Govt increases pressure on protesters
Thursday, 13 May 2010
Thailand's government threatens to cut off water, power and food to the Bangkok business district where thousands of anti-government protesters are camped, VOANews.com.
The Thai military has warned residents of Bangkok's Rajaprasong district to leave Wednesday.
Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd, an army spokesman, says the military will avoid violence, but at midnight, power and food supplies, as well as transportation lines, will be cut off.
The government's threat to lay siege to the camp comes after the protesters, known as red shirts, ignored an ultimatum to leave. The red shirts had agreed to a government reconciliation plan that includes elections in November, but talks broke down about investigations into violence since the protests began in March.
About 30 people have died - protesters and security forces - and nearly 1,000 others injured since then. Thousands of people have lost their jobs and hundreds of businesses have been forced to close since the red shirts set up a sprawling camp in Rajaprasong, an upscale residential and commercial district.
The Thai military has warned residents of Bangkok's Rajaprasong district to leave Wednesday.
Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd, an army spokesman, says the military will avoid violence, but at midnight, power and food supplies, as well as transportation lines, will be cut off.
The government's threat to lay siege to the camp comes after the protesters, known as red shirts, ignored an ultimatum to leave. The red shirts had agreed to a government reconciliation plan that includes elections in November, but talks broke down about investigations into violence since the protests began in March.
About 30 people have died - protesters and security forces - and nearly 1,000 others injured since then. Thousands of people have lost their jobs and hundreds of businesses have been forced to close since the red shirts set up a sprawling camp in Rajaprasong, an upscale residential and commercial district.