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Vejj is planning to attack the red shirts SUNDAY ,many deathspredicted



 
 
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Old May 2nd, 2010, 02:22 PM posted to soc.culture.thai,rec.travel.asia
Obersturmbanfuhrer Olly
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Default Vejj is planning to attack the red shirts SUNDAY ,many deathspredicted


Thai premier says protesters will be cleared

By DENIS D. GRAY (AP) – 21 minutes ago

BANGKOK — Thailand's prime minister said Sunday the government was
preparing to clear an area of Bangkok defended by thousands of anti-
government protesters, seeking to end a crisis which has virtually
paralyzed the capital.

Many Thais have grown increasingly frustrated with the stalemate,
which has dragged on for nearly eight weeks, claiming the lives of at
least 27 people and costing the country tens of millions of dollars.
It has sparked concerns of a flare-up of civil unrest.

"We are sending a clear signal that we have given people enough time
to leave (the occupied zone). We are now in the process of sealing off
and cutting off support before we actually move in," Prime Minister
Abhisit Vejjajiva said in an interview with several foreign
journalists to be nationally televised.

Thousands of so-called Red Shirt protesters have occupied a barricaded
encampment in the commercial heart of Bangkok, centered on its most
upmarket shopping district, forcing the closure of several malls and
hotels.

Abhisit declined to elaborate on an earlier announced plan to end the
crisis which he said did not include the declaration of martial law.
In an emergency meeting Sunday, the Cabinet approved special funding
for the police to contain the demonstrators.

"My belief is that the majority of the people want the protest to end.
Increasingly their patience is running out. This is a situation we
have to handle," he said in the interview.

The protesters, mostly from the rural and urban poor, view the
government as an illegitimate puppet of Bangkok's elite and the
military, are demanding Abhisit resign, dissolve Parliament and call
new elections.

Abhisit has rejected the call for quick elections and publicly
suspended talks with the protesters but says he still hopes a
political solution will persuade the Red Shirts to leave.

Speaking at a closely guarded military camp on the city's outskirts,
Abhisit gave no indication when any operation against the entrenched
protesters would be launched. But he said the demonstrators, who
include a large number of women and children, would be given prior
warning.

"I can say that we continue to exercise restraint and patience and the
first, best solution is one that does not involve violence," he said.

In a small concession, the demonstrators on Sunday shifted their tire
barricades away from a hospital on the edge of their encampment in a
move intended to allow the medical facility to reopen.

Abhisit said earlier Sunday he was reluctant to give in to demands
from a group of pro-establishment protesters who have called for a
declaration of martial law.

"So far, from what we have discussed, we (the government and the army)
think that the situation doesn't warrant martial law," he said in his
weekly television broadcast.

The Red Shirts said they would ignore any declaration of martial law
anyway.

"Even if they announce that, we are not going to go home, we are going
to stay put," said Nattawut Saikua, a Red Shirt leader.

The Red Shirts drew intense criticism last week after raiding
Chulalongkorn Hospital on the edge of their protest site, prompting
medical officials to evacuate it of patients.

On Sunday, the demonstrators dismantled the barricade blocking access
to the hospital and rebuilt it about 50 yards (meters) away, on the
other side of the entrance to the facility. Police then used a crane
to assemble a short barrier of concrete blocks in front of the new
barricade, effectively fortifying the protest camp.

Maj. Gen. Vichai Sangparpai, a top police official, said the blocks
were intended to keep the protesters away from the hospital, which was
guarded Sunday by large groups of police officers.

Nattawut said the Red Shirt raid on the hospital was a mistake and
offered an apology.

Since the Red Shirts moved into Bangkok in mid-March, there have been
several clashes between protesters and security forces. With
negotiations between the protesters and the government on hold and
hopes for a peaceful end to the standoff dwindling, calls have grown
for international mediation.

The International Crisis Group think tank said Saturday that
Thailand's political system had broken down and expressed fears the
standoff could "deteriorate into an undeclared civil war."

But Abhisit, in the interview, said that only in three or four of the
country's provinces was there "a (protest) movement in parallel with
Bangkok that has to be handled. The rest of the country is well under
control."

Associated Press Writers Ravi Nessman and Thanyarat Doksone
contributed to this report

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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