The chief military adviser of Thailand's anti-government protesters was shot in the head and critically injured at the group’s encampment in Bangkok's business district today.
Major General Khattiya Sawasdipol, a suspended army specialist in charge of security at an encampment occupied by thousands of "red shirt" demonstrators, was admitted to an intensive care ward after being shot in the head, the state Narenthorn Emergency Medical Service and medical sources said.
Maj Gen Khattiya, better known as "Seh Daeng" (Commander Red) enjoys a cult following among some red shirts and soldiers, but has been dubbed a "terrorist" by Thailand's government, which accuses him of involvement in dozens of grenade attacks that have injured more than 100 people.
In a separate incident a red shirt demonstrator was shot in the head and feared dead when protesters confronted soldiers next to a park in the Silom business district. Some protesters hurled rocks and troops fired in return.
Several Thai and foreign reporters said Gen Khattiya was shot while being interviewed by them.
When the bullet struck him, Gen Khattiya was inside the barricaded red shirt encampment, facing a road, overpass and a business district with several tall buildings, said the New York Times, which had a reporter interviewing him at the time.
He was answering a question about whether the Thai military would be able to penetrate the area when he was shot.
Around the same time as the shooting, a loud blast was heard, followed by bursts of automatic gunfire near the heavily guarded business district. Hours later, troops at a nearby park fired into the air as protesters tried to block their movements.
"It's a clear attempt to decapitate the red shirt military leadership," said Anthony Davies, a security consultant with IHS-Jane's. "It's a smart tactical move that will cause confusion in the red shirts' military ranks and send a message to the leadership that if they don't want to negotiate and come out, they can expect extreme consequences."
The US embassy in Bangkok said tonight it will be closed tomorrow as fears of more violence increase.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is under enormous pressure to end the two-month standoff in central Bangkok that has killed 29 people, wounded more than 1,000, paralysed parts of the capital and slowed growth in Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy.
The prime minister yesterday cancelled a proposed November 14th election under his "national reconciliation" plan and called off talks with protesters after they raised new demands.
The 22-member red shirt leadership council is an amalgam of radical former communists, academics, regional populists and aspiring lawmakers, making it difficult to reach consensus.
Some hardliners like Gen Khattiya have advocated stepping up the protests to win the fight once and for all. Many face criminal charges for defying an emergency decree and some, including Gen Khattiya, face terrorism charges carrying a maximum penalty of death.
The military had earlier said it was planning a huge lockdown around the fortified encampment of the red shirts, who are mostly supporters of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra who was ousted in a 2006 coup.
The army said it would deploy armoured vehicles around the the protesters' fortified encampment, stop them from entering the area, and urged businesses to close.
Army spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said authorities will also seek cabinet approval to invoke a state of emergency in 15 northern and northeastern provinces, which are strongholds of the protesters to prevent any mobilisation.
The mostly rural and urban poor protesters have adamantly refused to leave as their leaders challenged the government from behind medieval-like walls made from tyres and wooden staves soaked in kerosene and topped by razor wire.
The government estimated the number of people in the encampment at 10,000 but Reuters witnesses put it at more than twice that number. "We will send out groups to surround these vehicles to prevent them from advancing," Jatuporn Prompan, a protest leader, told supporters.
Companies and embassies across the area told employees to leave work early and activated back-up plans tomorrow. Several stations in an elevated train system were shutting early. Public transportation was being diverted from the area.
The mood at the protest site turned quickly from festive to tense this evening. Leaders took turns on the stage calling for more protesters to come to the encampment and threatened to lay siege to Mr Abhisit's house and an infantry barracks where he has taken refuge if there is a crackdown.
But an army source close to army chief Anupong Paochinda said an immediate crackdown to disperse the protesters was unlikely. "It's hard to say if or when the crackdown will be because we have to evaluate by the hour. We don't want casualties so we have to keep the pressure up so people are too tired to resist. Casualties will be bad for us as well."
The red shirts have said they would only disperse if a deputy prime minister faces criminal charges over a deadly April clash between troops and protesters.
Reuters