Bangkok Escape
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Thai protester evades police by
climbing down hotel on rope
Red shirt leader embarrasses govemment with daring escape
after police surround Bangkok hotel
Associated Press
guardian.co.uk, Friday 16 April 2010 08.07 BST
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An anti-govemment protesl leader eluded police today by climbing down a
hotel with a rope while his supporters look two officers hostage in a
theatrical twist to Thailand 's political crisis.
Arisman Pongruangrong's escapade al a holel in downtown Bangkok -
where police had converged to arrest holed-up proleslleaders - was an
embarrassment for the govemment.
Authorities have tried without success to end a month-long sit-in by tens
of thousands of "red shirr protesters in some of Bangkok's most popular
shopping and tourist districts. At least 24 people were killed last week
when troops tried to clear a group of protesters.
The failed crackdown signalled the government was willing to risk another
confrontation with the red shirts, who are campaigning against the prime
minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva.
Less than 30 minutes before the hotel drama, the deputy prime minister,
Suthep Thaugsuban, announced on national television that a unit of
special forces had encircled the SC Park hotel in Bangkok where Arisman
and other red shirt leaders were staying.
With a rope looped around his waist, Arisman slid down from a third-
storey ledge of the hotel into a waiting crowd of cheering supporters who
led him to a car.
Arisman, a pop singer turned activist, then retumed and clambered on top
of a van to give a speech and announce that the red shirts, who support
the former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, had taken two policemen
hostage.
'I would like to thank all of the people who saved me - you have helped
save democracy,' said Arisman, a one-time crooner of love songs and a
Thai heartthrob.
Police had surrounded the hotel and blocked its entrances, but were
outnumbered by red shirts who stormed the building without resistance to
help Arisman escape.
Thousands of red shirts, mostly rural poor, have congregated in Bangkok
since 12 March. They occupied two areas, one of which troops tried to
clear on Saturday, leading to clashes that left 24 people dead and more
than 800 injured in the worst political violence in nearly two decades.
The crisis has divided the country into colour-coded factions, threatening
to sink an economy that had recently started to revive. The red shirts are
opposed by the yellow shirts, who support the government but have
stayed on the sidelines during the past few months.
