<p>As some hardline red shirts vowed to go underground to fight a violent war against the government and the old elite, other, pro-peace red shirts met to discuss how to carry on the struggle peacefully.</p> <p>Sombat Boon-ngam-anong, a key member of the red-shirt movement who led protests from a minor stage in the Din Daeng area for a few nights after the main protest site was cordoned off by the military before the crackdown on Wednesday, said he had met with some 300-plus red shirts on Thursday to discuss the future of a peaceful struggle.</p>

<p><em>Samaphan Srithep or Cher, 17, was fatally shot at Soi Rang Nam on 15 May. &nbsp;His elder sister wrote about him on her Facebook.</em></p> <p>I often thought of him as a &ldquo;badly brought up&rdquo; kid. He was annoying, impertinent, had a gift of bad timing. He was also provocative, and a bit unhinged.&nbsp;</p> <p>I had even thought that if he carried on this way, he would probably &ldquo;die before he has lived.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>

<p>The deteriorating Thai political situation has made the &ldquo;land of smiles&rdquo; the object of constant curiosity among friends and colleagues in Britain. Thailand also has begun to trend online and it is now the international press&rsquo;s favorite country to talk about. It is right up there with the likes of the New York bomb plot and the fiscal crisis in Greece. One has to only pick up a copy of The Economist to realize that they now run articles on the crisis in Thailand on a weekly basis. &nbsp;</p>

<p>1. In brief, since 13 May, the government has launched the so called &ldquo;Operation Ratchaprasong&rdquo;. Basically, all utilities feeding the area (electricity, tap water and even mobile phone signal have already been cut or jammed). Checkpoints have been set up in the perimeter around the area for about five square kilometers to exclusively block any group/individual from entering the protesting site and even to prevent the transportation of food and water inside the rally site.</p>

<p>On 15 May, Anan Sirikulwanich, a red shirt who was shot in the throat by an M16 during the 10 April clash, died at Central Hospital. &nbsp; His body is now at Phlab Phla Chai Temple, Pavilion 4, and the cremation ceremony will be held on Tuesday 18 May.</p> <p class="rteleft">He is survived by his wife and a daughter who is studying Matthayom 6, or the last year of high school.&nbsp;</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>[Media release]&nbsp;RATCHAPRASONG, MAY 10, 2010: After several days of internal discussions leaders of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) today responded to the five-point road map of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.</p>

<p>Despite the bid for reconciliation by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, the continued censorship and harassment of red-shirt media is a key factor why the protesters and their leaders have not left the Rajprasong area yet.</p>

<p>The summoning of student activists supporting the red-shirt movement&nbsp;was unbecoming for a government claiming to be democratic, said one of&nbsp;three student activists summoned to the 11th Infantry Regiment by the&nbsp;Centre for Emergency Situation Resolution.</p>

<p>A student in Had Yai received a surprise phone call from Abhisit Vejjajiva after he had sent an SMS to the PM condemning his road map proposal. &nbsp;He claimed to have been told that Thaksin was paying coalition politicians 100 million baht per head to switch sides. &nbsp;Abhisit admitted making the call, but denied that he had said this about Thaksin.</p>

<p>On 1 May, Private Thiwanont Thienthes, 23, was reported dead at his house in Phimai District, Nakhon Ratchasima Province. &nbsp;Dressed in full military uniform, he was found to have hung himself from a tamarind tree in the backyard.</p>

<p>On 2 May, Secretary-General of the Students Federation of Thailand Anuthee Dejthewaporn and two other students reported as summoned to the Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation at the 11th Infantry Headquarters.</p>