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Tuesday 7 April 2009
Clashes as Thai protesters trap PM at beach hotel
Anti-government protesters trapped Thai premier Abhisit Vejjajiva inside a beach hotel and attacked his motorcade on Tuesday as the kingdom’s political turmoil boiled over into violence.
PATTAYA, Thailand - Anti-government protesters trapped Thai premier Abhisit Vejjajiva inside a beach hotel and attacked his motorcade on Tuesday as the kingdom’s political turmoil boiled over into violence.
The clash was the most serious since supporters of fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra surrounded Abhisit’s offices in Bangkok on March 26, and came amid mounting speculation about a possible military coup.
The protesters want British-born Abhisit to dissolve his four-month-old government and call elections, but he has said he must stay to resolve problems that have plagued Thailand since Thaksin was toppled in a 2006 coup.
Tuesday’s scuffles erupted after Thaksin loyalists clad in signature red shirts surrounded Abhisit’s hotel in the coastal resort of Pattaya as he held a Cabinet meeting, preventing him from leaving for several hours.
Abhisit finally escaped but about 50 demonstrators chased his car when it stopped at a traffic light and then pelted it with plastic bottles, police who saw the incident told AFP.
Police tried to move the premier to another car but the demonstrators pulled open the door of the second vehicle and began to beat the driver and police who were escorting Abhisit, they said.
The Oxford-educated Abhisit escaped unharmed, but Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said he had ordered the immediate arrest of the assailants.
“This is not a peaceful protest. They have violated the law, the government already warned them that they will be prosecuted,” Suthep told reporters, adding that police had photographic evidence.
The government insisted that the clashes would not derail a key summit of Southeast Asian leaders plus regional partners including China and Japan, which is due to start on Friday in Pattaya.
“The ‘Red Shirts’ protest will not affect foreign leaders attending the summit,” said Vitawas Srivihok, the senior Association of Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN) department official at Thailand’s foreign ministry.
But the protests further raised tensions a day before a mass rally planned by Thaksin’s supporters outside Abhisit’s office in Bangkok, which organisers say hundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend.
The Red Shirts are hoping to emulate the success of rival, yellow-clad demonstrators who helped to drive Thaksin’s allies from government in December last year with a street campaign including a blockade of Bangkok’s airports.
Thaksin, who is living in exile to avoid a two-year jail term imposed last year over corruption allegations, has fired up his supporters with a series of video speeches over the past two weeks.
But the supreme commander of Thailand’s armed forces, General Songkitti Jaggabatara, said that the army would not stage a coup even if the situation on Wednesday spiralled out of control.
“The Thai military is acting under the law in supporting the work of the government... It’s impossible that military will mount a coup similar to 2006,” he said.
In a televised national address late Monday, Abhisit rejected suggestions that Thailand was on the brink of “civil war” but warned that the government would not tolerate any violence or insults to the monarchy during the protests.
The country remains deeply divided between Thaksin’s followers among the urban and rural poor and his foes among the traditional power cliques of the palace, military and bureaucracy.
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Clashes as Thai protesters trap PM at beach hotel
AFP
7 April 2009
PATTAYA, Thailand - Anti-government protesters trapped Thai premier Abhisit Vejjajiva inside a beach hotel and attacked his motorcade on Tuesday as the kingdom’s political turmoil boiled over into violence.
The clash was the most serious since supporters of fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra surrounded Abhisit’s offices in Bangkok on March 26, and came amid mounting speculation about a possible military coup.
The protesters want British-born Abhisit to dissolve his four-month-old government and call elections, but he has said he must stay to resolve problems that have plagued Thailand since Thaksin was toppled in a 2006 coup.
Tuesday’s scuffles erupted after Thaksin loyalists clad in signature red shirts surrounded Abhisit’s hotel in the coastal resort of Pattaya as he held a Cabinet meeting, preventing him from leaving for several hours.
Abhisit finally escaped but about 50 demonstrators chased his car when it stopped at a traffic light and then pelted it with plastic bottles, police who saw the incident told AFP.
Police tried to move the premier to another car but the demonstrators pulled open the door of the second vehicle and began to beat the driver and police who were escorting Abhisit, they said.
The Oxford-educated Abhisit escaped unharmed, but Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said he had ordered the immediate arrest of the assailants.
“This is not a peaceful protest. They have violated the law, the government already warned them that they will be prosecuted,” Suthep told reporters, adding that police had photographic evidence.
The government insisted that the clashes would not derail a key summit of Southeast Asian leaders plus regional partners including China and Japan, which is due to start on Friday in Pattaya.
“The ‘Red Shirts’ protest will not affect foreign leaders attending the summit,” said Vitawas Srivihok, the senior Association of Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN) department official at Thailand’s foreign ministry.
But the protests further raised tensions a day before a mass rally planned by Thaksin’s supporters outside Abhisit’s office in Bangkok, which organisers say hundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend.
The Red Shirts are hoping to emulate the success of rival, yellow-clad demonstrators who helped to drive Thaksin’s allies from government in December last year with a street campaign including a blockade of Bangkok’s airports.
Thaksin, who is living in exile to avoid a two-year jail term imposed last year over corruption allegations, has fired up his supporters with a series of video speeches over the past two weeks.
But the supreme commander of Thailand’s armed forces, General Songkitti Jaggabatara, said that the army would not stage a coup even if the situation on Wednesday spiralled out of control.
“The Thai military is acting under the law in supporting the work of the government... It’s impossible that military will mount a coup similar to 2006,” he said.
In a televised national address late Monday, Abhisit rejected suggestions that Thailand was on the brink of “civil war” but warned that the government would not tolerate any violence or insults to the monarchy during the protests.
The country remains deeply divided between Thaksin’s followers among the urban and rural poor and his foes among the traditional power cliques of the palace, military and bureaucracy.
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