Bangkok, Apr. 17 : Thailand's media mogul and founder of the People''s Alliance for Democracy Sondhi Limthongkul has been declared safe after doctors successfully removed bullet shrapnel from his head.

Limthongkul survived an attempt on his life on Friday when gunmen attacked his car with automatic rifle fire.

Bangkok  - Gunmen early Friday attacked Sondhi Limthongkul, one of the core leaders of last year's yellow-shirt protests, riddling his car with more than 100 bullets but failed to kill him, police said.

Two unidentified gunmen in a Toyota pickup truck sprayed Sondhi's car with M-16 and AK47 semi-automatic fire at 5:45 am as the media tycoon was being driven to his ASTV television station, Police Colonel Khing Kwaengwhisetchaichang said.

Bangkok - Fitch downgraded Thailand's sovereign and local currency credit ratings Thursday in the wake of street violence and political upheaval earlier this week.

The credit agency lowered Thailand's long-term sovereign, or country, credit rating to BBB from its previous BBB+ status and its baht currency ratings to A- from A.

Bangkok  - Human Rights Watch on Thursday urged the Thai government to set up an independent commission to investigate recent politically-motivated violence "by all sides," including those responsible for this week's mayhem and last year's protests.

Thailand has been wracked by street protests for almost a year now, starting with the demonstrations led by the yellow-shirted People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) that began in May 2008, and culminated with the closure of Bangkok's two airports for a week in November-December.

Print this article email this article Comment on this article Follow me on Twitter Beijing - China has issued a travel warning for Thailand, advising Chinese travelers to avoid riot zones in the country, state media reported Tuesday. The Foreign Ministry and National Tourism Administration have urged Chinese travelers to postpone trips to Thailand, two days after Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva declared a state of emergency in Bangkok and five surrounding provinces, the state-run China Daily reported Tuesday.

Chinese citizens already in Thailand are being cautioned to stay away from the rioting.

Bangkok (Thailand), Apr. 14 : Thailand’s opposition United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), which is also known as the `Red Shirt’, has ended its standoff outside Government House here against the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

Two red-shirt core leaders, Veera Musikhapong and Suporn Uttawong, surrendered to police on Tuesday after they told their protesting supporters to disperse.