Live rounds fired

Military pointing shotgun as protesters push against troops. April 10 on Makawan Bridge.

Empowered by massive media censorship, Abhisit’s government has been spreading the bold lie that troops were not shooting live rounds and trying to paint the troops as innocent victims of rampaging red shirt protesters. 

This lie has been told by former-academic-turned-government-revisionist, Panitan Wattanayagorn and by

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban who said: "he had issued orders for soldiers to be equipped only with shields, batons and tear gas. "They were unarmed, so some of them were killed," he said.

And this lie is being perpetuated by Thailand’s controlled and complicit media. 

As a witness to the carnage on the streets in Bangkok on Saturday, it is simply staggering to hear the government making such bold lies. 

Thousands of rounds of live ammunition were littering the streets. While I collected a few spent shells that rolled up to my feet still hot from being fired, a number of protesters had collected live rounds. Here is a photo of a protester holding one of them: 

All are marked with the RTA – Royal Thai Army – acronym.

That the troops were firing overhead for the majority of the time is certain. The only photographs I have of troops aiming at protesters are with shotguns (above). I collected one spent shotgun shell – contents unknown obviously – and one large rubber bullet that is the circumference of a shotgun shell.

While the spent and live shells are evidence of how bold the distortion of facts is by the government, the video evidence of troops firing and the violent injuries that killed protesters is indisputable.

This footage from France 24 is clear.

What is also clear is that 16 protesters died and many of those died from violent injuries consistent with bullet wounds.

If Thailand had a proper, free media, they should expose the lies that their government is telling them.