Thailand imposes state of emergency to deal with protests

[Voodoo Ray]

Good timing. Suthep has run out of moves.

The goverment has handled these "protesters" (terrorists would be a more accurate description) extremely well so far.

just phoned the wife and told her you said she was a terrorist for peacefully protesting ... ans...loud laughter,and then how old is he......

I take it your wife did not the the see the savage attack on a Bangkok taxi driver 2 weeks ago or the assault which hospitalized the two policemen or the brutal assault which left a journalist from The Nation unconscious. I assume the random attacks on street vendors has also gone unnoticed.

Next time you phone your wife tell her to take of her yellow tinted glasses and open her eyes. She might get a surprise.

[Cuchulainn]

The final desperate move of a frightened group of crooks, con artists, terrorists, con men, thugs, bully boys, intimidators and corrupt VERMIN.

[Alwyn]

Checkmate! Time to clean the streets and bring Suthep to justice.

And to see all the charges of corruption against this regime fairly tried, and maybe extradite a well known fugitive too. Justice for all (or will they simply ram the amnesty bill through and whitewash him?).

Checkmate - I doubt it. All depends on what the army decide now, Thaksin has played his last card and his calling their hand.

Perhaps they'll go back and nail Suthep for the palm oil scam he perpetuated when deputy PM too?

[Crushdepth]

Good timing. Suthep has run out of moves.

The goverment has handled these "protesters" (terrorists would be a more accurate description) extremely well so far.

Terrorists? Get a grip on reality.

[crazykopite]

At last someone has the nerve to stand up to these thugs it would never happen in the western world you cannot have people just causing mayhem . Khun Suthep has had every opportunity to have dialogue with those he has a grudge with but has declined every invitation he Suthep wants to install an unelected peoples council who would be made up of the elite of Thailand that is not democracy far from it. With a bit of luck Bangkok people can get back to a more normal life if you opposes government then you do it by the ballot box the main opposition decided not to register for the coming elections that to me was a very bad move I hope that those who have camped up in bkk will now go home and allow those who want to live in peace get on with there lives the police should arrest all the leaders involved in this mayhem and lock them up until after the elections I am not a supporter of either party but the man in Dubai gave the poor of Thailand the right to vote something Suthep and his rogues would never have done.

[Sunderland]

Thaksin - thoroughly disliked by many, tolerated by an equal number.

Yingluck - as thick as a mud milkshake.

Suthep - typical corrupt politician and as loopy as a fruit rhino.

Chalerm - barking mad and absolutely the worst person in the world to trust with anything.

Seasoned script writers couldn't dream up such a set of dysfunctional characters if they tried.

[englishoak]

Silly to declare the state of emergency. Why Wednesday and not now? Why at all? And shouldn't it be the PM to declare it and not Chalerm? Probably the missunderstood fugitive instructed it all. Now see how the new CAPO will (not) behave. They are renamed the Peacekeeping Center. Will see if that name is correct.

It's their only option. They can't force any loans to pay off the farmers, who've stopped believing their lies. They have to gamble the army will still avoid a coup and therefore they buy more time. Get the election "sorted" then back to the agenda.

My Thai friends are genuinely seething at this. They all now see the long term aims of the clan and want them out. This is going to get very nasty.

Has Chalerm been promoted back to caretaker DPM or is that a reporting error?

If you're looking for a fall guy.......................

Trusted cousin and friend representing the power now, puppet on ice by the look of it.

Its a perfect time to call a state of emergency as that IS what it is now.

It is very possible Chalerm has been promoted back to caretaker DPM, if things turn nasty then someone will have to be the fall guy if it goes pear shaped, thats Chalerm and probably the price hes been asked to risk in order to get back in the fold..

Word on the street from normal people I have chatted to is its about time the government did something, enough is enough they want to get back to normality same as they did in 2010. they also want a peaceful violence free election which this undermines whilst on the street.

This gives all the required legality for action now, just how thats done isnt clear yet but it paves the way for action without further delay when they wish it.

Remember.

It is not such a strange or even new concept and someone should send him a copy that time has come.

Good move, right decision, right time. Now all they have to do is work out how.... my fav would be water cannon not live ammo or clear things middle of the night while the rally boys are tucked up in bed

Edited January 21, 2014 by englishoak

[Cuchulainn]

Thaksin - thoroughly disliked by many, tolerated by an equal number.

Yingluck - as thick as a mud milkshake.

Suthep - typical corrupt politician and as loopy as a fruit rhino.

