Kwanchai Praipana Senior Thai pro-government leader shot, injured

22012014

Kwanchai Praipana, a leader of Thailand’s pro-government “red shirt” movement sustained bullet-wounds to the arm and leg in a drive-by shooting in the northeastern town of Udon Thani, police said adding that it appeared to be “a politically-motivated crime.” “From what we saw on CCTV, a bronze pickup truck drove by and several rounds were fired at the house,” Police Colonel Kowit Tharoenwattanasuk told media.

This incident could raise even more tension in Thailand after PM Yingluck Shinawatra’s government declared a state of emergency in the capital, Bangkok, suggesting a more aggressive policy toward protesters who have been seeking to overthrow the government over the past two months.