Power, water services will not be disrupted by Jan 13 mass protest: Interior Minister

[webfact]

Power, water services will not be disrupted by mass protest: Interior Minister
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Caretaker Interior Minister Charupong Ruangsuwan insisted on Friday that the caretaker government would not allow power and water services to be disrupted by the protesters on January 13.

Charupong said he had held a meeting with the permanent secretary for the Interior Ministry and governors of the Metropolitan Electricity Authority, Provincial Electricity Authority, Metropolitan Waterworks Authority and the Provincial Waterworks Authority and all had promised that they would not allow their services to be disrupted.

The People's Democratic Reform Committee threatened to disrupt the services as part of its plan to shut down Bangkok on January 13.

Charupong said all agencies concerned had promised caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra that they would ensure normal service.

He added that caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul, who supervises the Centre for the Administration of the Peace and Order, would not allow the service disruptions to happen.

He added that the CAPO would set up a special operations command to prevent service disruptions.

-- The Nation 2014-01-03

[lawrence1366]

Welcome to 2014 - Suthep is keeping them all very busy that the "Caretakers" have no time to take care of the country....

[chainarong]

I don't think the Interior Minister would have a clue, all you need is some protesters with some knowledge of the network and hey presto , no power or water, to say there will be no disruptions is a bit far fetched and an immature out look , scrambled egg all over the face could be the out come.

[Scamper]

Talk about biting more than one can chew ! That's quite an assurance on the part of Interior Minister. And CAPO is going to have it well in hand. We're off to a riotous start.

[JRSoul]

If there was a concerted effort to shut down power supplies by persons with some knowledge of the industry, it would be impossible to stop. I don't want to give specific details, but there is no way to defend a distribution network.

[Robby nz]

Have faith you fellas didn't you see :

He added that the CAPO would set up a special operations command to prevent service disruptions.

They will all sit around and work out fool proof solutions.........in the dark.

[alfalfa19]

Fortune telling; very popular in Thailand.

[surangw]

judging by the run on bottled water lately, the public has other thoughts on this.

[whybother]

Apparently the protesters are going to shut down the oxygen in Bangkok too. Panic everyone. Panic.

[MaxLee]

Power, water services will not be disrupted by mass protest: Interior Minister

Yep, we know, and IF by any chance something serious happens, it's not and will NEVER BE yours or your Pheu Thai superiors' fault, it'll be the fault of the nasty nasty anti-government protesters for being too smart AND the fault of US nasty nasty taxpayers for using too much electricity and water, because you warned us in advance to save energy....

Edited January 3, 2014 by MaxLee

[Tokay]

No power or water disruptions. No road closures. No airport seizures.

So what exactly are they going to do again that will be different than what they did two weeks ago?

[Raspberry]

In the world of false accusations, photoshop pictures, viral videos and media frenzy, anything can happened, real or not, anyone can be the perpetrator, real or not. (And in countries like Thailand very little scientific, objective investigation follow, all rumors, heresays are true evidence and therefore guilty of the crime.) People soak this up and believe. That is, you can create a story and point the blame to anyone you wish with much success. Propaganda 2.0

[EricBerg]

There's nothing Surapong and his black shirts can do to prevent people cutting power and/or water. And should they resolve to violence then the army will step in.

Seems the reds are ventilating their worst case scenarios and stating those are not possible. Knowing it's idle hope. Still over a week to go, what (im)possibility will be next?

[webfact]

SHUTTING DOWN BANGKOK
State agencies vow to prevent cuts to power, water supplies
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Disruptions of power and water services in Bangkok during a mass anti-government rally expected to begin on January 13 will not be tolerated, caretaker Interior Minister Charupong Ruangsuwan said yesterday.

He said he had met with his ministry's permanent secretary and the governors of the Metropolitan Electricity Authority, the Provincial Electricity Authority, the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority and the Provincial Waterworks Authority, and all of them promised that they would not allow their services to be disrupted.

The People's Democratic Reform Committee, the main group clamouring for the overthrow of the current government, has threatened to disrupt the services as part of its plan to "shut down" Bangkok on January 13.

Meanwhile the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) said yesterday that it had yet to be invited by the Transport Ministry for a meeting on preparations for the PDRC action. Deputy Bangkok Governor Amorn Kitchawengkul said such a meeting was necessary if the ministry is serious about mitigating the adverse effects on traffic in the capital.

Amorn said the BMA was using the Bangkok branch of the Internal Security Command Centre (Isoc), which is chaired by the Bangkok city clerk, to deal with the daily developments.

He said many surveillance cameras had been incapacitated by protesters who cut their electrical lines, turned them in the wrong direction or covered them with bags, but all these were being fixed.

Meanwhile, government ministries were also preparing to deal with the "Bangkok shutdown" on January 13.

The Energy Ministry plans to have executives and staff of agencies overseeing the country's electricity grid move to work at other places, said permanent secretary Suthep Liumsirijarern. However, he declined to reveal where they would go.

Department of Energy Business director-general Somnuk Bomrungsalee said the department had told fuel retailers to keep a close watch on the situation on January 13 and ensure they have sufficient supplies. Fuel-delivery trucks were also warned to avoid the routes expected to be affected by the Bangkok shutdown.

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) yesterday instructed mobile-phone companies to increase their network capacity from January 10 onwards in the locations where attempts by the PDRC to paralyse the capital were expected.

NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasit said that as travel was likely to be made inconvenient at such locations on January 13, people would have to rely heavily on the mobile phones. The commission wants the telecom firms to maintain this higher network capacity until the situation returns to normal.

Gold shops in Bangkok's Chinatown will consider whether to close during the Bangkok shutdown, as road closures are likely to affect their operations, Gold Traders Association president Jitti Tangsithpakdi said yesterday.

He said there were more than 100 gold shops in the Chinatown area. He expected many of them to close, for safety reasons, when there is a big gathering of protesters nearby.


-- The Nation 2014-01-04

[sjjmmi]

HOW

[rickirs]

Should public utilties be shut off, the only legitimate forces that can be brought to bear to assure that utiltities are restored are the police and military. If rioters use force in defense, then an equal and opposite force should be exercised to assure public safety and restoration of public services. If neither of these forces have the resolve to protect peaceful population from tyranny of the mob, Thailand's democracy will spiral down into a disintigration of its national identity.

[tomyummer]

Take away any utilities for the sake of the protest and you have a war against the people, NOT the government. Think of the elderly, children and hospitalized. What a bunch of dummies.