News from Thailand – February 17, 2014

World Press Photo 2013, first prize in the 'Daily Life Single' category. March 15, Burma. Fighters of the Kachin Independence Army, an ethnic minority from northern Kachin province, drink at the funeral of one of their leaders. Photo Julius Schrank (Germany) / De Volkskrant. This year, 98.671 photos were submitted by 5.703 photographers from 130 different nationalities. All winners are here .

– The online passport registration system will be operational again today, after the plug was pulled on Friday because the police wanted to evacuate the protest location on Chaeng Wattanaweg that day. The Consular Affairs Department is located in the government complex on that road. To make up for the backlog of 4.000 passports, passport offices across the country will remain open an hour longer.

Those who are not in a hurry and do not use their passport within 20 days have been asked to arrive after that time. The service advises travelers to apply for a passport 40 days before the planned travel date.

The online connection may be lost again if the police try to clear the blocked road in front of the government complex today. A temporary passport office has been opened at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre. But that office can only process 600 passports a day.

– The rumor mill has run at full speed again around the ONET exam of Mathayom 6 students of the Rajavinitbangkhen school in Laksi (Bangkok). All students would have received an unsatisfactory mark for the subject of English because a mobile phone rang during the exam.

Nice - or actually not a nice - story, but the fork is different. Ten minutes before the end of the exam, a cell phone that a student had left under his chair rang. The invigilator brought it out.

The exam, which was conducted nationwide over two days, determines whether a student is admitted to university. Parents who have money know a second route.

– The brother of a local politician in Trang was found dead behind his home in Yan Ta Khao yesterday. He had been shot four times in the back. The politician is a member of Trang Provincial Council.

– I have not mentioned it before, but a grenade attack also took place outside Bangkok, namely Friday evening in Klaeng (Rayong). Four demonstrators of the anti-government movement were injured and several cars and motorcycles were damaged. The grenade was thrown from a passing pickup truck. Police are reviewing CCTV footage to identify the perpetrators.

– Last year 13,4 million baht worth of electrical equipment and wiring was stolen along highways, the Highways Department announced. They were pushed back in 234 places. The loot consisted of transformers (44), electrical appliances, wires (17.449 meters) and distribution boxes. A year earlier, the counter was 25 million baht higher, so we are moving in the right direction.

– A food vendor has died after being hit by two wheels that came loose from a truck. This curious accident occurred at an exit from the Bang Na-Trat highway in Bang Pakong (Chachoengsao). The wheels were found 10 meters from the body. The truck driver did not stop.

---

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)

---

Bangkok shutdown

– Will the final battle between demonstrators and police take place today? Action leader Suthep Thaugsuban said last night that he would lead 'my brothers and the people' in the defense of Government House. Suthep responded to CMPO's plans this week to evacuate five protest locations, including Government House, with a heavy hand if necessary.

The protest movement is determined not to give up Government House. As one leader puts it: "The government is no longer authorized to govern the country since it rejected a ruling by the Constitutional Court." He expects the final showdown on Monday. At half past seven this morning a group of demonstrators left the Pathumwan location towards Government House.

– Ten times the police have already consulted with demonstrators and asked them to leave and now it is enough, says CMPO director Chalerm Yubamrung. Five locations will be evacuated this week. If it can't be done right away, then right away, he threatens. When the guards, who he says are armed, resist, the police can use weapons to defend themselves.

It concerns the following locations:

• The Government House and its surroundings including the Oratai Bridge, Chamaimaruchet Bridge and Suan Miksawan Junction. Officials cannot reach their offices due to the blockade.
• Chaeng Wattana Road. Protest leaders Luang Pu Buddha Issara are asked to leave; if not, he can expect severe legal action.
• Ratchadamnoen Avenue between Makkhawan Bridge and Phan Fa Bridge.
• The demonstrators at the Ministry of the Interior are asked to leave.
• The area near the Ministry of Energy because the protesters are harassing local residents.

Chalerm says that the demonstrators at these locations should leave for the PDRC locations: Pathuwan and Lumpini. The newspaper makes no mention of Asok and Silom.

Chalerm's threatening language, which appeared in a message on the website yesterday, is completely absent from today's newspaper report. Now the newspaper quotes Chalerm as saying, “The operation to retake the protest sites is not a protest termination, but a request to the demonstrators to allow people access to areas that all Thais are allowed to share. Traffic that is currently blocked can then return to normal and the government can resume its work in Government House.” Not a word in the message about 'final showdown' either.

[How can there be such a big difference in reporting between website and newspaper? Are there perhaps two Chalerms? Or have the reporters of Bangkok Post a big thumb?]

– Protest leader Luang Pu Buddha Issara at the Chaeng Wattanaweg location and the police have agreed to form a panel that will discuss ending the protest this week so that the government complex will be accessible.

Yesterday, the monk and Commissioner Nares Nanthachote spoke via video link for 45 minutes. The monk did not want to receive the police because an arrest warrant is pending against him. Nares also did not want to come in civilian clothes, because he could be accused of dereliction of duty if he did not apprehend the monk.

The panel consists of representatives of the police, military and the guards of the Chaeng Wattana stage. Nares suggested the formation of the panel because the location has been attacked several times in recent weeks. The monk referred to previous contacts with the police about eviction as intimidation, which were not negotiations. "We don't block the road, all vehicles are allowed to pass."

Elections

– Nitirat, a group of 'enlightened' law teachers at Thammasat University, calls on the Electoral Council not to put the problem of re-election in 28 constituencies in the South on the government's plate. Those districts could not vote for a district candidate because protesters thwarted their registration in December. Strictly speaking, therefore, elections still have to be held.

Nitirat spokesman Worachet Pakeerut also believes that the dates set by the Electoral Council for the re-election of the January 26 primaries and the 10.284 polling stations that did not open on February 2 are too late. They will be held on April 20, 26 and 27.

Worachet points out that Article 127 of the constitution requires the House of Representatives to meet within 30 days of an election. According to Worachet, the Electoral Council's argument that previous re-elections can lead to mass protests and confusion is a figment of the imagination.

The postponement to April, according to another member of Nitirat, could also amount to a violation of the Penal Code and be considered neglect of duty. The Electoral Council's demand that the government should issue a new Royal Decree for the 28 constituencies has no legal basis in the constitution, argues Piyabut Saengkanokkul. Piyabut blames the Electoral Council for not extending the registration period in December. He calls passing the problem on to the government 'passing the buck'.

– Today the Electoral Council is talking to the government about the re-elections. The newspaper considers it unlikely that they will agree. Ruling party Pheu and the government maintain their position; Pheu Thai is ready to take legal action against the Electoral Council.

Pheu Thai spokesman Prompong Nopparit added fuel to the fire yesterday. He said only Electoral Commissioner Somchai Srisuthiyakorn comes to the talk. "That makes any solution unlikely."

I will leave the rest of the message unmentioned. It's all about whether the government should issue a second Royal Decree for re-election in the 28 southern constituencies. The Electoral Council wants that, the government does not. So the Constitutional Court will be allowed to tie the knot.

www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post

Editorial notice

The Bangkok Breaking News section has been canceled and will only be resumed if there is reason to do so.

Bangkok Shutdown and the elections in images and sound:

www.thailandblog.nl/nieuws/videos-bangkok-shutdown-en-de-keuzeen/