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Latest update: 13/04/2010
- demonstrations - military - Red Shirts - Thailand
Exclusive FRANCE 24 footage shows soldiers firing directly at protesters
Exclusive FRANCE 24 footage contradicts the Thai government’s declaration that soldiers only fired live rounds into the air during Saturday night clashes with "Red Shirt" anti-government protesters in which at least 21 people were killed.
By Cyril PAYEN / Rebecca BOWRING John LIN, Regis DESCONLOIS, reporting from Bangkok, Thailand. (video)
Mehdi Chebil (text)
Mehdi Chebil (text)
A FRANCE 24 team were reporting from the thick of the fighting on Saturday night when the Thai army launched its crackdown on the anti government “Red Shirts” protesters.
Our exclusive footage contradicts the Thai government’s declaration that soldiers only fired live rounds “into the air”. At least 20 people were killed and 800 wounded in the violence.
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At 1’25 in the FRANCE 24 video above, Thai soldiers can be seen firing their automatic riffles directly at the protesters.
“We visited different hospitals Sunday morning and we’ve seen several victims with bullet wounds in the head (…) It’s really hard to believe the official declaration that mentions only rubber bullets and troops firing into the air”, says Cyril Payen, FRANCE 24’s correspondent in Bangkok, who was at the scene of the fighting on Saturday night.
According to our team, the clash was triggered by the explosion of a grenade, the origin of which remains unknown.
“The explosion killed seven soldiers and wounded a colonel of the Thai security forces in his head”, says FRANCE 24’s Payen.
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While the victims of the explosion were being taken to the nearest hospital, the army retaliated by firing into the crowd, plunging Bangkok into chaos.
These deadly clashes come after almost a month of mass-demonstrations by the “Red Shirts”, who are calling for early elections and consider Abhisit Vejjajiva, head of government since December 2008, as totally illegitimate.
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Comments (101)
Dont report the one side fact
the soldiers got shot by M79 or granade from men in black suit in protestors side, after that the soldiers try to withdraw but that men still shot. the soldiers have to defend their life same as everybody.
Merci beaucoup
Thank you very much for editor and France 24.
Thank you for the video, I have never seen this in Thailand.
You have done a good job for reporting the news.
Show the whole video
Can you post the whole video to see who they are firing at, and why they are firing, have seen the whole video already and your story just doesn't add up.
Real soldier action
Please describe the truth,
Mostly soldiers were attacked by RED shirts, in early clip seeing soldier made single shooting and limit target to protect team during retreat.
Please be aware that this clip was chosen by RED shirts leaders to motivate clowd.
I want to tell you the true
They shoot for only protect the sodier . not to kill . you can see after there shoot they go backward . Or if they want to kill why there don't go forward???
Thank you
Thank you for open up fact.
Sometime we shouldn't believe
Sometime we shouldn't believe to what we see. As the journalist i understand that u have to report back to your country according to what u see at the time. However to be able to report what's really happen, please look at other video clip and picture that u may not have seen at the time you report. http://www.oknation.net/blog/canthai/2010/04/11/entry-5 There's many people who read and listen to many type of communication *internet, TV, radio". and end up support Apisit
Soldiers firing directly at
Soldiers firing directly at protesters? Yes, but France24 will have to confirm first whether the timestamp of this clip was before or after the explosions seen in Reuters's deceased Hiroyuki Muramoto's footage. Because the army fired in the air in order to 'Riot Control' but after the explosions the situation elevated into urban warfare and you can see that the soldiers were cover firing for the retreating troops.
It's easy to just slapped label such as "Oh they aim forward, they lied" without assessing chronological orders in attempt to make headlines or topics that sells... even children would know that if the soldiers in this clip were with killing intent, they should be using grenade launchers rather than firing in semi-auto mode.
I want this clip video from protesters in Thai
Please sent your clip Thai video at 10 - 04 - 2010
The video shows soldiers
The video shows soldiers firing their rifles. The camera never shows what they are shooting at.
We hate Taksin
Red deserved the punishment...They faught back with weapon how can the army stand with rubber bullet?
Ps. sorry if this is a double comment,I cannot reload to see my comment on this page.
This country has always ruled
This country has always ruled by military along with compounds of monarchy for long time but when Mr.Thaksin was the Priminister it seemed like democracy had once arrived to this country.
And no matter what Mr.Apisit and his government had done; can never stop a dream of democracy of thai people.
Soldiers were shot first
You didn't watch the previous footage who (black cover) was shooting the soldier first. The soldiers have right to protect themself.
It's not true
It's not true .
Or If it was true He just protect himself.
to think before talk and check before write
open your mind, open your brain, listen to the result of the investigation.
