Thailand: Regime Kills Protesters in Bloody Crackdown

Some soldiers have been taken prisoner and weapons seized. Red Shirt protesters outside Bangkok have seized many provincial headquarters.

The military-backed government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has blood on its hands and should resign immediately.

Earlier, Abhisit lied that his government would not use force against the protesters. He continues to lie that his government was “democratically elected”.

In fact, it is in power due to a 2006 military coup, rulings by pro-military judges, semi-fascist “Yellow Shirt” demonstrations and the proclamation of a military-inspired constitution.

This constitution has decreased democracy. The previously elected Senate is now half appointed by the military.

On April 7, the government declared a state of emergency and issued arrest warrants for pro-democracy Red Shirt leaders. It has attempted to close down all media and websites that don’t toe the government line.

But their censorship is not working and the assembled masses of pro-democracy Red Shirts are resisting. Their demands are for the dissolution of parliament and immediate fresh elections.

Abhisit’s reaction is “elections solve nothing”. Naturally, the main government party, which has never won anything approaching a majority in elections, has “little faith” in them.

The excuse for the 2006 coup was that the majority of the electorate were “too ill informed to have the right to vote”. Repeated elections since 2001 have shown strong support for Red Shirt parties.

The gang of royalist tyrants – Abhisit’s Democrat Party, the military, the royal palace and the bureaucratic elites – can only cling to power through violence and lies. They used armed troops and tanks against pro-democracy demonstrators in Bangkok for the fifth time in 40 years.

The people have risen up against the tyrants. It is time to clear away all the gangsters and parasites that have held sway over Thai society for too long.