Bloomberg.com Article On The Airport Blockade

[Kf6vci]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206...&refer=home

Thailand to Send Police to Clear Bangkok Airport Protesters

Email | Print | A A A

By Daniel Ten Kate and Suttinee Yuvejwattana

Nov. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Thailand’s government declared a state of emergency at airport protest areas in Bangkok, putting police in charge of clearing demonstrators who have closed down the capital’s international terminal for three days.

“The emergency aims to facilitate officials doing their jobs,” Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat said in an address broadcast on national television. “National security must be enforced to protect the majority. The emergency doesn’t aim to hurt anyone, I hope the protesters leave the area.”

The order empowers police to clear demonstrations and public gatherings of more than five people, with army backup. Army Chief Anupong Paojinda yesterday called for early elections to end six months of deadly protests. He refused to enforce a similar emergency decree two months ago. Police efforts last month to clear protesters killed one and injured hundreds.

The airport seizures pit the government, holed up in the city of Chiang Mai among its supporters in the north, against tens of thousands of Bangkok protesters who have occupied an official compound in the capital since Aug. 26. A spokesman for the ruling party earlier called on supporters to take to Bangkok’s streets to prevent a possible coup attempt.

“We will stay where we are,” said Parnthep Pourpongpan, one of the PAD’s organizers, said by phone. “The police shouldn’t attack innocent people.”

Proxy

The People’s Alliance for Democracy, comprised mostly of the Bangkok middle class, royalists and civil servants, wants Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat to quit, accusing him of being the proxy of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup by Anupong and other generals. The group rejected the call for an election and said it wouldn’t leave the airport until the government steps down.

The protesters began tightening security at both Bangkok airports after the emergency order was imposed, live footage on Thai PBS TV showed. Airport trolleys and car tires were built into barricades around the terminals and guards were seen checking bags of people entering the area.

Demonstrators were emboldened last month when Queen Sirikit attended the funeral of a protester who was killed in a clash with police. Thai KingBhumibol Adulyadej, the country’s head of state, is revered as a symbol of stability in a nation that has endured 10 coups since ending absolute monarchy in 1932.

Damage

“The military won’t be successful if it tries to return power to the aristocracy and bureaucrats,” said Kanin Boonsuwan, a constitutional law professor at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University. “It will be chaos.”

Finance Minister Suchart Thadathamrongvej said the protests and airport closures may cause damage amounting to about 100 billion baht ($2.8 billion) in this quarter. Thailand’s economy, already slowing amid a global recession, may cool more than expected this year and next as travelers shun the nation.

“The protests hurt confidence, investment and tourism badly,” Suchart said.

Thailand’s benchmark stock index, which has fallen 55 percent since street demonstrations began May 25, declined 1.4 percent to 389.81. Thailand’s baht slid to 35.40 per dollar, down 0.5 percent.

The army chief, who also called on demonstrators to end their occupation of the airport, insisted he wasn’t pressuring the government by calling for an election. Demonstration leaders said a new election wouldn’t solve any problems.

Coup

“There are lots of rumors about the military moving forces,” said Somchai, the prime minister. “I have talked to the military leaders and they said there will be no unusual movements.”

Army spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said that, if all sides rejected Anupong’s call for elections, “the next step is for the committee to meet again and come up with another suggestion,” according to comments broadcast on Thai PBS.

Somchai, who flew into Chiang Mai, 435 miles (700 kilometers) from Bangkok on Nov. 26 from a summit in Peru, has been working out of a former international airport since taking office two months ago. That building is now occupied by protesters, too.

The disruption prompted Somchai to move next month’s Association of Southeast Nations summit from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, his hometown and a stronghold of his party. An early election might affect that meeting, although leaders from Australia, Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam and South Korea still plan to attend, officials from each country said.

Support

The alliance accuses Somchai of acting in the interests of his brother-in-law Thaksin, and an election may return the ruling party to power. Parties linked to Thaksin have won four elections since 2001 on strong rural support for its platform of cheap health care and village loans.

Thai opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva, whose Democrat party includes a key leader of the anti-government protests and who has also called for fresh elections, said his party offers the best prospect for ending “the suffering of the last two or three years.”

“A coup would solve nothing,” Abhisit said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “What would happen is that an even bigger conflict would be waiting down the line.”

The protesters want a new political system that prevents the return of Thaksin’s allies by diluting rural votes. Pro- government activists in Bangkok and rural areas should avoid confronting the People’s Alliance because that might give the military a pretext to step in directly, said Chaturon Chaisang, a leader of protesters who formerly served as a minister in Thaksin’s administration.

“Very soon this country will have to face a situation where we decide whether we will stay under chaos like this for a long time or we want to enforce the law and bring back the rule of law,” he said. “If we don’t bring back the rule of law now, we will pay a higher price to do so in the future.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Daniel Ten Kate in Bangkok at [email protected]; Suttinee Yuvejwattana in Bangkok at [email protected].