Supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra sit on the road outside the Government House during an anti-government protest in Bangkok February 24, 2009. Thousands of protesters marched on Thailand's seat of government on Tuesday to demand that Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva step down, adding to his troubles as the economy slides into recession. REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom Supporters of an exiled populist prime minister surround a key government building in Bangkok, a move similar to one by their opponents last year that led to the current premier's being chosen.
February 24, 2009
By Charles McDermid and Thammarat Lomthong
Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Bangkok, Thailand -- Thais took their politics back into the streets of Bangkok on Tuesday, with a sea of red-shirted protesters surrounding government headquarters and demanding that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva step down.
The prime minister responded with a pledge to defy the demonstrators by walking through them into Government House.
Protest leader Jatuporn Prompan described the siege as a peaceful protest meant to expose what he described as Thailand's dictatorship in disguise. Members of the United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship, or UDD, known for its red shirts and fierce allegiance to deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, say the 2-month-old Thai administration was not democratically elected.
The UDD is also demanding the prosecution of key figures linked to the yellow-clad People's Alliance for Democracy, or PAD, the group that occupied Bangkok's two airports for eight days in November and December, and for three months occupied the same government compound the UDD now encircles. The two groups have had violent clashes and street battles in the past.
"The real enemy of Thailand is the PAD, the government, the Democrat Party [of Abhisit] and bureaucrats," Jatuporn told the crowd outside Government House. "Today we proved Thailand is run by our UDD."
As the anti-government mob swelled to a reported 20,000, thousands of riot police and soldiers were deployed and barbed-wire barricades erected to keep back the protesters.
The current ruling coalition was formed in December after a court ruling that ousted a pro-Thaksin government. Some feel the coalition is held together only by the political poise of Abhisit, a 44-year-old Oxford-educated economist whose Democrat Party came in second in the most recent balloting at the end of 2007.
The rally came just days before the annual meeting of the 10-member Assn. of Southeast Asian Nations is set to open in Hua Hin, a beach resort about 85 miles southwest of Bangkok, the capital. After Thailand's tumultuous 2008, which included the high-profile PAD protests and a border skirmish with Cambodia, the prestigious event has been viewed as a way to reassure regional allies that Thailand is free from political turmoil.
Abhisit was in Hua Hin on Tuesday to inspect the summit's venue, but has told local media that he intends to return to work at Government House today.
"We will not use violence," Abhisit told reporters. "I am ready to walk into [Government House] as long as there are no weapons."
Thaksin, a flamboyant telecommunications tycoon, remains popular in rural areas on account of his populist programs. He was removed in a 2006 military putsch and now lives in self-imposed exile while facing charges for corruption and abuse of power.
Jatuporn told local media that the UDD would camp outside Government House before marching again to demand the resignation of Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya for his links to the PAD's airport occupations.
McDermid and Lomthong are special correspondents.
February 24, 2009
By Charles McDermid and Thammarat Lomthong
Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Bangkok, Thailand -- Thais took their politics back into the streets of Bangkok on Tuesday, with a sea of red-shirted protesters surrounding government headquarters and demanding that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva step down.
The prime minister responded with a pledge to defy the demonstrators by walking through them into Government House.
Protest leader Jatuporn Prompan described the siege as a peaceful protest meant to expose what he described as Thailand's dictatorship in disguise. Members of the United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship, or UDD, known for its red shirts and fierce allegiance to deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, say the 2-month-old Thai administration was not democratically elected.
The UDD is also demanding the prosecution of key figures linked to the yellow-clad People's Alliance for Democracy, or PAD, the group that occupied Bangkok's two airports for eight days in November and December, and for three months occupied the same government compound the UDD now encircles. The two groups have had violent clashes and street battles in the past.
"The real enemy of Thailand is the PAD, the government, the Democrat Party [of Abhisit] and bureaucrats," Jatuporn told the crowd outside Government House. "Today we proved Thailand is run by our UDD."
As the anti-government mob swelled to a reported 20,000, thousands of riot police and soldiers were deployed and barbed-wire barricades erected to keep back the protesters.
The current ruling coalition was formed in December after a court ruling that ousted a pro-Thaksin government. Some feel the coalition is held together only by the political poise of Abhisit, a 44-year-old Oxford-educated economist whose Democrat Party came in second in the most recent balloting at the end of 2007.
The rally came just days before the annual meeting of the 10-member Assn. of Southeast Asian Nations is set to open in Hua Hin, a beach resort about 85 miles southwest of Bangkok, the capital. After Thailand's tumultuous 2008, which included the high-profile PAD protests and a border skirmish with Cambodia, the prestigious event has been viewed as a way to reassure regional allies that Thailand is free from political turmoil.
