Bangkok siege set for Jan 13

[webfact]

POLITICS
Capital siege set for Jan 13
The Nation

PDRC to hold daily marches from Sunday; may surround the homes of key govt figures

BANGKOK: -- THE ANTI-GOVERNMENT People's Democratic Reform Committee last night announced details of its plan to lay siege to Bangkok from January 13. PDRC leader Suthep Thaugsuban said the siege could last for a month, or until the caretaker government of Yingluck Shinawatra resigns so political reform is possible.

He said that from Sunday, daily marches will be held so PDRC members can further promote the siege. He added that from today, the PDRC would be accepting suggestions from local Bangkok communities on how they could contribute to the siege. He also cited PDRC supporters attached to Chulalongkorn University, who say they may set up a stage at Pathum Wan intersection and businessmen who will do the same on Silom Road.

PDRC supporters may also gather outside the homes of key government figures, essentially keeping them captive in order to limit their activities, Suthep said.

He had earlier pressured police chiefs to look into the widely distributed video clips of so-called "men in black" apparently firing projectiles at protesters from a building inside the Labour Ministry compound during a skirmish at the Thai-Japanese stadium on December 26. The protesters were trying to disrupt candidacy registration.

Suthep has given Bangkok police chief Pol Lt-General Camronvit Toopkrajank until Tuesday to identify these "men in black" and seek their arrest. He also named national police chief Pol General Adul Saengsingkaew as being responsible for the presence of men dressed in anti-riot gear at the Labour Ministry.

In related news, the possibility of a February 2 general election being held still looks bleak, with legal complications disrupting registration procedures.

MP candidates were unable to register at 24 constituencies in five southern provinces on the final day of registration yesterday. But nobody showed up in 28 constituencies in eight provinces, the EC said.

The Pheu Thai Party is pressuring the Election Commission (EC) to extend candidacy registration and accept the legitimacy of MP candidates who registered at police stations.

However, the proposals have been turned down by Election Commissioner Somchai Srisuthiyakorn, who said the election law clearly states candidacy registration must be carried out at places earlier announced by the EC. Extending registration, he said, might adversely affect the election's timetable.

He added, however, that the EC would look for and discuss solutions to the problem, and whether to extend the election registration period.

Somchai said the EC would today hold a meeting with Pheu Thai and Democrat leaders to find solutions to the country's political deadlock.

EC to seek solutions

EC secretary-general Puchong Nutrawong said the EC would meet today to try and resolve the problems, especially the severe ones in 40 constituencies.

He said the EC would also talk about the action that can be taken in relation to the 123 MP candidates who filed police complaints after failing to register. The commission promised to protect their rights.

As for extending the registration period, Puchong said it would be difficult as changing the deadline would also affect the number of eligible voters.

Pheu Thai party-list MP candidate Panas Tassaneeyanont dismissed Somchai's statement that registration cannot be extended. He cited Article 7 of the Constitution's organic law, which he said stipulates that candidacy registration can be carried out for more than five days but not beyond election day.

He insisted that Article 36 also empowers election chiefs at constituency level to select a new location where registration can be held. He added that if election officials did not carry out their duties, they could face charges punishable by up to 10 years in jail and a 10-year political ban.

Speaking after a meeting with the EC on Tuesday, Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said the government's move to push for the general election would lead to political chaos.

As long as the government did not change its stance, he said, he was left with nothing to talk about.

"If the government leaves other options open, then talks are possible. If the government refuses to do so, it would lead to confrontation and intensifying political tension," he said.

A total of 168 candidates representing 23 political parties, not including the opposition Democrat Party, have registered for constituency candidacies in Bangkok, the Election Commission said yesterday. Of those, 46 submitted their applications yesterday, the deadline for registering.

Anti-government protesters yesterday laid siege to the 42nd Border Patrol Police camp in Nakhon Si Thammarat's Thung Song district after 20 MP candidates from five parties registered early on Tuesday allegedly with the support of high-ranking police officers, who ordered a helicopter to transport the MP candidates there.

