Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat declared a state of emergency yesterday at two Bangkok airports besieged by anti-government protesters, a minister said, as rumors of a coup swirled round the capital.
Deputy Agriculture Minister Thirachai Sankaew said police would be in charge of the Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang airports blockaded by the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD).
“The Cabinet agreed to use the emergency decree at the two airports to bring the situation back to normal,” he said after a Cabinet meeting in the northern city of Chiang Mai.
PHOTO: AP
The PAD refused to end their protests, which have forced flight cancelations and stranded thousands of travelers.
“We will not leave. We will use human shields against the police if they try to disperse us,” PAD leader Suriyasai Katasila said.
It was not clear what action the police would take, but 30 medical teams were on standby in case of a bloody crackdown, the Nation newspaper’s Web site said.
Some office employees left work early in Bangkok and the UN advised its staff to go home and remain indoors.
Thailand’s three-year-old political crisis has deepened since the PAD began a “final battle” on Monday to unseat a government it accuses of being a pawn of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted in a 2006 coup.
With rumors of another putsch swirling, Somchai urged the army to stay put and denied that he planned to sack army chief Anupong Paochina, a day after the general urged him to call a snap election.
“Troops should stay in their barracks and the prime minister is not going to sack anybody,” spokesman Nattawut Saikuar told reporters.
Pressure has built on the military to step in since Somchai rejected calls to quit, but pro-government forces are threatening to hit the streets if the elected administration is ousted.
Emergency rule gives the army legal authority to act against the PAD, but it is reluctant to do so.
“If the government insisted on dispersing the crowd, the army will meet again to find new measures. We already have a contingency plan,” Colonel Sunsern Kaewkumnerd said.
Anupong has repeatedly said he would not take over, arguing the army is powerless to heal the fundamental political rifts between the Bangkok elite and middle classes who despise Thaksin, and the rural and urban poor who love him.
But one military source said army, navy and air force top brass were locked in talks late into the night, debating whether to launch what would be the 19th coup or attempted coup in 76 years.
There were signs that the latest surge in violence could backfire against the PAD, with newspapers that have indulged it in the past appalled by the airport disruption.
“This is not civil disobedience. It’s the PAD holding travelers hostage,” the Nation said in an editorial.
Tension has been rising across the country.
There were reports of gunfire during the night near Government House, the prime minister’s compound occupied by the PAD since August. No injuries were reported.
In Chiang Mai, a pro-government gang shot dead an anti-government activist.
The long-running unrest has paralyzed government decision making, stirring fears it could exacerbate the impact of the global slowdown.
Thailand’s lucrative tourism sector looked set to take a major hit from the PAD blockade at Suvarnabhumi airport, a major Asian air hub and gateway for nearly 15 million visitors to Thailand last year.
National carrier Thai Airways said Suvarnabhumi would remain closed until at least 6pm on Saturday, but it did not give further details. Don Muang, a big domestic hub, would be shut until 6pm today, the carrier said.
Thousands of foreign tourists have been stranded, including Americans heading home for yesterday’s Thanksgiving holiday.
GAINING STEAM: The scheme initially failed to gather much attention, with only 188 cards issued in its first year, but gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic Applications for the Employment Gold Card have increased in the past few years, with the card having been issued to a total of 13,191 people from 101 countries since its introduction in 2018, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Those who have received the card have included celebrities, such as former NBA star Dwight Howard and Australian-South Korean cheerleader Dahye Lee, the NDC said. The four-in-one Employment Gold Card combines a work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit. It was first introduced in February 2018 through the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法),
RESILIENCE: Deepening bilateral cooperation would extend the peace sustained over the 45 years since the Taiwan Relations Act, Greene said Taiwan-US relations are built on deep economic ties and shared values, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday, adding that strengthening supply chain security in critical industries, enhancing societal resilience through cooperation and deepening partnerships are key to ensuring peace and stability for Taiwan in the years ahead. Greene made the remarks at the National Security Youth Forum, organized by National Taiwan University’s National Security and Strategy Studies Institution in Taipei. In his address in Mandarin Chinese, Greene said the Taiwan-US relationship is built on deep economic ties and shared interests, and grows stronger through the enduring friendship between
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
‘COMING MENACINGLY’: The CDC advised wearing a mask when visiting hospitals or long-term care centers, on public transportation and in crowded indoor venues Hospital visits for COVID-19 last week increased by 113 percent to 41,402, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, as it encouraged people to wear a mask in three public settings to prevent infection. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said weekly hospital visits for COVID-19 have been increasing for seven consecutive weeks, and 102 severe COVID-19 cases and 19 deaths were confirmed last week, both the highest weekly numbers this year. CDC physician Lee Tsung-han (李宗翰) said the youngest person hospitalized due to the disease this year was reported last week, a one-month-old baby, who does not
RSS