BANGKOK: Thailand's government has warned people to stay away from protest sites and rallies for their own safety as an elite squad of police commandos prepared to arrest top anti-government protesters.
The government broadcast the warning on national television, saying it has to tighten security to prevent clashes between rival groups squared off in the capital as the country's political crisis deepens.
''We would like to warn all Thais to stay away from the protest sites as we have to tighten our security forces in a bid to avert a crisis,'' said Tharit Pengdit, chief of the Department of Special Investigation, Thailand's equivalent of the FBI.
Australia's smartraveller.gov.au advisory was upgraded late last week to warn Australians to avoid large-scale gatherings in the country.
Foreign tourists, including Australians, have often being seen mingling among people at protest rallies despite 72 attacks in the capital since anti-government protesters took to the streets last November, leaving 26 people dead and hundreds injured.
The latest attacks have involved use of M79 grenade launchers.
Mr Tharit said police commandos are ready to arrest 14 core protest leaders wanted for treason, including Suthep Thaugsuban, a former deal-making politician who is threatening to install his own prime minister and administration if the government is not toppled by today, Monday.
The police operation will commerce immediately after a court hears a request to indict the men at the request of the Attorney-General's office, Mr Tharit said.
The operation to be carried out by the Arintharat Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit is likely to lead to clashes and injuries because the targets of the arrest warrants are constantly surrounded by armed guards, he said.
Government leaders have often said during six months of political upheaval they would move to arrest Mr Suthep, who is also facing multiple murder charges over bloodshed in 2010.
But instead he has being feted by senior bureaucrats despite his protesters besieging their offices.
Police for months failed to act on previous warrants issued for his arrest.
On Saturday soldiers gave Suthep permission to occupy an office at Government House, the country's seat of power, where he said he plans to hold talks and press conferences.
Tensions in the capital have escalated since Thailand's first woman prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra was forced from office on Wednesday by Constitutional Court judges who ruled she abused her power by demoting a security official after winning a landslide election in 2011.
Her enraged supporters described the ruling as a judicial coup orchestrated by power establishment figures in Bangkok.
Cabinet ministers have appointed an interim prime minister Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan, who has urged calm and vowed to push ahead for elections on July 20.
Mr Suthep has been demanding the judiciary, Election Commission and acting speaker of the Senate nominate a new prime minister to replace Mr Niwattumrong and send his name for royal endorsement.
But the demand has been criticised by the powerful military, senior government figures and some judges as unconstitutional.
Military commanders expressed their opposition to the demand after an audience with Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, heir to 86-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
The military, which has staged 18 coups or attempted coups since the 1930s, again denied rumors spreading in social media that an army general was preparing soldiers and equipment to mount an imminent coup.
Army deputy spokesman Winthai Sunwaree warned people against believing reports which he said were not backed up by facts.
The crisis is the latest chapter in a years-long struggle for power that in broad terms pits two groups of Thai elite against each other, one backed by Bangkok's conservative and royalist establishment and the other backed by mostly rural supporters of Ms Yingluck and her elder brother Thaksin Shinawatra, a former prime minister and billionaire tycoon who lives in exile to avoid a jail sentence for corruption.
The government broadcast the warning on national television, saying it has to tighten security to prevent clashes between rival groups squared off in the capital as the country's political crisis deepens.
''We would like to warn all Thais to stay away from the protest sites as we have to tighten our security forces in a bid to avert a crisis,'' said Tharit Pengdit, chief of the Department of Special Investigation, Thailand's equivalent of the FBI.
Australia's smartraveller.gov.au advisory was upgraded late last week to warn Australians to avoid large-scale gatherings in the country.
Foreign tourists, including Australians, have often being seen mingling among people at protest rallies despite 72 attacks in the capital since anti-government protesters took to the streets last November, leaving 26 people dead and hundreds injured.
The latest attacks have involved use of M79 grenade launchers.
Mr Tharit said police commandos are ready to arrest 14 core protest leaders wanted for treason, including Suthep Thaugsuban, a former deal-making politician who is threatening to install his own prime minister and administration if the government is not toppled by today, Monday.
The police operation will commerce immediately after a court hears a request to indict the men at the request of the Attorney-General's office, Mr Tharit said.
The operation to be carried out by the Arintharat Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit is likely to lead to clashes and injuries because the targets of the arrest warrants are constantly surrounded by armed guards, he said.
Government leaders have often said during six months of political upheaval they would move to arrest Mr Suthep, who is also facing multiple murder charges over bloodshed in 2010.
But instead he has being feted by senior bureaucrats despite his protesters besieging their offices.
Police for months failed to act on previous warrants issued for his arrest.
On Saturday soldiers gave Suthep permission to occupy an office at Government House, the country's seat of power, where he said he plans to hold talks and press conferences.
Tensions in the capital have escalated since Thailand's first woman prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra was forced from office on Wednesday by Constitutional Court judges who ruled she abused her power by demoting a security official after winning a landslide election in 2011.
Her enraged supporters described the ruling as a judicial coup orchestrated by power establishment figures in Bangkok.
Cabinet ministers have appointed an interim prime minister Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan, who has urged calm and vowed to push ahead for elections on July 20.
Mr Suthep has been demanding the judiciary, Election Commission and acting speaker of the Senate nominate a new prime minister to replace Mr Niwattumrong and send his name for royal endorsement.
But the demand has been criticised by the powerful military, senior government figures and some judges as unconstitutional.
Military commanders expressed their opposition to the demand after an audience with Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, heir to 86-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
The military, which has staged 18 coups or attempted coups since the 1930s, again denied rumors spreading in social media that an army general was preparing soldiers and equipment to mount an imminent coup.
Army deputy spokesman Winthai Sunwaree warned people against believing reports which he said were not backed up by facts.
The crisis is the latest chapter in a years-long struggle for power that in broad terms pits two groups of Thai elite against each other, one backed by Bangkok's conservative and royalist establishment and the other backed by mostly rural supporters of Ms Yingluck and her elder brother Thaksin Shinawatra, a former prime minister and billionaire tycoon who lives in exile to avoid a jail sentence for corruption.
'Police for months failed to act on previous warrants issued for his arrest.' Yes, this should have happened months ago.
Posted by Anonymous on May 12, 2014 12:59