Police with shields vow to block march of pro-poll group

[webfact]

Police with shields vow to block march of pro-poll group

By The Nation

 

Deputy national police chief Pol Gen Srivara Ransibrahmanakul announces in front of Government House that police will not allow protesters to leave the Thammasat University.

 

Ten companies of crowd-control police sent to keep security around Thammasat University are carrying only shields and no batons or firearms.

 

Another 10 companies of police officers were dispatched to keep security around Government House.

 

Police said they would not allow the demonstrators led by the “We Want Election” group to leave the university compound.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30345980

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-05-22

[webfact]

1,200 policemen deployed around Thammasat

By The Nation

 

 

About 1,200 policemen from the Metropolitan Police Bureau and the Border Patrol Police Bureau were dispatched to keep security around Thammasat University at 6am on Tuesday.
 

Police said they would not attempt to block people from joining the rally of the “We Want Election” group.

 

The policemen gathered around Sanam Luang and on Rajdamnoen Road in front of the Education Ministry at 5.30am before they were dispatched to guard various spots around the university, including Tha Phra Chan pier, Phaya Phet Road, Phan Pipop Bridge and under Phra Pinklao Bridge.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30345979

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-05-22

[colinneil]

This is democracy Thai style.

The PM has stated he wants to bring happiness to the people.??

This is happiness Thai style, sad so sad, we are the rulers, you do anything, we will stop you by force.

[webfact]

You cannot leave university compound, police tell protesters

By The Nation

 

Protesters forming procession inside Thammasat University Tuesday morning.

 

Police used a sound truck to order demonstrators in the Thammasat University compound to disperse immediately.
 

Police moved the sound truck to the front of the university at 8am to make the announcements, leading to verbal exchanges between the two sides.

 

Police said the demonstrators must end the rally immediately and that they would not be allowed to leave the university compound.

 

At 8.35am, police announced again via the sound truck that the Central Administrative Court had refused to issue a ruling allowing the demonstration to go on so the demonstrators must end their rally immediately.

 

Police said the demonstrators had sought approval to carry out a non-political rally but it turned out to be a political demonstration so the rally violated order No 3/2558 of the National Council for Peace and Order that prohibited demonstrations.

 

Police said the NCPO had already filed a complaint against the demonstrators for violating the order.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30345982

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-05-22

[webfact]

Police set up barricades in front of Thammasat

By The Nation

 

 

Police placed metal barricades and formed lines behind them on a road in front of Thammasat University in an attempt to block protesters from marching to Government House.
 

The barricades were put up in the morning in front of the Sanam Luang Gate, as the “We Want Election” group leaders announced they would start the march at 9am.

 

At 7.30am, Rangsiman Rome insisted the march would start at 9am.

 

He said the demonstrators would use just one lane on roads during the march and would not block roads.

 

He said the demonstrators did not want to cause any turmoil or prolong the protest and they were unarmed.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30345983

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-05-22

[4evermaat]

How will students or staff eat if they are not allowed to leave?

edit:  how do you distinguish between a protester and a regular student/staff?

 

Why not just suspend school operations for the day or rest of the week if it is that bad? 

Edited May 22, 2018 by 4evermaat

[RichardColeman]

Protesters have it all wrong. Just give the police free dodgy som tam , they'll quickly disperse allowing free access ! (to anything but the loos that is)

[webfact]

 

[webfact]

Protesters stopped outside Thammasat University

By The Nation

 

 

Protesters demanding election were blocked by police just about 100 metres outside Thammasat University on Tuesday morning.
 

The protesters, led by the “We Want Election” group, left the university compound through the Sanam Luang gate at 8.50am

At 9.20am, Rangsiman Rome went to the front of the line of marchers, asking to talk to the officer in charge but none of the officers would give him a green light to move towards Government House.

 

Rangsiman said the protesters would stay put on the road until they were allowed to proceed to Government House.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30345985

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-05-22

[webfact]

 

[poohy]

Hmm its starting!

 

14 October 1973 suddenly springs to mind !

[cornishcarlos]

Bringing Happiness Back to the People...

 

There's only so much oppression that people will put up with.

Should have let them march, by preventing them it just highlights the abuse of human rights occurring under the military regime..

