities, and the government 'groups' will just as obviously blame the reds ... or at least a small sub-group of the reds which they dub 'terrorists' or ~ my favourite Thai phrase ~ 'Invisible Hands'.

 

But for the close-to-objective folks (there are still many around ... the ones who view the government is weak and do-nothing, deserving of losing the next election. And can, at the same time, see the Reds as a out of control mob, badly led, undemocratic, corrupt) one can easily acknowledge good reasons for either of the groups wanting to get Mr Khattiya out of the picture: to the army and the government Seh Daeng is/was a longtime serious trouble maker, traitor (unsaid), big mouth, a denigrator of the 'establishment' army, a wayward macho Rambo figure. People in Thailand get shot for much less all the time.

 

To some of the reds (i.e. those who don't buy into his hero-worship of the general mob) he was either a completely loose cannon disobeying many of the red leaders, or a huge threat to the red 'peace' faction, or a dispensable figure who's violent martyrdom at the hands of (obviously!) the government could be a rallying point for greater upheaval (i.e. read: 'winning').

 

Knowing Thailand reasonably well ~ though sometimes I wonder ~ I can easily see any of the above scenarios being a cause for Khattiya's shooting, though I have no idea which one (or one not mentioned, or a combination of some of them).

[Bob]

I believe the army when it declares it did not order the shooting of Seh Daeng.

 

I can understand your logical reasoning but I wouldn't believe any of the groups or characters involved. Logic (or truth) has generally not applied to what they've all done or said for years.

[Guest]

I can understand your logical reasoning but I wouldn't believe any of the groups or characters involved. Logic (or truth) has generally not applied to what they've all done or said for years.

 

It is hard to know what the truth is. What we see in the papers and in the news isn't always what the Thais see or read in their news. And, I am sure both are different from those on the ground. Agree with you Bob in that I can't seem to believe any of them right now.

[pong]

Having just returned to BKK myself, this is just another opinion:

the army has hesitated to attack/halt the redshirts as they really feared the strategic knowledge of their old ally, Seh Daeng (means chief red). He was thrown out of his army post a few days ago-which must have been a first step.

Here in BKK it is widely rumoured that the split in the red-shirt leadership (including the last week's ''agreement'' on the 5 step path) was bought off under the table-a very Thai way of handling things. This Arisman wanted more (as it is assumed he has enormous debts from his former career) so had the strategy to carry on in the hope of getting more.

Just as the general idea of khun GB- the most likely explanation of anything unthinkable is often money-and more of it. Redshirt protesters say they have been told-when khun Thaksin comes back-they get their farms for free and 1 or 2 million baht.

Again-just an opinion, for what its worth.

[Gaybutton]

Khattiya in Critical but Stable Condition

 

Published: 15/05/2010 at 10:23 AM

 

A doctor from Vajjira Hospital revealed on Saturday morning that Maj Gen Khattiya Sawasdipol, also known as Seh Daeng, is still in a critical but stable condition.

 

Seh Daeng - the army specialist and supporter of convicted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra - receives regular anti-biotic treatment. No visitor is allowed except his daughter, Ms Khattiyaa.

 

He was shot in the head on Thursday night as security forces surrounded the six-week anti-government rally site at Bangkok's Ratchaprasong commercial district.

 

Khattiya in critical but stable condition