<p><strong>Abide by UN Principles on Use of Force and Firearms</strong></p> <p>(New York, May 16, 2010) &ndash; The Thai government should immediately revoke the designation of neighborhood areas as &ldquo;live fire zones&rdquo; that might be used to justify the unnecessary and unlawful use of lethal force, Human Rights Watch said today. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>Pro- and anti-government radio stations pitched their voices against one another yesterday as a reflection of the fierce battles on the streets of Bangkok.</p> <p>The Samut Prakan-based FM101.25 radio station received calls yesterday morning from irate red shirts calling on the protesters to burn down the buildings where snipers were waiting to shoot down leaders and other civilians.</p>

<p><strong>&nbsp;I. Human rights implications of the clashes in Bangkok</strong></p> <p>As this Review is issued, the deadline for Thailand&rsquo;s Red Shirts to clear the Ratchaprasong intersection, Bangkok by 3 pm (Thailand time) today has expired. The protestors are unarmed, though they have built barricades to prevent the army takeover. According to the latest reports available, the University Student Council [Student Federation of Thailand-Prachatai] is setting up the rally at the Ramkhamheang University in Bangkrapi, Bangkok opposing the violence being used by the government and seeking resignation of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.</p> <p>At least 37 anti-government Red Shirts protestors have been killed while hundreds have been injured since the latest crackdown started on 14 May 2010. The most prominent victim of the sniper killings &ndash; General Khattiya Sawatdiphol, 59, better known as Seh Daeng who was shot in the head on 13 May 2010 while giving an interview to a New York Times journalist died this morning. Since the Red Shirts protest began on 14 March 2010, at least 64 people have died and another 1658 people have been wounded.</p> <p>If the military forcibly takes over the protest site at Ratchaprasong intersection, casualties will multiply.</p>

<p>17 May 2010 &ndash; Voicing extreme concern at the escalation of deadly violence in Thailand, the top United Nations human rights official today called on anti-Government protestors and the security forces to pull back from the brink and search for a peaceful resolution to the current stand-off.</p>

<p>Thai soldiers must immediately stop firing live ammunition into several large areas in Bangkok where anti-government protesters are gathered, Amnesty International said today. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>The Thai prime minister knew his 'peace deal' would be rejected by the redshirts. It was just a ploy to justify the new brutality.</p> <p>The good old days of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, a savvy Oxford-educated politician often regarded as Mr Clean and Mr Polite, are over.</p>

<p>LOS ANGELES -- I have watched Thailand's free fall into the abyss with deep sadness. At this very moment, Thais are killing Thais, and the situation is getting worse by the minute with no end in sight. The violence clearly has a momentum of its own after Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's decision to use force against the protesters on March 14, 2010. This destructive momentum must be stopped now.</p>

<p><strong>Stop the violence; stop the killing, the government must stop the crackdown!!!</strong></p> <p>Since the operation &quot;Ask back the protesting site&quot; initiated by Thai government under Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva from 10 April 2010 in Rajadamnern to latest development on 15 May 2010 in Rajaprasong area, there are at least 50 casualties and 300 injuries. The government has clearly violated the international procedure on how to disperse the protestors which the government itself has acknowledged.</p>

<p>Jaran warns conflict will last for years, but poll backs crackdown</p> <p>&quot;Today more blood will be shed,&quot; Pongamporn Bandasak, the red-shirt community radio host at FM101.25 was heard saying at 6am yesterday. I had tuned in to the station at home after a long night of off-and-on fighting and killing at various spots around Bangkok that saw real bullets used by soldiers and M79 grenades fired by unidentified assailants.</p>

<p>Responding to the gunshot injuries sustained by a France 24 reporter and a photographer with the Thai newspaper Matichon in clashes today [14 May] in Bangkok, Reporters Without Borders calls on both the Thai army and the Red Shirt protesters to guarantee the safety of the journalists who are covering the ongoing developments in the Thai capital.</p>

<p>As I entered Wireless Road yesterday |afternoon, the posh street was uncharacteristically quiet except for the occasional gun shots and the noise of helicopters hovering above.</p>

<p>On May 13, 2010, the Center for Resolution of the Emergency Situation has announced the measures to &lsquo;increase the pressures against the red-shirt demonstrations&rsquo; and cut off all commuting routes around the demonstration area. This includes ceasing all public bus, boat, elevated rail (BTS), electricity, street lights, water, blocking all mobile phone signals in the area. At the evening of the same day, the Emergency Act was extended to 17 more provinces in the central, north and northeast of Thailand to control the area and block any support coming in from the provinces.</p>