(Thumbnail image: The International Herald Tribune) 

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"We can now confirm that the radical red shirt leader, he's known as Seh Daeng, 'Red Commander' or red strategist, has been shot.  His guards tell us that he was shot through the chest.  We understand that he is not killed.  He is in a critical condition." (CNN)

An escalation in violence in Bangkok has led to a sniper shooting the man who called himself Thailand’s “Braveheart.”   59-year-old dissident General Khattiya Sawasdipol — better known as Seh Daeng — was critically shot in full view of reporters who were interviewing him at the time.  Now, world reaction is flowing in.

First to the eye witnesses.  A New York Times reporter says he saw the shooting — he was interviewing Seh Daeng at the time and he outlines the events leading up to today's violence.

"The general, an incendiary figure who was in charge of security for the protesters, had been called a terrorist by the prime minister, who named him as the chief obstacle to a compromise plan to end a two-month sit-in... in return for an election in November."

And from the BBC — this:

"The BBC's Rachel Harvey in Bangkok says a column of about 200 soldiers had been seen moving towards the camp. Street lights have been switched off in the camp, plunging parts of it into darkness, but protesters continue to defiantly blast out music."

For France 24, Nelson Rand reports protesters think they know who fired the shot — and they're armed as well.

CNN's Dan Rivers says, the government has been promising this action for weeks.

"The government has made it clear that the army is under orders to shoot at armed terrorists.  And Seh Daeng has been seen over the last few weeks, walking around armed in the Red Shirt area.  And is one of the most radical hardline leaders of the so-called Red Shirts."

Al Jazeera English reporter Aela Callan says the violence is only likely to get worse from here.

"It is looking increasingly like a bad situation for both sides, who both look increasingly desperate.  The government is looking increasingly weak and the Red Shirts have painted themselves into a corner as there is little they can do now to have a peaceful situation."

So what happens now?  Will the Red Shirts back down?  Or do you expect more violence?

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