PM cancels offer to hold election on Nov 14
Published: 13/05/2010 at 12:27 PM
Online news: Breakingnews

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has withdrew the Nov 14 election proposal after the anti-government red shirt protesters refused to end rally.

"However, I will proceed with the five-point reconciliation plan," Mr Abhisit said on the sidelines of a seminar on community development at a Bangkok hotel on Thursday morning.

The prime minister also ensured that he would bring the situation back to normalcy before the beginning of the new school term next Monday.

Mr Abhisit proposed his reconciliation roadmap and offered the Nov 14 poll date on May 3. He later announced house dissolution date between Sept 15 to 30.

The red shirt leaders accepted the house dissolution and poll date but refused to end the month-long rally at Ratchprasong intersection unless Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thuangsuban faces criminal charges in relation to the April 10 violent clashes between security forces and the protesters

Source: Bangkok Post

กษิต"ร่อนหนังสือแจงทูตทั่วโลก
 
วันพุธ ที่ 12 พฤษภาคม 2553 เวลา 18:25 น
   
ชี้แจงข้อเท็จจริง ศอฉ.เพิ่มมาตรการกดดันผู้ชุมนุมด้วยการตัดน้ำ-ตัดไฟ ชี้พร้อมอุ้มผู้ประกอบการต่างชาติ

วันนี้ (12 พ.ค.) นายกษิต ภิรมย์ รมว.ต่างประเทศ เปิดเผยว่า ได้ทำหนังสือชี้แจงข้อเท็จจริงเรื่องที่ศอฉ.เพิ่มมาตรการกดดันผู้ชุมนุมด้วยการตัดน้ำ-ตัดไฟ ไปยัง รมว.ต่างประเทศทั่วโลก ทั้งนี้โดยรอบพื้นที่ชุมนุมมีสถานทูต 17 ประเทศ เท่าที่ทราบขณะนี้เริ่มทยอยเคลื่อนย้ายคนออกแล้ว อย่างไรก็ตามจะพยายามให้เกิดผลกระทบน้อยที่สุด และพร้อมจะดูแลช่วยเหลือนักธุรกิจ ผู้ประกอบการชาวต่างชาติที่ได้รับผลกระทบจากการชุมนุม ตามความเหมาะสม.

Daily News

Red Shirt very dumm and they will die right there at the rally site

Thai government cracked down the Red Shirt protester on April 10, 2010, cuased 21 dead
and 1,000 injured, lead to world concerned. Because the main purpose of the red shirt
is to didsolve the parliment and return the democracy to the people.

Army to seal off rally site
Soldiers protected by armoured troop carriers will surround the red-shirt protest site from 6pm Thursday as "Operation Ratchaprasong" swings into action, after Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva withdraws Nov. 14 election.

Troops to surround Ratchaprasong with armoured vehicles

Published: 13/05/2010 at 02:09 PM
Online news: Local News

Government forces will lay siege to the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship's (UDD) protest site at around Ratchaprasong intersection from 6pm today, Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES) spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said on Thursday.

Col Sansern said armoured personnel carriers (APCs) would be used to protect soldiers during the operation.

Roadblocks would be set up. Protesters would be allowed to leave the protest site, but no-one would be allowed to enter.

Snipers carrying real weapons and live ammunition would move into position.  However, heavy weapons such as machineguns and grenades would not be used, he said.

Source: Bangkokpost

In the morning, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said that he withdrew his offer of a general election on Nov 14 after protesters refused to end their rally.

"However, I will proceed with the five-point reconciliation plan," he said on the sidelines of a seminar on community development at a Bangkok hotel.

The prime minister also ensured that he would bring the situation back to normalcy before the beginning of the new school term next Monday.

The prime minister's secretary-general Korbsak Sabhavasu said Wednesday that the government has cancelled the election offer because the UDD has shown no signs of complying with Mr Abhisit's demand to end the rally.

