Thailand’s army and anti-government protesters made tentative peace overtures yesterday, seeking to avoid a looming crackdown and a repeat of clashes that left 25 people dead earlier this month.
The army chief said that the use of force was no solution to Thailand’s crisis, which pits the red-shirted demonstrators against a government they condemn as illegitimate and undemocratic.
“The use of force will not end the current problems and would have many repercussions,” army chief General Anupong Paojinda told a meeting of top brass, according to deputy spokesman Colonel Sirichan Ngathong.
PHOTO: EPA
“The best thing is to create understanding among the people. The army’s job now is to take care of the people, and not allow Thais to attack each other,” he said.
Anupong said on Thursday that he aimed to end the standoff without further bloodshed, saying the authorities “can uphold the law with no people dead or injured.”
His comments, which contrasted with warnings earlier this week that security forces were ready to use live ammunition if needed, came amid high tensions in the capital, which is under a state of emergency.
Five grenade blasts hit Bangkok’s financial hub on Thursday night, targeting hundreds of pro-government supporters in attacks that left one Thai woman dead and scores wounded, including foreigners.
Thai police sought yesterday to push the Red Shirts from a confrontation zone on the edge of the financial district where they have clashed with pro-government mobs.
Hundreds of riot police carrying shields and batons moved on the heavily fortified barricades, which form the front line of the Reds’ vast encampment that has paralyzed the main retail district in the heart of Bangkok.
They later withdrew after failing to win an agreement with the Reds, who stepped back, but kept in place the barrier made of truck tires, sharpened bamboo staves and plastic sheeting, which has also been doused with fuel.
Reds leader Veera Musikapong said yesterday they were open to elections in three months as a way out of the crippling deadlock — a step back from their original demand for immediate polls.
“If the government says it will dissolve the House within 30 days, it is negotiable,” he said.
“After the House dissolution, the government will have another 60 days to prepare for elections. In total it will be 90 days. But the government has to stop threatening people and show responsibility for what has happened,” Veera said.
Authorities are under pressure to end the street rallies, which broke out last month, but tensions are still high after April 10 clashes triggered by a failed attempt to disperse the Reds left 25 people dead and more than 800 injured.
The escalating crisis has triggered alarm at the UN and among foreign governments, which issued urgent calls for restraint and warned their citizens to stay away from the protests or avoid Bangkok altogether.
Thai Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said the grenades in Thursday’s blasts were fired from within the sprawling Red Shirt encampment, but leaders of the protest movement denied they were responsible.
Taiwanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) yesterday said no Taiwanese nationals were injured in the grenade attacks.
Yang urged people to refrain from traveling to Bangkok for the time being.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue