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[B.I.G.]

"The Army chief yesterday suggested a political solution was needed to bring the country out of the ongoing stalemate between the government and red-shirt protesters. General Anupong Paochinda called on both sides to resume talks suspended after they failed to agree on a time-frame for dissolution of the House of Representatives.

"The current situation calls for a solution through politics. There were political efforts but they were halted. The conflict must be solved that way although some people may not be satisfied," the Army chief said at the 11th Infantry Regiment. "I think the House will be dissolved [eventually]. The time frame depends on talks. I understand that this issue will end with House dissolution. Some people may propose a national government. I just want to see peace restored."

In his first press conference since Saturday's fatal clashes between anti-riot troops and protesters, Anupong praised his troops for refraining from firing live bullets at protesters even when they were under attack. He said that led to heavy casualties among the troops when they were attacked by heavily armed men mingling with innocent protesters. . . Anupong, the Army chief, said the attack on Saturday night took place while troops were withdrawing after government and red-shirt leaders agreed to halt the bid to disperse the mob near Rajdamnoen Avenue.

Army intelligence had warned of the possibility of armed men shooting at protesters to put the blame on troops, Anupong said. The idea of employing sharpshooters to deal with armed men was ruled out to prevent allegations they were used to shoot protesters. He said sharpshooters might be used in a future mission with cameramen recording if they were needed to deal with armed men mingling with protesters.

He said the soldiers taking part in the anti-riot operation were not issued M79 grenades and they merely fired live bullets into the air to startle protesters. However, he said, the red mob was aware troops were ordered not to fire live bullets at them, and were not afraid when shots were fired into the air.

"Shields and batons are no match for [wooden] spears, sticks and ladders used by the protesters. If we are outnumbered, we need to use weapons. If we can't use weapons, we have to retreat."He said the local and foreign media were allowed to record the operation on Saturday and he hardly saw any pictures of soldiers pointing guns towards protesters."

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/2010/...f-30127133.html

[Hedda]

Anupong: "I think the House will be dissolved [eventually].

When I read that sentence with the brackets, which presumably means it's the writer's comment, not General Anupong's, I couldn't help but laugh at the way that the Nation has dropped all pretenses of reporting the news, in favor of becoming the last best hope for the Abhisit's government's survival.

It's interesting to see what General Anupong actually said, and how he said it, compared to what the Nation reported. There's an English language translation by Asian Correspondent of parts of the actual press conference at the link below. To give you a hint of how they say what Anupong said, they called it: "Thailand's military sticks knife in..."

What's clear from the comments is that the General has basically told the prime minister that he's got to dissolve parliament and call for elections- unless he can quickly negotiate the term of a political settlement,which Anupong specifically said might have to include a government of "national unity." In other words, Abhisit better make the best deal he can with the red shirts and his coalition partners, because the army is not going to get bloodied again trying to save his political career.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cdt9Kp9jhiw...player_embedded