Chalerm - barking mad and absolutely the worst person in the world to trust with anything.

Seasoned script writers couldn't dream up such a set of dysfunctional characters if they tried.

Yep. Send in the sons!!!

[casualbiker]

Good timing. Suthep has run out of moves.

The goverment has handled these "protesters" (terrorists would be a more accurate description) extremely well so far.

just phoned the wife and told her you said she was a terrorist for peacefully protesting ... ans...loud laughter,and then how old is he......

I take it your wife did not the the see the savage attack on a Bangkok taxi driver 2 weeks ago or the assault which hospitalized the two policemen or the brutal assault which left a journalist from The Nation unconscious. I assume the random attacks on street vendors has also gone unnoticed.

Next time you phone your wife tell her to take of her yellow tinted glasses and open her eyes. She might get a surprise.

Did you see it? Do you know with absolute certainty all of the facts?

you might get a surprise!

Sent from my XT1032 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[webfact]

Chalerm Granted Command Under Emergency Decree

By Khaosod English

BANGKOK: -- Citing violent incidents in recent weeks, the government has imposed State of Emergency over Bangkok and neighbouring provinces.

Deputy Prime Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul announced this evening that the emergency decree will last for 60 days.

The areas affected by the decree are Bangkok, Nonthaburi province, and some districts in the provinces of Pathumthani and Samutprakarn.

The announcement came amid the increasingly violent political crisis, in which anti-government protesters have come under grenade attacks, drive-by shootings, and smaller bomb attacks almost on a daily basis.

Last time Bangkok was under State of Emergency was almost 4 years ago, when the administration of then-Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva announced it to contain mass protests led by the United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) in April 2010.

Mr. Surapong said the emergency decree will help the security forces to prevent such violence in the future, and assist the police in apprehending any perpetrators.

Under the State of Emergency, the government and security forces will be granted with sweeping powers to contain the ongoing protests, such as imposing curfews, censoring the media, making arrests or searches without court warrant, and banning any political gathering.

Unlike the Internal Security Act, which had been imposed in some districts of Bangkok during the protests, the State of Emergency decree does not allow members of the public to take any legal action against the security forces if they have been affected in any way by the state operations.

However, Mr. Surapong insisted that the military and the police deployed near protest sites will not be armed.

Following the declaration of the emergency decree, the government will also form a special ′centre for peace administration′ to exercise the emergency powers allowed under the decree.

The centre will be headed by Mr. Surapong, but its operational arms will be chaired by Labour Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung, officials said.

The decision of the government to appoint Mr. Chalerm in charge of the special administration is bound to raise the eyebrows of many observers, as Mr. Chalerm has been deeply despised by many anti-government protesters.

It would also be an official comeback moment for Mr. Chalerm, who lost his influential post as a Deputy Prime Minister last year due to, many analysts said, his tendency to make divisive remarks.

Source: http://www.khaosod.co.th/en/view_newsonline.php?newsid=TVRNNU1ETXdOalV5T1E9PQ==


-- Khaosod English 2014-01-22

[northernjohn]

what a joke this govt is, they cannot handle the fact they are on their last legs and after declaring that they will not invoke this unless there is more violence they do it. This once again shows how pathetic the ptp are, they have no idea what to do and are reaching for straws. Lets see how long yl and the capo people can keep their hands clean from the blood, they are now responsible for any deaths.

I have to admit to the uneducated masses it makes them look good. All they had to do was throw a few grenades and declare an emergency decree. Bingo they shut down the protestors.

 
"The cabinet decided to invoke the emergency decree to take care of the 
situation and to enforce the law,"

Now that they have made it illegal to protest. That is short for taking away their constitutional rights they can gaily carry on with their merry money making schemes. They don't have to worry about the people any more. If the people give them trouble just knock them in the head with their batons and caart them off to jail.

I just have a gut feeling that this is not going to turn out very well for them. Just a gut feeling no proof.

[AryanicAristocrat]

Finally and please get rid of all these Southern Thugs and Thai Chinese who think that their fathers own Bangkok! I do not support the red shirst, yellow shirts, thaksin, suthep or abhisit or the army. But I cannot condone any protesters who do not protest peacefully as they claim but seize roads, cause blockages and inconveniences to the citizens of the country and those residing in Bangkom legally. Its about time that the army, police and whatever government that is in power to rid these southern thugs (as them to go back to their normal mafia-like busineses in phuket, samui, phangna or their terrorists lifestyles in yala, pattani etc which are all under the democrat politicans but please do not make Bangkom into another one of their failed Southern provinces.And the thai chinese bangkokians and hisos and ammnart should realise by nowt hat though they think they own Thailand, this protests is also affecting their businesses and rice bowls, so enough.

