Protesters occupy parts of Bangkok without resistance
15 Jan 2014 4:14 AM IST
Police and soldiers maintained a low profile as the ‘Shutdown Bangkok’ drive got under way in the city of about 12 million people. The mood was festive, with many protesters singing and dancing in the streets. Major intersections that normally teem with cars and trucks were blockaded, but trains and river ferries were operating, most shops were open and motorbikes plied the roads freely.
‘Don’t ask me how long this occupation will last,’ protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban said in a speech to supporters carried by the movement’s BlueSky television channel. ‘We will not stop until we win.’
The turmoil is the latest chapter in an eight-year conflict pitting Bangkok’s middle class and royalist establishment against the mostly poorer, rural supporters of Yingluck and her self-exiled brother, billionaire ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
Thaksin was ousted by the army in 2006 and sentenced to jail in absentia for abuse of power in 2008, but the former telecoms tycoon looms large over Thai politics and is the dominant force behind his sister’s administration from his home in Dubai. In a bid to end the unrest, Yingluck called a snap election for 2 February, but Suthep has rejected the poll, which the prime minister’s Puea Thai Party would probably win.
As the blockade began to bite, Yingluck invited the protest leaders and political parties to a meeting on Wednesday to discuss an Election Commision proposal to postpone the vote, according to a senior aide of the prime minister.
The stock exchange SETI rose on the hint of a compromise, ending 2.2 per cent higher. But the protesters have rejected any election and want to install an appointed ‘people’s council’ to change the electoral system and bring in reforms to weaken Thaksin’s sway. ‘This won’t end easily, and the turnout today is impressive, so it seems this deadlock looks set to continue,’ said Sukum Nuansakul, a political analyst and former dean at Bangkok’s Ramkhamhaeng University.
‘Don’t ask me how long this occupation will last,’ protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban said in a speech to supporters carried by the movement’s BlueSky television channel. ‘We will not stop until we win.’
The turmoil is the latest chapter in an eight-year conflict pitting Bangkok’s middle class and royalist establishment against the mostly poorer, rural supporters of Yingluck and her self-exiled brother, billionaire ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
Thaksin was ousted by the army in 2006 and sentenced to jail in absentia for abuse of power in 2008, but the former telecoms tycoon looms large over Thai politics and is the dominant force behind his sister’s administration from his home in Dubai. In a bid to end the unrest, Yingluck called a snap election for 2 February, but Suthep has rejected the poll, which the prime minister’s Puea Thai Party would probably win.
As the blockade began to bite, Yingluck invited the protest leaders and political parties to a meeting on Wednesday to discuss an Election Commision proposal to postpone the vote, according to a senior aide of the prime minister.
The stock exchange SETI rose on the hint of a compromise, ending 2.2 per cent higher. But the protesters have rejected any election and want to install an appointed ‘people’s council’ to change the electoral system and bring in reforms to weaken Thaksin’s sway. ‘This won’t end easily, and the turnout today is impressive, so it seems this deadlock looks set to continue,’ said Sukum Nuansakul, a political analyst and former dean at Bangkok’s Ramkhamhaeng University.
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