Oh faaaar ooooout, brussel sprout....

[maggies_lens]

The Thai army has begun its final crackdown on red-shirt protesters who
have occupied a fortified central Bangkok protest site for more than a
month.

Before dawn, thousands of troops, many wearing balaclavas, massed at key
points on the perimeter of the sprawling compound.

More than a dozen armoured personnel carriers, mounted with machine
guns, have moved onto Rama Four Road on the southern edge of the
conflict zone.

Troops have marched up the tourist mecca of Sukhumvit Road, moving to
within 150 metres of the red-shirts fortifications.

Gunfire has broken out around the Silom Road area, the scene of some of
the fiercest fighting in recent days.

The red-shirt protesters have soaked many of their barricades - built
from tyres and bamboo staves - in petrol and are ready to set them
alight if they are attacked.

Several buildings in the conflict zone's north have already been set on
fire.

A helicopter has been flying over the protest site for the last hour,
warning troops were preparing to move on the site.

"Please leave immediately. Officials are about to conduct an operation."

But army spokesman Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd has refused to comment on
any move on protestors.

"I will not answer any questions," he told reporters.

For six days Thai army troops and anti-government red-shirt protesters
have fought pitched battles across the city, as the protesters have
sought to defend their camp from incursion.

Thirty-nine people have been killed in the fighting, and nearly 300
injured.

After offering an amnesty for demonstrators who left the protest site
before a deadline on Monday afternoon, Thai TV this morning has carried
warnings from senior army generals that anybody left in the would be
treated as a criminal.



The next week should decide what we will be doing. This will go one of two ways: utter social psychoness which will make BKK unsafe and make the rest of Thailand a bit hairy, or it will quell the protest totally. But do I want to go somewhere where people are shot to death in the streets for being anti-government? I know Thailand is not exactly known for it's human rights either, esp when it comes to the child sex scene, this reaction by the government there is making me a bit... wary.
Stay tuned!