Mr Abhisit proposed his reconciliation roadmap and offered the Nov 14 poll date on May 3. He later announced House dissolution between Sept 15 and 30.

The red shirt leaders accepted the House dissolution and poll date, but refused to end their prolonged rally at Ratchprasong intersection unless Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban faces criminal charges in relation to the bloody April 10 clashes between security forces and the protesters.

So today surely there will be another blood shed in Thailand again, and this time there may be lead
to civil war likely.

did you hear about Seh Daeng getting shot in the head this morning in the middle of his interview?

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/zNKrgJ1PAdc&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/zNKrgJ1PAdc&rel=1</a>

Bangkok battle: Troops fire on rioting protesters

 By VIJAY JOSHI and JOCELYN GECKER,Associated Press Writers - Saturday, May 15Send IM Story Print
BANGKOK – Soldiers opened fire on anti-government protesters who battled them with firebombs and homemade rockets Friday in a second straight day of escalating violence as troops tried to clear the rioters from the streets of downtown Bangkok.

The clashes have killed 10 people and wounded 125, including two soldiers, the government said. The troops used tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds on demonstrators, who set fire to tires and a police bus.

Explosions echoed through streets emptied of shoppers and tourists, plumes of black smoke rose amid skyscrapers and hotels, and the deteriorating security raised concerns that Thailand _ a key U.S. ally with Southeast Asia's second-largest economy _ was teetering toward instability because of the two-month political crisis.

The Red Shirt protesters began their campaign to oust the government in March, saying it came to power illegitimately and is indifferent to the poor. In several rounds of violence since then, 37 people have been killed and more than 1,400 wounded.

Protesters have urged 82-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej to end his long silence and intervene, but there was no word from the widely revered ailing monarch.

The latest violence erupted Thursday after the Red Shirts' military strategist _ a former Thai general _ was shot and seriously injured, apparently by a sharpshooter, as he spoke to foreign journalists. One protester was fatally shot later Thursday and four were killed Friday, the army said. Among the wounded were two Thai journalists and a Canadian reporter _ all from gunfire.

Witnesses saw several groups of a dozen or more people detained at the scene of several clashes. No figures were released on how many were detained.

As night fell, defiant Red Shirt leaders led followers in Buddhist prayers and called on volunteers to bring more tires for their barricades.

"Death cannot stop us civilians from continuing our fight," said Jatuporn Prompan, a protest leader.

The Red Shirts, mostly rural poor, began camping in the capital March 12 to try to force out Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. They claim his coalition government came to power illegitimately through manipulation of the courts and the backing of the powerful military.

The military had forced Thaksin Shinawatra, the populist premier favored by the Red Shirts, from office in a 2006 coup. Two subsequent pro-Thaksin governments were disbanded by court rulings before Abhisit became prime minister.

In a Twitter message from exile, Thaksin said the "very cruel and unusual government" will "end up as war criminals" in the International Court of Justice.

About 10,000 Red Shirts have barricaded themselves in a 1-square-mile (3-square-kilometer) protest zone in Rajprasong, Bangkok's premier shopping and diplomatic enclave. They have set up a perimeter of tires and bamboo stakes, refusing to leave until Abhisit dissolves Parliament and calls new elections.

The occupation has forced luxury hotels and high-end shops to close for weeks. Major roads around the protest site were blocked to traffic Friday, and the city's subway and elevated train shut down early. The embassies of the United States, Britain and other countries were also closed.

The political uncertainty has spooked foreign investors and damaged the vital tourism industry, which accounts for 6 percent of the economy.

"Abhisit must dissolve Parliament and return power to the people immediately, and not serve as caretaker prime minister," Jatuporn said from a stage in the protest zone, which is now encircled by the army in a wider perimeter.

As Jatuporn spoke, a series of gunshots rang out close by, panicking the crowd of listeners who shrieked in fear and ducked for cover.

