Wednesday, November 27, 2013 11:02:25 PM
Thai government building evacuated as protesters surround more ministries
Updated Wed 27 Nov 2013, 11:36pm AEDT
Video: Thai protesters surround more government buildings (ABC News)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-27/thai-protesters-surround-more-government-buildings/5121288
Related Story: Thai protesters besiege more government ministries
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-26/an-thai-protesters-besiege-more-govt-ministries/5118182
Related Story: Thai protesters occupy government buildings in Bangkok
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-26/thai-protesters-take-over-government-offices-in-bangkok/5116222
Related Story: Thousands march in Bangkok seeking ousting of PM
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-25/an-thai-anti-government-protesters-march-through-bangkok/5115786
Related Story: Thai capital tense as political rivals rally
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-24/anti-government-protesters-gather-in-bangkok-ahead-of-rally/5113578
Map: Thailand - http://maps.google.com/?q=15,100(Thailand)&z=5
Thailand's Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has been evacuated after about 2,000 protesters surrounded the building on Wednesday.
The department's director general Tharit Pengdit says the evacuation took place after an attempt by protestors to shut down key government buildings and ministries.
The DSI is Thailand's equivalent of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.
It is one of several state offices that demonstrators are targeting in hope of toppling Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's government.
The anti-government protesters, led by former deputy prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban, chanted abuse at the DSI as scores of riot police scrambled to put on helmets and hold up shields as crowds pushed against a low fence.
The DSI shares the compound with important government agencies, including tax, revenue, immigration and land departments.
Some employees were seen leaving their offices and joining the protests.
Ongoing protests
Five ministries in the capital have been evacuated in the past two days and protesters are occupying the Finance Ministry.
About 3,000 people gathered at the Energy Ministry, 700 at the Commerce Ministry and 200 at the Industry Ministry, according to police reports.
Provincial rallies ranged from 20 people in Narathiwat to 4,000 in Surat Thani, Mr Suthep's political base.
Most of the 19 provinces where demonstrators had massed are in the south, a traditional stronghold of the opposition Democrat Party.
But four were in the north and northeast, where former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his family is hugely popular.
The target of Wednesday's rallies was to shut down the bureaucracy to wipe out the "political machine of Thaksin", Mr Suthep said.
The protests, though peaceful, have raised fears of unrest.
Anti-government protest leaders, from all sides, have a tradition in Thailand of trying to provoke a violent crackdown by the government to rob it of its legitimacy.
Anti-government protesters gather outside Thailand's Labour Ministry in Bangkok rallying
to oust Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's government. (Reuters: Athit Perawongmetha )
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-27/thaialnd-protestsjpg/5121292
The DSI recently indicted Mr Suthep and former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva for murder for their alleged role in the deaths of more than 90 people in 2010 in a military crackdown on demonstrations by Thaksin's supporters.
One demonstrator Chattavorn Sangsuwan says while the DSI is "supposed to be an independent organization", it has "not acted neutrally".
"We will finish off what the coup-makers started in 2006. Their job was not complete, Thaksin's influence is still everywhere. We are here to finish the job," he said.
The demonstrations have been going on for weeks but are gaining momentum.
Thaksin: a controversial figure
Such protests are familiar in Thailand, which has seen eight years of on-off turmoil, from crippling street protests to controversial judicial rulings and military intervention, each time with Thaksin at the centre of the disputes.
Despite fleeing into exile to dodge a jail sentence for abuse of power in 2008, Thaksin, a former telecommunications mogul, has loomed large over Thai politics.
He won the support of the rural poor who voted him twice into office, in 2001 and 2005, before he was ousted in a 2006 military coup.
His supporters remain fiercely loyal to him and the parties he backs.
While his opponents are fewer in number, they hold considerable power and influence especially over the urban middle class.
Many of them see Thaksin as a corrupt, crony capitalist who manipulates the masses with populist handouts and is a threat to the monarchy, which he denies.
Yingluck responds
Prime Minister Yingluck says the police will keep the peace as there is fear that clashes could erupt and further weaken her government.
"My government will not use force. This is not the 'Thaksin regime', this is a democratically-elected government," she told reporters outside parliament, where she is being grilled by opposition lawmakers in a two-day confidence debate.
The anti-government campaign started last month after Yingluck's ruling Puea Thai Party tried to pass an amnesty bill that critics said was designed to absolve Thaksin of his graft 2008 conviction.
Thailand's Senate rejected the bill, but that did nothing to defuse the crisis.
A spokesperson for the protestors Akanat Promphan says they "don't want any confrontation".
"We will ask civil servants to join the people, to stop working for the Thaksin system," he said.
