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Bangkok – The Thai government declared on Thursday it had mostly quelled ten weeks of violent protests in the capital while buildings smouldered, troops rooted out small pockets of resistance and residents attempted a return to normal life.
But a night time curfew was extended in Bangkok and 23 other provinces for three more days, and earlier troops and die-hard protesters exchanged sporadic fire in parts of the city.
"Overall, we have the situation under control," army spokesperson Colonel Sansern Kawekamnerd said.
A major military operation the day before, in which at least seven people were killed and 88 wounded, was largely successful, but underlying political divisions that caused Thailand's crisis may have been exacerbated, and unrest spread to provinces in the north and northeast.
Nation Television reported that one person had been killed and 14 wounded in the northeastern province of Khon Kaen, one of several provinces where protests erupted on Wednesday.
Bangkok burns
Bangkok's skyline overnight was blotted by flashes of fire and black smoke from more than three dozen buildings set ablaze – including Thailand's stock exchange, main power company, banks, a movie theatre and one of Asia's largest shopping malls.
The government described the mayhem as "an organised crime. It is terrorism." Sansern, who said 122 police and army units were involved in the operation, said authorities found a cache of explosives and assault rifles during their sweep against the Red Shirts.
Troops in the central business district, occupied by protesters for weeks, exchanged occasional fire on Thursday morning with holdouts as locals in the area looted a vast tent city the activists had cobbled together.
A special police unit entered a Buddhist temple inside the former protest site where the government said 5 000 Red Shirt supporters, most of them women, old men and children, had sought shelter in recent days.
Associated Press photographers said there was no resistance at the temple as police took away the group to a nearby police station.
Fearful
Some cried and many were fearful that they would be incarcerated by the military. Others remained defiant.
"We won. We won. The Red Shirts will rise again," shouted one woman.
Since the Red Shirts began their protest in mid-March, at least 75 people – mostly civilians – have been killed and nearly 1 800 wounded. Of those, 46 people have died in clashes that started on May 13 after the army tried to blockade their 3-square-kilometre camp.
Six bodies were found at the temple, but it was unclear when those people died and whether they already were included in the official death toll as collected by the government's Erawan Emergency Centre.
Elsewhere in the city, municipal workers removed debris and collected piles of garbage left in the streets that had been cordoned off by authorities for the past week. With military checkpoints removed in some areas, residents in protest areas were able to leave home to shop. Electricity was restored in some areas.
Arson attacks
Sansern said there had been 39 arson attacks, which officials said included office buildings, banks, gold shops, a hotel, government offices and convenience stores.
He said that the arson and looting were "systematically planned and organised" by Red Shirt leaders before they surrendered.
He also said that the military had been restrained in their use of deadly force.
"If we had the intention to attack civilians, the death toll would have been much higher," he said.
Government spokesperson Panithan Wattanayagorn said the rioting was sparked by "disappointment, hopelessness and anger" but the scale could not have been as widespread "if there had not been prior organised planning."
While many of the rioters were believed to be members of the Red Shirts and their sympathisers, there also was an element of criminals and young hoodlums involved in the mayhem in the city of 10 million people.
Damaged economy
The violence in one of Southeast Asia's most stable countries has damaged its economy and tourism industry.
With the top Red Shirt leaders in custody, it was unclear what the next move would be for the protesters who had demanded the removal of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's government, the dissolution of parliament and new elections.
The protesters, many of them poor farmers or members of the urban underclass, say Abhisit came to power illegitimately and is oblivious to their plight.
The crackdown should silence the large number of government supporters who were urging a harder line, and the rioting that followed may extinguish some of the widespread sympathy for the protesters' cause.
But that same violence also showed a serious intelligence lapse by the military, and the failure to secure areas of the capital raised doubt over how any unrest in the protesters' heartland of the north and northeast can be stilled.
Many Thais feel that any short-term peace may have been purchased at the price of further polarisation that will lead to years of bitter, cyclical conflict.
