20,000 police, troops go on alert

[Mod]

20,000 police, troops go on alert

More than 20,000 police and soldiers will be mobilised to enforce security across the capital Saturday against anti-government protesters rallying under the anti-government Pitak Siam group.

Police estimate that up to 76,000 protesters could turn up for the rally at the Royal Plaza today, although Pitak Siam members downplayed the estimate as well as government fears that the protest could turn violent.

One Pitak Siam member said the enactment of the Internal Security Act (ISA) on Thursday by the government will curb the number of protesters who can reach the rally site, particularly those coming from upcountry.

"[The government] has set up checkpoints along the major highways to Bangkok, and so many caravans have been delayed in travelling to the capital," the member said, adding that the group has discussed whether to relocate the protest.

But retired Gen Boonlert Kaewprasit, the leader of the Pitak Siam group, decided against any change to the rally plans, and told members the aggressive moves made by the government against the protest would actually spur public support for the movement.

Thousands of police equipped with batons and shields took up posts around the Royal Plaza yesterday as rally organisers moved to set up a stage for the protest. Roads in the area were closed as part of a campaign to deter protesters from reaching the site, resulting in traffic jams across the city.

National police chief Adul Saengsingkaew, as director of the Centre for the Administration of Peace and Order, issued an order banning protesters from entering Government House and parliament, as well as closing nine routes around the rally site.

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A second order bans vehicles on the nine routes, including portions of Ratchadamnoen Nok, Luk Luang, Rama V and Phitsanulok roads as well as vehicles carrying fuel or parking in restricted areas. A third order prohibits the possession in public of weapons or objects that could be used as weapons.

Defence Minister Sukumpol Suwanatat has also set up a command centre to work with the armed forces, the Supreme Command, the Interior Ministry and the Internal Security Operations Command to monitor developments.

One officer said ACM Sukumpol has ordered the army to prepare 51 100-member companies of troops as a reserve. Four companies, equipped with shields and batons, must be ready to move immediately if called upon.

The ISA order, which covers Bangkok's Phra Nakhon, Pomprap Sattruphai and Dusit districts, lasts until Nov 30. The Pitak Siam rally meanwhile will take place on the eve of the no-confidence debate in parliament against the Yingluck Shinawatra government.

City police spokesman Pol Maj Gen Adul Narongsak yesterday said the security orders would not affect those unrelated to the rally.

"Those who have nothing to do with the rally can go about their business. These orders are limited to the restricted areas only," said Mr Adul, also the deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau.

Deputy Interior Minister Pracha Prasopdee meanwhile said Pitak Siam was manipulating the public to undermine a democratically elected government.

He warned that "some groups" would use the protest to instigate chaos in a bid to overthrow the Pheu Thai-led government.

But Pheu Thai member Gen Amnuay Thirachunha said that without military intervention, the rally was unlikely to lead to a change in government.

"The most likely and feared scenario is a riot. If this occurs, the military may intervene and seize power. It is the only way to topple the government," he said.

Other Pheu Thai members slammed Gen Boonlert for his campaign.

Thanik Masipitak, a Pheu Thai party-list MP, expressed concern that a protracted rally would increase the risk of violence.

But he said provincial red-shirt members, who support Pheu Thai and Ms Yingluck's brother Thaksin Shinawatra, would not come to the capital to confront Pitak Siam.

Pitak Siam members say they will deploy some 2,000 guards at the Royal Plaza to help ensure the rally remains peaceful. The number includes some 200 members of the People's Alliance for Democracy, the group that led rallies against the Thaksin government in 2006.

Pitak Siam organisers said they have been on a heightened state of alert following reports that red shirts would seek to create chaos at the rally site.

Gen Boonlert meanwhile insisted that the group's aims are peaceful, and that no attempt would be made to lay siege to any government buildings.

The rally highlight, he said, would feature video clips showing red shirts offending the monarchy.