"We are being surrounded. We are being crushed. The soldiers are closing in on us. This is not a civil war yet, but it's very, very cruel," Weng Tojirakarn, another protest leader, told The Associated Press.

The crisis appeared to be reaching a resolution last week when Abhisit offered to hold elections in November, a year early. But the hopes were dashed after Red Shirt leaders made more demands.

Jatuporn said only the king "can stop the killings of civilians by Abhisit."

The beloved monarch has in the past mediated political crises, but he has stayed away from commenting on this one. Observers say he may be reluctant to get involved in a conflict that he may not be able to solve. Another problem is his failing health _ he has been hospitalized since September and the palace has given no updates after initially describing his ailment as a lung infection.

The Red Shirts have kept soldiers at bay by firing guns and homemade rockets, hurling rocks and commandeering government vehicles. Some bolder protesters came close to the soldiers on motorcycles, shouted obscenities and sped away.

Army spokesman Col. Sansern Kaewkamnerd said some protesters also used grenades and other weapons, and have an estimated 500 armed fighters.

The troops have kept their distance and made little progress toward their goal of clearing the streets.

Soldiers addressed the protesters with a loudspeaker, saying: "We are the people's army. We are just doing our duty for the nation. Brothers and sisters, let's talk together."

Sansern said soldiers will tighten the perimeter around the protest site in the next few days and will conduct operations without advance warning.

"The measures we will apply will definitely be more intense than what has been done so far," he told reporters.

The government said authorities are not trying to disperse the protesters forcibly but only pressure them so that they leave voluntarily.

"Security forces have refrained from entering the rally area and the (violence) occurred because the protesters attacked them," he said, adding that authorities "needed to defend themselves."

Among the injured was Canadian freelance journalist Nelson Rand, who works for France 24 news channel. He was hit by three bullets and was recovering after surgery.

Bangkok residents found it hard to come to terms with the violence in their city, which prides itself as an exotic and welcoming gateway to the Land of Smiles, as Thailand is fondly known.

"I've never seen anything like this. I heard gunshots and explosions all day," said Kornvika Klinpraneat, a 7-11 employee. "This is like a civil war. The battle is being fought in the middle of the city."

The two-day clashes marked the worst violence since April 10, when 25 people were killed and more than 800 injured. Four others were killed in subsequent clashes.

___

Thai troop crashed protectors last night

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Gun Battle in Capital Bangkok continue none stop

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Thailand’s King Sees His Influence Fading

By SETH MYDANS and THOMAS FULLER

BANGKOK — A battle over Thailand’s future is raging, but the one man who has been able to resolve such intractable conflicts in the past has been notably silent: King Bhumibol Adulyadej, long a unifying father figure for his nation.

Thailand is convulsed by a bitter struggle between the nation’s elite and its disenfranchise d poor, played out in protests that have paralyzed Bangkok for weeks and now threaten to expand. The ailing 82-year-old king finds his power to sway events ebbing as the fight continues over the shape of a post-Bhumibol Thailand.

“It’s much bigger than the issue of succession,” said Charles Keyes, an expert on Thailand at the University of Washington in Seattle. “It’s a collapse of the political consensus that the monarchy has helped maintain.”

As his country suffers through its worst political crisis in decades, the king has disappointed many Thais by saying nothing that might calm the turmoil, as he did in 1973 and 1992 when with a few quiet words he halted eruptions of political bloodletting.

For more than two months now, demonstrators known as the red shirts, who represent in part the aspirations of the rural and urban poor, have occupied parts of Bangkok, forcing major malls and hotels to close as they demand that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva dissolve Parliament and hold a new election. Soldiers and protesters continued battling Saturday.

After taking the throne nearly 64 years ago, King Bhumibol expanded his role as a constitutional monarch without political power into an enormous moral force, earned through his civic work and political astuteness. He has also presided over an expansion of the royal family’s now vast business holdings. With the monarchy at its heart, an elite royalist class grew up including the bureaucracy, the military and entrenched business interests. A palace Privy Council has exerted power during the current crisis.