Committed to armed resistance
"The Reds rampaged and committed to armed resistance," said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist from Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.
"Right now, they are just burning buildings, but later on, what if they picked up arms to fight the bureaucrats, security forces in other parts of Bangkok, and especially in the countryside? So this is just the beginning. The crackdown didn't make them retreat fully. Things will get much worse still."
Thitinan said the government will need to seek a political settlement. "The problem now is that who does the government talk to?" he said.
Some point to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 military coup and fled into exile before being sentenced to two years in prison for corruption. The government has accused him of bankrolling the protests and refuses to make any deals with him until he comes back to serve his sentence.
The unrest following the crackdown spread outside Bangkok, with Thai media reporting that protesters set fire to government offices in the city of Udon Thani and vandalised a city building in Khon Kaen. Udon Thani's governor asked the military to intervene.
TV reports also showed troops retreating after being attacked by mobs in Ubon Ratchathani, and more unrest was reported in the northern city of Chiang Mai, Thailand's third-largest.
In Bangkok, one of the most striking images was grey smoke pouring from Bangkok's landmark CentralWorld shopping mall, which was all but totally gutted by fire.
One of Southeast Asia's largest shopping complexes; it measured 550 000m².
Curfews
The 20:00 to 06:00 curfew was the first for Bangkok since 1992, when the army killed dozens of pro-democracy demonstrators seeking the removal of a military-backed government in a crisis now known as "Black May".
Seven top Red Shirt leaders surrendered on Wednesday, saying they could not stand seeing their supporters being killed.
"Brothers and sisters, I'm sorry I cannot see you off the way I welcomed you all when you arrived here. But please be assured that our hearts will always be with you," Nattawut Saikua, a key leader, said as he was arrested.
"Please return home."
Somyot Pruksakasemsuk, another Red Shirt leader, said the movement would go on despite the day's events.
"This is not the end," he said. "It will spread further and the situation will deteriorate. Initially, independent mass movements in Bangkok and other provinces will begin, then riots will ensue. This will be done by individuals, not by protest leaders. The crowds will reunite soon."
But a night time curfew was extended in Bangkok and 23 other provinces for three more days, and earlier troops and die-hard protesters exchanged sporadic fire in parts of the city.
"Overall, we have the situation under control," army spokesperson Colonel Sansern Kawekamnerd said.
A major military operation the day before, in which at least seven people were killed and 88 wounded, was largely successful, but underlying political divisions that caused Thailand's crisis may have been exacerbated, and unrest spread to provinces in the north and northeast.
Nation Television reported that one person had been killed and 14 wounded in the northeastern province of Khon Kaen, one of several provinces where protests erupted on Wednesday.
Bangkok burns
Bangkok's skyline overnight was blotted by flashes of fire and black smoke from more than three dozen buildings set ablaze – including Thailand's stock exchange, main power company, banks, a movie theatre and one of Asia's largest shopping malls.
The government described the mayhem as "an organised crime. It is terrorism." Sansern, who said 122 police and army units were involved in the operation, said authorities found a cache of explosives and assault rifles during their sweep against the Red Shirts.
Troops in the central business district, occupied by protesters for weeks, exchanged occasional fire on Thursday morning with holdouts as locals in the area looted a vast tent city the activists had cobbled together.
A special police unit entered a Buddhist temple inside the former protest site where the government said 5 000 Red Shirt supporters, most of them women, old men and children, had sought shelter in recent days.
Associated Press photographers said there was no resistance at the temple as police took away the group to a nearby police station.
Fearful
Some cried and many were fearful that they would be incarcerated by the military. Others remained defiant.
"We won. We won. The Red Shirts will rise again," shouted one woman.
Since the Red Shirts began their protest in mid-March, at least 75 people – mostly civilians – have been killed and nearly 1 800 wounded. Of those, 46 people have died in clashes that started on May 13 after the army tried to blockade their 3-square-kilometre camp.
