Rogue Thai general shot in the head

I’d say the simmering situation in Thailand is about to boil over:

A renegade Thai general was shot in Bangkok on Thursday as the military planned to encircle the barricaded encampment of antigovernment demonstrators.

Gen. Khattiya Sawatdiphol, 59, better known as Seh Daeng, was allied with the protesters. He appeared to have taken a single bullet to the head during an interview with The International Herald Tribune.

Before you  rush to conclusions, read this interesting profile of Khattiya in the Washington Times. It seems the general was something of a rogue who claims to have worked with the CIA and stood accused of being behind terrorist attacks on the Thai government:

Gen. Khattiya, 58, has enjoyed a place of prominence in the Red Shirts’ nearly two-month standoff with authorities, serving alternately as the protesters’ strategist, spokesman, coach and inspiration. A best-selling author and TV personality, he has been a member of an often brutal paramilitary force that includes current and former troops loyal to him.

He is wanted for questioning about a death squad known as "Ronin Warriors," a mysterious group of Red Shirt supporters whom the government blames for grenade attacks on military and public targets. The Warriors’ name is the Japanese term for a samurai without a master. […]

"It is the thought process of homosexuals, using tanks and armor against the population," he said, laughing while describing a street battle on the evening of April 10. "The tactics you are supposed to use are to fight early in the morning, or during daylight hours, not at night. But the army acts with homosexual emotions."

When Gen. Anupong Paojinda, the army commander in chief, reassigned him to teach aerobics in 2008, Gen. Khattiya announced: "I have prepared one dance. It’s called ‘The Throwing a Hand Grenade Dance.’"

Here is his website. Note that some news outlets are reporting that Khattiya was shot in the chest, not the head, and remains alive but gravely wounded. But an anonymous aide told the Associated Press "Seh Daeng was shot in the head," and by a sniper. Stay tuned.