The government issued an ultimatum to the protesters
today; leave the Ratchaprasong encampment by 3 o’clock
or face 2 years in prison.
It’s now almost 6 o’clock and about 5,000 shirts are
still there.
The government? Good question; they’re very good at
issuing hollow ultimatums, so only time will tell.
It will likely get ugly, but one can hope, no?

The luxury Dusit Thani Hotel near the shirt shirts’
line came under gunfire early Monday and a loud blast
was heard, prompting guests to shelter in the
basement, according to an AFP journalist inside.
Bangkok Post
Tourists under fire in Dusit Thani
Published: 17/05/2010 at 02:50 AM
Online news: Breakingnews

“I was in bed. There was a big explosion very close
to my room. I went out of the room, other people did
too and at that moment the wall outside was hit by
bullets,” said AFP photographer Pedro Ugarte.

“We received a few phone calls (from hotel staff) and
they said, ‘Come down you are under attack’.
Everybody is now in the basement, about 100 people,”
he said by telephone from the Dusit Thani hotel where
the incident occurred.
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As if tourism here needed any more discouraging news.
The N.Y. Times this morning, described Bangkok as the Sarajevo of the 21st century and it’s increasingly
looking that way.
Thailand may be moments away from civil war; some
here are already calling it that.