BANGKOK—As journalists wanting to enter the barricaded camp at Ratchaprasong, we joined the queue and were checked by Redshirt security guards. 

This may be central Bangkok, but as soon as we were inside the barricade, we were in a different world. Hundreds of red-shirted people sat around—women, children, the elderly, monks—some chatting, some sleeping, some watching the news on TV.

We approached a woman who was lying on a bamboo mat with her infant and asked her for an interview. She agreed. She said she had been inside the Redshirt encampment since March 12. 

“We don’t want to get killed,” she said. “But if the army shoots at us, we will are prepared to die here for democracy.”

After just a few minutes, her husband appeared. When he heard his wife giving an interview he got angry. He slapped her in the face and pulled her away from us. He told us we should delete any photographs or video we had taken. Sensing a threat, we moved away.

Despite the violent interruption, we continued to interview Redshirt supporters.

“It is not that we support Thaksin or the current government,” said a 60-year-old woman who was preparing food for the protesters. “All we are asking for is democracy.”

All electricity, food supplies and water inside the Redshirt camp had been cut. Shopping malls, supermarkets and gas stations near the rally site were closed. However, it did not seem as if any of the protesters inside the barricades were preparing to leave the camp.

Addressing several reporters and cameramen, Weng Tojirakarn, who is a top Redshirt leader, said, “Many innocent people have died. The government must immediately put a stop to the killing.” 

We are told by several people that we should move to a safer place at nightfall. They add that journalists have become unpopular with both the protesters and the government security forces and must be vigilant.

One of our colleagues, a young Thai woman who has worked freelance as a “fixer” for The Irrawaddy, but who was on Tuesday working with TV reporters from France 24, was picked out by Redshirt security guards. They accused the woman of distorting the truth. Two large security guards grabbed her and slapped her on the head. They dragged her roughly to a separate area to interrogate her. She was later released. 

Pongsak Chanon, an observer who entered the “live firing zone” on Monday said the protest area is like a killing field.

“I heard the sound of bullets flying by me,” he said. “I saw injured people carried away in front of me. It is like a Hollywood movie.

“When I was at the front line, I felt that I might get shot any moment because we couldn’t see where the snipers were,” he added.  

“They [the government and the Redshirt leaders] need to compromise,” he said. “People should not be dying like this.”