Thai Authorities To Arrest Red Shirts Protesters

[webfact]

Thai authorities to arrest Red Shirts protesters

by Thanaporn Promyamyai

BANGKOK (AFP) -- Thai authorities moved Thursday to arrest Red Shirt protest leaders involved in the storming of parliament, while pulling the plug on dozens of websites and a television station loyal to their cause.

The steps are the first measures taken by embattled Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva under a state of emergency announced a day earlier for Bangkok to cope with mass anti-government rallies in the capital.

A court issued arrest warrants for seven Red Shirts, including Arisman Pongreungrong, who also stormed an Asian summit in Pattaya last year, forcing it to be cancelled.

"Once leaders who prefer violence are arrested, we believe we can persuade other protesters to leave the protest site," Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told reporters, referring to a rally in Bangkok's commercial hub.

Lawmakers fled and several senior government figures were airlifted to safety after the Reds forced their way into the parliamentary compound briefly on Wednesday, prompting Abhisit to declare emergency rule.

The Thai government shut down dozens of websites and a television channel loyal to Red Shirt supporters of fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra who have occupied Bangkok's commercial hub, defying a state of emergency.

Thai stocks slumped more than three percent Thursday on fears of a protracted bout of political turmoil.

Abhisit cancelled his attendance at a Southeast Asian summit in Hanoi, where fellow premiers expressed concern about Thailand's deep political rift, which pits Bangkok's ruling elite against the mainly poor and rural Reds.

Leaders of the tens of thousands of supporters of Thaksin, who was ousted in a 2006 military coup, have refused to halt their protests but the authorities have avoided using force to break up the rallies.

Instead, they targeted media loyal to the red-clad movement, shutting down its satellite TV channel showing rolling coverage of the demonstrations, along with 36 websites, and vowing to clamp down on pro-Red radio stations.

The government accused the Reds' TV of distorting information and inciting unrest, warning that the next step would be a ban on the use of loudspeakers at the protest site, where there was an angry response.

"The government wrongly thinks that cutting the signal will stop Reds from gathering," said protest leader Nattawut Saikuar.

Thaksin's supporters, mainly from the poor rural north, hail his policies for the masses such as cheap healthcare, but Bangkok's powerful elite sees him as corrupt, authoritarian and a threat to the revered monarchy.

But with their main tool for mobilising the rank-and-file down, the Reds face a test on Friday, when they have promised another major rally.

The army said the number of demonstrators in the commercial district had dwindled after the TV channel was pulled.

"With a small number of protesters, it will be more acceptable for the public in the case of the government enforcing harsher measures," military spokesman Sunsern Kaewkumnerd said.

The Reds say the government is illegitimate because it came to power with army backing through a parliamentary vote in December 2008 after a court decision ousted Thaksin's allies from power.

Abhisit's government has banned public gatherings of more than five people and given broad powers to police and military under emergency rule announced Wednesday in the capital and surrounding areas.

The government wants to avoid a repeat of last April's clashes with Red Shirts that left two people dead, six months after riot police took on the rival Yellow Shirts in bloody scenes outside parliament.

"We will not seek confrontation. We do not want to create conditions for instability," said government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn. "At the same time we would like to proceed further with the implementation of the law."

Under emergency rule, "now officers can destroy the cars that block intersections and they will not have to pay for it," he told reporters.

-- ©Copyright AFP 2010-04-08

Published with written approval from AFP.

[newsfooter][/newsfooter]

[rainman]

Might I suggest changing the title? It's misleading.

"Arrest Red Shirts Protesters" is not the same as "Arrest Red Shirts Protesters Leaders"

[britmaveric]

Hmmm didnt they say they were going to arrest them before?

[rainman]

Hmmm didnt they say they were going to arrest them before?

Yeah but that was yesterday and the day before. This is a new one. I believe the 3rd arrest warrants?

Arisman is still in downtown Bangkok near Paragon.

A lot of "humming" from the government, but no "stinging", as a Beekeeper would say.

[noahvail]

Didn't Arisman say he was going to turn himself in to the police on the first of April?

Maybe that was his idea of an April Fools' message.