It is this elite class that the protesters are now challenging.

Those who seek to maintain the status quo have proclaimed themselves loyal to the king and have accused the red shirts of trying to destroy the monarchy as they seek changes in Thai society. For their part, most red shirts say they respect the king but want changes in the system he helped create.

The politicization of the king’s name “has ensured that the monarchy cannot play a central conciliatory role any more,” said Chris Baker, a British historian of Thailand.

More broadly, the divisions in society may have become too deep and the anger too hot to reconcile for years to come. Many analysts say a lasting class conflict has been ignited between the country’s awakening rural masses and its elite hierarchy. With the king confined to a hospital since September with lung inflammation and other ailments, concern about the future has sharpened. The heir apparent to the throne, Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, has not inherited his father’s popularity.

But discussion about the succession and about the future role of the monarchy are constricted to whispers and forbidden Internet sites by a severe lèse-majesté law. A 15-year penalty for anyone who “defames, insults or threatens the king, queen, the heir apparent or the regent” has been broadly interpreted in cases brought against writers, academics, activists, and both foreign and local journalists.

Though it is the protesters who are pressing for change, including some who may see a republican form of government in the future, it is a leading member of the establishment party that now rules Thailand who put the issue into its plainest terms.

“We should be brave enough to go through all of this and even talk about the taboo subject of monarchy,” said Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, in a speech last month that he gave, significantly, outside Thailand at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington. “I think we have to talk about the institution of the monarchy, how would it have to reform itself to the modern globalized world.”

He spoke of Britain and the Netherlands as models, with constitutional monarchs who play a largely symbolic role.

On paper at least, those models are not so very different from the system now in place in Thailand. What sets King Bhumibol apart is the aura that surrounds him and the faith among many people that when things are really bad, he will step forward to save them from themselves.

In a way, what some Thais are saying now is simply that it is time for the king’s “children” to grow up and solve their problems themselves.

“There might still be people in Thai society that want to see the king play a role in resolving the crisis,” said Jon Ungpakorn, a former senator and one of the nation’s most vocal advocates for democracy.

“But on the other side, a large section of society realizes that we should not depend on the monarchy for resolving crises,” he said. “If we are to be a democratic system, we must learn to deal with our problems ourselves.”

During weeks of street demonstrations, protesters have assiduously asserted their patriotism. But unlike other protests in the city, there has been a conspicuous absence of portraits of the king. Among both residents of the northeast, the country’s rural heartland, and the red-shirt protesters in Bangkok — many of whom have traveled back and forth in shifts — a new, less reverent tone has quietly crept into conversations.

Krasae Chanawongse, a medical doctor and former government minister in the northeast who is a strong monarchist, laments that “many people are talking about destroying the monarchy.”

But protest leaders insist that they are not challenging the king but the system that is built around him.

“Real democracy would have the king at the top, with no elite class to interfere,” said a protest leader, Nattawut Saikua, in an interview.

Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra had built an electoral base among the country’s poor majority, who also form the base of the red-shirt protesters, threatening the traditional supremacy of the old guard. A coup in 2006 that ousted Mr. Thaksin is believed to have had at least the tacit approval of the Privy Council and other elites who saw the prime minister and his base as a challenge to their power. The red shirts have demanded a new election that could bring back Mr. Thaksin, now abroad fleeing a prison sentence for corruption.

Whoever succeeds King Bhumibol, the veneration and the place the king holds at the heart of Thai society are unlikely to survive him.

“In private discussions people say to each other, ‘What will we do without him?’ ” said a prominent poet who, like many people speaking about the monarchy, insisted on anonymity. “They get disappointed and upset and even scared about the change in the future.”

As he has grown older, concerns have risen about divisions and disputes in society that might erupt once he is gone. It appears now, with the king no longer playing the role he has in the past, that those conflicts are already under way.