Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat rejected pressure to resign yesterday as thousands of anti-government demonstrators marched in protest at last week’s deadly street clashes.
Police hung back as some 5,000 supporters of the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) marched down a busy Bangkok street carrying pictures of Somchai emblazoned with the word “murderer.”
Two people were killed and nearly 500 injured on Oct. 7 when police fired tear gas to prevent thousands of PAD supporters from blocking parliament, prompting some protesters to fight back.
PHOTO: EPA
Thailand’s powerful army chief had hinted on Thursday that the prime minister should resign over the clashes, prompting rumors that Somchai may heed his advice and dissolve parliament.
But despite calling an urgent meeting of his coalition partners, Somchai said he would stay on for the sake of the country.
“The government cannot abandon its duty as we still have three key functions coming up,” he said, referring to two royal events and a regional summit to be held before the end of the year. “Whether I resign or do not resign will depend on national interest.”
At the downtown rally, PAD supporters handed out books and CDs with photos and accounts of last week’s violence.
“The truth will show why the government has no legitimacy to run the country,” Somsak Kosaisuk, a PAD leader, told the crowd, many wearing black to mourn the dead supporters or yellow out of allegiance to the king.
“The government thinks that people are their enemy and used the police to kill people on Oct. 7,” Somsak said.
The color booklets showed graphic images of protesters whose limbs were blown off in the clashes — injuries blamed by a forensic expert on dangerous Chinese-made tear gas canisters.
The front page of the PAD leaflet showed a man clutching the bloodied stump of his leg, allegedly after it was blown off by police.
“We have brought pieces of cloth, water bottles and masks in case the police use tear gas again,” 42-year-old PAD supporter Dusadee Siriwanlop said.
The PAD launched its campaign in May, claiming that the ruling People Power Party elected in December was a puppet of ousted and exiled prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whom it accuses of corruption and nepotism.
The crowd — which police estimated at 5,000 — seemed largely cheerful yesterday, sheltering from the sun under a sea of umbrellas.
The rally ended without incident at about 1pm after the protesters marched to the main shopping district and dispersed.
Yesterday’s protests came a day after army chief General Anupong Paojinda appeared on television flanked by the heads of the air force, navy and police saying that if he were Somchai, he would resign.
STEPPING UP: Diminished US polar science presence mean opportunities for the UK and other countries, although China or Russia might also fill that gap, a researcher said The UK’s flagship polar research vessel is to head to Antarctica next week to help advance dozens of climate change-linked science projects, as Western nations spearhead studies there while the US withdraws. The RRS Sir David Attenborough, a state-of-the-art ship named after the renowned British naturalist, would aid research on everything from “hunting underwater tsunamis” to tracking glacier melt and whale populations. Operated by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), the country’s polar research institute, the 15,000-tonne icebreaker — boasting a helipad, and various laboratories and gadgetry — is pivotal to the UK’s efforts to assess climate change’s impact there. “The saying goes
Police in China detained dozens of pastors of one of its largest underground churches over the weekend, a church spokesperson and relatives said, in the biggest crackdown on Christians since 2018. The detentions, which come amid renewed China-US tensions after Beijing dramatically expanded rare earth export controls last week, drew condemnation from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who on Sunday called for the immediate release of the pastors. Pastor Jin Mingri (金明日), founder of Zion Church, an unofficial “house church” not sanctioned by the Chinese government, was detained at his home in the southern city of Beihai on Friday evening, said
TICKING CLOCK: A path to a budget agreement was still possible, the president’s office said, as a debate on reversing an increase of the pension age carries on French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday was racing to find a new prime minister within a two-day deadline after the resignation of outgoing French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu tipped the country deeper into political crisis. The presidency late on Wednesday said that Macron would name a new prime minister within 48 hours, indicating that the appointment would come by this evening at the latest. Lecornu told French television in an interview that he expected a new prime minister to be named — rather than early legislative elections or Macron’s resignation — to resolve the crisis. The developments were the latest twists in three tumultuous
FIRST STAGE: Hamas has agreed to release 48 Israeli hostages in exchange for 250 ‘national security prisoners’ as well as 1,700 Gazans, but has resisted calls to disarm Israel plans to destroy what remains of Hamas’ network of tunnels under Gaza, working with US approval after its hostages are freed, it said yesterday. Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz said that the operation would be conducted under an “international mechanism” led by the US. “Israel’s great challenge after the hostage release phase will be the destruction of all Hamas terrorist tunnels in Gaza,” Katz said. “I have ordered the army to prepare to carry out this mission,” he added. Hamas operates a network of tunnels under Gaza, allowing its fighters to operate out of sight of Israeli reconnaissance. Some have passed under
RSS