[webfact]

Thai protesters march in Bangkok, police set up barriers

By Panu Wongcha-um and Aukkarapon Niyomyat

 

Anti-government protesters gather during a protest to demand that the military government hold a general election by November, in Bangkok, Thailand, May 22, 2018. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Anti-government protesters began marching in Bangkok on Tuesday from a university in the Thai capital to Government House to demand that the military government hold a general election by November.

 

Government House and surrounding streets have been declared a no-go zone by police for the opposition march marking four years since a May 22, 2014, coup and have warned protesters not to defy a junta ban on public gatherings.

 

Police set up barriers along some roads near the university and carried out security checks on Tuesday.

 

More than 100 demonstrators walked in a line behind a truck with loudspeakers as police looked on, according to Reuters reporters at the scene.

 

One of the protest organisers, Sirawith Seritiwat, also known as Ja New, said protesters planned to march peacefully.

"I hope they will let us walk out. We have no intention to prolong today's activities. I think they will try to stop us ... we will not use violence," Sirawith told Reuters.

 

Police said around 200 protesters had gathered.

 

"Authorities will use the law 100 percent. If they walk out we will use the law immediately. We have put forces all around Government House ... if they come in to these areas there will be a prison sentence of up to 6 months," deputy national police chief Srivara Ransibrahmanakul told reporters.

 

"Police have no weapons. They are carrying only batons," he said.

 

Activists complained of a military crackdown ahead of the gathering.

 

On Monday, Sunai Phasuk, Thai researcher at the New York-based Human Rights Watch group, said two activists had been held incommunicado at a secret detention centre.

 

"Their alleged 'crime' is providing loud speakers for anti-junta rally," Sunai wrote on Twitter.

 

They were later released.

 

PERCEPTION CRISIS

The junta, known as the National Council for Peace and Order, is facing a public perception crisis, according to international and domestic polls that say corruption is as endemic as ever.

 

The government has also repeatedly delayed the general election, which was first tentatively set for 2015, with the latest date now February 2019.

 

Some fear the date could be pushed back again.

 

Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan told reporters gathered at Government House the protesters were welcome to send a representative to the prime minister's office.

 

"The prime minister works hard ... the NCPO these four years has worked everyday ... All NCPO members have worked hard," Prawit said.

 

Suchada Saebae, 55, a market vendor, disagreed.

 

"I came since 6 a.m. this morning because I think the NCPO has done a rubbish job these past four years," Suchada said.

 

Some protesters held Thai flags and others held signs with cartoons of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha as Pinocchio.

Protests against military rule have taken place intermittently in Bangkok since the start of the year.

 

Some of them have been led by young activists. Others have been attended by former "red shirts", or supporters of ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was toppled in 2006 and fled abroad.

 

His sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, was ousted in the 2014 coup and also fled abroad before being convicted in absentia of corruption.

 

Thailand has been rocked by pro- and anti-government street protests for more than a decade, some of them deadly.

The military says it carried out the 2014 coup to end the cycle of violence.

 

(Additional reporting by Amy Sawitta Lefevre and Panarat Thepgumpanat; Writing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre; Editing by Paul Tait)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-05-22

[kingkenny]

Hopefully the start of things to come and not a one off.

[Darcula]

Has cloud-seeding started yet?

[cornishcarlos]

14 minutes ago, webfact said:

 

"The prime minister works hard ... the NCPO these four years has worked everyday ... All NCPO members have worked hard," Prawit said.

 

Yup, they've worked hard alright.. Everything is just about ready, all ducks are in a row.

 

Granted ourselves immunity ? Check

Bias constitution ? Check

Political parties shackled ? Check

Not very subtle populist policies in place ? Check

BS machine on full throttle ? Check

 

Ok, lets "promise" an election then...

 

Edited May 22, 2018 by cornishcarlos

[taipan1949]

I know this opinion won't meet with much favor but all in all I don't think the Junta has done such a bad job. They don't allow illegal immigrants jumping their borders, they catch a substantial amount of drug smugglers at the airports and on the streets, they keep a good eye on visitors who ignore the Thai laws and stay as long as they damn well please,  there seems to be enough jobs if you want to work and even jobs for Legal Immigrants, although there are some problems with the tourism industry it is doing better than most countries. I have worked in China, Cuba, Thailand and traveled extensively and I have found that you don't especially need a "Democracy" to prosper. Corruption exists in ALL countries so I won't even go to that subject.

