Bangkok Breaking News – January 15, 2014
On this page we will keep you informed about Bangkok Shutdown. The posts are in reverse chronological order. The latest news is therefore at the top. Times in bold are Dutch time. In Thailand it is 6 hours later.
Common abbreviations
UDD: United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (red shirts)
Capo: Center for the Administration of Peace and Order (the body responsible for security policy)
ISA: Internal Security Act (emergency law that gives the police certain powers; applies throughout Bangkok; less strict than the Emergency Decree)
PDRC: People's Democratic Reform Committee (headed by Suthep Thaugsuban, ex-opposition Democrat MP)
NSPRT: Network of Students and People for Reform of Thailand (radical protest group)
Pefot: People's Force to Overthrow Thaksinism (ditto)
18:09 International tourists are not yet avoiding Thailand, but are avoiding Bangkok. They take a transit flight to popular destinations such as Phuket, Koh Samui, Krabi, Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai, or they book a direct flight to Phuket or Chiang Mai. Thai AirAsia's passenger volume is shrinking, but the airline is still doing well. However, the number of reservations is decreasing.
17: 20 All ministries and government services must be closed before the end of the week. That is the assignment that action leader Suthep gave to his supporters on Wednesday evening. Suthep said he is confident the government will leave before the scheduled elections on February 2. According to him, more and more civil servants stop working and support the PDRC. After all government offices have been closed, it is the turn of the cabinet members' homes.
Suthep called on the NSPRT to abandon the siege of Aerothai and the Stock Exchange, and asked Luang Pu Buddha Issara, who is in charge of the Chaeng Wattana Road site, to relinquish his leadership and become an advisor to the PDRC. "I don't want him to be accused of rebellion like myself."
Suthep praised (90 percent of) the media with the exception of Thai-language newspapers Mathichon en Khao Sod and Channel 3 TV presenter Sorayuth Sutassanachinda, whom he accused of being pro-government. He threatened to mobilize protesters to surround the studio and ask him to meet. 'Do not worry. We're not setting fire to Channel 3, we just want to visit them.'
16:50 If it is Sahara Srisawad, Bangkok Shutdown may last another year. His income has increased by 30 to 40 percent. Sahare is a motorcycle taxi driver and they are doing good business at the moment. Take Take Oun (34). He has already saved 200.000 baht for his son and with a bit of luck he can make his dream come true: a pick-up truck. He normally works in Taling Chan and earns 1.000 baht a day; now he works in Ratchadamnoen and at Siam Center and makes 5.000 to 6.000 baht a day. But he does work long hours: from 7 am to late at night.
15:13 Former massage parlor owner Chuwit Kamolvisit and leader of the small party Rak Thailand is always good for some commotion. He also took care of this today at the beginning of a meeting with seventy organizations that the government had organized. Only item on the agenda: should the elections go ahead? Chuwit got up, said it was pointless to continue because protest leader Suthep and opposition leader Abhisit were missing, and left the room.
There is little to report about the meeting itself. Everyone rode their hobbyhorse and of course the elections had to go ahead.
An interesting statement came from Sonthi Boonyaratglin, leader of the Matubhum party and of the 2006 military coup that overthrew Thaksin: The commanders of the armed forces will not stage a coup. “The best solution to the problem is to abide by the law. All parties need to talk to each other so that the country can move forward. And more importantly, politics must be reformed, because the current problems are caused by politicians.'
12:01 Protest leader Seri Wongmontha spewed his bile about foreigners during a speech on the Asok stage on Tuesday afternoon. He had just been interviewed by a reporter from the British TV channel Channel 4 and apparently did not like his critical questions. "Do they think we're stupid?" Seri raged. It is a proven fact that people with yellow skin are smarter than people with white skin. Thais who study abroad get better grades than their classmates.'
05: 40 That's a pity: if you want to close a ministry and the ministry itself has already closed its doors. Demonstrators noticed this today when they arrived at the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security. The ministry had been closed since Tuesday evening, according to a sign.