Reuters
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-27/an-thailand-government-building-evacuated-as-protestors-gain-gr/5120946
Updated Wed 27 Nov 2013, 11:36pm AEDT
Video: Thai protesters surround more government buildings (ABC News)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-27/thai-protesters-surround-more-government-buildings/5121288
Related Story: Thai protesters besiege more government ministries
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-26/an-thai-protesters-besiege-more-govt-ministries/5118182
Related Story: Thai protesters occupy government buildings in Bangkok
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-26/thai-protesters-take-over-government-offices-in-bangkok/5116222
Related Story: Thousands march in Bangkok seeking ousting of PM
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-25/an-thai-anti-government-protesters-march-through-bangkok/5115786
Related Story: Thai capital tense as political rivals rally
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-24/anti-government-protesters-gather-in-bangkok-ahead-of-rally/5113578
Map: Thailand - http://maps.google.com/?q=15,100(Thailand)&z=5
Thailand's Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has been evacuated after about 2,000 protesters surrounded the building on Wednesday.
The department's director general Tharit Pengdit says the evacuation took place after an attempt by protestors to shut down key government buildings and ministries.
The DSI is Thailand's equivalent of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.
It is one of several state offices that demonstrators are targeting in hope of toppling Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's government.
The anti-government protesters, led by former deputy prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban, chanted abuse at the DSI as scores of riot police scrambled to put on helmets and hold up shields as crowds pushed against a low fence.
The DSI shares the compound with important government agencies, including tax, revenue, immigration and land departments.
Some employees were seen leaving their offices and joining the protests.
Ongoing protests
Five ministries in the capital have been evacuated in the past two days and protesters are occupying the Finance Ministry.
About 3,000 people gathered at the Energy Ministry, 700 at the Commerce Ministry and 200 at the Industry Ministry, according to police reports.
Provincial rallies ranged from 20 people in Narathiwat to 4,000 in Surat Thani, Mr Suthep's political base.
Most of the 19 provinces where demonstrators had massed are in the south, a traditional stronghold of the opposition Democrat Party.
But four were in the north and northeast, where former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his family is hugely popular.
The target of Wednesday's rallies was to shut down the bureaucracy to wipe out the "political machine of Thaksin", Mr Suthep said.
The protests, though peaceful, have raised fears of unrest.
Anti-government protest leaders, from all sides, have a tradition in Thailand of trying to provoke a violent crackdown by the government to rob it of its legitimacy.
Anti-government protesters gather outside Thailand's Labour Ministry in Bangkok rallying
to oust Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's government. (Reuters: Athit Perawongmetha )
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-27/thaialnd-protestsjpg/5121292
The DSI recently indicted Mr Suthep and former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva for murder for their alleged role in the deaths of more than 90 people in 2010 in a military crackdown on demonstrations by Thaksin's supporters.
One demonstrator Chattavorn Sangsuwan says while the DSI is "supposed to be an independent organization", it has "not acted neutrally".
"We will finish off what the coup-makers started in 2006. Their job was not complete, Thaksin's influence is still everywhere. We are here to finish the job," he said.
The demonstrations have been going on for weeks but are gaining momentum.
Thaksin: a controversial figure
Such protests are familiar in Thailand, which has seen eight years of on-off turmoil, from crippling street protests to controversial judicial rulings and military intervention, each time with Thaksin at the centre of the disputes.
Despite fleeing into exile to dodge a jail sentence for abuse of power in 2008, Thaksin, a former telecommunications mogul, has loomed large over Thai politics.
He won the support of the rural poor who voted him twice into office, in 2001 and 2005, before he was ousted in a 2006 military coup.
His supporters remain fiercely loyal to him and the parties he backs.
While his opponents are fewer in number, they hold considerable power and influence especially over the urban middle class.
Many of them see Thaksin as a corrupt, crony capitalist who manipulates the masses with populist handouts and is a threat to the monarchy, which he denies.
Yingluck responds
Prime Minister Yingluck says the police will keep the peace as there is fear that clashes could erupt and further weaken her government.
"My government will not use force. This is not the 'Thaksin regime', this is a democratically-elected government," she told reporters outside parliament, where she is being grilled by opposition lawmakers in a two-day confidence debate.
The anti-government campaign started last month after Yingluck's ruling Puea Thai Party tried to pass an amnesty bill that critics said was designed to absolve Thaksin of his graft 2008 conviction.
Thailand's Senate rejected the bill, but that did nothing to defuse the crisis.
A spokesperson for the protestors Akanat Promphan says they "don't want any confrontation".
"We will ask civil servants to join the people, to stop working for the Thaksin system," he said.
Reuters
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-27/an-thailand-government-building-evacuated-as-protestors-gain-gr/5120946
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