Red Shirts block road with fuel tanker at Lumpini Boxing Stadium

BANGKOK, May 17 (TNA) – Residents near Bon Kai intersection on Bangkok’s Rama IV Road are in panic as anti-government Red Shirt protesters parked a fuel truck in the middle of the road Monday evening while tyres are being burned not far away .

Confrontation between government troops and protesting Red Shirts at Bon Kai, one of the most violent scenes of confrontation for several days, continued for three hours Monday afternoon.

Troops fired warning shots as demonstrators approached security lines and fired homemade rockets, fireworks and pingpong bombs at the army troops.

Protesters later blocked the road by parking the fuel tanker. Soldiers fired warning shots to prevent the Red Shirts from getting near the truck, amid fears that they would set it on fire.

It is not known whether the truck is filled with fuel or not.

At the same time, tensions flared at Pathumwan intersection, near National Stadium and Siam Center, in the country’s prime shopping area as red-shirted protesters confronted army troops approaching the area to force the demonstrators to contract the protest area.

The overalll death toll reached 35 while the cumulative number of casualties rose to at least 291 in Bangkok’s clashes from May 14t o 17, according to the Emergency Medical Institute of Institute of Thailand’s report at 5pm on Monday. (TNA)