Thai women used as human shields by PAD protest leaders

The Bangkok Post reports:

Human shields are the PAD's main strategy for dealing with police.

Those who serve as human shields are mostly women who volunteer for the front-line positions to protect their leaders. Each human shield comprises 300 to 400 women.

Photographs and video evidence show that a number of the PAD protesters had been armed with spears, guns, knives, and iron bars. Bangkok Pundit asks: ". . . is it unreasonable that there will be tear gas?" Bangkok Pundit observed that whereas an editorial in The Nation criticized the police for firing tear gas in the direction of the pregnant women, yet the paper neglected to criticize the practice of using these people as shields in the first place.