BANGKOK: A maverick Thai general who has threatened to bomb anti-government protesters and drop snakes on them from helicopters has been reassigned as an aerobics teacher, the Bangkok Post said on Friday.

Major-general Khattiya Sawasdipol, an anti-communist fighter more commonly known as Seh Daeng, reacted with disappointment to his new role as a military instructor promoting public fitness at marketplaces. “It is ridiculous to send me, a warrior, to dance at markets,” he said, before launching an attack on his boss, army chief Anupong Paochinda.

“The army chief wants me to be a presenter leading aerobics dancers. I have prepared one dance. It’s called the ‘throwing-a-hand-grenade’ dance,” he said. Seh Daeng is something of a folk hero in Thailand on account of his reputed undercover exploits in Cambodia and Laos during the Cold War.

His predictions of grenade attacks against People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protesters occupying Government House made headlines last month, especially when they turned out to be correct.

One protester was killed and 23 wounded by a grenade blast on Thursday. Seh Daeng has denied any involvement.—Reuters