Thai 'Reds' to target security forces nationwide
Tuesday, 27 April 2010
BANGKOK, Apr 26 (AFP): Thailand's 'Red Shirts' protesters said Monday they would launch nationwide action to prevent security forces from travelling to the capital to join a looming crackdown.
Over the past week there have been mounting incidents of open defiance against military and police by the anti-government Reds, who fear the authorities are poised to clear their vast encampment in central Bangkok.
Nattawut Saikuar, one of the leaders of the movement, said they would escalate their measures against the administration of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, which they condemn as elitist and illegitimate.
The latest clashes came Monday when some 60 Reds blocked the entrance of a border patrol police camp in the central province of Phitsanulok to prevent a company from leaving for Bangkok.
Police eventually broke through the protest lines and scuffled with protesters. Thai media reports said the police advanced with shields, batons and a vehicle and that the protesters retaliated with rocks and sticks.
On Sunday around 1,000 Reds used a truck to block a main road into Bangkok and halt 500 police being drafted in aboard trucks, and held them there for several hours.
Last week protesters blockaded a military train with dozens of armed soldiers and heavy equipment aboard, and released it only when the authorities gave a guarantee it was not headed for Bangkok.
Hundreds more security forces have been detained in other incidents, mainly in the north and northeast which are the stronghold of the Reds, mostly supporters of ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra who was ousted in a 2006 coup.
The government has said it is determined to dislodge the protesters from their encampment in Bangkok's retail heartland where they have been based for three weeks, forcing shops and hotels to close.
Meanwhile, thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's ruling party moved closer to possible dissolution Monday as an election body submitted a case against it to court.
The case, which centres on allegations of misuse of a grant from the Election Commission, comes amid a tense standoff between the government and "Red Shirt" protesters that has left 26 people dead and almost 1,000 injured.
The Election Commission earlier this month called for Abhisit's Democrat Party -- the oldest in the country -- to be abolished over two allegations of an illegal political donation in 2005 and misuse of a commission grant.
Fifty boxes of documents relating to the second count were sent to the Constitutional Court Monday afternoon.
Over the past week there have been mounting incidents of open defiance against military and police by the anti-government Reds, who fear the authorities are poised to clear their vast encampment in central Bangkok.
Nattawut Saikuar, one of the leaders of the movement, said they would escalate their measures against the administration of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, which they condemn as elitist and illegitimate.
The latest clashes came Monday when some 60 Reds blocked the entrance of a border patrol police camp in the central province of Phitsanulok to prevent a company from leaving for Bangkok.
Police eventually broke through the protest lines and scuffled with protesters. Thai media reports said the police advanced with shields, batons and a vehicle and that the protesters retaliated with rocks and sticks.
On Sunday around 1,000 Reds used a truck to block a main road into Bangkok and halt 500 police being drafted in aboard trucks, and held them there for several hours.
Last week protesters blockaded a military train with dozens of armed soldiers and heavy equipment aboard, and released it only when the authorities gave a guarantee it was not headed for Bangkok.
Hundreds more security forces have been detained in other incidents, mainly in the north and northeast which are the stronghold of the Reds, mostly supporters of ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra who was ousted in a 2006 coup.
The government has said it is determined to dislodge the protesters from their encampment in Bangkok's retail heartland where they have been based for three weeks, forcing shops and hotels to close.
Meanwhile, thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's ruling party moved closer to possible dissolution Monday as an election body submitted a case against it to court.
The case, which centres on allegations of misuse of a grant from the Election Commission, comes amid a tense standoff between the government and "Red Shirt" protesters that has left 26 people dead and almost 1,000 injured.
The Election Commission earlier this month called for Abhisit's Democrat Party -- the oldest in the country -- to be abolished over two allegations of an illegal political donation in 2005 and misuse of a commission grant.
Fifty boxes of documents relating to the second count were sent to the Constitutional Court Monday afternoon.