Friday, 17 April 2009

Emergency Measures Remain In Thailand After Clashes

RTTNews
Thursday April 16, 2009

(RTTNews) - Wednesday, Thailand maintained a state of emergency across Bangkok to ensure security, a day after combat troops cracked down on large-scale anti-government protests that left two dead and plunged the kingdom into chaos, reports say.

The government said troops would remain on the streets despite red-shirted protesters of exiled ex-premier Thaksin Shinwantara calling off their demonstrations Tuesday and authorities arresting three protest leaders besides issuing warrants for Shinawatra and other leaders over the bloody street battles.

"The situation is under control. The government will keep watching the situation and monitor the movements of leaders who are not in detention," an official spokesman said, adding that the prime minister wants to lift the state of emergency as soon as he can because he does not want to affect business.

Earlier Tuesday, a court in Bangkok issued arrest warrants for exiled ex-premier Thaksin Shinwantara and 13 leaders of United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), charging them with inciting thousands of demonstrators who staged a three-week rally at Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's offices to demand his resignation.

The protest escalated with the storming of a regional summit on the coast last weekend, forcing its closure, before a bloody showdown in Bangkok between demonstrators and troops.

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