Updated on
Summary
Thailand sent troops to Bangkok's financial district early on Monday, a day after vowing to punish protesters if they march there, raising fears of more violence after bloody clashes killed 24 people a week ago. Red-shirted supporters of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra said on Saturday they may take their protest to the financial district this week, two blocks away from their main downtown protest base, in defiance of an emergency decree. They threatened to demonstrate in front of Bangkok Bank, one of Thailand's biggest lenders.Hundreds of troops had been deployed on Silom Road, a stretch lined with banks that leads to a shopping district occupied for 17 days by the protesters who are demanding the government immediately dissolve parliament. A few hundred red shirts gathered at an intersection facing the troops, armed with bricks from a destroyed footpath. Army spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said on Sunday (April 18) they will not let the protesters go anywhere farther, stopping short of using the word crackdown but said protesters occupying the plush Rachaprasong area would be dealt with. Sansern said uniformed and armed security forces would be sent to secure high-rises around the demonstration area to prevent the third hand, whom the government has blamed for the killings, from launching attacks. The red shirts said they would counter with their own people. Blue-collar workers arriving for work after the Thai New Year holidays said the security build up in the streets eased their fears. Others worried that the presence of more troops could heat up tensions and lead to more clashes. A heated confrontation between troops and demonstrators led to bloody clashes on April 10, the first outbreak of violence in the six-week protests. The seemingly intractable five-year crisis has fuelled speculation that, with the government and security forces in disarray and concerns about clashes between rival demonstrators, hardliners within the military may decide to stage a coup to end the impasse, which analysts say would likely backfire.
