Updated on
Summary
Thai police displayed weapons and explosive devices found in the anti-government protest camp on Thursday, a day after the troops forced their way through the barricaded rally site in Bangkok's shopping district. M-79 grenades, AK-47's and handguns were some of the weapons police said they had found at the site protesters had been occupied for six weeks. A claim red-shirt leaders deny. A member of CRES and forensic expert, Porntip Rojanasunan said they believed they found the area were explosive devices were made for use during riots. The military and police found many devices, and after an investigation, we found that this area could have been used to make devices used during the riots. The equipment we found included bomb parts and every type of grenade, he said. After nine weeks of protests that began with peaceful flag-waving rallies in March before descending into gun battles in April and chaotic clashes and riots in May, Thailand has entered a new chapter in its political and social history. The surrender of key protest leaders on Wednesday and a seeming end for now to violence that has killed at least 53 people and wounded more than 400 in six days could put the focus back on early elections and a reconciliation roadmap the prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva had proposed before the latest bout of violence. Ten journalists have been shot in six days of violence, including an Italian cameraman, Fabio Polenghi, killed on Wednesday. Thai authorities restored order in Bangkok after rioting and fires that veered towards anarchy as troops took control of a camp occupied by anti-government protesters, but the ceasefire looked fragile. Troops have now established control of Bangkok and the protest encampment occupied since April 3 but at great cost. A curfew in Bangkok and 23 provinces was extended for another three nights, raising questions of whether authorities feared more unrest in a country where the ranks of the military and the police are split along the same socio-economic fault lines dividing protesters from the government and its affluent backers.
