Peace restored, anger still burns in Bangkok

By NBC News’ Warangkana Chomchuen  

BANGKOK – Although the leaders of anti-government Red Shirt protesters surrendered to the police Wednesday and most of the demonstrators packed up and went home, the divisions in Thai society are far from over. 

Buildings still smoldered and smoke hung over Bangkok’s skyline Thursday from the dozens of buildings set ablaze a day earlier. Sporadic gunfire could still be heard in the heart of the city and a nighttime curfew was extended in Bangkok and 23 other provinces for three more days. The curfew was the first for Bangkok since pro-democracy protests in May 1992.  

Meanwhile, groups of soldiers dismantled the protesters encampment in the center of the city Thursday, taking down tents, the protesters’ main stage, stacks of speakers and projectors.

Barbara Walton /EPA
A firefighter cleaning up Thailand's largest shopping complex, Central World, the second largest in Asia, which was set on fire by Red Shirt anti government protesters in Bangkok, Thailand, on Thursday.

Some locals and tourists snapped pictures of part of Central World, a shopping center that had collapsed after being set on fire. One passerby called it "Thailand's Ground Zero." In the background a military vehicle drove slowly by playing a song written to honor the Thai king.

But there are widespread fears that the army’s crackdown on the antigovernment Red Shirt movement might further inflame divisions that have polarized the country for years.  

VIDEO: After crackdown, Bangkok feels 'unnaturally quiet'

 
Day of mayhemOne analyst described Wednesday’s clashes as the most widespread violence in Thailand’s history. At least 15 people, including an Italian news photographer, were killed and scores injured.

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Thai troops move against protest holdouts

Violence in Bangkok largely quelled, but unrest spreads

Damir Sagolj / Reuters

Thai army soldiers stand guard over blindfolded detainees during an operation to evict anti-government Red Shirt protesters from their encampment in Bangkok on Wednesday.

 

By JOCELYN GECKER

updated 25 minutes ago

BANGKOK - Buildings smoldered across central Bangkok early Thursday and troops exchanged sporadic fire with pockets of holdouts a day after the army routed anti-government protesters in a push to end Thailand's deadliest political violence in nearly 20 years.

The government quelled most of the violence in the battered Thai capital after a major military operation that killed at least 7 people and left 88 wounded. But underlying political divisions that caused Thailand's crisis may have been exacerbated, and unrest spread to provinces in the north and northeast.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva imposed a nighttime curfew in the capital and 23 other provinces and said his government would restore calm. Although leaders of the Red Shirt demonstrators surrendered, sporadic clashes between troops and remaining protesters continued Thursday morning.

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