by the evening of may 19,it seemed obvious that angry red-shirts were on a rampage of arson,torching building in many parts of the city and in several provincial centres as well
in yesterday's censure debate,however,puea thai MPs tried to raise doubts about whether that really was the case.
puea thai Party MP for bangkok vicharn Meenchainant said the burned buildings were in areas where the military was in control
checkpoints had been set up in the area to keep people from entering,the opposition mp said.
mr.Vicharn said not even MPs were allowed into the restricted areas.
late last night party-list MP and core red-shirt leader jatuporn Promphan wondered why the government had not been able to catch a single arsonist in bangkok while arresting hundreds upcountry. his clear implication was the security forces set the fires in the capital to frame the red-shirts.
Prime Minister abhisit Vejjajiva rejected any suggestion that troops might have been involved in arson. he insisted the centralworld shopping mall was torched after red shirt leaders called off their rally and before troop moved into the area.