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After two days of being pushed around and humiliated by anti-government protesters, Thailand's security forces began pushing back on Saturday. It was a day that saw the first bloodshed since the protests began in Bangkok on March 12. But by mid-evening both sides had called on their forces to retreat. It was unclear who held the upper hand in what is becoming a battle for survival by the current Thai government...
...Bangkok at the beginning the protest, declared "war has come." But Nattawut sounded more conciliatory, asking on stage for a senior military officer to call him and urging protesters not to seek revenge at the moment. By 9 p.m., a military spokesman said troops had been ordered to pull back and not attempt to seize Phan Fa. Nattawut responded by telling protesters to also fall back to Phan Fa, but it was not clear how much control protest leaders still had over the situation as street battles raged on. (See pictures from Thailand's April 2009 protests...
...Emboldened by their victories of the past few days, a contingent of Red Shirts attempted to overrun the First Regiment base on Saturday, only to discover a new resolve among the soldiers. Troops slowly pushed back the demonstrators, who threw bottles, rocks, sticks and iron traffic barriers. The soldier responded with water cannon and tear gas. Government spokesman Panitan said live rounds were fired in the air, and rubber bullets fired at the crowd. Red shirt protesters claimed live rounds were fired at them...
...soldiers succeeded in pushing the Red Shirts back several hundred meters, taking an intersection in front of the regional headquarters of the United Nations. But by nightfall they had failed to take the Phan Fa intersection. Gunshots were heard near the Democracy Monument by photographers for The Nation newspaper...
Across town, Red Shirts flooded into the Rajaprasong intersection, a major commercial center in the capital that they have occupied for more than a week ands where protest leaders denounced the government. A contingent of Border Patrol Police sent to close off a road to the intersection were pushed back by protesters. "If they come back, we'll push them back again," shouted a Red Shirt holding a stick...