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Message: <blockquote data-quote="lkdood" data-source="post: 7463482" data-attributes="member: 92282">Several gunshots and at least four explosions were heard Thursday  night in central Bangkok where Red Shirt anti-government protesters are  camped amid expectation that security forces could launch a crackdown.It  was not clear who was shooting, but the sounds came after the  government said it will impose a military lockdown on the area to evict  the thousands of so-called Red Shirts protesters. There was no immediate  word if anyone was hurt.A reporter for TNN television said  electricity went out in the Red Shirt protest zone in Rajprasong, a posh  area of shopping malls, hotels and upscale apartments that they have  occupied since April 3 in the intractable political crisis gripping the  country.Calls to police and army spokesmen seeking comment were  not answered.The Red Shirts, many from the rural poor, are  demanding an immediate dissolution of Parliament. They believe Prime  Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's coalition government came to power  illegitimately through manipulation of the courts and the backing of the  powerful military.Abhisit offered to hold elections on Nov. 14,  but withdrew the offer Wednesday after the Red Shirts refused to  disperse, insisting that the deputy prime minister be held responsible  for clashes between protesters and security forces on April 10 in  another part of Bangkok. The fighting left 25 people dead. Another four  were killed in subsequent violence.Earlier Thursday, the  government announced a lockdown on Rajprasong and warned that troops  will not hesitate to shoot armed "terrorists.""During the  closing-in operation today, it's possible that terrorists in the area  would move in and encounter the officers. Therefore, the authorities  must execute measures according to international standards and rules of  engagement. Live ammunition will be used," said Col. Sansern  Kaewkamnerd, the spokesman of the agency charged with ending the  protest.Armored personnel carriers and snipers were to surround  the so-called Red Shirt protesters who have barricaded themselves behind  piles of tires and bamboo spears in the 1-square-mile  (3-square-kilometer) area, Sansern said.Leaders of the Red Shirts  were defiant, saying their supporters would never "surrender" and were  not afraid to die.The Red Shirts, who are largely drawn from the  rural and urban poor, see Abhisit's government as serving an elite  insensitive to the plight of most Thais. The protesters include many  supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a populist  leader who was accused of corruption and abuse of power and ousted in a  2006 military coup.Thaksin, a former telecommunications  billionaire who fled overseas to avoid a corruption conviction, is  widely believed to be helping to bankroll the protests. He claims to be a  victim of political persecution.<a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g3j-vAVG1fg3kEfnogTiH8_4EXvwD9FLVAB81" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.google.com/hostednews/img/ap_logo.gif" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></a></blockquote>

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