Thai Yellow Shirts for martial law to end stir
BANGKOK , April 26: Thailand’s elite-backed Yellow Shirts called on Monday for a state of martial law to end anti-government protests as the rival Red Shirts blocked police convoys heading to the strife-torn capital.
The Yellows have said they will take action to “protect the country” if authorities do not deal with the thousands of anti-government Reds in the capital, stoking fears of factional violence. Thailand’s revered king spoke on television for the first time since the protests broke out in mid-March, addressing a group of newly-appointed judges. He did not address the ongoing crisis.
The Yellows have said they will take action to “protect the country” if authorities do not deal with the thousands of anti-government Reds in the capital, stoking fears of factional violence. Thailand’s revered king spoke on television for the first time since the protests broke out in mid-March, addressing a group of newly-appointed judges. He did not address the ongoing crisis.
“Do your job with honesty. In this country there may be some people who forget their duty. You should be an example by working honestly and properly, your job is very important,” King Bhumibol Adulyadej told the judges. Thailand’s Opposition has asked for an audience with the 82-year-old king, who has intervened in previous bouts of civil unrest. Twenty-six people have been killed and almost 1,000 injured in the capital this month in Thailand’s bloodiest street violence in almost two decades.
The Reds are on alert for a crackdown by security forces on their fortified camp in the heart of Bangkok, where tensions remain high after a grenade attack late on Sunday on the house of a former Premier injured 11 people.
The movement, seeking immediate elections to replace a government it sees as elitist and undemocratic, said it would launch nationwide action to stop troops from travelling to the capital, which is under a state of emergency. “Reds everywhere will stop the police and Army from coming to Bangkok,” said one senior leader, Nattawut Saikuar.
Hundreds of security forces have been detained in a series of incidents, mainly in the northern stronghold of the Reds, mostly supporters of ex-Premier Thaksin Shinawatra who was ousted in a 2006 coup.
On Monday, some 60 Red Shirts blocked the entrance of a border patrol police camp in a central province to prevent a company from leaving for Bangkok, triggering scuffles as the police broke though the protest lines. —AFP
Thanaporn Promyamyai
