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[B.I.G.]

The last place you would expect to find confirmation of the excessive use of force by the Thai army against protesters would be The Nation. I guess it depends on who gets shot. Here is an eyewitness account from a Nation photographer who himself got shot in the area around Rajprarob Road:

"The situation was rather tense but I didn't expect the military to take very harsh action against the protesters. The worst came around 3.30pm when the red shirts took over a city water truck and tried to steer it across the road near Soi Rangnam as a barrier against the security forces.

"Soldiers then blew out the tyres on this truck and all hell broke loose. The place suddenly turned into a battlefield as I attempted to capture the scenes on my camera with a telescope lens."Everyone was retreating into corners to avoid live bullets from the security forces. I and a colleague from Post Today were among the last to leave the firing zone.

"This time, I mistakenly believed that the security forces wouldn't get very tough with the protesters. There were just 50 to 60 red shirts, a very small group. I couldn't believe that the soldiers would shoot non-stop like that. What happened was very fast, offensive and deadly. There was no advance signal that the army would strike that hard, especially when there were about ten cameramen in the area."

http://www.asiancorrespondent.com/bangkok-pundit-blog