Bangkok, Sep 19 (DPA) A 6,500-man combined force of police and soldiers equipped with riot gear were on standby Saturday in Bangkok’s government district to keep the peace during a planned demonstration marking the third anniversary of the 2006 coup.
The Dusit district of Bangkok – encompassing Government House, the Parliament building and the house of Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda – were put under the protection of the Internal Security Act this weekend, allowing authorities to crack down on acts of violence with impunity.
Supporters of ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra planned to gather an estimated 30,000 people to protest the Sep 19, 2006, coup, which toppled the populist billionaire from power and resulted in the freezing of his family’s assets worth $2 billion.
The United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) threatened to march on the private residence of Prem, whom they blame for initiating the coup, and to surround Government House, the seat of Thailand’s administration.
On Saturday morning, an estimated 4,000 UDD followers showed up outside Prem’s country home in Nakorn Ratchasima, 350 km north-east of Bangkok, but called off their protest when they confronted an army guard and were informed that the senior statesman, who was prime minister from 1980 to 1988, was not there.
Thaksin, a divisive figure in Thai politics who used populist policies to capture wide support from the country’s poor, has reportedly urged restraint from his supporters at this weekend’s demonstration, according to intelligence sources.
Deputy government spokesman Watchara Kannikar said Thaksin told the UDD to “save energy and funds” for a larger demonstration during the upcoming summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations next month, The Nation newspaper reported.
Thaksin, who faces a two-year sentence in Thailand on abuse of power charges, has been living in self-imposed exile since August last year, but he remains the de-facto leader of the Puea Thai opposition party and the main financier of the UDD.
Thai courts opened a case against Thaksin’s family members this month that could result in their losing $2 billion in deposits at Thai banks, a key factor behind his impatience to bring about political change in the country, according to politicians still close to the ousted former premier.
Urged on by phoned-in messages from Thaksin to start a “people’s revolution” on April 11, UDD protesters stormed the venue of an Asian summit that Thailand was hosting in seaside Pattaya, 100 km south-east of Bangkok, forcing Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to cancel the event.
After Abhisit declared a state of emergency, the UDD started a street riot in Bangkok on April 13, prompting an army crackdown that left two dead and scores injured.
To prevent a similar occurrence this weekend, Abhisit has put the targeted protest sites in Bangkok under the protection of the Internal Security Act, allowing authorities to arrest anyone breaching security regulations and jail them for up to one year.
Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaungsuban, who is in charge of security affairs, vowed to also declare a state of emergency if Saturday’s protests get out of hand.
The tense security situation was exacerbated by Abhisit’s plans to depart Sunday to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York and a follow-up summit of the Group of 20 nations in Pittsburgh, returning to Thailand on Sep 27.
The bloodless 2006 coup was carried out when Thaksin was in New York attending the annual UN assembly.
Political observers deemed a coup against Abhisit as unlikely because he has the backing of the military establishment.
“I can reassure everyone that there will be no coup,” the army’s commander-in-chief, General Anupong Paojinda, said Friday. “Absolutely no coup.”
