State of emergency begins in Thailand

[unhappycamper]

http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-thailand-state-of-emergency-20140122,0,6271896.story



Thai army soldiers face anti-government protesters outside the offices of the Permanent Secretary for Defense in Bangkok.

State of emergency begins in Thailand
Associated Press
January 22, 2014, 2:56 a.m.

BANGKOK -- Gunmen shot and wounded a top leader of a major pro-government movement in northern Thailand on Wednesday, as demonstrators pushing to overthrow the prime minister defied the start of a state of emergency imposed in the capital to cope with the nation's increasingly bloody political crisis.

Kwanchai Praipana was shot twice and hospitalized after gunmen in a pickup truck sprayed bursts of gunfire at his home in Udon Thani, according to another leader of the group, Jutaporn Promphan.

The government announced the state of emergency late Tuesday in the wake of a string of attacks that have mostly been aimed at demonstrators protesting peacefully in Bangkok. Grenade assaults on Friday and Sunday killed one man and wounded more than 60 people, bringing the casualty toll since November to at least nine dead and more than 550 hurt.

The government said it enacted the emergency decree to improve security and ensure that Feb. 2 elections, opposed by protesters, are held without disruption. Officials made clear there would be no crackdown on demonstrators who have seized several patches of the capital, and life in the city continued as normal with tourist sites unaffected and no major deployment of extra security forces.