Perhaps other protesters will have more success. They are on their way to the office of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation. Furthermore, protesters have gathered at the Ministry of Energy; they go in vehicles to the minister's house in Huai Khwang. Yet another group walks to the headquarters of the Royal Thai Police.
05:31 Bangkok's public transport company reports that the number of travelers has decreased by 58 percent: from 3,1 million per day to 1,8 million. The number of passengers on the ferry service on the Saen Saeb canal has fallen by 15 percent and on the Chao Phraya river by 10 percent. The subway, on the other hand, is doing good business. BTS: plus 27 percent (from 670.000 to 925.000 per day), MRT: plus 20 percent (260.000 to 324.750 per day). Thai Airways International reports no delays
05:14 A garbage man and a woman were injured by gunfire shortly before midnight on Tuesday at the main stage of the PDRC in Pathumwan. The man was hit in the ankle and suffered head injuries. The woman was hit in the right arm.
According to ex-MP Kuldej Puapattanakul, shots were fired from BTS station Ratchathewi several times. That went on for 20 minutes. A Bangkok Postreporter says he heard gunshots until 3am. There is a video clip of the shooting: http://youtu.be/3RyIlC166vo.
05:06 Today, a meeting is being held about a possible postponement of the elections, but four main players are missing: protest movement PDRC, opposition party Democrats, the UDD and the Electoral Council, which, of all things, has given the initiative.
Prime Minister Yingluck has invited seventy representatives of various groups to the meeting. Most of those present support the elections, or so it is expected. The meeting will therefore result in pressure on the Electoral Council to allow the elections to take place on 2 February.
The Electoral Council has invited Yingluck for an interview tomorrow. The council will send its secretary-general to the meeting today to eavesdrop.
Opposition leader Abhisit calls the meeting pointless. “No one wants to be Mrs Yingluck's tool anymore. She has no right to organize the discussion because she has said that she is not authorized to organize the elections.' The UDD opposes postponement.
04: 14 The rivals are gearing up for a battle of attrition. That's what it calls Bangkok Post in an analysis of the current situation. The PDRC is getting desperate and the government is trying to ignore the provocations.
Action leader Suthep Thaugsuban said yesterday that the PDRC will close all government buildings in the coming days and threatened to take the prime minister and all cabinet members "into custody".
According to him, the government has offered a postponement of the elections in exchange for an end to the Bangkok Shutdown. “But we will continue the fight. When we don't win, we don't stop. We're not going home empty-handed.'
The demand remains: resignation of the cabinet, a neutral interim prime minister and the formation of a 'People's Council' to bring about national reforms.
For the time being, the government is sticking to elections on February 2 and Yingluck has no intention of resigning. The Electoral Council is calling for a postponement. Minister Chaturon Chaisaeng (Education) fears that a military coup may become inevitable, because a compromise with the PDRC seems unlikely. "But that [coup] sets the country back decades."
According to the newspaper, the government's position is increasingly precarious because officials at various ministries no longer listen to it. The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health has already publicly expressed his support for the protesters.
A group of army officers, known as Burapha Payak (Tigers of the East), which also includes army commander Prayuth Chan-ocha, is said to be behind Suthep. Even the red shirts seem weak in their resistance to the PDRC.
03:26 Call it a 'violent night' Bangkok Post the Tuesday evening. An explosive device was thrown at the house of opposition leader Abhisit shortly before midnight. No one was injured. The roof of the house was damaged and windows shattered. Abhisit and family were not present. The police have already released four suspects who were arrested.
Shots were fired from a building near the Hua Chang Bridge in Ratchathewi around midnight. Two people, one of whom was a PDRC security guard, were injured.
At night in Nang Loeng a bus from Phatthalung was set on fire. Demonstrators from that province had come to Bangkok by bus on Sunday. The bus was parked at the rally location of the NSPRT.
A bomb attack on the home of former Democratic MP Rangsima Rodrassamee in Samut Songkhram damaged only the entrance gate and around the fence. Rangsima was not at home; she is in bangkok.
