channels that a small clique were trying to start a civil war. he says day by day the role of the arms terrorists is increasing. we have heard loud explosions. the prime minister says m-79 grenade launchers being used by this small gruf of protesters. we were in one street that is designated a live fire street by the army and heard one m-79 hitting behind the army. they then swung around and tried to locate it and a gun battle broke out. it is very volatile. you don t know if you are behind the army necessarily you are safe. it seems like the redshirts or terrorists or whoever they are are outflanking them and coming out of the back. i was reading the wire and there are streets that say live firing. be careful. dan, as you know, a lot of americans vacation in thailand and there are concerns about
people vacationing or might live there, expats, remind us who the sides are in this conflict and what they want. reporter: well, the redshirts really are loyal to the prime minister that was kicked out in a coup four year s ago, it appears other people are coming out to applaud the redshirts in other parts of the city. we were near victory monument where a small group of redshirts were there facing off down the street with burning tires. a whole group of other people are coming out and applauded when the redshirts moved forward. you get a feeling this is beginning to get more support among the urban poor here. it is a divide between the haves and the have-nots. the rule and urban poor and the middle and upper classes that have ruled thailand for so many
and tear gas protesters responded by throwing molotov cocktails and grenades. there are claims both sides used live rounds. they have tried to stop the violence at the moment by pulling troops back and asking the redshirts to do the same. the thai government sent a delegation to the red shirts to try to commit them to a truce. the government has been trying to defuse tensions in recent days by offering talks. they decided to move against the redshirts after they defied a state of emergency in the capital and invaded the parliament. over 50,000 demonstrators have been disrupting bangkok with their mass protests in recent weeks as they try to force fresh elections. they game the government came to power illegitimately with the help of the military. most red shirts support the form the former prime minister who lives in
of bangkok. the crowds are demanding new elections to replace the current government. david piper is there streaming live with more. david, what is the latest on the so-called redshirts taking over parts of the thai capital? perhaps 150,000 of the redshirts are now in the capital. i traveled around there earlier today to see what was happening. there seemed to be a festival atmosphere with people enjoying the live music and the food. we know from the past the clouds can quickly turn ugly with rival factions such as the yellow shirts. we are now waiting because their leader chinowa is supposed to holding a live video link to them tonight to see what will happen next, because they re suggesting that the rallying could go on now for another three days. jamie: i am curious why are they rallying now? well, they really want the
you ve obviously moved. you ve moved to a location where you can t see the smoke quite as well as earlier. we saw it clearly rising behind you. how are things going there right now? same situation, though. the government reversed its decision to put a curfew in place saying that it believed it could get this situation under control and today has certainly been less deadly than the last three days. today, we have one confirmed death so far and we are still looking into reports that a few people have been injured today. we have new information about what is happening in the negotiations between the redshirts, the anti-government protesters athat want to see the government dissolve. the redshirts are saying they are willing to negotiate. they want a third party, the united nations. the government has responded saying it will not use any