Thais Red Shirt protest leader stages dramatic escape from hotel surrounded by police

Thai protester in dramatic escape to avoid police

BANGKOK — An anti-government protest leader evaded arrest Friday by scaling down a hotel facade with a rope and ducking into a getaway car while his supporters took two police officers hostage in a theatrical twist to Thailand’s political crisis.

Arisman Pongruangrong’s escapade at a hotel in downtown Bangkok where police had converged to arrest holed-up protest leaders was a major embarrassment for the government.

Authorities have tried without success to end a monthlong sit-in by tens of thousands of “Red Shirt” protesters in some of Bangkok most popular shopping and tourist districts. At least 24 people were killed last week when troops tried to clear one group of protesters.

Friday’s failed crackdown signaled the government was willing to risk another confrontation with the Red Shirts, who are campaigning to oust Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, dissolve Parliament and hold new elections.

Less than 30 minutes before the hotel drama, Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban had announced on national television that a unit of special forces had encircled the SC Park Hotel in downtown Bangkok where Arisman and other “Red Shirt” protests leaders were staying.

With a rope looped around his waist, Arisman slid down from a third-story ledge of the hotel into a waiting crowd of cheering Red Shirt supporters who led him to a car.

Arisman, a pop singer-turned-activist, then returned and clambered on top of a van to give a short speech, to announce that the Red Shirts had taken two policeman hostage to ensure his safety.

“I would like to thank all of the people who saved me — you have helped save democracy,” said Arisman, a one-time crooner of love songs and a Thai heartthrob.

A spokesman from national police headquarters confirmed that a police colonel and a police major general were being held by Arisman’s supporters.

A second Red Shirt leader was seen climbing out of a hotel window and down a tree. It was not immediately clear if he escaped.

Police had initially surrounded the hotel and blocked its entrances, but they were outnumbered by Red Shirts who stormed the building without resistance to help Arisman escape.

Thousands of Red Shirts, mostly rural poor, have congregated in Bangkok since March 12. They occupied two areas, one of which troops tried to clear on Saturday, leading to clashes that left 24 people dead and more than 800 injured in the worst political violence in nearly two decades.

The Red Shirts withdrew from that area Thursday and consolidated their forces at their second encampment in Rajprasong, the main shopping and hotel district of Bangkok.

A convoy of Red Shirt protesters escorted Arisman to Rajprasong from the hotel.

“This is a war between the government and the Red Shirts,” Arisman said. “Our next strategy will be to hunt down Suthep Thaugsuban and Abhisit Vejjajiva.”

The government accuses “terrorist elements” within the Red Shirt organization of orchestrating Saturday’s violence.

“The terrorists within the demonstrators used war weapons,” Suthep said in his television message.

“I would like to ask innocent protesters to leave the demonstration area, in order to avoid being used as human shields,” Suthep said. “The government from now on would like to carry out decisive legal measures against the Red Shirt leaders.”

The crisis has deeply divided this Southeast Asian nation into color-coded factions, threatening to sink an economy that had recently started to revive. The Red Shirts are bitterly opposed by the Yellow Shirts who support the government but have over the past few months stayed on the sidelines.

Associated Press writer Kinan Suchaovanich, Jocelyn Gecker and Vijay Joshi contributed to this report.