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Bangkok tourists shaken



People started running and screaming. We were being shot at,' says 19-year-old Briton Sarah Colvin, one of the many foreign tourists caught up in the political violence sweeping Bangkok. 'It shook us up a lot. We needed valium to sleep,' she says, surveying the aftermath of Saturday's bloody battles just by Khaosan Road, Bangkok's iconic backpacker strip. 'A lot of people we've spoken to are getting out of here.

Clashes between anti-government 'Red Shirts' and security forces, which left 20 people dead and over 800 injured in the Thai capital, have delivered another severe blow to the country's vital tourism industry.

'I won't be coming back to Bangkok. Maybe the islands, but not Bangkok. I'm going to leave tonight. Yesterday was really scary,' said Flavia Kupka, 32, a waitress from New Zealand on her first visit to the 'Land of Smiles'.

Saturday's violence, which followed almost a month of rallies by the Reds, was the country's worst for 18 years and shook visitors as it spread into normally tourist-friendly Khaosan Road.

'There were bullets coming all over us. Bombs as well, petrol bombs within about 10 feet of us,' said factory worker Tony Doohan from Ireland, standing by debris and pools of blood covered with Thai flags and red roses. 'I saw Red Shirts with a gun they must have stolen off the cops. They all had sticks and were throwing glass bottles... anything they could find really,' the 25-year-old said. 'It's a bad time to be here.'

Further west at the Dang Derm Hotel on Khaosan Road, receptionist Jaringa Jaiya said Sunday that fearful guests had begun checking out after the violence intensified. 'Sure it will be bad for business. I think visitors will be shocked that this happened in Thailand. People want to get out of Bangkok,' she said.


AFP
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