[monkfish]

Mmm doesn't look like less to me

But anyways have to believe the boss

Edited April 8, 2010 by monkfish

[rainman]

Abhisit really takes the term "foreplay" seriously, got to give him that!

[Kiccoro]

We will know when tomorrow comes.....

[givenall]

Hmmm didnt they say they were going to arrest them before?

I know where they re. They are on the street by my Condo and making big speeches. But no police in site

I think we should just bring Thaksin back. I am sure he would not stand for any shit like this whether they are red, yellow, blue, etc

[SantiSuk]

Storming Parliament was a seriously stupid mistake by Red leaders. That's no reason to bring out the stormtroopers on all the Red supporters but the responsible leaders deserve to be arrested and jailed. Let's hope it can be done without bloodshed.

[tominbkk]

Watch them all scurry like rats when the are actually facing arrest - the cowards!!!!!!!

[rainman]

Watch them all scurry like rats when the are actually facing arrest - the cowards!!!!!!!

[Thai at Heart]

Misleading Headline of the Year

[britmaveric]

Must admit the current govt is looking like fools... why keep announcing this rubbish. Why don't you arrest them then announce they are in custody? Mind you - they will be out on bail in a couple hrs so its pretty pointless.

[rainman]

Must admit the current govt is looking like fools... why keep announcing this rubbish. Why don't you arrest them then announce they are in custody? Mind you - they will be out on bail in a couple hrs so its pretty pointless.

If they're not out on bail soon, in case they're ever arrested, the protesters will likely move to the military base or prison where they're held and then guess what happens.

[givenall]

Must admit the current govt is looking like fools... why keep announcing this rubbish. Why don't you arrest them then announce they are in custody? Mind you - they will be out on bail in a couple hrs so its pretty pointless.

Why is that? The government keeps following the law but no one else cares and do the same thing. And then the government can’t even enforce the law. I don’t think this government knows what to do

[Thai at Heart]

Must admit the current govt is looking like fools... why keep announcing this rubbish. Why don't you arrest them then announce they are in custody? Mind you - they will be out on bail in a couple hrs so its pretty pointless.

Why is that? The government keeps following the law but no one else cares and do the same thing. And then the government can’t even enforce the law. I don’t think this government knows what to do

I can sit in my room and follow the law, fortunately or unfortunately I can't enforce the law since I am not in uniform.

So the government essentially appears to have as much power as me right now. In fact, I just picked up the phone and told my kids to go to bed, so I probably have a little more. At least that is 2 Thai citizens who listen to me.

Edited April 8, 2010 by Thai at Heart

[rainman]

I can sit in my room and follow the law, fortunately or unfortunately I can't enforce the law since I am not in uniform.

So the government essentially appears to have as much power as me right now. In fact, I just picked up the phone and told my kids to go to bed, so I probably have a little more. At least that is 2 Thai citizens who listen to me.

Post of the day.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

I thought the more interesting (and more worrying) bit in Abhisit's address was that he actually defended silencing TV and radio stations that don't agree with his world view. You can't call your self the 'Democrat' party and then silence and censor people who disagree with you. It's sad that it seems he will have to learn this the hard way.

[jfchandler]

In this instance, I believe you guys talking about the prospect of the Red leaders quickly bailing out, in the event they are really arrested, are wrong.

You're forgetting this would be under the declared state of emergency, which gives the govt. the right to hold people even without formal charges, up to 7 day stretches at a time, and then can extend for another 7, I believe, up to a month.

So they wouldn't necessarily be walking as quick as you'd think, under the normal rules.

[rainman]

I thought the more interesting (and more worrying) bit in Abhisit's address was that he actually defended silencing TV and radio stations that don't agree with his world view. You can't call your self the 'Democrat' party and then silence and censor people who disagree with you. It's sad that it seems he will have to learn this the hard way.

Especially since in 1995, before he became PM, he strongly condemned media censorship.

[whiterussian]

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?con...articleId=18529

In 2007, a British Defence Ministry report was released assessing global trends in the world over the next 30 years.