If this was done in the US, Singapore, Japan etc, the protesters or rather terrorists (as they have been seizing public roads and disrupting businesses , do not care what they do to the government entities but causing inconveniences to the public is a form of terrorism), they would be dead by now. Enough is enough. take your protests back to the South.

And to those stupid people joining the protests (unless you ae getting paid to attend. whatever the outcome, your lives will be the same as all Politicans are corrupted in this country and they will only enrich themselves not you. You want change, ereadicate all politians (past and present and seize back all theri properties....I mean all Politicians from every party and also past politicans and high ranking government officials (past and present), the maybe you guys are on the right track.

[Emster23]

""The cabinet decided to invoke the emergency decree to take care of the situation and to enforce the law," And just who will they get to take care of the situation? Ghostbusters?

"We will not use force. We have no policy to disperse them (the protesters) and we haven't announced a curfew yet," So they are going to ask them "please, pretty please"? Oh wait, that would be a policy. Let's see.... no force, no policy, no curfew.... can someone please tell me how this will change anything from how it is now?

[soi41]

^{Let the games begin.}

., its about the people of Thailand, they deserve to have a corruption free govt and not have all the countries money put into the ptp's personal bank accounts but being a red you are peobably on the pat list too, pathetic.

"they deserve to have a corruptionfree government"

Wrong!! The corrupt Thai people have exactly the government they deserve!!

[Tiffer]

Good timing. Suthep has run out of moves.

The goverment has handled these "protesters" (terrorists would be a more accurate description) extremely well so far.

You may wish to re-visit the definition of "terrorist" and try again...........

Indeed, you too may wish to re-visit the definition.

It includes interfering with telecommunications...

Over to you ^^

[djjamie]

The final desperate move of a frightened group of crooks, con artists, terrorists, con men, thugs, bully boys, intimidators and corrupt VERMIN.

But they were voted in, so the above is irrelevant!

[Sydebolle]

Plutocracy in its last days?

I'm glad to hear, that Chalerm is back in action - in his element he can start carbon-copying Samak (as defence minister in 76); and he can also download Samak's interview with Al-Jazeerah on the subject.

[a99az]

I have to admit that the incumbent governments policy of doing nothing (deescalate) or enflame protesters was working. However they should have done a great deal more to remove some top military brass who started flexing there political mussels. Now it looks as if they are playing in to the Army's hands. It will be interesting to see who and how they will enforce the state of emergency. I fear the outcome could turn into a pitched battle, flowed by a coup d'ėtat.

[Sunderland]

If - and we don't know any more details yet - the army is asked to clear up the streets and send the protesters home and refuse, then that would draw a much bigger and clearer line between the police and the army.

At this stage nothing else has been announced, so have to assume the dwindling protests will continue for the time being. However, it will not come as a surprise if the anti-government protesters' sites are merged into one at Pathumwan which would be slightly easier to defend. On the other hand, if they suspect the army would come out in their favour they will stick with the 7 sites and hope for confrontation.

For the time being nobody who posts on this forum can honestly say they know what is going to happen, since they are not inside Prayuth's head and certainly wouldn't want to be rattling around in Yingluck's head.

[Tiffer]

^{Let the games begin.}

., its about the people of Thailand, they deserve to have a corruption free govt and not have all the countries money put into the ptp's personal bank accounts but being a red you are peobably on the pat list too, pathetic.

"they deserve to have a corruptionfree government"

Wrong!! The corrupt Thai people have exactly the government they deserve!!

How true.

Corruption begins at home!

[julemanden]

Checkmate!Time to clean the streets and bring Suthep to justice.

Keep on dreaming

[3NUMBAS]

just like the old days of coups when men in black on bikes were riding round with shotguns blowing people away at will .

but this time they will be more wary about blowing away elites ?

[Snig27]

^{Let the games begin.}

again we see how small minded the red brigade in here are with garbage posts like thism sounds like you want to see blood. Just remember that this time yl and co will be the ones responsible for any deaths in their bid to get her criminal brother back to Thailand and to continue the corruption. Thius isnt about suthep, its about the people of Thailand, they deserve to have a corruption free govt and not have all the countries money put into the ptp's personal bank accounts but being a red you are peobably on the pat list too, pathetic.

