About 10,000 workers marched through central Bangkok to mark May Day yesterday, accusing the military-backed government of mishandling the economy and demanding an immediate return to democracy.
Wearing yellow shirts and yellow hats in honor of Thailand's king, they marched through Bangkok's government district to a royal plaza.
There was only light security. Police said they deployed 750 officers along the parade route and at the square.
"The government's performance over the past seven months has caused economic losses," the marchers said in a statement, referring to the period since the coup last September.
"The economic slowdown has led to rising unemployment while politics is still not stable," they added.
The labor activists cited in particular the decision to impose stiff currency controls in December as hurting the economy. The measures were designed to slow the baht's rapid rise against the dollar, but alarmed foreign investors and sparked the biggest-ever drop in the stock market.
Unemployment remains low in Thailand, but has been rising since November and was at 1.5 percent in February, according to government statistics.
The activists also denounced a proposed constitution drafted by a panel handpicked by the military, which would create an appointed Senate and reduce the number of parliamentarians.
"We call for a return to democracy, under the 1997 constitution, through immediate elections," the statement said.
Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont later met a delegation of the protesters and pledged to consider their demands, which also included an increase in minimum wages and better protection for foreign laborers.
Riot police blocked hundreds of protesters who tried to march yesterday toward President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's palace to demand higher wages and her removal from office for unresolved accusations of vote-rigging and corruption, police said.
Government troops and police, who were placed on the highest state of alert, had banned protests near the Malacanang presidential palace for security reasons, including coup rumors that have sporadically swirled in past years.
More than 1,500 protesters led by the left-wing group Akbayan were blocked by policemen about two blocks from the presidential palace, police said. After a brief program in front of the police blockade, the protesters dispersed without any incident or arrest.
The protesters urged voters to be vigilant against possible cheating in the May 14 congressional and local elections, reminding them of accusations that Arroyo conspired with a top elections commissioner to rig the 2004 presidential polls, which she won.
Another group of protesters, numbering about 5,000, massed in a downtown Manila square and planned to march to the presidential palace later Tuesday. Led by the left-wing May First Movement, the protesters accused Arroyo of granting incentives to businessmen but neglecting lowly paid workers.
SINGAPORE
A Singapore opposition leader and his sister completed a 55-hour walk around their tiny island-nation yesterday in a bid to raise awareness of poverty and underpaid workers in Singapore.
About 30 supporters applauded when the two, dressed in shorts and T-shirts reading "Walking For Our Workers," strode into Hong Lim Park near the city center, from where they had set off on their island tour early on Sunday.
Chee Soon Juan (徐順全), head of the Singapore Democratic Party and his sister, Chee Siok Chin (徐淑貞), walked approximately 150km to the west, north and east of the island, sometimes in pouring rain, taking rest and meal breaks with supporters along the way.
Singapore does not usually allow political gatherings of more than four people.
JAKARTA
Tens of thousands of workers were assembling across Indonesia to mark May Day yesterday to demand better wages and job protection, amid tight police security.
In the capital Jakarta, workers waving trade union banners and posters denouncing foreign investment converged on a central roundabout, watched closely by several thousand armed police.
"As laborers we have to commemorate labor day because the government does not care for our welfare," said chemical factory worker Parsidi.
"I have worked for 20 years and still receive 880,000 rupiah (US$96) a month. I have two children and it's not enough to pay my rent," she said.
"The minimum wage is not enough for daily living," agreed garment factory Saufrul Khoirina, with her husband and five-year-old son alongside her.
Both workers were among thousands trucked into the capital under heavy police escort from the nearby industrial city of Tangerang.
The rally was one of several planned in the capital, including outside the parliament and in front of the presidential palace.
About 30,000 police have been deployed across Jakarta, a police spokesman said, although they were not expecting violence.
Protesters accused the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Jusuf Kalla of allowing foreign companies to strip the country of resources and exploit local workers.
"SBY's and Kalla's politics are cheap pay. The government is not pro-people or pro-labor. We have oil, gold mines but they are owned by foreigners," said an activist addressing the crowd.
Mass rallies were also starting elsewhere across the archipelago. Most protesters were calling for the scrapping of a controversial 2003 law that they say reverses workers' rights.
They say the law makes it easier to place workers on short term contracts with no benefits.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was