Renegade Thai general shot in the head as crackdown threatened

A RENEGADE army general accused of leading a paramilitary force among Thailand’s Red Shirt protesters was shot in the head yesterday, apparently by a sniper, an aide said, after the government warned it would shoot “terrorists”.

About 90 minutes before he was shot, Major General Khattiya Sawasdiphol said he anticipated a military crackdown soon – as security forces moved to seal an area of central Bangkok which has been occupied by thousands of the protesters for weeks.

“It’s either dusk or dawn when the troops will go in,” he said. He was shot soon after night fell.