Thailand’s government and Red Shirt protesters yesterday committed themselves to a faltering peace process despite twin attacks that left two police officers dead.
Grenade blasts and a drive-by shooting targeted security forces, who are facing off against the anti-government Red Shirts at their massive rally encampment which has shut down most of Bangkok’s main shopping district.
Both sides said the attacks were the work of groups intent on derailing embattled Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s reconciliation “roadmap” aimed at ending a two-month confrontation by holding elections on Nov. 14.
PHOTO: AFP
The Red Shirts have signed up to the peace process, but are demanding a firm date for the dissolution of parliament before disbanding their protest base, where they are barricaded behind piles of fuel-soaked tires and razor wire.
The overnight attacks also wounded 12 people in the latest outbreak of violence in a crisis that has left another 27 dead and nearly 1,000 injured in deadly clashes and other explosions.
The government urged the Red Shirts to end their campaign quickly to avoid further bloodshed.
“Some groups of people do not want to see [the plan] succeed, so the government calls on the Red Shirts to quickly make a decision, otherwise there will be more casualties,” government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said.
Police said three grenades were thrown at a security checkpoint in front of a city park that forms the edge of the Red Shirts’ camp. A 35-year-old policeman died in hospital, while another five police and three soldiers were wounded.
Earlier, one policeman was killed and four others — two police and two civilians — were injured when a man on a motorbike opened fire on officers patrolling the nearby Silom financial district.
The Red Shirts denied any involvement in the attacks, which they also said were carried out by elements intent on sabotaging the peace plan.
“This will not distract us or derail the process,” Red Shirt leader Nattawut Saikuar said.
He indicated, however, that an agreement was not yet within reach.
“The five-point roadmap plan which is proposed by Abhisit we already understand, but on our part, we need a few more days to come up with our own proposals, which will be flexible,” he said.
Underlining the determination of the Red Shirts to remain at their heavily fortified base, 5,000 more supporters arrived yesterday from the movement’s heartland in Thailand’s rural and impoverished northeast.
Crowds at the Red Shirt’s camp have swelled to as many as 100,000 people in the past, but earlier this week when a resolution appeared in sight, numbers dwindled to just a few thousand as a weary air descended on the rally area.
Panitan said the arrival of the reinforcements did not bode well for the peace negotiations.
Hopes for Abhisit’s plan have see-sawed in recent days as it has met with growing opposition among Thailand’s rival protest movements.
The pro-establishment Yellow Shirts — who blockaded Bangkok’s two main airports in 2008 in their own protests — have rejected the roadmap and election plan and called on the prime minister to resign.
In another setback, a moderate pro-government group known as the “Multicoloreds,” whose rallies in the capital have also drawn thousands of supporters, called for the election date to be pushed back.
In a color-coded crisis, Thailand is largely split between the mainly rural poor and urban working class Red Shirts — who broadly support fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra — and the elite-backed Yellow Shirts.
The combined effect of the monsoon, the outer rim of Typhoon Fengshen and a low-pressure system is expected to bring significant rainfall this week to various parts of the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The heaviest rain is expected to occur today and tomorrow, with torrential rain expected in Keelung’s north coast, Yilan and the mountainous regions of Taipei and New Taipei City, the CWA said. Rivers could rise rapidly, and residents should stay away from riverbanks and avoid going to the mountains or engaging in water activities, it said. Scattered showers are expected today in central and
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
COOPERATION: Taiwan is aligning closely with US strategic objectives on various matters, including China’s rare earths restrictions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan could deal with China’s tightened export controls on rare earth metals by turning to “urban mining,” a researcher said yesterday. Rare earth metals, which are used in semiconductors and other electronic components, could be recovered from industrial or electronic waste to reduce reliance on imports, National Cheng Kung University Department of Resources Engineering professor Lee Cheng-han (李政翰) said. Despite their name, rare earth elements are not actually rare — their abundance in the Earth’s crust is relatively high, but they are dispersed, making extraction and refining energy-intensive and environmentally damaging, he said, adding that many countries have opted to
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
RSS