Bangkok mayhem leaves 14 dead, 35 buildings burned (Roundup)

May 20, 2010, 11:08 GMT

Bangkok - Anti-government protestors set fire to at least 35 buildings in Bangkok in a rampage that followed a government crackdown against them that left at least 14 dead and 88 wounded, officials said Thursday.

Demonstrators ran amok in central Bangkok Wednesday after troops stormed their protest site, prompting nine of the demonstration's top leaders to surrender.

Three more of the leaders - Veera Musigkapong, Weng Tojirakarn and Korkaew Pikulthong - turned themselves in to police Thursday and a fourth, Arisman Pongruangrong, was reportedly arrested.

By Thursday, calm returned to the capital after the worst violence Bangkok had seen in almost two decades, but authorities extended a nighttime curfew until Sunday morning to better guarantee security.

'We understand their frustration, but the violence that took place last night went beyond frustration,' government spokesman Panitan Wattanyakorn said of the protestors' rampage. 'It was organized crime, organized terrorism. We are working very hard now to contain these acts of terrorism.'

According to government figures, 14 people died and 394 were wounded Wednesday in the government crackdown on the protest site at Ratchaprasong, the central, upscale shopping and hotel district that the demonstrators had occupied since April 3.

Thousands of the protestors fled to a Buddhist temple in the district to escape the government troops.

'They were shooting at us in the temple,' said Manat Kaetphet, 44, from Amnat Charoen province. 'I saw six people get shot.'

The government has offered free bus rides to return home the protestors, many of whom are from northern and north-eastern provinces.

Wednesday's rioting began when protestors became incensed by the government's crackdown and their leadership's capitulation after failing to achieve their political goals despite clashes with authorities that had left an estimated 82 dead over the past two months of protests.

Their more militant elements went on a rampage in the city, attacking mostly outlets of business groups closely linked to the establishment.

At least 35 buildings were set on fire Wednesday night, the local government said.

Central World Department Store and a Big-C shopping outlet at Ratchaprasong were gutted after firefighters were prevented from reaching the burning buildings by protestors, a Bangkok government official said.

Both outlets belong to the Central Department Group, deemed a supporter of the 'ammat,' or Thailand's bureaucratic elite, vilified by the demonstration's leaders, who painted their movement as a 'class war' and 'people's revolution.'

Protestors also set fire to 10 branches of Bangkok Bank, another business group deemed close to the establishment.

The United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), as the protestors are officially called, started demonstrating in Bangkok March 12 in a bid to force Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to dissolve parliament and hold new elections.

The protests started peacefully but turned nasty after the UDD raided parliament on April 7, prompting the government to declare emergency law in the capital.