State of emergency: Protesters unfazed

[webfact]

STATE OF EMERGENCY
Protesters unfazed
The Nation

Emergency has no impact; Paradorn says focus will be on arresting key leaders not on dispersal of protesters

BANGKOK: -- It was business as usual for anti-government protesters yesterday despite the state of emergency declared on Tuesday by the caretaker government, as they continued their marches and blockades and went to rally sites at will, as the government's anti-protest centre has yet to spell out details on decree-enabled measures.

Supporters of the People's Democratic Reform Committee surrounded the Office of the Permanent Secretary for Defence yesterday morning, defying an emergency restriction that bars political gatherings, to disrupt a key meeting of senior government officials on measures they were about to issue, forcing them to flee.

Another group of protesters, attached to the hardline Students and People's Network for Thailand's Reform, converged in front of the Royal Thai Police compound, and removed the metal fonts displaying the authority's name, and replaced them with a spray-painted STR abbreviation. In Samut Prakan, a group of protesters blockaded the Phra Pra Daeng district office.

The Yingluck Shinawatra government was expected to issue, within 48 hours after the decree was announced, measures granted under the draconian law on how to cope with any act that it deemed unruly. The aborted meeting failed to do so, and a statement by the government's anti-protest Centre for Maintaining Peace and Order (CMPO), which is situated at the office of the Permanent Secretary for Defence, a few hours later only announced non-strategic issues.

Labour Minister and CMPO director Chalerm Yoobamrung later made a statement, saying the CMPO's motto was "Returning Happiness to Bangkokians", through five principles, including the use of law, focus on negotiations rather than force, allow peaceful gathering and seeking respect for non-protesters' rights by the protesters.

The proposed measures would be made public in government documents by January 27.

In spite of the authority granted under the state of emergency, the caretaker government would not disperse anti-government crowds at rally sites but would rather maintain the key objective of apprehending core leaders, National Security Council secretary-general Paradorn Pattanatabut, the CMPO secretary, said yesterday.

Asked whether the authorities would "reclaim" areas occupied by PDRC supporters, Paradorn said: "We would not aim to do so, but rather focus on action to be taken against the core leaders. And after the core leaders are taken care of, the crowds would understand the situation, and by communicating with the protesters that unlawful acts [rally activities] had been committed, the situation would get better," he added.

He ruled out the use of curfews among the measures that would be later adopted. "The combined use of both mliitary and police units under the state of emergency would depend on the circumstances through coordination," he said, responding to questions over whether the military would be deployed as a secondary force, behind the police, as the government was having a doubt whether it could command the military after it declared the state of emergency.

Asked how the police, who would mainly carry out operations, could apprehend core protest leaders including Suthep Thaugsuban if they did not reclaim the areas, he said action would be taken in certain circumstances in a non-violent manner. "There would be no crowd dispersal, but occupied areas would be reopened through particular means," he added.

National police chief Pol Gen Adul Sangsingkaew said later that the deployment and responsibilities of the police under the CMPO would be similar to the previous structures. He echoed Paradorn's statement that the police would not engage in violent crowd dispersal. "What could be done is stricter enforcement of laws through [future] measures granted under the state of emergency," he added.

Army Commander General Prayuth Chan-ocha said that the Army would be closely monitoring the political situation under the state of emergency in Bangkok, and insisted that if violence erupted and the situation spiralled out of control, the Army will have to intervene to settle the problems.

He said the Army would be supporting the police, the main agency authorised by the decree to handle the situation.

The Army has assigned 40 companies of troops to provide security apart from setting up more than 30 joint checkpoints with the police, and 20 checkpoints manned solely by the soldiers.

First Army Division commander Maj-General Wara Boonyasit said 100 troops on 50 motorcycles serving in his unit would be on patrol around rally sites starting last night. He was speaking after he made an inspection visit to PDRC-hosted rally sites.

An NSC source commented that the absence of military officers in the CMPO personnel suggested the military was not in full support of the decree or the government.


-- The Nation 2014-01-23

[noitom]

No one takes any Thai government proclamations seriously. The last group to take them seriously were the rice farmers and they shafted them.

[thesetat2013]

Question?? How do you force hundreds of people in a small area to move and disperse without using force? Please leave and we will give you a flower hehehee.

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[Local Drunk]

I don't think there's going to be a popular public response to this Emergency Decree. I keep trying to suss the end game of the government and this move seems seems to be a last ditch effort to hang on to power until Feb the 2nd... But why? This government certainly doesn't have and certainly never had the public's best interests in mind and is with each passing day it is alienating more of it's support base. Presently it's nothing more than a "Lame Duck" caretaker government can barley function as is, and this decree certainly isn't going to hurt Supthep's cause. If anything it's going to add more fuel to the fire and bring more people out into the streets. It just doesn't make sense.

Certainly they'll cry foul if elections are held and a government can't be seated because of a lack of M.P.s... but then what?

[ttthailand]

The government has no plan to remove protesters except maybe wait and wait and hopefully they get bored and go home.

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[Local Drunk]

The government has no plan to remove protesters except maybe wait and wait and hopefully they get bored and go home.

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Know that for a fact do you, then why the Emergency Decree?

[Scamper]

" An NSC source commented that the absence of military officers in the CMPO personnel suggested the military was not in full support of the decree or the government. "

As indeed it is not, as well as dwindling numbers of the public. Chalerm's coined motto " Returning Happiness to Bangkockians " sounds eerily similar to a slogan cooked up by Pheu Thai in anticipation of the 2011 election " You can be happy again ". Happiness for Chalerm means a media which does not function, as that was his first order of business yesterday. Chalerm wants the media to " be happy ". Application of the law for Chalerm means to actually ensure that the law is inoculated against justice. Chalerm wants the application of the law to " be happy ".Thaksin obviously doesn't want to see the story revealed two days ago by a senior officer of the Thai Navy that Cambodian mercenaries are being smuggled in to deal with the protest movement. He wants the public to " be happy ".So doubtless the meetings with the media yesterday to not print anything " but facts " was - for Thaksin - really code-speak for " don't you dare touch this story ". You see, in order for an armed insurgency to work, you can't have the media deflecting from the administration's narrative to the country - but particularly to the world - that the violence is perpetrated by the protesters. For those who zealously support the Yingluck administration, and who hate stories like the Thai Navy revelation - fear not. Very soon they will no longer be allowed. Khaosod will then takes its rightful place in the annals of journalism, and you will have the Pheu Thai Utopia you always wanted.

[falangadang]

The government has no plan to remove protesters except maybe wait and wait and hopefully they get bored and go home.

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Know that for a fact do you, then why the Emergency Decree?

The emergency decree appears to have been a case of "all bark and no bite".

Just look at the official statement :"Emergency has no impact; Paradorn says focus will be on arresting key leaders not on dispersal of protesters"

They have got to be joking. They've had full opportunity and legal excuse to arrest and charge the leaders up till now and yet have not done so!

The decree makes its illegal for groups of more than 5 to gather in public places and yet they are allowing the protest crowds to carry on unfazed.

Whilst they now have the power of the army to act under police order to arrest the ring leaders I doubt that we'll see it happen because they are too concerned with the fall out of violence and casualties.

Civilian casualties are not nice but anyone still protesting 24 to 48 hours after the emergency decree has been called is asking for trouble and has to be know that they're willingly placing themselves in the firing line!