A police official said the incident had further tarnished the image of the police, as they were seen as siding with the Yingluck government at the expense of the country.

Trang Provincial Election Commission chief Saneh Rakrong said his commission had decided to cancel candidacy registration to prevent confrontation and clashes because of heavy public opposition throughout the five days of the registration.

Meanwhile, the anti-government People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) yesterday forged ahead with its efforts to shut down the Yingluck Shinawatra caretaker government, announcing a planned blockade of Bangkok after the New Year break.

Core leader Satit Wongnongtaey, speaking onstage at the group's main rally site at Democracy Monument, said the dates of the anticipated marches and other measures would be announced within the next few days, quoting an earlier speech by fellow leader Kaewsan Atibodhi.

Satit said caretaker premier Yingluck's time was up and her government must end its tenure by the end of this month. "It's a cancer in the penultimate stage, which will stop spreading once it is removed," he added.

Celebratory events and a New Year countdown were held on Rajdamnoen Avenue, which is occupied by a large number of PDRC supporters, from Tuesday night into yesterday morning.

Security has been tightened at the rally site and other areas occupied by two other protest groups, with visitors and their bags being searched thoroughly.

Former Thai Rak Thai Party executive Suchart Tancharoen yesterday applied for an MP candidacy in Constituency 3 of Chachoengsao under the Bhum Jai Thai Party banner.

Suchart is a former deputy House speaker and deputy premier. He was slapped with a five-year ban when Thai Rak Thai was dissolved in 2007.

In Nakhon Ratchasima, 49 MP candidates from nine parties registered in all of the province's 15 constituencies yesterday. Former Bhum Jai Thai deputy leader Boonjong Wongtrairat, a former interior minister elected to several consecutive terms as an MP in the province, registered on the last day.

Election officials in Prachuap Khiri Khan said the province is ready for the February 2 election as they have registered candidates for all three constituencies.

In Narathiwat, 21 MP candidates registered to run in four constituencies.

They include candidates from the Pheu Thai, Bhum Jai Thai, Chart Thai Pattana and New Democracy parties.


-- The Nation 2014-01-02

[JoeThePoster]

I've an idea. Let's call January 13th the D-day.

[Lingba]

Black Monday....this should be fun....

[Yunla]

Protests etc. wont be a day, or a week, or a month. It will be all of 2014, plus the following years/decades, factoring in the backlash / counter-revolts etc.

Thais love soap operas, and many of my Thai friends view politics as little more than interactive soaps. This particular soap is Larry Hagman and Linda Gray, in Dallas, as the tycoon and the alcoholic wife, ranting over and over about family feud land deals etc. from 50 years ago and the "Digger Barnes" affair. As with all soaps, nothing gets resolved, lots of shouting and petty ancestral hatreds, and in the case of Dallas it turned out to have been a dream.

And viewers always tune in next week, and the show's producers make a fortune, and keep spinning out the same JR vs. Sue Ellen drunken rants, and people love it, right now Suthep is like Sue-Ellen after two bottles of gin, demanding to know where her tycoon husband has been spending his nights and she wants new shoulderpads too.

Edited January 1, 2014 by Yunla

[Tokay]

Is this the very, very, I really mean it this time, final push?

[Jasun]

Yellow is a lucky colour on Mondays, and red considered unlucky. But what's going to happen the other 6 days of the week? Someone obviously hasn't thought this through.

[pumpuiman]

Oh man, I land on the 15th....I hope I can get to Isaan from Swampy.

I guess Suthep couldn't make his numbers, I doubt he will on the 13th either.

[fish fingers]

I expect the baht to be around 55.5 to the £ by the 13th…

[EricBerg]

If the army will intervene, then it will be somewhere from the 13th. It doesn't look like there will be elections in BKK february 2nd. Will sit back and see.

[justaphase]

Why not just let the yellows have Bangkok as their country? (It'll be a sunken city in 50 years) and the rest of the country belong to the reds. See how Bkk gets on without any taxi drivers, cooks, cleaners and dare i say it, xxxxxx.

Edited January 2, 2014 by metisdead
Inappropriate language removed.