Dear editor
Dear sir
This VDO clip was show at time 1.25 ,they was shoot.But in fact they shoot blank bullet because the soldier no have real bullets.
IN all of them Mr.taksin is behind mop and want to have people die for his political benifit if you see this story beginning before 19 Oct 2006.Don't look only one scene.
Sincerely
Patriots.
it is true that thai
it is true that thai goverment not reveal
Thank you for your report.
Thank you for your report. I've never seen such clip in Thai media.
In case the foreign press
In case the foreign press miss the Thai version of what the government said. They are saying that the officers are allow to fire weapons in case of immediate danger. Could they be firing at the time after the explosion to make a cover for a save recover of the wounded? The time frame of the picture could be the hard evidence of that.
More people death if Soldier really shooting
If soldiers are really shooting at people, wouldn't it be more people death? If soldiers are not shooting only for self-defense, you think the soldier will have to retreat? Thai PM said soldier only allowed to use live ammo in case of self-defense.
Stop barking and distorting the information
Thanks for sharing the cock-and-bull story. If soldiers did WHY the no. of soldiers were injured more than the no. of civilians? I think you drunk somewhere else thus didn’t seem to understand what was happening. You are not different from the group daily barking lies to public.
Troops shot rubber bullets and used tear gas against protesters but sadly Thai soldiers were attacked by weapon (AK-47s, bombs, and certain types of tear gas that aren’t used by Royal Thai armed forces).
Hope that my message will help open up some confused in your mind. PLEASE BE CAREFUL before reporting back to your country.
http://www.manager.co.th/Politics/ViewNews.aspx?NewsID=9530000051326
Bias Footage
To set the record straight, the government did admit the security forces use live bullets but under a particular circumstance, when they really needed to. In this case, they used blank bullets to the crowd and live ones into the air at the start. Up to the point when the grenade hurled at them, they needed to defend themselves and used live bullets to retrieve.
Footages from others, showed red shirt guards held heavy arms, mingled with the crowd (used as human shield) and some hid in a building to fire at the security forces. To be fair, blank bullets are not the match for fatal weapons.
To set the record straight,
To set the record straight, the government did admit the security forces use live bullets but only under a particular circumstance, only when they really needed to. In this case, the security forces used blank bullets to the crowd and live bullets were firing into the air at the start. Up until the point when the grenade hurled at the security forces, they needed to defend themselves by firing back with live bullets.
Footages from others, showed the red shirts guards held heavy arms, mingled with the crowd and hid in a building firing at the security forces as well. To be fair, blank bullers were not a match for those heavy arms.
The soldiers was shot first
The soldiers was shot first by grenade launcher.
someone say
soldier fire real bullet in the air and shoot fake bullet at the people. why the soldier so stupid. why they have to take real bullet with them if only want to shoot it in the air . why dont use fake one both shoot in the air and at the people
From what i see in this footage M16 can use only real bullet .
thai soldier s dead because of genade and firing from the men in black.
And 16 people died because of bullet of soldier that want to take a revenge with angry.
Soldiers shooting at who?
I have been asking myself who are these soldiers shooting at?
Are they shooting protesters with only sticks in their hands?
Why do they have to fear them that much given that they are so far away from those protesters as seen in the footage.
It did not make sense.
Then I read the following passages from Reuters this morning.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63B25A20100412?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a49...
"But it is around this point, at an intersection, that TV footage from other sources show gunmen on the run, dressed not in red shirts or green army fatigues, but in black and dark, civilian clothes.
The government has talked of a "third force" involved in the protests and has promised to investigate the circumstances surrounding Muramoto's death."
Would it be possible that these soldiers were not responding to protesters with sticks and bricks but rather to "gunmen dressed not in red shirts or green army fatigues, but in black and dark, civilian clothes" who are chasing after them as Rueters reported?
Why would one fear protesters with sticks and bricks? No need to do so.
But if gunmen with rifle guns were chasing after them, then it makes more sense to shoot back in order to hold them at bay and allow others to retreat.
If this is so then it is justified to shoot at those gunmen, I think. It is an act of self-defence.
Could you please check this and complete the report with all facts.
I trust in your integrity and your resources to shed a further light on this.
First of all, thank you for
First of all, thank you for the video, I have never seen this in Thai press... You have done a good job for reporting the news. :) For those who claim that they live in BKK, you should have known by now that the country is under the state of emergency, which basically means that the government has the right to control everything that they think will be dangerous to the country and that includes controlling the press, so you shouldn't believe anything the press is saying yet, unless you have heard news from other sources.