The middle classes could become a revolutionary class, taking the role envisaged for the proletariat by Marx. The globalization of labour markets and reducing levels of national welfare provision and employment could reduce peoples’ attachment to particular states.

The growing gap between themselves and a small number of highly visible super-rich individuals might fuel disillusion with meritocracy, while the growing urban under-classes are likely to pose an increasing threat to social order and stability, as the burden of acquired debt and the failure of pension provision begins to bite. Faced by these twin challenges, the world’s middle-classes might unite, using access to knowledge, resources and skills to shape transnational processes in their own class interest.

----

Western Civilization has failed. It will continue to insist upon its own dominance, but it is a failure in regards to addressing the interests of all human civilization. Elites like to think that they are in absolute control and are all-powerful; this is not the case. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Take, for example, the integration of North America into a regional bloc like that of the European Union, an entirely elite-driven project of which the people largely know little or nothing about. Elites seek to force the people of this region to increasingly identify themselves as ‘North American’, just as elites in Europe increasingly push for a ‘European’ identity as opposed to a national identity. While the intended purpose of this social reorganization is to more easily control people, it has the effect of uniting some of these people in opposition to these elite-driven projects. Thus, those they seek to unite in order to control, are then united in opposition to their very control.

-----

Transition time for Thailand to ... vassal state of the Big C... where it's been for millenia!

Edited April 8, 2010 by whiterussian

[Thai at Heart]

I thought the more interesting (and more worrying) bit in Abhisit's address was that he actually defended silencing TV and radio stations that don't agree with his world view. You can't call your self the 'Democrat' party and then silence and censor people who disagree with you. It's sad that it seems he will have to learn this the hard way.

Especially since in 1995, before he became PM, he strongly condemned media censorship.

Well, hindsight is a wonderful thing isn't it. He'd only been living in Thailand full time for 10 years if that in 1995. Principles and politics are like oil and water. But that doesn't make him unprincipled, just politically naive.

In 1995, did anyone even know the name Thaksin Shinawatra? I guess not, they were too busy borrowing money to build sky scrapers that they knew they would never have to pay up for.

[jfchandler]

Interesting.... the UDD address goes to MICT on a Thailand/True Internet connection.... But it connects OK when going thru a non-Thailand connection....

[TheOldWolf]

Misleading Headline of the Year

"A court issued arrest warrants for seven Red Shirts, including Arisman Pongreungrong, who also stormed an Asian summit in Pattaya last year, forcing it to be cancelled."

I don´t think so! Arrest warrent for other leaders was made before.

[rainman]

It's misleading. The title implies that basically all protesters will be arrested. Another marvelous piece of journalism.

[Thai at Heart]

Misleading Headline of the Year

"A court issued arrest warrants for seven Red Shirts, including Arisman Pongreungrong, who also stormed an Asian summit in Pattaya last year, forcing it to be cancelled."

I don´t think so! Arrest warrent for other leaders was made before.

Thai Authorities To Arrest Red Shirts Protesters

Can you read.

I had visions of 10,000 paddy wagons in downtown Bangkok.

[Jimmu]

Oh Winnie, What planet are you on? In most, if not all civilised countries and definitely in totalitarian regimes, a permit or license is required to transmit anything! Music or bedtime stories for children or channels that spew forth insurrection are usually treated no differently. If you don't follow the rules they pull the plug. Simple!

As an example look back to the radio wars in the English Channel or La Manche. They were taken off the air and they were only playing pop music!

[TheOldWolf]

Misleading Headline of the Year

"A court issued arrest warrants for seven Red Shirts, including Arisman Pongreungrong, who also stormed an Asian summit in Pattaya last year, forcing it to be cancelled."

I don´t think so! Arrest warrent for other leaders was made before.

Thai Authorities To Arrest Red Shirts Protesters

Can you read.

I had visions of 10,000 paddy wagons in downtown Bangkok.

I think you can read what you like to read. English is not my native language, but I was sure "protesters" are more then one. So if 7 red shirts get an arrests warrant, are they not red shirt protesters?

[roamer]

Closing the TV station, arresting the leaders and holding them, incommunicado no doubt, under some kind of indefinite revolving detention. That's going to solve the situation ?