Red Shirts (supporters of former Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra) clash with armed paramilitary government forces in Bangkok with 19 dead and over 800 injured (AFP/Nicolas Asfouri). Below, on Khao San Road, a mecca for Western tourists, tourists have been caught up in Thailand's worst political violence in nearly two decades (AFPTV).
BANGKOK – Both government and protesters mourned their dead Sunday after a night of savage street fighting that left 21 dead, but neither side appeared ready to compromise to end the political stalemate that has bedeviled Thailand for five years and threatens more violence. At least 874 others were injured when security forces tried to crack down Saturday. The crack down was on demonstrators who have been staging a month of disruptive protests in the Thai capital, seeking to have Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajva dissolve Parliament and call new elections. It was the country's worst political violence in nearly two decades. Bullet casings, pools of blood, and shattered army vehicles littered the streets near a main tourist area where soldiers had pitched nighttime battles with the protesters. More>>