Maj-Gen Khattiya Sawasdipol, better known as Seh Daeng, was shot and seriously wounded

Maj-Gen Khattiya Sawasdipol, better known as Seh Daeng, was shot and seriously wounded during a melee near Sala Daeng intersection on Rama IV road on Thursday night, hours after authorities threatened a lockdown of the rally site, official said.

Maj-Gen Khattiya Sawasdipol, or Seh Daeng, has been admitted to Hua Chiew hospital and is receiving an emergency treatment for a gunshot wound, according to a television report.

The incident took place about 7.25pm when a series of gunshots and explosions were heard from the area, the report said.

The dissident soldier, a key figure in the protest movement, was shot in the right temple and was undergoing an operation in intensive care, a spokesman for the official Erawan emergency centre said.

The circumstances of the shooting were unclear. Hours earlier the army had warned it would deploy snipers in the area as part of a lockdown in the protest site aimed at preventing more protesters joining the rally.

BBC reported that Seh Daeng could have been shot by a sniper.

The fiery general, accused by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva of trying to prevent an end to the street demonstrations, has made no secret of encouraging the red-shirt protesters to oppose a reconciliation deal.

During the melee, gunshots and a series of loud explosions were heard close to the red shirts’ sprawling encampment at Ratchaprasong area occupied by thousands of opposition protesters in the latest bout of violence.

Police said an unknown number of people were taken to hospitals in the area. Blood was splattered on the street near the shooting, though it was not clear where the firing came from.

It came after the prime minister shelved a plan for November elections and hopes faded for a resolution to a crippling two-month crisis that has sparked periodic violence, leaving 29 people dead and 1,000 injured.

Sansern Kaewkamnerd, spokesman for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation, said earlier the day that troops would surround the rally site in the heart of Bangkok with armoured vehicles and that demonstrators would be allowed to leave but not enter the area.

“Snipers will be deployed in the operation,” Col Sansern said after issuing a series of tough warnings to the “Red Shirt” protesters in recent weeks.

Col Sansern said soldiers would be authorised to use real bullets for warning shots, self-defence and against “armed terrorists,” although the government did not announce any immediate plan to forcibly disperse protesters.

An unsuccessful attempt by troops on April 10 to clear a different area in the capital’s historic district sparked fierce street fighting that left 25 people dead and hundreds wounded.

The reds say the government is undemocratic because it came to power in a 2008 parliamentary vote after a court ousted elected allies of their hero, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was unseated in a 2006 coup.

Mr Abhisit announced earlier he had ditched a plan to hold elections in mid-November under a peace plan aimed at ending the tense standoff because the protesters were refusing to disperse.

“I have told security officials to restore normality as soon as possible,” he said.

Mr Abhisit had offered to dissolve parliament in the second half of September for elections on November 14 if all parties accepted his reconciliation plan.

Large crowds of red shirts, including some elderly, women and children, remained at the protest site, which has been fortified with barricades made from razor wire, fuel-soaked tyres and sharpened bamboo spears.

The anti-government protesters will fight to the end and will not end the rally, United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) co-leader and opposition Puea Thai Party MP Jatuporn Prompan announced on the red-shirt stage at Bangkok’s Ratchaprasong commercial district on Thursday night.

“We [the UDD protesters] will continue to rally here at Ratchaprasong.

“If the government wants to disperse us, do it tonight and don’t wait till tomorrow because we’ll fight to the end,” opposition Puea Thai Party MP Jatuporn declared.

He said army specialist and UDD supporter, Maj-Gen Khattiya Sawadipol, also known as Seh Daeng, was now in a stable condition after he was shot in the head.

While Mr Jatuporn were giving the speech, the UDD guards were shining spotlights at nearby buildings to prevent snipers from attacking the red-shirt leaders.

Reports said some UDD core members remained inside a container behind the stage surrounded by many guards.

Some foreign embassies in the area closed early due to the threatened lockdown, with the US, British, and Dutch embassies suspending visa services.

Shops, restaurants and other businesses in the area were closing early in response to a request by the authorities.

The mostly poor and working class Reds, who launched their campaign in mid-March for immediate elections, initially agreed to enter the process but efforts to reach a deal that would see them go home have since broken down.

Observers say there are signs of splits emerging between the moderate and hardline elements within the protest movement.

If Abhisit does not go ahead with the proposed election “he doesn’t have a plan or even a means of dealing with a very real crisis,” said Thailand analyst Michael Montesano.

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