Friday 29 August 2008
By Reuters (text) / C. Payen in Bangkok (video)BANGKOK - Thai riot police scuffled with demonstrators
barricaded in the prime minister's compound on Friday
as they delivered an eviction order against the group
seeking to oust the government.
Police armed with batons and shields posted the court order
on lampposts and iron gates in the compound occupied by the
People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) in a four-day standoff
that has rattled investors.
Police briefly detained at least 15 protesters and took up
positions around the PAD-controlled area, but they did not move
to evict the 4,000-strong crowd.
Witnesses said teargas was fired but police denied it.
Police spokesman Surapol Thuanthong said they only intended
to help court officials deliver the eviction order.
"We are trying to deal with the protesters as gently as
possible. We are persuading them to leave the compound and will
not do anything to those who follow the court order," he told
reporters.
The PAD, whose 2005 protests against then Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra contributed to his removal in a coup a year
later, urged their supporters to gather at the compound until
the current elected administration fell.
"Move in and circle around me. We can't let them seize our
stage too easily," retired general and PAD leader Chamlong
Srimuang told the cheering crowd.
Nine PAD leaders have been charged with insurrection, a
crime that can carry the death penalty, after violent raids on
government offices and a state TV station on Monday, which some
newspapers criticised for going too far.
The motley group of businessmen, academics and activists
launched the street campaign on May 25, accusing Samak's
coalition government of being an illegitimate proxy of Thaksin,
now in exile in London.
The PAD also proclaims itself to be a defender of revered
King Bhumibol Adulyadej against a supposed Thaksin plan to turn
Thailand into a republic -- a charge vehemently denied by both
Thaksin and the government.
SHARES TURN LOWER
The group have barricaded themselves in the 11-acre
compound behind razor wire and car tyres, with sentries armed
with bars and golf clubs to repel the police.
Inside the compound, thousands of PAD supporters were
seated on plastic sheeting, clapping and cheering speeches by
the group's leaders.
Some held aloft pictures of King Bhumibol, shouting "We
love the King. We love Thailand".
Thailand's stock market turned lower after the riot police
moved in. The index opened higher but was down 0.51 percent at
the midsession break, bucking the trend elsewhere in Asia.
Thai shares have fallen 23 percent since the street
campaign began in May amid fears of everything from policy
paralysis at a time of stuttering economic growth to bloodshed
on the streets.
Analysts said the standoff was likely to drag on as long as
the government avoided a violent confrontation that could
prompt the military to intervene.
Army commanders have pledged to stay in their barracks for
now, but Samak faced new pressure from state rail workers who
began a partial strike on Thursday.
"We have told our union members to call a leave of absence
to join the rally in Bangkok to oust this government, which has
been damaging the country over the past seven months," State
Railway of Thailand union leader Savit Kaewvan told Reuters.
Savit, who is also head of the umbrella group of all the
state enterprises' labour unions with 200,000 members, said he
expected other state unions to call for strikes.
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31/08/2008 15:51:48 Alert a moderator
Turmoil in Thailand
By A foreigner in Thailand -
Democracy gives people to elect the government every 4-5 years. You vote and if the government is not good you wait for 4 years until the next election and vote the government out. Thai people do no understand the meaning of democracy. Democracy is not just follow the wishes of the crowd. I feel sorry for Thailand. I agree with the previous reader. If the government resigns, the following government will face the same fate. The opposition (DAAD or whoever) will organize then demonstration, take the PM office and so on until it resigns. And history will repeat itself ... Thai people... THAT IS NOT DEMOCRACY... Either 1) vote Samak out through the Parliament or 2) wait 4 years for the next elections.. You are making Thailand a joke and the laugh of the world.. As I foreigner living in Thailand, I love this country but what is happening now it does not happen in any other country.. It is laughable .. The Police should force PAD out of the grounds, in any other democratic (I repeat democratic) country in Europe, the police will have shot real bullets to anyone entering the government compound. Would you think that in the White House people could just enter and occupy the grounds (and use the toilets... ridiculous) just because you don't agree with Bush on the war in Iraq or the handling of the economy. This only happens in Thailand. Poor Thailand... This is pathetic
31/08/2008 15:41:15 Alert a moderator
Crisis in Thailand
By Anonymous -
The PM Samak is certainly NOT the most competent or clean politician in the country but (like it or not) he won a relatively clean election. If he bows now to demonstrations, any future government in Thailand will be at the mercy of the street mobs. The PAD rallies are something surreal. In no other country in the world it would happen that 15,000 demonstrators break into the PM residence, occupied the grounds, use toilets in the building, break into the offices of the state TV, block airport runways, into ministerial offices even the Bangkok Metropolitan police headquarters.. and nothing happened, and the police is now facing accusations that it used tear gas for like 3 minutes to disperse a crowd of several thousands with 5 canisters of tear gas... This country is a joke!!
31/08/2008 11:23:56 Alert a moderator
prime minister must resign
By Anonyme - Bangkok, Thailand
Although there are already ample ideas spread throughout the media regarding the current crisis in different parts of the country, I, as a student and a patriot of the Kingdom of Thailand would too want to convey my opinion. I strongly advocate the immediate resignation of Mr Samak Sundaravej.
His resignation as prime minister is clearly the one and only citizen-benefitting solution in ending this turmoil he has brought upon himself and the country as a great many do not accept him as prime minister. Although there are hundreds, if not thousands, of reasons to why the educated and morale in Thailand do not accept him presence in the government, I would like to bring up three which I find particularly nasty.
First of all, he is no doubt a very dishonest man. He has vowed that he will not instruct the police to use force to resolve the protests in Bangkok (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7585418.stm) but this clip http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7583413.stm shows the direct opposite. In an interview between Mr Samak and CNN (http://www.thai-us.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=302), Mr Samak claimed that only one student of Thammasat University died during the October 1976 military takeover. One may ask any local and get the answer that there were hundreds of confirmed brutal deaths and many more unaccounted for.
Secondly, he is unfit to be prime minister due to his inclination to be corrupt. Although he has been infamous for his alleged corrupting activities, one very embarrassing incident involves and was confirmed by another nation. In July 2008, the Japanese government announced a bribery of 125 million baht by Nishimatsu Construction, a Japanese construction contractor, to officials in the Bangkok flood-tunnel project. (http://www.bangkokpost.com/140708_News/14Jul2008_news08.php, http://www.asiathisweek.com/index.php?module=articles&func=display&ptid=...) Although Mr Samak bluntly and ignorantly denied his involvement, Bangkok residents know that those officials who accepted the bribe are no one other than Mr Samak Sundaravej and his colleague.
Thirdly, he is an obstruction to justice. His instrument to drift people away from the truth, NBT Channel 11 http://365boxs.com/tvonline_ch11.html, is airing news which favors the government in all aspects while criticizing the PAD (People’s Alliance for Democracy). Very few channels, such as the ASTV http://www.manager.co.th/Home/news1/550k.html, were not influenced by this political clout and the bending of the truth. And last but not the least, he declared being a nominee for ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra (http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1696912,00.html), a corrupt man who is convicted of many charges against the nation and has currently fled to the United Kingdom.
Due the myriad reasons which points negatively towards Mr Samak Sundaravej, it is absolutely necessary to take him out of power if peace is to be restored to the nation.