Spring Break
Battles in Thai capitol leave two dead
Ambika Ahuja - Associated Press
Issue date: 4/14/09 Section: News
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The evening gunbattle came after a full day of clashes between the protesters - who are pressing Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to resign - and soldiers across the city. Troops fired warning shots and tear gas at the demonstrators and finally forced most to retreat to their base outside the prime minister's offices.
There, said leaders of the protest movement, made up largely of supporters of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, they would make their "final stand."
Two people died in clashes between protesters and city residents enraged at their violent tactics. More than 100 people were hurt in the more than 12 hours of running street battles - a major escalation of the country's ongoing turmoil.
The violence threatens to slash tourism revenue and could lead to the loss of 200,000 jobs in the industry that directly employs about 2 million people, said Kongkrit Hiranyakit, chairman of the Tourism Council of Thailand.
It is also likely to give pause to foreign businesses considering building factories or making other investments - especially since it comes just months after a group of rival protesters occupied the capital's airports for a week, stranding thousands of tourists and businessmen and sending the economy into a tailspin.
The unrest caused malls and shops to shutter, and official celebrations for the Thai new year were canceled. More than a dozen countries, including the United States, issued travel warnings urging citizens to avoid trips to Thailand and for those already in Bangkok to stay in their hotels and away from the protests.
Protesters commandeered public buses to block several key intersections and sent two unmanned buses, one of them burning, hurtling toward lines of soldiers. One swerved and then careered off trees on the side of the road before coming to a halt, with no one injured.
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