<p>Insisting that red-shirt protesters abide by the principles of non-violence may not be enough to prevent them from &quot;being crushed by the Army&quot;, Thammasat University historian Thanet Aphornsuvan warned yesterday.</p>

<p>On-line political writer Wattana Sukwat, one of the many writers having their content blocked or deleted by the ICT Ministry under emegency rule said the removal of his 200 or so articles is not just undemocratic but akin to deleting his on-line identity.</p> <p>&quot;I am a like matrix removed [in the Hollywood movie 'The Matrix'] and no longer exists [in cycber space] ,&quot; he said yesterday (Thursday).</p>

<p>On 21 April, pro-government groups, including the Multicoloured Group and Silom Group, which according to the <a href="http://breakingnews.nationchannel.com/read.php?newsid=444253">Nation Channel</a> website, consist of people from Silom, Klongtoey and Thanon Tok, gathered at the Dusit Thani corner of Silom Rd, opposite the red shirts&rsquo; entrenchment in front of Lumphini Park, just across Rama IV Rd. &nbsp;The government supporters shouted at the red shirts to go away, and gave support to the military troops deployed there.</p>

<p>On 20 April, Col Sansern Kaewkamnerd, CRES and army spokesperson, said that all CRES intelligence sources had reported that a group of terrorists among the red shirts were preparing weapons including grenades, Molotov cocktails, sharpened wooden rods in the form of spears and arrows, wooden sticks with nails, and acid.</p>

<p>On Monday evening, this writer ran into a fellow journalist from a major newspaper at the red-shirt rally site and we shared our views about the protest. Here are some excerpts of the conversation:</p> <p>She: Most protesters are from the provinces and likely paid if not &quot;organised&quot; into coming to Bangkok.</p> <p>Me: Yes, there are many rural poor people, but there is no proof as to whether they've been paid. They mostly forged an alliance by relying on politicians to advance their political cause. It's not that different from the yellow-shirt middle class, who depended on the discourses of the old elite, the army and royalist ideology to advance their political agenda. Both groups forged alliances, period.</p>

<p>All sides in Thailand&rsquo;s widening political conflict should immediately commit to ending human rights abuses, Amnesty International said today. &nbsp; Amnesty International welcomes the Thai government's pledge to investigate promptly, effectively, and impartially the recent violence, and urges it to provide accountability for any violations by security forces as well as abuses by violent protesters.</p>

<p>Statement from Former Thai Senators (2000-2006)*,&nbsp;&ldquo;Demanding the government to stop blocking media channels and using the state-run media to present one-sided information on the crackdown of the demonstration on April 10, 2010&rdquo;</p>

<p>On 17 April, Col Sansern Kaewkamnerd, spokesperson for the Army and the Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES), said that the authorities had retrieved only vehicles, but had yet to be handed weapons which had been seized by the red shirts.&nbsp; He was concerned that agents provocateurs would use those weapons to put the blame on both the authorities and the red shirts.</p>

<p>A new red-shirt radio station went on air yesterday in the Rajprasong intersection protest-site area, in a move to counter the continued shutting down of red-shirt media by the government under emergency rule.</p> <p>&quot;They should allow us to criticise [the government], but instead they shut our ears and eyes,&quot; Chinawat Haboonpak, a red-shirt leader told the crowd at the intersection yesterday morning. &quot;We ask for just one television channel, but they have taken it away from us and shut our ears and eyes again.&quot;</p>

<p>The Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation has ordered the MICT to close 190 websites, of which over 60% are claimed to be politically seditious.&nbsp; Since the red shirt protests started, the MICT has ordered the blocking of about 500 URLs per day on average.</p>

<p>On 16 April, Athikhom Sapchang, a taxi driver, made a complaint with the press at the red shirts&rsquo; Rajprasong rally site that after he had joined other red shirts in helping red-shirt leaders escape the authorities&rsquo; attempted round up at the SC Park Hotel, he left the scene and drove around to look for passengers.&nbsp; When he arrived at Soi Bang Bua in Bang Khen, he found a group of people setting up a checkpoint at the entrance of the Soi.</p>

<p>The New Politics Party has urged the government to declare Martial Law, arrest the leaders of the &lsquo;terrorists and rebels&rsquo;, and remove Deputy PM Suthep, the Defence Minister and the Army Chief from office.&nbsp; There should be no elections until the terrorists are suppressed.&nbsp; The terrorism in Bangkok is connected to international terrorism and Thaksin is connected to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Suriyasai said.</p>