Khmer New Year celebrations in Christchurch, New Zealand

KI-Media Note: Thank you, Don, for the pictures of Khmer New Year celebration in Christchurch, New Zealand!
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Hi - some pics of New Year, mainland style. There are about 160 Cambodians in Christchurch (not sure if that is families or people).

A lot of them turned out for the Khmer New Year party last Saturday night. I took a few pics :-)

Don

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19 dead, 807 injured in Bangkok clashes

Sunday, April 11, 2010
By DUANGKAMON SAJIRAWATTANAKUL
THE NATION ON SUNDAY

At least nineteen people were reported to have died and 807 injured from clashes between security forces and red-shirt demonstrators in different parts of the capital, National Emergency Centre's director Phetpong Kamchornkijakarn said late last night.

He said of the casualties, nine were civilians and two were soldiers. Of the civilians killed, eight were red-shirt protesters, while the ninth was a Japanese man who worked as a photographer for Thomson-Reuters.

As of press time on Saturday, six of the dead, including the photographer, had been sent to Central Hospital; two sent to Hua Chiew Hospital; three to Vajira Hospital, which included two soldiers and a 50-year-old red-shirt protester who succumbed to a heart attack.

The Japanese photographer, Hiroyuki Muramoto, died from a gunshot wound to his chest.

Of the red-shirt protesters, one of the dead was identified as 38-year-old Wasan Phoothong, who worked as a tailor in Samut Prakan province; while one was a 43-year-old guard for the movement. Another red-shirt protester killed was Sawat Wa-ngam, who, according to protest leader weng Tojirakarn, had died from a head injury.

Of the two dead soldiers, one was killed by a gunshot wound to his neck.

According to reports, the biggest clash took place in Bangkok's Khok Wua intersection, where about 20 soldiers, a resident and a protester were injured. The victims were taken to hospitals nearby.

Vajira Hospital's director Dr Wanchai Charoenchokthavee said 51 injured people were admitted to the hospital, including 13 soldiers and one protester, who was sustained severe injuries to his lungs and stomach. Another protester was shot in his bottom. As of press time, the injured were undergoing surgery.

Earlier reports said another foreign journalist was shot in the head at Khok Wua intersection, and Wanchai said a foreigner called John Yinglin was among the injured. However, he could not confirm if he was a foreign journalist.

Meanwhile, Central Hospital director Dr Pitchaya Nakwatchara said yesterday that 30 injured people had been brought in from the Khok Wua intersection and Makkawan-Rangsan Bridge protest sites, of which 29 were civilians and one was a solider who had sustained head injury. Of the injured, three had gunshot wounds, including an ABC-News freelance photographer Winai Ditthajorn who was shot in his left leg.

He added that red-shirt protesters had also presented medical staff with some rubber bullets found in the clash site. Pitchaya confirmed that his hospital staff was on standby round the clock.

The hospital director later revealed X-rays of the three injured people, showing that Winai had been shot by what appeared to be a real bullet, while the two red-shirt protesters, Samak Khamsameu and Tag Benjamas, had been hit by a rubber bullet. As of press time, the three were undergoing surgery and will be under observation for three days.

Public Health Minister Jurin Laksanavisit, who is also chairman of the National Emergency Centre, said of the six soldiers sent to Siriraj Hospital, one had sustained a gunshot. He went on say that he had told all 79 emergency centres nationwide to work with Bangkok hospitals.

Emergency Medical Institute of Thailand's secretary-general Chatree Charoencheevakul said he expected the numbers of casualties to rise further, adding that he had put 1,000 medical staff and 150 ambulances on standby.

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Thailand clashes leave 18 dead

"Red Shirt"” protesters clash with soldiers in central Bangkok. Protest leader Nattawut Saikua said the deaths were the fault of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva for his refusal to step down and call new elections. (Rungroj Yongrit / EPA / April 10, 2010)

Anti-government protesters clash with troops in Bangkok, the capital. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva vows to restore peace and order.

April 10, 2010
By Patrick Winn and Mark Magnier
Los Angeles Times

"There might be a coup. There's a real split both in the military and police forces, a serious one. That partly explains why the Abhisit government hasn't really been able to enforce law and order during the past three weeks" - Chulalongkorn University's Thiparat

Reporting from Bangkok, Thailand, and Phnom Penh, Cambodia -- Anti-government demonstrators and Thai troops battled in the streets of Bangkok on Saturday in a conflagration of grenades, gasoline bombs and rubber bullets, leaving 18 people dead and more than 650 wounded.

Five soldiers and 13 civilians, including a Japanese journalist, were killed, the Associated Press reported.

As protests that have dragged on for a month sharply escalated, hundreds of the demonstrators also forced their way into government offices in two northern cities, raising the stakes for Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his military-backed government.

"The situation at the moment is so confused," said Pranee Thiparat, a political science professor at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University. "Anarchy rules Bangkok!"

In a televised address, Abhisit vowed to restore calm.

"The government and I are still responsible for easing the situation and trying to bring peace and order to the country," he said.

The "Red Shirt" protesters, mostly drawn from rural and working-class communities, are demanding that Abhisit dissolve parliament, step down and hold a general election.

The demonstrators, many of whom support former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, want an end to what they see as entrenched rule by the rich and powerful. Thaksin, a billionaire, was ousted in a 2006 coup, charged by military officials with corruption and abuse.

As the riots spread Saturday night toward an area popular with backpackers, the army pulled back to Bangkok's old quarter and called for a truce.

"If this continues, if the army responds to the Red Shirts, violence will expand," army spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said.

But protesters raised the ante, calling on Abhisit to leave the country immediately. They also displayed a protester's corpse draped in a Thai flag, and held up pictures of several others, prompting cries of anger and weeping from the crowd.

Several soldiers who had been relieved of their weapons were marched onto a stage Saturday night. Protest leader Nattawut Saikua urged followers to detain more soldiers but to avoid hurting them, even as he blamed Abhisit for the deaths.

"This has resulted from the prime minister's refusal to step down," Nattawut said, referring to the dead protester. "This is Thai society's most serious loss."

Demonstrators believe that Abhisit, who came to power in a 2008 parlia- mentary vote, lacks a popular mandate.

With their demands unmet and the prime minister ostensibly willing to consider an election in a few months, the Red Shirts had risked seeing momentum dwindle among their hard-core supporters, said Don Pathan, a columnist for the Nation newspaper.

"It's definitely an escalation," he said.

Before Saturday's riots, police and soldiers, many from working-class backgrounds similar to the protesters', hadn't used deadly force.

A number of police officers expressed sympathy, some by hugging protesters, shaking hands and even waving Red Shirt paraphernalia.

Some analysts, meanwhile, said the unrest could prompt the military to step in, as it has several times before.

"There might be a coup," Chulalongkorn University's Thiparat said. "There's a real split both in the military and police forces, a serious one. That partly explains why the Abhisit government hasn't really been able to enforce law and order during the past three weeks."

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