[Curt1591]

If the army will intervene, then it will be somewhere from the 13th. It doesn't look like there will be elections in BKK february 2nd. Will sit back and see.

The previous coup was the night before the Yellow's planned big march. Suthep has advertised this upcoming event quite thoroughly.

[ratcatcher]

Why not just let the yellows have Bangkok as their country? (It'll be a sunken city in 50 years) and the rest of the country belong to the reds. See how Bkk gets on without any taxi drivers, cooks, cleaners and dare i say it, xxxxxx.

You seem to forget that disillusionment and anger at PTP isn't just in Bangkok. There's a lot of Thailand not painted red yet.

And dare you say it? Yes you did. And a lot of those important people were at the protests. So enjoy the show coming to your area soon.

See how the rest of the country gets out from under the rice mountain and debt pile too.

[EricBerg]

If the army will intervene, then it will be somewhere from the 13th. It doesn't look like there will be elections in BKK february 2nd. Will sit back and see.

The previous coup was the night before the Yellow's planned big march. Suthep has advertised this upcoming event quite thoroughly.

Indeed he has. Perhaps after consulting the military.

[davehowden]

The World looks on and laughs.

Maybe as a member of ASEAN they could get Vietnam or Laos to come and run Thailand for them?

Like the EU bailing out Greece.

[aussieinthailand]

So just when was the latest final push and after that Suthep would give himself up??? just that he has said it a number of times it's hard to keep up

[ratcatcher]

So just when was the latest final push and after that Suthep would give himself up??? just that he has said it a number of times it's hard to keep up

Don't worry about keeping up, the PTP high speed gravy train is heading for the depot judging by the panic that seems to be gripping the senior caretaker MPs.

Yingluck, Jarupong, Surapong and Chalerm all seem rattled by what's coming from the other direction..

[metisdead]

A post with overly deorgatory generalization has been removed as well as the replies. Another post has been edited to remove inappropriate language.

[tartempion]

Oh man, I land on the 15th....I hope I can get to Isaan from Swampy.

I guess Suthep couldn't make his numbers, I doubt he will on the 13th either.

Don't worry, I'll be in Bangkok 08 to 12 January, in and out and having lots of fun in between

Hope I'll get a chance to kick Suthep's ass...

Edited January 2, 2014 by tartempion

[newcomer71]

I find so much dangerous and illegal what Suthep is doing, in any other westerner civilized country he and other leaders would have been arrested on multiple counts...

But we have to remember we are in Thailand, and things does not work that way. Let's brace on 12th and hope everything will go well.

I see possibility of military coup before that day growing exponentially...

[Nowhereman60]

deleted

Edited January 2, 2014 by Nowhereman60

[Nowhereman60]

Good luck to Suthep in his quest to close down Bangkok. Hope the people of Bangkok are happy they made a good choice in having Suthep as your leader. You desire it.

[Donnie Brasco]

The most trying aspect of this whole Fascist street show is responding to Thai acquaintances (Bangkok types) who want to know "How foreign people inside and outside our country feel about this?"

The challenge ?

How does one keep from suggesting that in all likelihood "Foreigners" outside Thailand could not care less ? And that "Foreigners" living here have more or less been provisioned for a month and have been waiting for choirmaster Suthep to "seize" his Bangkok choir- stall and rejoice at having (once again) SOLD it TO THEMSELVES ;-) ))))

This Suthep "choir stall" will stop their Bangkok-style chorusing, shipping will stop, commerce will stop, tour groups fearing lawsuits (at home) will re-route, to Cuba and the Realm will grind to a halt in anticipation of a Great Leap Back to the Future.

It'll be fun to watch as the Bangkok "elites" then try to assure the rest of the world (that really could not care less) that things are getting back to normal. And even more fun to watch their fellow AEC members (who have already had a good laugh as they watched "the, um, crossroads of AEC" delay its OWN entry into the Community by one year ;-))) roll around on the floor trying not to laugh out loud in front of the cameras.

