Update from Sathorn- May 14th

the situation got increasingly tense. The crowd of red shirts supporters in Soi Suan Phlu grew in size. About 50-60 bikes are parked around the corner of Suan Phlu and many other people gathered there, out of curiosity or support for the red cause. The public lights have been cut off from the whole of Sathorn until the Narathiwat intersection and the cars and bikes coming out of Suan Phlu are asked to put on the lights for their own security. The crowd is tense (i almost got into a fight for a picture i then deleted), some tires have been put in the middle of the street in front of the Shell petrol station (probably not the best place) and set on fire giving to the street a gloomy look and smell. The motortaxi drivers are now taking care of organizing the traffic out of Suan Phlu as a small crowd of farang living in the area walks around. The soldiers, still located in the proximity of the Australian Embassy is shooting at the protesters side once in a while but mostly pointing at the air. Every round of shoots is met with a loud noise by the cheering crowd. Down Suan Phlu the echoes of the shoot makes an uncommon background for the apparently normal daily life of the local dwellers eating at street vendors. At the front of Suan Phlu some younger protesters shout to the others to change their shirts and dress in black as a middle-aged man shoots fireworks at the army side. A young taxi drivers is listening with a small red transmitter to the hospital radio, feeding people informations about injured and on-going fightings. On the back sounds of rounds fill the air. Now the numbers in the crowd are quite stable and seems like everybody is waiting for something to happen. This is going to be a long night, even in a peripheral area of the confrontation.