Six bodies were found at the temple, but it was unclear when those people died and whether they already were included in the official death toll as collected by the government's Erawan Emergency Centre.
Elsewhere in the city, municipal workers removed debris and collected piles of garbage left in the streets that had been cordoned off by authorities for the past week. With military checkpoints removed in some areas, residents in protest areas were able to leave home to shop. Electricity was restored in some areas.
Arson attacks
Sansern said there had been 39 arson attacks, which officials said included office buildings, banks, gold shops, a hotel, government offices and convenience stores.
He said that the arson and looting were "systematically planned and organised" by Red Shirt leaders before they surrendered.
He also said that the military had been restrained in their use of deadly force.
"If we had the intention to attack civilians, the death toll would have been much higher," he said.
Government spokesperson Panithan Wattanayagorn said the rioting was sparked by "disappointment, hopelessness and anger" but the scale could not have been as widespread "if there had not been prior organised planning."
While many of the rioters were believed to be members of the Red Shirts and their sympathisers, there also was an element of criminals and young hoodlums involved in the mayhem in the city of 10 million people.
Damaged economy
The violence in one of Southeast Asia's most stable countries has damaged its economy and tourism industry.
With the top Red Shirt leaders in custody, it was unclear what the next move would be for the protesters who had demanded the removal of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's government, the dissolution of parliament and new elections.
The protesters, many of them poor farmers or members of the urban underclass, say Abhisit came to power illegitimately and is oblivious to their plight.
The crackdown should silence the large number of government supporters who were urging a harder line, and the rioting that followed may extinguish some of the widespread sympathy for the protesters' cause.
But that same violence also showed a serious intelligence lapse by the military, and the failure to secure areas of the capital raised doubt over how any unrest in the protesters' heartland of the north and northeast can be stilled.
Many Thais feel that any short-term peace may have been purchased at the price of further polarisation that will lead to years of bitter, cyclical conflict.
Committed to armed resistance
"The Reds rampaged and committed to armed resistance," said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist from Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.
"Right now, they are just burning buildings, but later on, what if they picked up arms to fight the bureaucrats, security forces in other parts of Bangkok, and especially in the countryside? So this is just the beginning. The crackdown didn't make them retreat fully. Things will get much worse still."
Thitinan said the government will need to seek a political settlement. "The problem now is that who does the government talk to?" he said.
Some point to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 military coup and fled into exile before being sentenced to two years in prison for corruption. The government has accused him of bankrolling the protests and refuses to make any deals with him until he comes back to serve his sentence.
The unrest following the crackdown spread outside Bangkok, with Thai media reporting that protesters set fire to government offices in the city of Udon Thani and vandalised a city building in Khon Kaen. Udon Thani's governor asked the military to intervene.
TV reports also showed troops retreating after being attacked by mobs in Ubon Ratchathani, and more unrest was reported in the northern city of Chiang Mai, Thailand's third-largest.
In Bangkok, one of the most striking images was grey smoke pouring from Bangkok's landmark CentralWorld shopping mall, which was all but totally gutted by fire.
One of Southeast Asia's largest shopping complexes; it measured 550 000m².
Curfews
The 20:00 to 06:00 curfew was the first for Bangkok since 1992, when the army killed dozens of pro-democracy demonstrators seeking the removal of a military-backed government in a crisis now known as "Black May".
Seven top Red Shirt leaders surrendered on Wednesday, saying they could not stand seeing their supporters being killed.
"Brothers and sisters, I'm sorry I cannot see you off the way I welcomed you all when you arrived here. But please be assured that our hearts will always be with you," Nattawut Saikua, a key leader, said as he was arrested.
"Please return home."
Somyot Pruksakasemsuk, another Red Shirt leader, said the movement would go on despite the day's events.
"This is not the end," he said. "It will spread further and the situation will deteriorate. Initially, independent mass movements in Bangkok and other provinces will begin, then riots will ensue. This will be done by individuals, not by protest leaders. The crowds will reunite soon."
