|
BANGKOK, April 17, 2009 (AFP) - Gunmen Friday opened fire on the vehicle of the founder of a royalist movement that helped topple former Thailand premier Thaksin Shinawatra, injuring him and two other people, police said.
Sondhi Limthongkul founded the People's Alliance of Democracy (PAD), a yellow-clad movement that led protests before Thaksin's ouster in 2006 and seized control of Bangkok airports to push his allies out of power last year.
The attackers ambushed Sondhi's car in downtown Bangkok at 5:45 am (2245 GMT) as he was on his way to record a programme for his private television station, said local police commander Colonel King Kwaengwisatchaicharn.
"At least two attackers followed Sondhi's car, overtook it and sprayed it with about 100 rounds of gunfire from AK-47 and M-16s. He was injured in the shoulder but is out of danger now," the police commander told AFP.
"His driver is in a serious but stable condition and an aide to Sondhi suffered minor injuries.. The car was badly damaged, all the tyres were flattened and the windshield is smashed," he said.
The incident came amid heightened tensions in Thailand following violent protests by Thaksin's supporters, known as Red Shirts, which left two people dead and 123 injured in Bangkok earlier this week.
| 
