Leaders of Thailand’s ’red shirt' protesters, who have been camped in Bangkok for weeks, called off planned protests in the city’s Silom business district after large numbers of soldiers were deployed on the streets threatening to use live rounds.
Protest leaders instead ordered protesters to fortify their base in the city’s Siam commercial district, which they have occupied for weeks. “We will fortify our rally campground to ward off any invasion before we go out to wage a big war,” key protest leader Nattawut Saikua told the Associated Press.
The red shirts were seen on Tuesday building up an arsenal of crude weaponry with piles of sharpened bamboo being created.
“We can no longer use the soft to hard steps,” Thai army spokesperson Col. Sansern Kaewkamnerd told reporters.
The red shirts, loyal to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who was ousted in a bloodless military coup in 2006, are calling on current Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to step down and call new elections.
Protest leaders instead ordered protesters to fortify their base in the city’s Siam commercial district, which they have occupied for weeks. “We will fortify our rally campground to ward off any invasion before we go out to wage a big war,” key protest leader Nattawut Saikua told the Associated Press.
The red shirts were seen on Tuesday building up an arsenal of crude weaponry with piles of sharpened bamboo being created.
“We can no longer use the soft to hard steps,” Thai army spokesperson Col. Sansern Kaewkamnerd told reporters.
The red shirts, loyal to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who was ousted in a bloodless military coup in 2006, are calling on current Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to step down and call new elections.
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