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De "Røde" begynder at røre på sig, 5000 politimand udkommanderet til BKK
Lung Yao
Security beefed up ahead of rally on Bangkok's streets Saturday as Thailand braced itself for a fresh anti-government rally by supporters of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

<< By: AFP
Published: 31/01/2009 at 11:58 AM
More than 5,000 police were set to be deployed on Bangkok's streets Saturday as Thailand braced itself for a fresh anti-government rally by supporters of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

The group plans to gather in a park on Saturday evening before marching to Government House to make a series of demands, adopting the tactics of their foes, who occupied the main government offices for three months last year.

Lieutenant General Suchart Mueankaoe, commander of Bangkok Metropolitan police, told AFP that 5,250 officers would police the event, with many more on standby along with military units.

Rally leader Nattawut Saikuar said he was not worried by the level of security.

"We are not worried over government threats to crack down on demonstrators as our rally is peaceful, unarmed and legal," he told AFP.

The protesters, so-called "Red Shirts" who wear crimson in opposition to the anti-Thaksin People's Alliance for Democracy that dons yellow clothes, said up to 50,000 people could attend Saturday's demonstration.

But police said they expected 20,000 people to present their three demands to government -- for those involved in the siege of Bangkok's airports in November to be fired from government jobs and then prosecuted, and for parliament to be dissolved.

"Those people are considered conspirators in blockading the airports and we demand the authorities speed up the prosecution against them," Nattawut said.

National police chief General Patcharawat Wongsuwan has promised not to obstruct the rally but vowed to arrest any protesters who violate the law.

Thousands of anti-Thaksin protesters marched to Government House in August last year and occupied it for three months as they tried to topple the government elected in December 2007.

They said the ruling People Power Party (PPP) was running the country on behalf of Thaksin, who was ousted in a 2006 coup. Thaksin remains enormously divisive, despite living in exile for most of the time since the putsch.

The PAD escalated their campaign and seized Bangkok's two airports from November 25 to December 3, and eventually got their wish when a court dissolved the PPP and forced then-premier Somchai Wongsawat from office.

The move paved the way for the Democrat Party's Abhisit Vejjajiva to be elected prime minister in a parliamentary vote last month
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Hellere tie og blive betragtet som værende "enfoldig", end åbne munden og få det bekræftet.
[url]www.thailandchildrenshome.dk[/url] [url]www.thailandchildrenshome.com[/url]
 
Lung Yao
Advarsel til de "Røde" mod at besatte regerings bygninger :

Red shirts given sharp warning against seizure of Govt House

By The Nation
Published on January 31, 2009
<< [i]]Government figures yesterday warned red-shirt supporters of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra of strict legal action against any attempt to seize Government House.


Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said he had instructed the police to take decisive action if red-shirt protesters broke the law.


"If the police don't do anything about it, that will be regarded as wilful neglect of duty," he said.


Suthep said he believed police would not allow the red shirts to break into the Government House compound as they had threatened and that the police would ask for reinforcements from the military if needed.


"I did not order the police to use force, but rather instructed them to act in line with international standards" in dealing with similar cases, said Suthep, who is also secretary-general of the Democrat Party.


He suggested the government would not follow its immediate predecessors, which failed to take any legal action against the People's Alliance for Democracy when that group took over Government House and remained there for more than three months.


Suthep, who is in charge of security affairs, said he had instructed national police chief General Patcharawat Wongsuwan to mobilise police officers to control the expected crowd to prevent any action that was contrary to law.


The red shirts, led by politicians loyal to Thaksin, are set to hold a rally at Sanam Luang today and also threatened to "follow in the PAD's footsteps" by taking over Government House.


PM's Office Minister Satit Wongnongtaey yesterday said the government did not intend to resort to violence and no force would be used in dispersing protesters.


"But authorities will have to enforce the law strictly. So the leaders of the red shirts should consider whether what they are going to do will benefit society or only certain people. They will have to think whether damage will be done to the country," he said.


Yesterday, many officials and vendors at Government House took home their valuable belongings for fear of another possible seizure of the compound.


Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan yesterday rejected a claim by the red shirts that the military was infiltrating their ranks and that the infiltrators were posing as red-shirt protesters.


Meanwhile, Metropolitan Police commissioner Lt-General Suchart Muenkaew said yesterday that unarmed and peaceful protests could be organised under the Constitution.


He said police would not allow protesters to lay a siege or prevent the government from performing its duty.


Suchart said more than 5,000 police officers would be deployed to uphold law and order in the capital during today's rally.


"Police will deploy 35 companies, and we have already coordinated with the military, who will have 25 companies on standby," Suchart told reporters after a security meeting held ahead of the rally.


He said a further 22 companies of police would be on standby. Each police company has 150 officers while a military company has about 80.


In a related development, some 200 red-shirts from Lampang yesterday took a train to join the rally in Bangkok today.


They gathered at Lampang railway station in the morning and posed for pictures together.


They said they were joining the rally to show the force of the red-shirts.


Earlier, about 300 red shirts from Chiang Mai and Lamphun were also heading for the capital by train
.[/i
Hellere tie og blive betragtet som værende "enfoldig", end åbne munden og få det bekræftet.
[url]www.thailandchildrenshome.dk[/url] [url]www.thailandchildrenshome.com[/url]
 
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