Prayong Chaisri, a legal adviser to Pitak Siam, said the government was violating the people's right of peaceful assembly and was hypocritical in its use of the law. "The government has banned people under the age of 18 from joining the rally, citing child protection laws. But the red-shirt protests at Ratchaprasong intersection used children and the elderly as a shield," he said.

Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said the government should seek to extend the parliament session if a censure debate could not proceed as the result of the ISA enforcement. "If the prime minister is serious about tackling problems through parliament, she has to extend the session if the debate can't take place as scheduled," he said.

http://www.bangkokpost.com

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Police display three types of tear gas which they say are in line with international standards, along with other crowd control equipment, as they explain crowd dispersal procedures ahead of today’s Pitak Siam rally. APICHIT JINAKUL

[TBWG]

The punch up kicks off!



The BBC's Jonah Fisher said thousands of people attended the protest in Bangkok

Police have used tear gas against thousands of protesters calling for the overthrow of the prime minister in the Thai capital, Bangkok.

At least 10,000 protesters gathered, demonstrating against the government of Yingluck Shinawatra, the sister of the deposed former prime minister.

The rally was organised by a group who accuse Ms Yingluck of being a puppet of her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra.

At least seven police officers were reported wounded in clashes.

Anti-riot police carrying plastic shields fired tear gas at protesters who tried to climb over concrete and barbed wire barriers blocking entry to the rally site, Bangkok's Royal Plaza, near the parliament.

The rally was not banned but police blocked demonstrators from accessing some streets near government buildings, says the BBC's Jonah Fisher in Bangkok.

"We used tear gas because protesters were blocking police and did not comply with the security measures we put in place," police spokesman Piya Uthaya told a local TV station, according to Reuters.

Police said they had seized various weapons, including knives and bullets, as protesters arrived.

The demonstration, which has now ended, was organised by a new group calling itself Pitak Siam - or Protect Thailand.

Led by a retired army general, the group accuses Ms Yingluck's administration of corruption and ignoring insults to the revered monarchy.

"I promise that Pitak Siam will succeed in driving this government out," former Gen Boonlert Kaewprasit said in his address to the rally.

"The world will see this corrupted and cruel government. The world can see the government under a puppet," he said later.

The group has attracted the support of various royalist groups including "yellow shirt" members of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) who helped destabilise governments either led or backed by Thaksin Shinawatra in 2006 and 2008.

He remains a deeply divisive figure in Thailand. Ousted in a 2006 military-backed coup, he fled the country in 2008 shortly before being found guilty of abuse of power.

Earlier this week, Ms Yingluck, who was democratically elected in 2011 with a large majority, ordered nearly 17,000 police to be deployed during the rally and invoked a special security law.

"They [the government] like to claim they got 15 million votes. I'm here to show I was not one of them. So don't count me in. I didn't choose you," one unnamed protester told the Associated Press.



TBWG

[Alan]

Here we go again.......

[chudless]

Here we go again.......

It's great entertainment a lot better than watching Thai soap.

[Alan]

You could be onto something there Chudless. Entertain the people with some decent tv might keep people at home instead of demonstrating every 5 mins............

[chudless]

You could be onto something there Chudless. Entertain the people with some decent tv might keep people at home instead of demonstrating every 5 mins............

Yes maybe a good film something like 'The King and I'

[Alan]

Maybe a few educational programmes focusing on DEMOCRACY might be relevant!!!!! Just a thought.

[nookiebear]

How many dead???

[nookiebear]

Yingluck escapes being kidnapped

[chudless]

Yingluck escapes being kidnapped

Don't you mean hijacked.

[Prakhonchai Nick]

Yingluck escapes being kidnapped

Don't you mean hijacked.

Whilst hijacked is technically acceptable the more normal connotations for hijacking involve a vehicle. I would go for kidnapped along with Nookie.

Definition of HIJACK
1
a : to steal by stopping a vehicle on the highway
b : to commandeer (a flying airplane) especially by coercing the pilot at gunpoint
c : to stop and steal from (a vehicle in transit)
d : kidnap