And this isn't just about Suthep or Thaksin, it's about the rule of law. But, then given your post above I'm guessing you are all in favour of elections, since it's "about the people of Thailand". Or is it just about some of the people of Thailand? Because if it was about all of them, you'd be keen to let their voices be heard, no?

[scorecard]

Keep in mind that a not small group of unpaid rice farmers announced today they are heading for Bkk to join the anti-gov't protestors, and there are many farmers groups across the country also very pissed off at not being paid and also making threats of anti-govt protests.

So why did the gov't invoke the emergency clause?

Imho the current govt / caretaker govt wouldn't hesitate to do this.

Edited January 21, 2014 by scorecard

[philw]

what a joke this govt is, they cannot handle the fact they are on their last legs and after declaring that they will not invoke this unless there is more violence they do it. This once again shows how pathetic the ptp are, they have no idea what to do and are reaching for straws. Lets see how long yl and the capo people can keep their hands clean from the blood, they are now responsible for any deaths.

Is such inflammatory nonsense really necessary ?

[tx22cb]

I have to admit that the incumbent governments policy of doing nothing (deescalate) or enflame protesters was working. However they should have done a great deal more to remove some top military brass who started flexing there political mussels. Now it looks as if they are playing in to the Army's hands. It will be interesting to see who and how they will enforce the state of emergency. I fear the outcome could turn into a pitched battle, flowed by a coup d'ėtat.

No pitched battles - the PDRC protesters pride themselves in having no weapons, as repeated ad nauseam by their leaders.

[LingLek]

Just been reading the most outrageous slanders of Suthep Thaugsabon:

"Suthep himself was forced to step down as a lawmaker in 2009 after it emerged he violated the constitution by holding a stake in a media company that had been granted government concessions.

He was also involved in a corruption scandal in 1995 in which he was found to have granted plots of land intended for the poor to wealthy families on the island of Phuket.

In an early sign of his willingness to employ rabble-rousing tactics, Suthep called on his supporters to march on Bangkok to defend him. But the outcry led to parliament being dissolved and the Democrats losing the subsequent election.

Despite that, Suthep was deputy prime minister in the unelected, Democrat-led government installed after the overthrow of Thaksin.

He played a major role in the bloody crackdown on the Bangkok street protests of 2010 that prompted the fall of that administration and resulted in the 2011 Puea Thai election victory. A total of 92 people died. In October, Suthep was indicted by Thailand's Office of the Attorney General for issuing the orders that allowed the military to open fire on the protesters.

Perhaps because of his mixed past, few of the demonstrators massing outside government ministries want to see Suthep become the country's leader."

Makes him sound worse than Thaksin!

[Baerboxer]

"Chalerm said the government had to invoke the emergency decree to announce the state of emergency because the protests by the People's Democratic Reform Committee had turned violent."

All those government apologists /red's who said what do the government have to gain from grenades being thrown... there ya go.. out of the alcholics mouth.

Let's see if any of the attackers are actually captures, in addition to the lady caught driving the Nissan in the gun attack.

Let's see who these people really are and who instructed them.

If they aren't caught, the facts don't come out or things get fudged and forgotten, then it will be pretty obvious,

[MILT]

Good timing. Suthep has run out of moves.

The goverment has handled these "protesters" (terrorists would be a more accurate description) extremely well so far.

Very Good! How long have you been a science fiction writer?

[LadPhrao123]

it will be very interesting to see if the protesters go home... if not what happens? it is definetly a showdown at "High Noon"...

Have a look around, the protestors have gone home. Street vendors outnumber the protestors at the blockades by 2 to 1.

Where I live in Bangkok life is returning to normal traffic and jams, lots of people out in the afternoon sun and looking happy in the streets, untarhished election posters hung one after the other for miles, Respect My Vote banners on the cross-over bridges and zero people on the street with whistles or protestor tri-colors.

We're now in a different day and a new phase. Suthep has played out his cards, the military has eschewed a coup, the Shutdown has fizzled, and the country is getting ready for an election right under the noses of the all too visible in the media protestors. The government has played this well for the long game and managed the threats to civil order well. They've now got every justification for placing the emergency decree to preserve the peace and protect the elections. Unless you're of the die hard fascist faction and want to overthrow the government and install control by fiat it's time for the election process to play through and empower a new elected government. The emergency decree brings with it enforcement and a steady presence of authority on the streets. Remains to be see what happens when the polls open and people line up to vote in Bangkok...but it's a different climate now and will be hard for the rump protestors to mount a successful counter and frustrate the state with it's power and justifiable raison d'etre.