BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thai troops fired at protesters on Saturday in a third day of fighting on Bangkok's streets that has killed 17 people as soldiers struggle to isolate a sprawling encampment of demonstrators seeking to topple the government.
Soldiers crouched behind sandbags or atop buildings fired live rounds at protesters armed with petrol bombs, guns and homemade rockets in clashes around the business district. One was shot in the chest while trying to ignite a tyre.
At Din Daeng intersection, north of the protest site, three bodies were evacuated on stretchers, a Reuters witness said.
Two suffered head wounds. Troops also swarmed into a parking lot at the popular Dusit Thani hotel outside the protest site. That followed a long night of grenade explosions and sporadic gunfire as the army battled to set up a perimeter around the 3.5 sq-km (1.2 sq-mile) barricaded encampment where thousands refuse to leave, including women and children.
''We'll keep on fighting,'' said Kwanchai Praipana, a leader of the red-shirted protesters, calling on Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to resign and take responsibility for Thailand's deadliest political crisis in 18 years.
He said supplies of food, water and fuel were starting to run thin as their usual delivery trucks were blocked but that they had enough to last ''days''.
Hardcore protesters, gathering in small numbers, set fire to vehicles, including an army truck, and hurled rocks at troops who set up razor wire at checkpoints and asked residents to show identification cards to stop people from joining the mostly rural and urban poor ''red shirts''.
A sign at one intersection warned residents not to enter a ''live bullet area''. Another warned of a ''rubber bullet area.''
The crisis has paralyzed Bangkok, squeezed Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy, scared off tourists and choked investment in one of Asia's most promising emerging markets. It has also stunned ''Bangkokians'' as one of the world's most bustling cities and tourist hot spots descends into a war zone.
''My ears are ringing with all the shooting last night,'' said Ratana Veerasawat, a 48-year-old owner of a hole-in-the-wall grocery store north of the protest encampment where many residents were leaving for safer locations. ''It's just awful and getting worse. Best to leave now.''
May 15, 2010, 6:34pm
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