P/S Go to Kao Sarn road if you don't trust me, it's the real bullets they are using. They didn't use the fake bullets and definitely didn't fire up in the air. We probably don't know who fire the guns first for sure, but the government's declaration is wrong. There are many wounds left on the building everywhere in Kao Sarn, and if you look at the monuments, you will see them as well. See the proof for yourselves.
Is this how Thai Government
Is this how Thai Government handle propesters? Instade of tear gas and water jets, they uses M16's and automatic weapons? And at night?
Please carefully report!
PLEASE just report as you have the clip but please don't say or summarise "Thai soldiers can be seen firing their automatic riffles directly at the protesters." or " It’s really hard to believe the official declaration that mentions only rubber bullets and troops firing into the air” if you don't know the differences of rubber bullet and real bullet during and after firing.
What is the Truth?
Report is report but what is the proof that is the Truth. What you can see is the truth for you but they are not what really happened. We are Thai for us we can't conclude it now but I never been thought that you are such a non-sense.
This happened after they have
This happened after they have suffering with bombs,they have to stop the assasinators and it's their right to protect themselves and also the law.
This report should be revised !
It's true that soldiers fire directly to the crown in the clip. But the soldiers were first attacked by grenades, AK from the men in black among red shirts protesters ( as you can see many soldiers were killed and injured).
Please see other international reports AFP, Reuter before posting.
From Thai people living in BKK
From your news "It’s really hard to believe the official declaration that mentions only rubber bullets and troops firing into the air”
Have you seen photos from NY Times or Al Jazeera?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/11/world/asia/11thai.html?src=me
and THINK ABOUT IT.
al jazeera
I've never seen this on Thai
I've never seen this on Thai media. Thank you very much France 24.
http://www.pantip.com/cafe/ra
http://www.pantip.com/cafe/rajdumnern/topic/P9121816/P9121816.html
I think the reporter speaks
I think the reporter speaks only one side of the whole story. There were definitely the other group of troops, "black suit" who were armed with merely the same weapons thai soldiers did. They were reported by other medias and reporters in the field that those gunmen hid behind the red shirts and helped firing at the government forces. PLease look at the real situation that those soldiers started firing back to the maniac after they were attacked and that was just self-defended. Should the reporter be realistic, he or she may have reported the other side of the story. If the government forces really shot at the red shirts, there would have been more death and wounded, not just 21 bodies. please check with other media like Reuters, AP.
Thanks
Are those bullets rubber?
From a report of Thai government, the footage has been permitted to use a rubber bullet only. Please check the flash at the end of their gun.
red shirt
From VDO Clip
In group of Red shirts protester have the invisible man with black cover, who had shot the army and throwing the bomb to the army first!!!
when I've read this news and watched the vdo clip , the logic or the influence to the army to fire direct to the protesters is just for protection themselves after the bomb has explored and many troops was injuring ....
check this link
http://www.udon108.com/board/index.php?topic=28145.0
they used live bullets for 1)
they used live bullets for 1) sounding effect and 2) self defence and it's # 2 reason as the black jacket shooters from the Red Shirts kept firing at army. See other news source i.e. al-jazeerah, NYT, and etc. The black jackets precisely targeted mostly high rank military officers. Believed that the black jacket shooters were former/retired military joining the red shirts.
I don't think so.
If the soldiers used the real bullets at the first place,it was sure that the deaths will be more than 20.It showed that there was bombs and real bulllets used from the redshirt at the start.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/11/world/asia/11thai.html
agree
Goverment out
Do you hear the people
Do you hear the people sing
Singing the song of angry man
It is the music of the people who will not be slaves again
When the beating of your heart echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about the start when tomorrow comes
Will you join in our crusade
Who will be strong and stand by me
Beyond the barricade is there a world you long to see
Then join in a fight that will give you right to be free
Rethink
I wonder that if you were the troops in that moment and you were attacked violently by the protesters who used both bombs and riffles, what you are going to do? Are you gonna keep calm and not even protect yourself?
Please don't blame the troops without any clues
One of Thai people
The government said that they
The government said that they were only firing in the air AND "in self defense". If someone is launching grenades at the troops, then firing back at people with guns (which many protesters had) and/or people with grenade launchers seems to make sense AND be firing "in defense".
at the end of mussle, there
at the end of mussle, there are little flash, i afraid it is not live ammo
Why soldiers injure if they fired directly at protesters?
Why the reporter don't mention that the soldier use only rubber bullets to shoot directly to the protesters but the real bullet only for firing live rounds into the air? If the soldier use real weapons, they will not be injured from the protesters' gunshoot and bombs.
A bad ruler Taksin
All problem had in thailand because of Taksin. 60million thai people hate him.
silly
They shot the fake bullets.
Is that real bullet?
Is that real bullet?
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