Benzinga Exclusive: Firsthand Look At Turmoil In Bangkok

I'm currently in Bangkok where much of the city has fallen into chaos. What started out as peaceful protests a few months ago has turned into rioting and very well may move on to civil war. Although most foreigners may think of Thailand as a peaceful land of beaches, temples and nightlife, the country is no stranger to civil unrest; an insurgency in the far south of Thailand has already led to the deaths of thousands over the past several years. Now it looks like the people of the North East region of the country may be growing angry at the elite of Bangkok who run the country. Early Wednesday morning in Thailand, the army began an effort to break up the protests that had paralyzed the downtown shopping area. Many of the protestors, who claim to be unarmed, fought back with burning tires (to obstruct the view of army snipers) and home made rockets. They stood little chance versus armored personnel carriers, automatic weapons and helicopters. The leaders of the protest seemed to sense the end was near. On a specially constructed stage they had been using to give speeches to the protesters, they told their supporters that they would turn themselves in to the police and that the protesters should go home. However, many of the protesters vowed to fight on. What was once a somewhat concentrated group of thousands began to riot in various parts of the city. Looting and arson currently are the norm in much of Bangkok. Malls, cinemas, media headquarters, banks and even the Thai Stock Exchange seem to be fair game. Most can be seen billowing from fires throughout the city and an 8 pm to 6 am curfew was announced so that the military could try to take back control of the city.