Bangkok mayhem leaves 14 dead, 35 buildings burned (2nd Roundup)

May 20, 2010, 15:28 GMT

Bangkok - Anti-government protestors set fire to at least 35 buildings in Bangkok during a rampage that followed a government crackdown against them, which left at least 14 dead and dozens injured, 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 88 were injured Wednesday in the military 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.'

Many of those who took refuge on the temple grounds disputed the government casualty figures, claiming many more people were killed by troops.

They also feared for their lives if they accepted a government offer of free bus rides to return home, mainly to northern and north- eastern provinces.

But they later agreed to board buses after their safety was guaranteed by their parliamentary representatives.

The Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES) claimed in a national broadcast on Thursday afternoon that it had found firebombs and several M16 assault rifles at the hastily abandoned Ratchaprasong rally site.

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.

Part of the Central World Department Store at Ratchaprasong was gutted after firefighters were prevented from reaching the burning building by protestors, a Bangkok government official said. It was still smoldering Thursday evening.

Central World is part of the Central Department Group, deemed a supporter of the 'ammat' or Thailand's bureaucratic elite, which was 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.

One Bangkok Bank branch was torched by rioters Thursday evening in the western Bangkok suburb of Orm Noi, local news reports said.

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.