Thailand’s army chief called for calm after attacks on anti-government rallies in Bangkok injured 70 people, prompting authorities to consider declaring a state of emergency for the first time since 2010.
Two grenades exploded at a demonstration site in central Bangkok on Jan. 19, injuring 28, and a grenade attack on a protest rally on Jan. 17 killed one person and wounded 40 others, according to the Bangkok Emergency Medical Center.
Violence is increasing as Suthep Thaugsuban, a former opposition party lawmaker, steps up efforts to oust Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra before an election on Feb. 2. Suthep wants the government replaced with an unelected council that would change laws to prevent parties linked to Yingluck’s brother, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, returning to power.
“People who incite violence should understand that the losses will create hatred,” army Chief Prayuth Chan-Ocha said yesterday. “I’m concerned this will make people lose trust in officials, and they will try to get the military involved.”
The risk of Thailand defaulting on its debt has risen to the highest since June 2012. The benchmark SET Index (SET) of stocks fell 0.4 percent yesterday and has slumped about 10 percent since the start of demonstrations at the end of October. The baht has retreated about 5 percent in that period.
‘Painful Period’
The government is assessing whether to declare a state of emergency to combat the violence, Yingluck said. The emergency decree bans gatherings of more than five people, allows detention without charge and gives soldiers immunity from prosecution. Suthep faces murder charges stemming from a 2010 military crackdown on pro-Thaksin demonstrators when he was deputy prime minister, the last time a state of emergency was used to combat political violence in the capital.
“I don’t want to go back to the painful period of 2010,” Prayuth said. “But the situation today is different. The situation hasn’t reached that point, so soldiers can’t come out to do anything. Everything depends on the situation.”
Thailand has had nine coups and more than 20 prime ministers since 1946. Prayuth earlier this month said that the “door” to a coup is neither open nor closed, raising speculation the army may step in if protests become violent.
Suthep’s critics have said he aims to create enough turmoil to spur the intervention of the military in a repeat of a 2006 coup that toppled Thaksin, whose allies have won the past five elections on support from rural northern and northeastern regions.
‘More Chaos’
The protesters, mostly middle-class Bangkokians and Democrat party supporters from southern provinces, say Yingluck’s government is illegitimate and run from abroad by Thaksin, who faces a two-year jail term for corruption if he returns in a case he says was politically motivated.
Nine people have been killed since anti-government protests began Oct. 31, including a man who died from injuries sustained in a Jan. 17 grenade attack on a protest march near Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University. Suthep blamed the government for the attack, while Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul questioned a decision by organizers to change the rally route without giving the police enough time to ensure it was safe.
“It’s possible that we will use the emergency decree, if there is more chaos or violence,” Surapong said yesterday.
Elections ‘for Sure’
The Election Commission has urged the government to defer the vote until May, saying the political environment is too tense to proceed next month. The government, police and military are united in efforts to prevent violence and to ensure the election goes ahead, Yingluck said Jan. 17.
“The elections will take place for sure,” Surapong said. “It’s the EC’s job to make it happen.”
Suthep’s former party, the Democrats, have lost every national election over the past two decades and plan to boycott next month’s poll.
Yingluck dissolved parliament Dec. 9 and announced the election, a day after the Democrats resigned en masse to join the demonstrations, which at their peak drew more than 200,000 people. Protesters initially took to the streets to oppose a proposed amnesty law that they said would benefit Thaksin, which the government later abandoned. The demonstrations later morphed into a broader movement to erase Thaksin’s political influence.
Surapong on Jan. 17 said supporters of Thaksin, known as red shirts, won’t confront rival protesters in Bangkok. More than 90 people were killed in 2010 when Suthep and Abhisit Vejjajiva, who was prime minister at the time, set up live-fire zones and ordered the army to disperse pro-Thaksin red shirts occupying Bangkok’s shopping district.
“The government wants to ask all parties not to use violence,” Yingluck said yesterday. “We have to consider how our nation can move forward. An election is important to the maintenance of democracy because confidence will evaporate if we don’t accept the rules.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Supunnabul Suwannakij in Bangkok at ssuwannakij@bloomberg.net; Suttinee Yuvejwattana in Bangkok at suttinee1@bloomberg.net
Thailand’s army chief called for calm after attacks on anti-government rallies in Bangkok injured 70 people, prompting authorities to consider declaring a state of emergency for the first time since 2010.
