Army chief Gen Anupong Paojinda is under pressure from his associates and subordinates to play a greater role in ending the conflict between the government and the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which turned deadly on Tuesday.
Asian markets fell sharply yesterday amid fears of a global recession, with the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) tumbling 6.9% to a five-year low.
Tear gas rounds were unlikely to have caused the death of Angkhana Radappanyawut during the clashes between People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) demonstrators and police on Tuesday, a forensic expert said yesterday.
The police, under heavy criticism for their role in Tuesday's bloodshed, are insisting they used only tear gas to disperse protesters while they say that some supporters of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) carried lethal weapons to the demonstration.
It was a life-changing Tuesday morning for Sirakarnt Dhitavat Thammaporn, a veterinary lecturer at Chulalongkorn University who joined the People's Alliance for Democracy hoping for an improvement in Thai politics.
Chulalongkorn hospital executives have disavowed moves by doctors not to treat injured police officers in a protest over the violent reaction to disperse demonstrators on Tuesday. The hospital, which works under the auspices of the Thai Red Cross Society, has a duty to treat all patients regardless of their political leanings, hospital deputy director Tirapong Jaroenwit insisted yesterday.
Calm descended on inner Bangkok yesterday after the street violence that claimed two lives and left hundreds injured on Tuesday.
Her Majesty the Queen has donated 800,000 baht to three public hospitals providing medical treatment for those injured in Tuesday's clashes between police and anti-government protesters. The Royal Household Bureau yesterday said the Queen donated 300,000 baht to Vajira hospital, 200,000 baht to Phramongkutklao hospital and 300,000 baht to Ramathibodi hospital and instructed them to provide medical treatment for all people who sustained injuries in Tuesday's clashes around parliament.
NEWS Think
The police crackdown on demonstrators around the parliament on Tuesday has enraged supporters of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which is seeking the ouster of the Somchai Wongsawat government.
Life insurers are ready to pay the claims on behalf of policyholders who were injured or lost their lives in Tuesday's bloody clashes between police and protesters on humanitarian grounds. According to Thai Life Assurance Association president Sara Lamsam, members are ready to consider compensation even though insurance policies mostly exclude riot coverage.
The Democrat party yesterday filed a police complaint against Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, accusing him of ordering the crackdown on demonstrators outside parliament on Tuesday.
Ten of 24 countries which have issued warnings about travelling to Thailand have raised the level of alarm following the government's bloody crackdown on anti-government protesters. They are Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Japan and the United Kingdom, all of which account for a huge chunk of Thailand's tourism revenue.
Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat yesterday tried to allay international concerns about the political crisis, saying the problems could be resolved through the democratic process.
ON THE Record
Dr Tawisak Netwong, the 47-year-old director of Patong hospital in Phuket, talks to MONGKOL BANGPRAPA and ONNUCHA HUTASINGH about how the facility's plan to go public failed to materialise, triggering a mass exodus of doctors which left him on his own.
BANGKOK ELECTION
The Election Commission (EC) has endorsed Apirak Kosayodhin's re-election as Bangkok governor, despite an impending investigation into poll fraud complaints against him. Commission chairman Apichart Sukhagganond said yesterday that the EC would inform the Bangkok election panel about Mr Apirak's endorsement as city governor so that he could take office within seven days of the approval in line with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration Act.
POLITICAL UNREST
Thai Airways International (THAI) has set up a committee to investigate one of its pilots after he refused to allow three MPs from the People Power party (PPP) to board his aircraft yesterday.
EDITORIAL
With all the bad financial news coming out these days, a report from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) which will be published in the next edition of the journal Nature, may not get the attention it deserves.
THAI POLICTICS
In a recently published book on Thai democracy, an academic quoted former prime minister M R Kukrit Pramoj as observing: "The Swiss do not talk about democracy or politics at all, but they have democracy. The Thais, on the other hand, talk about democracy and their own politics non-stop, but they haven't got democracy just the same."
COMMENTARY
When the legendary newsman Sanpasit Viriyasiri tried to broadcast what was happening when the police and militia stormed Thammasat University during the October 6, 1976 massacre, he was immediately fired.
POWER GAMES
Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat's refusal to step down following the police crackdown on the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) demonstrators outside Parliament, only underscores the illegitimacy of his administration, which had pledged to bring reconciliation to the country.
POST BAG
When the first attack on the protesters was reported, I thought that (some) members of the police force who were under-trained/under-educated/under an unqualified command, or a mix of all this, had just overacted and that the commander would come forward to rectify the situation quickly.
SIAM RATH COLUMNIST WITTAYA TANTASUT : Why can't Thais reconcile their political differences? The prolonged conflict between the government and the People's Alliance for Democracy is hurting the country, and it must end now. If the government cannot function effectively, it will not be able to deal with the impact of the US financial crisis, which is spreading around the world.
