Bangkok Breaking News – January 27, 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 (body responsible for applying the ISA)
CMPO: Center for Maintaining Peace and Order (responsible body for the State of Emergency that has been in effect since January 22)
ISA: Internal Security Act (emergency law that gives the police certain powers; applies throughout Bangkok; less strict than the Emergency Decree)
DSI: Department of Special Investigation (the Thai FBI)
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)

Foreign Affairs travel advice

Travelers are advised to avoid central Bangkok as much as possible, to exercise vigilance, to stay away from gatherings and demonstrations, and to monitor local media coverage daily of where demonstrations are taking place.

State of emergency

Thirteen government buildings, buildings of state-owned companies and independent offices, including courts, are 'No Entry' for the population. These are Government House, parliament, Ministry of Interior, Chaeng Wattana government complex, Cat Telecom Company on Chaeng Wattana road, TOT Plc, Thaicom satellite station and office, Aeronautical Radio of Thailand Ltd, the Police Club.

Twenty-five roads also fall under this prohibition, but that only applies to persons who 'have a tendency to cause trouble'. These roads are: Ratchasima, Phitsanulok and roads around the Government House and Parliament, Rama I, Ratchadaphisek, Sukhumvit from Nana intersection to Soi Sukhumvit 19, Ratchavithi from Tukchai intersection to Din Daeng Triangle, Lat Phrao from Lat Phrao intersection to the Kamphaengphet intersection, Chaeng Wattana road and a bridge, Rama 8, which is occupied by the Dhamma Army.

[The above lists are taken from the website of Bangkok Post; the lists in Saturday's newspaper deviated from that. The Emergency Ordinance consists of 10 measures. The above two measures are effective immediately.]

Where should tourists stay away?

• Pathumwan
• Ratchapra song
• Silom (Lumpini Park)
• Latphrao
• Sew
• Victory Memorial

and also at:

• The government complex on Chaeng Wattana Road
• Phan Fa Bridge on Ratchadamnoen Avenue
• Chamai Maruchet Bridge–Phitsanulok Road

The locations are indicated on the attached map:  http://t.co/YqVsqcNFbs

Latest news

16:27 He said it earlier on Friday and now he's repeating it again. Action leader Suthep Thaugsuban says in an interview with Bangkok Post that the protest movement will not block the elections next Sunday. “We are campaigning for the polling stations, but we are not blocking the elections. Voters may have difficulty getting in. The main aim of the PDRC is to prevent the government from proceeding with these elections.' [During the primaries last Sunday, 83 polling stations were blocked despite Suthep's statement on Friday (pictured).]

14:33 No negotiations. Action leader Suthep Thaugsuban is unyielding. There are no negotiations with the CMPO about evacuating the protest locations, making government buildings inaccessible. The CMPO has issued an ultimatum of three days.

"Demonstrators at all locations will certainly not negotiate," Suthep said tonight. “Don't waste your time trying to contact us, because we're not talking to you. We will continue our protest until government officials are no longer a plaything of the Thaksin regime and are harming the country.”

Suthep asked his supporters to resist any eviction with bare hands and not to bring any weapons. He gave the CMPO one day to close 'because it is confusing the population and the center is unable to keep the peace'. If the CMPO remains open, he will lay siege to it tomorrow.

CMPO director Chalerm Yubamrung has warned that police will remove and arrest demonstrators in three days. Violence is not used, he says. "This is not a threat, but a warning 72 hours in advance."

Today, negotiators went to the protest site on Chaeng Wattana Road to move protest leader and monk Buddha Issara to clear the site, specifically the entrance to the Consular Office, preventing Thais from collecting their passports. It is not yet known whether this was successful.

09:55 Indefensible, a clear act of unlawful and improper conduct by Thais against fellow Thais. This is what the editors-in-chief of Bangkok Post the blockades of the polling places yesterday. The newspaper subtly points out that action leader Suthep said on Friday that he would not block the elections. "But that promise is quickly forgotten."

09:48 Thirty companies that help the protest movement with funds, vehicles and tents must immediately stop doing so. The CMPO says they are violating Penal Code, Emergency Ordinance and Anti-Money Laundering Act.

09:43 The DSI has asked the court to issue an arrest warrant against sixteen protest leaders for violating the emergency ordinance. One of the sixteen is action leader Suthep Thaugsuban, who already had an arrest warrant for rebellion. DSI head Tarit Pengdith has been summoned to explain the request this afternoon.

09:38 The police will end the siege of government buildings by protesters within 72 hours. CMPO director Chalerm Yubamrung says there will be no harsh action because no weapons are involved. If demonstrators have not packed their bags by then, they will be arrested. The emergency ordinance provides for this.