Two grenades exploded at a demonstration site in central Bangkok on Jan. 19, injuring 28, and a grenade attack on a protest rally on Jan. 17 killed one person and wounded 40 others, according to the Bangkok Emergency Medical Center.
Violence is increasing as Suthep Thaugsuban, a former opposition party lawmaker, steps up efforts to oust Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra before an election on Feb. 2. Suthep wants the government replaced with an unelected council that would change laws to prevent parties linked to Yingluck’s brother, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, returning to power.
“People who incite violence should understand that the losses will create hatred,” army Chief Prayuth Chan-Ocha said yesterday. “I’m concerned this will make people lose trust in officials, and they will try to get the military involved.”
The risk of Thailand defaulting on its debt has risen to the highest since June 2012. The benchmark SET Index (SET) of stocks fell 0.4 percent yesterday and has slumped about 10 percent since the start of demonstrations at the end of October. The baht has retreated about 5 percent in that period.
‘Painful Period’
The government is assessing whether to declare a state of emergency to combat the violence, Yingluck said. The emergency decree bans gatherings of more than five people, allows detention without charge and gives soldiers immunity from prosecution. Suthep faces murder charges stemming from a 2010 military crackdown on pro-Thaksin demonstrators when he was deputy prime minister, the last time a state of emergency was used to combat political violence in the capital.
“I don’t want to go back to the painful period of 2010,” Prayuth said. “But the situation today is different. The situation hasn’t reached that point, so soldiers can’t come out to do anything. Everything depends on the situation.”
Thailand has had nine coups and more than 20 prime ministers since 1946. Prayuth earlier this month said that the “door” to a coup is neither open nor closed, raising speculation the army may step in if protests become violent.
Suthep’s critics have said he aims to create enough turmoil to spur the intervention of the military in a repeat of a 2006 coup that toppled Thaksin, whose allies have won the past five elections on support from rural northern and northeastern regions.
‘More Chaos’
The protesters, mostly middle-class Bangkokians and Democrat party supporters from southern provinces, say Yingluck’s government is illegitimate and run from abroad by Thaksin, who faces a two-year jail term for corruption if he returns in a case he says was politically motivated.
Nine people have been killed since anti-government protests began Oct. 31, including a man who died from injuries sustained in a Jan. 17 grenade attack on a protest march near Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University. Suthep blamed the government for the attack, while Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul questioned a decision by organizers to change the rally route without giving the police enough time to ensure it was safe.
“It’s possible that we will use the emergency decree, if there is more chaos or violence,” Surapong said yesterday.
Elections ‘for Sure’
The Election Commission has urged the government to defer the vote until May, saying the political environment is too tense to proceed next month. The government, police and military are united in efforts to prevent violence and to ensure the election goes ahead, Yingluck said Jan. 17.
“The elections will take place for sure,” Surapong said. “It’s the EC’s job to make it happen.”
Suthep’s former party, the Democrats, have lost every national election over the past two decades and plan to boycott next month’s poll.
Yingluck dissolved parliament Dec. 9 and announced the election, a day after the Democrats resigned en masse to join the demonstrations, which at their peak drew more than 200,000 people. Protesters initially took to the streets to oppose a proposed amnesty law that they said would benefit Thaksin, which the government later abandoned. The demonstrations later morphed into a broader movement to erase Thaksin’s political influence.
Surapong on Jan. 17 said supporters of Thaksin, known as red shirts, won’t confront rival protesters in Bangkok. More than 90 people were killed in 2010 when Suthep and Abhisit Vejjajiva, who was prime minister at the time, set up live-fire zones and ordered the army to disperse pro-Thaksin red shirts occupying Bangkok’s shopping district.
“The government wants to ask all parties not to use violence,” Yingluck said yesterday. “We have to consider how our nation can move forward. An election is important to the maintenance of democracy because confidence will evaporate if we don’t accept the rules.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Supunnabul Suwannakij in Bangkok at ssuwannakij@bloomberg.net; Suttinee Yuvejwattana in Bangkok at suttinee1@bloomberg.net
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