Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej
speaks during a news conference in Bangkok, capital of Thailand, Sept. 2,
2008. Samak Sundaravej on Tuesday morning declared state of emergency in
Bangkok following violent clashes between the pro and anti- government
protesters in early morning.(Xinhua/Ling Shuo) Photo
Gallery>>>
BANGKOK, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Thai army seemed
reluctant to use any tough measures to disperse anti-government protesters after
Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej on Tuesday morning declared a state of emergency
in Bangkok following violent clashes between the pro and anti-government
protesters in early morning.
Army Commander-in-Chief Anupong Paojinda said at a
press conference around 1:40 p.m. 0640 GMT at the Army headquarters in Bangkok
that the army's enforcement of emergency decree will be based on the "principle
of democracy" and rely on negotiation, rather than use of force to avoid further
confrontations.
Anupong made the announcement after calling a urgent
security meeting upon an assignment by Prime Minister Samak to take charge of a
committee responsible for enforcement of a just-declared state of emergency in
Bangkok.
Soldiers or police to be dispatched to enforce the
emergency decree will not carry any weapons, but only be armed with shields and
batons, Anupong maintained.
They will also negotiate with anti-government
protesters in a bid to remove them from rally sites, which the police had been
doing with anti-government protesters who have camped in the Government House
for seven days, but to no vail.
Protestors holding sticks stand after
the intervention of riot policemen in Bangkok, capital of Thailand, early
Sept. 2, 2008. (Xinhua/Ling Shuo) Photo Gallery>>>
Everything will be carried out in peaceful means,
with an aim to prevent any further violent clashes between two sides, Anupong
said.
Samak declared a state of emergency at 7 a.m. Tuesday
(2400 GMT Monday) through TV pool and radio broadcasters nationwide, after
confrontations between pro-government demonstrators led by the Democratic
Alliance Against Dictatorship (DAAD) and anti-government protesters led by the
People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) left at least one person dead and 44
injured during the first two hours of Tuesday near the Government House
compound, which the PAD supporters have occupied since Aug. 26.
Samak later explained at a press conference at 9 a.m.
0200 GMT at the Supreme Command headquarters in the environs of Bangkok that the
violent clashes this early morning, has waken him up and prompted him to make
the declaration.
In his usual plain and straightforward style, the
premier said the government has been very tolerant towards the anti-government
protesters in the past few days, but he now had to rely on the military and the
police to solve the problems.
He apologized to the public for inconvenience to be
resulted from enforcement of emergency decree, which will be in place for some
time before the situation get controlled, and called for people's cooperation.
He also assured that people's normal living and working would not be greatly
affected when answering reporters' questions.
Samak had cited disturbances to law and order in the
capital brought by some groups as the reason to enforce the Emergency Decree on
Public Administration in Emergency Situations in Bangkok.
Samak said he as Prime Minister had the right to do
so regardless of what others would think of him. He also expressed
disappointment at Sunday's urgent-called parliament session, which aimed to sort
out a peaceful solution for the political turmoil but turned out a blame game on
each side.
"Some people at the Parliament just ignored the fact
that some groups were causing disturbances to law and order in the country,
"said Samak, implicating senators and opposition MPs who criticized his
government for instigating the political tension at Sunday's session.
Thai Army Commander-in-Chief Anupong
Paojinda speaks at a press conference at the Army headquarters in Bangkok,
Thailand, Sept. 2, 2008. (Xinhua/Ling Shuo) Photo Gallery>>>
A committee headed by the Army Commander-in-Chief
Anupong Paojinda will be in charge of enforcing the emergency decree in Bangkok.
Upon the emergency decree, Gen. Anupong called a
urgent meeting with the committee officials at the Army headquarters near the
Government House, to discuss ways to tackle the protesters.
According to related laws, the imposition of
emergency decree means security in the capital will be immediately taken over by
the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), headed by premier Samak and
practically run by the army.
A state of emergency prohibits gathering of more than
five people.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration announced
later that the 436 schools in Bangkok will be closed for three days.
This is the first-time enforcement of the Emergency
Decree in accordance with the new 2007 Constitution since pushed through last
year by the junta which governed the country after the Sept. 19, 2006 bloodless
military coup that ousted then elected premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
The last similar case was when the country's military
top brass led by then army chief Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratkalin staged the 2006
coup, the junta imposed martial law throughout the nation.
A DAAD spokesman immediately said that they would
follow the law and end its rally at Sanam Luang (Royal Field) in central
Bangkok, while the PAD remained defiant and vowed to carry on their protest.
One PAD core leader Chamlong Srimuang quickly took
the rally stage inside the Government House compound shortly after Samak
declared a state of emergency, telling the PAD supporters to remain at the rally
site.
He assured the protesters, many of them women and
senior-aged persons, of their safety and liberty, saying that Samak could only
arrest the PAD leaders at most by imposing the emergency law. "There won't be
enough prisons for us."
Violence broke when the DAAD-led pro-government
protesters led by the Democrat Alliance, estimated at some 3,000 people, marched
after midnight towards the Government House, which has been occupied by PAD
protesters since Aug. 26 in its showdown attempt to oust the Samak cabinet.
After the clashes occurred with beatings witnessed
and gunshots heard, the First Army Area dispatched four companies of soldiers,
at about 400, to help riot police quell the unrest on an order by Army Chief
Anupong.
Thousands of police from Bangkok were also deployed
to the site.
BANGKOK, Sept. 2 (Xinhua)
-- Three people were reportedly killed and 20 injured in the violent clashes
occurred between pro-government supporters and anti-government protestors in
central Bangkok early Tuesday, witnesses said.
Thai PBS TV station said that three persons were killed in
the clashes. Initial reports said gun shots were heard. The state-run NBT TV
said more than 20 people were injured. Full story
BANGKOK, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- A few hundred anti-government
protesters blocked entrances and exits at the airport in Thailand's southern
economic and transportation hub Hat Yai and the access to the airport in the
southern coastal resort Phuket Friday afternoon.
The latest development added to fears that the unrest
in the capital, which has witnessed a see-saw battle between the police and the
protesters led by People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) to take control of the
government seat on Friday, will spread to provinces nationwide. Full story
