Thailand's deep divisions have been brutally exposed

[TotallyOz]

Thailand's capital Bangkok remains tense after a night under curfew, following a deadly army assault on anti-government protesters.

 

Gunshots were heard early on Thursday near a temple where many red-shirt protesters had sought shelter.

 

Some 27 buildings had been set ablaze after protest leaders surrendered, and pockets of resistance remain.

 

Some 40 people had died since troops ringed the protesters last week, with at least 14 more deaths on Wednesday.

 

Reuters news agency quoted a spokesman for Bangkok's governor as saying there were 31 fires on Thursday morning.

 

There are fears that Central World, one of South-East Asia's biggest shopping centres, could collapse after it was set ablaze by the protesters, Thai police officials were quoted as saying by AFP.

 

Buses were running in the capital on Thursday morning and TV channels continued to show approved programmes.

 

At least six people died on Wednesday during the army crackdown on the protesters' fortified camp in the Lumpini Park area of central Bangkok.

 

However, witnesses and police now say that at least eight more people were killed in the temple inside the protesters' site after the army assault.

 

Thai authorities also imposed the overnight curfew in 21 provinces, after outbursts of unrest in some regions in the north-east - a red-shirt stronghold.

 

In a televised address late on Wednesday, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said he was "confident and determined to end the problems and return the country to peace and order once again".

 

Thaksin Shinawatra, the former prime minister living in self-imposed exile whom many red-shirts support, warned that the crackdown could spawn mass discontent and lead to guerrilla warfare.

 

'Out of control'

The curfew, the first imposed in Bangkok in 15 years, ran from 2000 to 0600 (1300 to 2300 GMT), and the government ordered television channels to broadcast only officially sanctioned programmes.

 

I am confident and determined to end the problems and return the country to peace and order once again

 

Thailand's deep divisions have been brutally exposed, our correspondent adds.

 

There are reports of tension in the north and one group operating in the capital declared itself independent of the main protest movement and said it would continue fighting.

 

In the north-east of the country, a town hall in Udon Thani was set on fire and another, at Khon Kaen, was wrecked. Violence was also reported in the northern city of Chiang Mai.

 

In Bangkok, the main rally stage area was empty after the protest leaders' surrender.

 

One protest leader, Nattawut Saikua, appealed to his supporters to "please return home".

 

The leaders, labelled terrorists by the army, earlier urged supporters not to give up the fight for political change.

 

Defiant protesters later attacked shops and property and masked men could be seen apparently looting.

 

Protest leaders appealed to supporters to go home

The US state department said it deplored the violence and urged restraint on both sides.

 

EU parliamentary president Jerzy Buzek said national reconciliation was now "not simply an option, it is absolutely mandatory".

 

Among the dead on Wednesday was an Italian photojournalist, while three other reporters, a Dutch person, an American and a Canadian, were among scores of people injured.

 

The red-shirts had been protesting in Bangkok since 14 March, occupying the shopping district, forcing hotels and shops to close.

 

But events took a deadly turn last week when the government moved to seal off the area and a renegade general who backed the protests was shot dead.

 

The red-shirts are a loose coalition of left-wing activists, democracy campaigners and mainly rural supporters of Mr Thaksin.

 

They are demanding fresh polls because they say the government - which came to power through a parliamentary deal rather than an election - is illegitimate.

 

BBC News - Bangkok remains tense after night curfew