Shortly before midnight yesterday, fireworks were fired at Government House. And later, some tear gas grenades landed between NSPRT and PDRC protesters on Ratchadamnoen Avenue. Ten people were introduced to the pungent gas.
In Ban Pong (Ratchaburi), fireworks were thrown at the house of the local PDRC leader. No one was injured. The leader and her family were asleep at the time.
This doesn't look very good for the future of Thailand and certainly not for us (farangs) who live here. A military coup is becoming inevitable if this continues, otherwise it will end in a civil war. Apparently the army is also divided into two camps, supporters of Suthep (and in the north and northeast of Yingluck.)
Elections must go ahead this is democracy , the winner in power and not a dictator enthroning himself .
Dear John
I think that the situation has little or no influence on the living environment of foreigners. It wasn't like that a few years ago with the red shirt demonstrations in Rachaprasong.
According to my information, the following is happening. The army will not intervene as long as the demonstrations are not violent. This is implicitly an attack on the Yingluck government, which would like the army to help maintain order. The military hardly ever does. That work is left to the police, who then also get the black piet if something goes wrong. The army is literally and figuratively unaffected.
The red shirts are in a stalemate. Advancing to Bangkok and battling the Suthep supporters not only means the military steps in (and deposes the government of the 'darling of the nation') but also blames them for the disturbances. The military will say it couldn't do anything else.
Actually, the battle is between Suthep and Thaksin. Thaksin has suffered many defeats in recent months (amnesty law, senate election, foreign contract law, dissolution of parliament) but Suthep wants to see him on his knees and take away his power. We are waiting for Thaksin to give his sister permission to step down. That Volksraad will not come and Suthep's role will also be played out on stage. The army will take care of that. They are pro reforms but not pro Suthep personally.
However, a more honorable way to step down is looming on the horizon. If Yingluck (and also a few other ministers and deputy ministers such as Nattawut) are indicted tomorrow (by the anti-corruption commission) for fraud in rice, (the government) Yingluck will most likely resign. She can then leave without Suthep winning.
This is also the case with Mrs Yingluck's brother-in-law, former Prime Minister Somchai. Despite all the demonstrations, he did not want to leave (he even used the same terms as: “I have to defend democracy”), but when his party was dissolved by the judge, he had to resign. Yingluck therefore knows the scenario from close by.
I wonder what those questions to Seri were that he reacted so stupidly. Says enough about such a man, of course. There are few accountable people left to take a seat in parliament. The Shinawatra's, Suthep and Seri, for example, already drop out by definition (their statements, actions or lack thereof says enough). Very unfortunate of course for the ordinary Thai and the country as a whole. It is not really surprising if you follow the (political) news here on TB, but it is still regrettable and frustrating.
@Chris 9h36: Nice contribution.
Go check it out on you tube, I almost fell off my chair.
I'm back home, I can't watch videos at work but I googled a bit and came across this video on BP:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/389708/protest-leader-seri-wongmontha-accused-of-anti-foreigner-slur
Direct link to the video “Onstage interview with Dr Seri Wongmontha”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1gF5QLOFoM
Well, what can you say about that? ….
What to say about that? That man is clueless…
Indeed, that is obvious. His first few answers about what they want now are still quite nice in terms of content (the tone, however, has already been worked up), but as soon as he starts about that a little corruption (by Gelen) is okay, and that the journalist "does not understand Thailand / protests" must as a spectator you wonder why that man can be on stage... It's a pity that the alleged racist statements are not on tape. Think he would have literally exploded if the journalist had responded with the question “look at the state of Thai education, shouldn't something be done about it?”.
So it's all okay. You soon have some skirmishes.
There will be elections on February 2, then the THai will also speak outside Bangkok, after that there must be a broad coalition, the Prime Minister will then be from the largest party. Just a democratic process, the parties that do not participate are then on the sidelines.
I'm back in town! Taxi taken through top arrivals hall! Via hyway even earlier than usual in my hotel near khao san! Busy here as usual!…no problems….even the weather is nice again!