BANGKOK — Thai troops opened fire today into the fortified encampment of anti-government demonstrators in downtown Bangkok, ramming armored vehicles into its tire-and-bamboo barricade in what appears to be a final crackdown after a week of deadly clashes.
Associated Press reporters saw the troops firing automatic rifles from an overpass overlooking the encampment. Groups of soldiers also fired from crouching positions on the tracks of an elevated light-rail system that runs over the encampment.
There was no word on any casualties.
“This is D-Day,” said one soldier when asked whether this was the final push to clear the protest zone.
Thick, black smoke from a mountain of burning tires darkened the skies today, billowing over the skyscrapers of this Asian metropolis of 10 million that has descended into chaos over the past week, with at least 39 killed.
The demonstrators marched into Bangkok in mid-March to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, dissolution of parliament and immediate elections.
They created an encampment in Bangkok’s posh downtown Rajprasong district in April, surrounding themselves by a barricade of tires and bamboo spears, some of which appeared to be in flames Wednesday.
“This is the last push. Looks like the government really wants to end it this time,” said Sen. Lertrat Rattanawanit, who had tried to mediate between the two sides. “They have laid out the steps, giving out deadlines for people to move out and all that. It’s a pity that using force is inevitable.”
Asked if losses could be prevented, he said: “It’s impossible.”
At the protest zone’s barricades, bamboo spears splintered as two armored personnel carriers rammed into the barrier, then backed up and tried again. They repeated the process several times and punched large holes, pushing the wall into a crumpled mass but not bringing it down entirely.
An army commander said some Red Shirt protesters were about 200 yards inside the barricade.
Soldiers tightened their blockades around the protest site at dawn today and used loudspeakers to order everyone to return to their homes. A government building was on fire in another part of Bangkok.
The government first tried to clear another encampment in the historic part of Bangkok on April 10, but the operation ended disastrously when 25 people were killed and more than 800 wounded.