[rkidlad]

37 minutes ago, taipan1949 said:

I know this opinion won't meet with much favor but all in all I don't think the Junta has done such a bad job. They don't allow illegal immigrants jumping their borders, they catch a substantial amount of drug smugglers at the airports and on the streets, they keep a good eye on visitors who ignore the Thai laws and stay as long as they damn well please,  there seems to be enough jobs if you want to work and even jobs for Legal Immigrants, although there are some problems with the tourism industry it is doing better than most countries. I have worked in China, Cuba, Thailand and traveled extensively and I have found that you don't especially need a "Democracy" to prosper. Corruption exists in ALL countries so I won't even go to that subject.

You don't need democracy to prosper? Prosper how? How are you gauging happiness? By how much money people have? 

 

Corruption does exist everywhere. What doesn't exist everywhere is how a government deals with it. When you can wear 25+ luxury watches and seemingly get away with it scot free, that doesn't exist everywhere. Democracy is there to hold people accountable. 

Edited May 22, 2018 by rkidlad

[webfact]

Election demonstrators ready to camp out for second night

By The Nation 

 

 

Demonstrators threatened on Tuesday to spend another night in front of Thammasat University after a two-hour standoff with police that blocked them from marching to Government House.

 

The group of several hundred protesters demanding that an election be held this year spent Monday night camped out at the school’s Tha Prachan campus.

 

They planned to reach Government House, read a statement calling for an election sooner than planned, and then disperse.

 

But hundreds of police officers blocked their way just outside the campus.

 

Ignoring rain that began falling at about 11am, the protesters remained in the roadway, insisting on their right to march.

 

Several demonstrators were overcome by the heat and were taken to hospital for treatment.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30345994

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-05-22

[Bob12345]

The protestors just have to wait for a court order saying police is not allowed to do anything and protests, including violence, are allowed.

 

Oh wait, its the other side protesting now. Guess the court will not do anything except allowing the authorities to do as they please.

[klauskunkel]

"The prime minister works hard ... the NCPO these four years has worked everyday ... All NCPO members have worked hard," Prawit said, "and I have the watches to proof it."

[spidermike007]

This is potentially a huge miscalculation on the part of the midget minds at the top. Their fear and desperation is starting to show. This could get ugly. They are already hugely unpopular, and all of us are ready to see them go away. Get out, get out now. You are not wanted. You are not useful. You are not popular. The people narely tolerate you. Get out while you can. Prison may be in your future, little P.

[peperobi]

Nice to see what soldiers understand under democracy! They will allow a general election only after arranging everything to make sure a soldier (Prayut) will be the next PM with a large support in parliament!

[peperobi]

Nice to see what soldiers understand under democracy! They will allow a general election only after arranging everything to make sure a soldier (Prayut) will be the next PM with a large support in parliament!

[outsider]

On the heels of what recently took place in neighbouring Malaysia, this is making Thailand look even worse than it already is. I think it will be better fpr the Thail leadership to regain some form of 'popularity' (save some face?) than to allow public sentiments to slip into 'hate'. Look what's happening to Najib, Malaysia's ex-PM. Hated by most, vilified, jeered, called all sorts of names, so on and so forth. I think there is still room to manoeuvre for Thailand, but that's getting less and less spacious.

[tracker1]

Juntas Thai style democracy ! wonder how many have standby tickets just in case things go belly up ?

[NextStationBangkok]

More people wanted join today itself, but they are in the mood of wait and see response from Thai PM for today's symbolic protest.

Many business are started to closing down due to lack of business, especially fashion and life style goods are not selling well.

Central World now allow the small street shops to come inside and sale some stuff, which i have never seen in past 10 years.

[jacko45k]

Why not send in their Motorcycle (WIN) section, much tougher bunch, or are they just meant fur subduing falangs?

[sevenhills]

5 hours ago, colinneil said:

This is democracy Thai style.

The PM has stated he wants to bring happiness to the people.??

This is happiness Thai style, sad so sad, we are the rulers, you do anything, we will stop you by force.

Western Countries would and do do the same if and when we stand up against their Ideologies.

[wvavin]

Thais seem to have a special love for protest and demonstration. Of course, such activities include the all time favorite photo taking.