A fresh rally planned by anti-government protesters will prolong a state of emergency in Bangkok and surrounding areas, a government minister said yesterday.
Supporters of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra have announced they would regroup on Saturday outside the emergency zone after rallies in Bangkok ended last week following street battles between demonstrators and armed soldiers.
But Satit Wonghnongtaey, the minister attached to the prime minister’s office, said the protests in Samut Sakhon Province, 36km outside Bangkok, would worsen the kingdom’s political chaos.
PHOTO: AFP
“The government is ready to deal with any chaos but the rally will affect the government’s decision when to lift the state of emergency,” Satit told reporters.
“This is bad news for our country because it will worsen the crisis. They [Thaksin’s supporters] should rely on parliament as the government is implementing charter amendments as demanded by the protesters,” he said.
On Monday Jakrapob Penkair, a senior member of the so-called “Red Shirt” protest movement loyal to fugitive Thaksin, said from exile that the group would continue their campaign against Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.
“We have developed some strategies,” Jakrapob said in a telephone call diverted by an assistant to avoid detection.
The Red Shirts shut down an Asian summit in the beach resort of Pattaya on April 11 and then clashed with troops in Bangkok on Monday. Two people were killed and 123 injured in the unrest in the capital.
The Red Shirts want Abhisit to quit and call elections, saying that he came to power unfairly in December after a court toppled Thaksin’s allies from power.
Meanwhile, an official order released on Monday said that the national police chief had transferred two senior officers held responsible for failed security at a key Asian summit a week ago.
Police head General Patcharawat Wongsuwan also launched an investigation into the two men’s inability to stop thousands of anti-government protesters overrunning the April 11 meetings, forcing their abrupt closure.
Pattaya city commander Assawin Narongphan and Chonburi provincial commander Bandid Khunchak would move to new positions at the national police headquarters in Bangkok, the order said.
The ASEAN summit was scheduled to meet on April 11 and April 12 for a series of meetings in Pattaya City.
But many foreign leaders were shipped out by helicopter for their safety before the summit could begin, after supporters of Shinawatra rallied in the seaside city and stormed the meeting venues.
The incident prompted Vejjajiva to impose a state of emergency in Pattaya and the surrounding Chonburi Province for a few hours while foreign leaders were ferried away.
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