News from Thailand – December 23, 2013
27 people were injured in a heavy bomb attack in Sadao (Songkhla) yesterday. Four are in critical condition.
The bomb exploded at the Oliver hotel in the heart of the tourist area of Ban Dannok. The hotel, twenty shops and entertainment venues were damaged by the car bomb. The popular Paragon entertainment complex caught fire, as did nine cars. Tourists from Malaysia hurriedly fled.
Later in the afternoon, after bomb experts defused two explosive devices, a bomb exploded in a motorcycle near Padang Besar police station and another in the parking lot of Sadao station. There were no injuries.
The attacks came as a bit of a surprise to the authorities as Sadao had been quiet lately. The police cites the seizure of goods on which no tax was paid during the past months as a possible reason.
Bombs were found in a stolen pickup truck at the Phuket police station yesterday. Bomb experts managed to defuse them. It is the first time that a suspected car bomb has been found in Phuket. The authorities fear that the insurgents will try to shift their territory from the deep South to other southern provinces.
– An unexpectedly large number of demonstrators went yesterday to Yothin Pattana Soi 3, the street where Prime Minister Yingluck lives (photo home page). The protest movement previously announced that it had mobilized 400 people, but it turned out to be 3.000.
Early in the morning, the demonstrators encountered a police cordon of hundreds of officers, barbed wire and two police vehicles, but as more demonstrators arrived, they managed to march on to the Prime Minister's house. Some protesters forced their way into a parking lot next to the residence, where police were stationed. A scuffle ensued.
From a safe distance, on the train from Udon Thani to Nong Khai, Prime Minister Yingluck followed the events through the images of the surveillance cameras around the house. Deputy Prime Minister Pracha Promnok, who accompanied her, said police had withdrawn to avoid clashes with the demonstrators.
The newspaper recalls that in March 2010 red shirts besieged the home of then Prime Minister Abhisit. They smeared the fence and yard with human blood.
– Prime Minister Yingluck regrets the decision of the opposition party Democrats not to participate in the elections [on February 2]. The prime minister is surprised that the Democrats do not want to participate in the elections, although they want political reform.
How can the country move forward without elections? Elections are a requirement of the constitution. If they do not accept this government, I would urge them to respect the democratic system. We have returned the power to voters to decide the future of the country. When the Democrats refuse to play by the rules and move forward, the government doesn't know what else to do. The power now rests with the voters. If the rule of law is not enforced, unrest can arise.'
– Opposition Democrats will organize a national forum to draw up a 'blueprint of the country' based on public opinion, so that people from all walks of life can agree on the solution of the political impasse.
Chuan Leekpai, adviser to the Democrats and two-time prime minister, said it was ironic that Prime Minister Yingluck called on others to respect the law, while the government itself rejected the Constitutional Court's verdict on the composition of the Senate.
– The police have 300 'troublemakers' in mind. A special team of 140 has been formed to collect evidence against these 'hardline' protesters so that they can be prosecuted and an arrest warrant can be sought against them [in court]. They are suspected of various offenses, including disturbing public order. The police need not hurry, because the offenses have a statute of limitations of 5 to 20 years.
The team is led by Winai Thongsong, the husband of a niece of Prime Minister Thaksin's ex-wife. His second husband is a boyfriend of Thaksin's brother-in-law, former Royal Thai Police Chief Priewpan Damapong.
Winai doesn't mind being called biased because of that family connection. “I only try to prosecute protesters who break the law. That is the job of the police. I am a professional who follows the rules.'
It is suspected that many of Sinai's team work undercover as security guards with the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) or pose as protesters.
According to Winai, XNUMX of the XNUMX are already suspected of wrongdoing during August's protests by rubber farmers in Nakhon Si Thammarat. Then a highway was blocked.
Police say the guards recruited by the PDRC are mainly from the southern provinces of Nakhon Si Thammarat, Surat Thani, Chumphon and Songkhla. They are said to be tasked with provoking riot police and spearheaded the storming of government buildings last month.
– Sixteen Chinese tourists and the driver of a speedboat have only suffered a wet suit (and possibly a cold) after the boat capsized in the high waves off the coast of Phuket. They were rescued by a long-tailed boat.
www.dickvanderlugt.nl – Source: Bangkok Post
See further: It's getting exciting: Protest movement is going to sabotage registration, riding a Red shirts in Loei: Bangkok is not Thailand.
Breaking News Two reporters from channel 9 and channel 3 respectively were attacked by protesters on Sunday afternoon.
Protesters threw water at the Channel 9 reporter's face and pulled her away in an attempt to stop the TV team from parking a reporter's van in front of the Government Lottery Office on Ratchadamnoen Avenue. That office is close to the Democracy Monument, where the main stage of the protest movement is located. The reporter filed a police report.
In front of the city hall, demonstrators threatened a reporter after she had reported live on the demonstration on the roof of the report truck. After the incident, a protest leader took the stage and told the protesters to leave journalists alone.
Breaking News Yingluck Shinawatra is again the leader of the ex-government party Pheu Thai. Number 2 on the national electoral list is Somchai Wongsawat, former prime minister and Yingluck's brother-in-law. This is followed by the names of four cabinet members: the ministers of the Interior, Foreign Affairs, Justice and Employment.
Thirty-five political parties have announced that they will participate in the elections with a national list. The candidates have to register this week, but that will be difficult today because the Thai-Japan stadium, where it will take place, is under siege by demonstrators. Next week it will be the turn of the district candidates.
Yinluck, her brother-in-law, her brother and then there are still NLers who call that democracy.
I enjoy living here and try to restrain the Dutch teacher's finger as much as possible. Hope to meet you all on the 12th of January and agree over some glasses that all that ge OH that we tell each other makes little difference
Merry Christmas and all the best for 2014
Rudy
Rudy, as you write, I hope to meet many at our New Year's reception and discuss it all again over a pint and a laugh.
Breaking News Only 9 of the 34 parties taking part in the elections managed to register today. But they were there early: they arrived in the middle of the night. The other parties saw no chance to enter because of the demonstrators who blocked the entrances of the Thai-Japan stadium. They went straight to the police station to report the incident.
The Electoral Council is not yet planning to move. "We have until December 27," said Electoral Commissioner Somchai Srisuthiyakom. Relocation is only considered when the other parties fail to register.
The first demonstrators arrived on Sunday night. Forty employees of the Electoral Council spent the night in the stadium. They locked the doors so that the demonstrators could not enter.
Breaking News Singha bier's daughter and heiress is adopting a new surname so she can continue her political activities without harming the family's commercial interests. Chitpas Bhirombhakdi (27) is a former spokesperson for the opposition party Democrats and she regularly speaks on the podium of the protest movement.
The name change is reported in an open letter written by her father. Earlier, the patriarch of the Singha family, director of the Boon Rawd Brewery, sent a letter to the father warning of Chitpas' political activities. Chitpas probably takes her mother's maiden name.
Breaking News (Continued) Chitpas Bhirombhakdi's statement that many Thais don't understand what democracy is… especially in rural areas, has gone down the wrong way with red shirt leader Kwanchai Praipana in Khon Kaen. He led XNUMX red shirts to a subsidiary of Singha on Monday afternoon and demanded that Chitpas be called to order over her insulting remarks. Kwanchai also accused the brewer of financially supporting the protest movement and threatened to boycott Singha products. (See also previous Breaking News item)