09:28 Ten people have been killed and 571 injured since anti-government protests began in late October, data from the municipal Erawan Center said. The first fatality occurred on November 30 in fighting around the Ramkhamhaeng stadium, where a red shirt rally was held. The last Sunday at a polling place. There, a protest leader of the NSPRT was shot dead.

08:12 Making a bomb is a piece of cake thanks to the internet. Those with a bad mind will find instructions for use for molotov cocktails, ping pong bombs and giant firecrackers. The police therefore warns the demonstrators that they not only run the risk of being bombarded by a professional grenade, but also by an IED (improvised explosive device).

Information can be found on the internet about eleven different types of IED. For example, a ping pong bomb: that is a table tennis ball filled with gunpowder, or a Molotov cocktail: a sealed bottle with petrol and a fuse. How to make gunpowder is also explained in detail. The firecrackers (giant firecrackers) are filled with nails and shards of glass.

The demonstrators have already become acquainted with some projectiles. On December 29, five guards were injured, one seriously, when such a firecracker was thrown at them. On January 16, the NSPRT heard the sound of firecrackers. And there have also been grenade attacks and shelling. The latest fatality occurred yesterday at a polling station.

The police cannot do much about the internet information; all that remains is to search visitors. Nets have been hung on the Chaeng Wattanaweg that are supposed to stop grenades.

07:42 The Yingluck government is struggling; not only has the PDRC paralyzed part of Bangkok, but she also feels the hot breath of the farmers on her neck. Many farmers have not yet seen a penny for the rice, which they have handed in under the mortgage system for rice and for which they receive a guaranteed price.

The blockade of the Asian Highway by XNUMX farmers from Ang Thong ended yesterday after the governor promised them on behalf of the government that they would be paid by Friday. The government is trying to take out a loan [which it is not allowed to because it is outgoing] from a bank whose name is not disclosed, in case protesters start besieging the bank. State Secretary Yanyong Phuangrach, on the other hand, says that the farmers will be paid within a month.

The mortgage system [actually a subsidy program] was an election pledge of Pheu Thai that won many farmers' votes in 2011. The farmers receive a price that is 40 percent above the market price. The silos are now overflowing, because Thai rice is too expensive. Thailand lost its position as the world's largest rice exporter in 2012. This year, there is also a large supply of rice on the world market.

In Buri Ram, farmers demonstrated against the elections yesterday at a polling station and blocked highway 226. The money spent on the elections, 3,8 billion baht, should go to the farmers, they say. In Buri Ram alone, five thousand farmers are waiting for a total of 4 billion baht.

A legal process is being prepared with the support of the Lawyers Council of Thailand. The farmers demand payment plus interest. Many have had to take out loans from loan sharks to stay afloat. Excluding interest, this is 130 billion baht.

07:25 The shop and residence of the PDRC leader in Ratchaburi province was shelled last night. The police found ten bullet holes in the steel roller door of the building. Last week, the local PDRC department under his leadership besieged the Province House. That could explain the shooting, but it could also be related to the protests against a project on the Mae Klong River.

07:00 The CMPO will summon a group of actors and actresses who support the protest movement for questioning. According to Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul, adviser to the CMPO, they have violated the emergency regulation by criticizing the government on the protest movement's platforms. One of the actors immediately hit back by posting a portrait of Surapong with two horns on his Instagram.

Surapong warns protesters not to besiege the office of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defense. Prime Minister Yingluck has found temporary shelter in that office because she cannot go to her own office in Government House. When demonstrators show up, they are immediately handcuffed, Surapong threatens.

Action leader Suthep Thaugsuban has announced the siege of CMPO headquarters. The CMPO uses the office of the Narcotics Suppression Bureau.

06:36 “The protesters are using their right to demonstrate. Why can't I use my right to vote?' This noted Bangkok Post from the mouth of a woman from Roi Et, who wanted to vote in Chatuchak polling place yesterday, but was stopped by demonstrators.

At some polling stations it came to 'chaos', as the newspaper writes. In Don Muang, protesters cursed the district electoral commission. The deputy director of the district office, where the polling station was housed, was allegedly attacked by an angry woman. 'We want elections', the voters shouted and some broke into the district office to look for the director.

At the district office in Bang Khunthian, 500 pro-election protesters gathered and 300 disgruntled voters began to block the Rama II. In Sai Mai, 300 people blocked a road and XNUMX voters demonstrated in Prawet.

In Nonthaburi, Bangkok's neighboring province, elections went smoothly. No blockades of polling stations here.

The police were busy yesterday taking reports of people who could not vote. In the Phahon Yothin bureau, there were already 110 declarations.