Abhisit was in Hua Hin on Tuesday to inspect the summit's venue, but has told local media that he intends to return to work at Government House today.
"We will not use violence," Abhisit told reporters. "I am ready to walk into [Government House] as long as there are no weapons."
Thaksin, a flamboyant telecommunications tycoon, remains popular in rural areas on account of his populist programs. He was removed in a 2006 military putsch and now lives in self-imposed exile while facing charges for corruption and abuse of power.
Jatuporn told local media that the UDD would camp outside Government House before marching again to demand the resignation of Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya for his links to the PAD's airport occupations.
McDermid and Lomthong are special correspondents.
12 comments:
:) China won and she will become the economics power in the world.
PM Taksin will be back. US's puppet Abhisit will have to step down.
Now King Father will celebrate his best friend China for becoming the next economics power.
I got this somewhere from the net.. anyone heard about this news? it shows how evil and inhuman the Thais are..
"Thai soldiers are detaining illegal migrants from Bangladesh and Burma and forcing them back out to sea in boats without engines, survivors say.
Survivors say their hands were tied and they were towed out to sea with little or no food or water.
About 500 migrants are now recovering from acute dehydration in India's Andaman islands and the Indonesian province of Aceh.
Thai officials were not immediately available for comment.
But sources in the police and army confirmed to the BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok that asylum seekers are being pushed out to sea. They did not provide further details about the practice.
Survivors rescued by Indian coast guards say hundreds of other asylum-seekers are still missing after leaving Bangladesh and Burma since the end of November.
They told the BBC that they paid agents to take them to Thailand by boat so that they could have a better life.
They said that the Thai authorities detained many of them in Koh Sai Daeng island.
"Thai soldiers tied up our hands and then put us in boats without engines. These were towed into the high sea by motorised boats and left to drift," said Zaw Win, a survivor rescued by Indian coast guards off the coast of Little Andamans after drifting for 12 days.
"We were without food and water. The Thai soldiers clearly wanted us to die on the boats," Win told the BBC by telephone from a camp where survivors are being cared for.
Other survivors said that about 400 migrants were put on a huge boat by soldiers. It was equipped with only two bags of rice and two drums of drinking water.
"The food and water ran out in two days. After that we were starving for nearly 15 days before we saw a lighthouse and jumped into the sea and tried swimming ashore," Mohammed Said told the BBC.
This group of migrants was also rescued by the Indian coast guards and put into relief camps."
http://bangkokpundit.blogspot.com/2009/01/thailand-and-refugees-update.html
I saw the abishit on CNN last night.. he denied any knowledge of the case. well, what can we expect.. it's in their blood! DUH!!!
LOL show time again hahaha... last time the yellow-shirted shut the airport.. this time lets see what the red-shirted are going to shut LOL
Go to hell a bastard siam, ah thieves who stole land from many counties to keep as their own. Go to hell ah silly siam.
If you voted for CPP (Cambodian People's Party):
Also known as:
Communist People's Party
Khmer Rouge People's Party
Khmer Krorhorm People's Party
You're support the killing of 1.7 million innocent Khmer peoples.
You're support the killing of innocent men, women and children in Cambodia on March 30, 1997.
You're support murder of Piseth Pilika.
You're support assassination of journalists in Cambodia.
You're support political assassination and killing.
You're support attemted assassination and murder of leader of the free trade union in Cambodia.
You're support corruption in Cambodia.
You're support Hun Sen Regime burn poor people's house down to the ground and leave them homeless.
These are the Trade Mark of Hun Sen Regime.
Hun Sen, Chea Sim and Heng Samrin are Khmer Rouge commanders.
When is the ECCC going to bring these three criminals to U.N. Khmer Rouge Trail?
Khmer Rouge Regime is a genocide organization.
Hun Sen Regime is a terrorist organization.
Hun Sen Bodyguards is a terrorist organization.
Hun Sen Death Squad is a terrorist organization.
Cambodian People's Party is a terrorist organization.
I have declare the current Cambodian government which is lead by the Cambodian People's Party as a terrorist organization.
Whoever associate with the current Cambodian government are associate with a terrorist organization.
It would be nice if cambodia have true democratic sytem like thai to force hun sen to resign also. But this can only happen to hun sen if big country come in and hangs him like saddam was hung.
That is bullshit. Who in their right mind would want Lon Nol back.
There we go again. Thailand will be hell from now on.
What's next, green shirt? LOL...pathetic!
oh man! not again! let's just call thailand the land of the world's most rapidly changing gov't on the planet! can anyone learn from thailand? crap! i thought this was the end already!
Ha Ha Ha Ha...
Pai Pai Pai...
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