Investment will slow down. The two trillion baht $ 700 BILLION World Bank piñata might be hoisted out of reach (for the moment) and "Foreigners" will just kick back on their balconies here in Bangers or on their Upcountry farms and dick around with their BBQ's.

The hard part really is telling one's Bangkok acquaintances that no Foreigner that YOU know of really gives a flying "damn".

I'm stocking Beer Lao and Yellowtail charcoal and drinking water.

[ratcatcher]

Oh man, I land on the 15th....I hope I can get to Isaan from Swampy.

I guess Suthep couldn't make his numbers, I doubt he will on the 13th either.

Don't worry, I'll be in Bangkok 08 to 12 January, in and out and having lots of fun in between

Hope I'll get a chance to kick Suthep's ass...

Apparently, ugly fat farangs aren't allowed anywhere near him.

[DocN]

Just so I get this right: someone is actually saying that life as we know it, stops in all of Bangkok on the 13th...and no one is going to do something about it?!

I mean...even if you are pro- Suthep, that must seem a little crazy, right?

And by the way: what will happen until then?

...and after that?

Oh...mai pen rai "we tell you later"!

[jpeg]

So just when was the latest final push and after that Suthep would give himself up??? just that he has said it a number of times it's hard to keep up

Don't worry about keeping up, the PTP high speed gravy train is heading for the depot judging by the panic that seems to be gripping the senior caretaker MPs.

Yingluck, Jarupong, Surapong and Chalerm all seem rattled by what's coming from the other direction..

Indeed they are, Yingluck's just asked the army to overlook the election process and help with Suthep's threat of 'seizing Bangkok'. Army chief said 'No'. He doesn't want the army to be seen as taking sides as in 2010 when the army were accused of murder after they'd stepped in, as the police, being loyal to Taksin, wouldn't do their job. Oh the irony

Edited January 2, 2014 by jpeg

[Melpomene]

I expect the baht to be around 55.5 to the £ by the 13th…

The way it's going at the moment it's more likely to be 65.5 by then !

[jpeg]

I find so much dangerous and illegal what Suthep is doing, in any other westerner civilized country he and other leaders would have been arrested on multiple counts...

But we have to remember we are in Thailand, and things does not work that way. Let's brace on 12th and hope everything will go well.

I see possibility of military coup before that day growing exponentially...

I find so much immoral self serving and illegal what PTP has done, in any other westerner civilized country they would all have been arrested on multiple counts... See?

[webfact]

Bangkok 'shutdown' will begin on Jan 13 – Suthep

BANGKOK: The planned mass rally to shut down the whole of Bangkok will begin on Jan 13 at 9am, anti-government protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban said last night (January 1).

Mr Suthep made the announcement in a speech delivered to protesters at Democracy Monument.

The People's Democratic Reform Committee will hold demonstrations across Bangkok from January 5 to 8 to invite people to join its protest movement to demand the resignation of caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and to help achieve its aim of “reform-before-election”.

The city siege plan may take five days or it may go for 20 days and will be around the clock, Mr Suthep said.

The PDRC will expand key areas for major and minor rally sites from 15 on Dec 22 to 20, in addition to its main base at Democracy Monument. Twenty protest stages will be set up at major junctions and intersections across the capital.

“For PRDC supporters in other provinces, you have 12 days to pack your suitcases for this city siege operation because this trip and the fight will be prolonged. Anyone finding it not convenient to come to Bangkok can carry on in your provinces. On Jan 13, no government affairs will be carried out from that day on,” Mr Suthep said.

He threatened to cut electricity and tap water to homes of caretaker ministers and at all government office buildings and vowed victory over the government would be achieved this month.


-- Phuket News 2014-01-02

[Pikeybkk]

"However, the proposals have been turned down by Election Commissioner Somchai Srisuthiyakorn, who said the election law clearly states candidacy registration must be carried out at places earlier announced by the EC. Extending registration, he said, might adversely affect the election's timetable."

How about, make an announcement that all main provincial police stations can take registration for the next two weeks?

[Local Drunk]

Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue...

Edited January 2, 2014 by Local Drunk