Updated on
Summary
Thai troops fired at protesters in a third day of fighting that has killed 17 people on Bangkok's streets as soldiers struggle to isolate a sprawling encampment of demonstrators seeking to topple the government. Anti-government protesters set up new barricades in part of Bangkok, using tyres piled up to create a road block while some red-shirts seized water trucks. Bangkok residents living in an area sealed off by the army needed to register with their national ID card in order to get access to their homes. Residents received a temporary pass allowing them to enter the area freely, this is the latest security measure enforced by the Thai army. Elsewhere in Bangkok, approximately 200 people, supporters of the red-shirt protesters, marched demanding an end to the fighting and killing on streets in the Thai capital. Carrying the Thai national flag, they marched down a road in central Bangkok carrying banners which read, stop shooting and no more death. Hardcore protesters set fire to vehicles, including an army truck, and hurled rocks at troops who set up razor wire at checkpoints when asked to show identification to prevent people from joining the mostly rural and urban poor red shirts. The crisis has paralysed Bangkok, squeezed Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy, scared off tourists and choked investment in one of Asia's most promising emerging markets.
