THAILAND: Thai anti-government activists determined to continue protest after martial law

Record ID: 583893

  • Title: THAILAND: Thai anti-government activists determined to continue protest after martial law
  • Date: 21st May 2014
  • Summary: BANGKOK, THAILAND (MAY 21, 2014) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF THAI TELEVISION STATION, CHANNEL 7 LOGO OF CHANNEL 7 VARIOUS OF THAI SOLDIERS GUARDING CHANNEL 7 SOLDIER ON GUARD VARIOUS OF SOLDIERS GUARDING BUILDING ENTRANCE OF CH 7 ROAD NEAR BANGKOK'S RAJDAMNOEN AREA ANANTA SAMAKOM THRONE HALL ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTESTERS' ENCAMPMENT NEAR GOVERNMENT HOUSE (THAI GOVERNMENT'S OFFICE) BUDDHIST MONK WALKING ARROW DIRECTING INTO PROTEST CAMP NEAR GOVERNMENT HOUSE VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS MEDITATING PROTESTERS WALKING IN CAMP PROTESTERS SITTING AND LYING DOWN IN TENT WOMAN MEDITATING PROTESTERS SITTING IN TENT PEOPLE LISTENING TO MONK LECTURING ON LARGE TV SCREEN WOMAN BIKING AROUND PROTEST SITE VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS RECEIVING BREAKFAST (SOUNDBITE) (Thai) ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTESTER, JINDA PUMPHOTHONG, 68, SAYING: "I think that we have to win this fight because a lot of our supporters have come out, while the government is no longer a government. We need a new set of rules and regulations." EXTERIOR OF THAI GOVERNMENT HOUSE THAI FLAG
  • Embargoed: 5th June 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Thailand
  • Country: Thailand
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAZLVQLG9XVVXI6CJ8U1SB64NX
  • Story Text: Anti-government protesters, who have been camped out in Bangkok, said they were determined to oust the caretaker government on Wednesday (May 21), a day after the army unexpectedly imposed martial law.
    The Thai army declared martial law nationwide on Tuesday (May 20) to restore order after six months of street protests that have left the country without a proper functioning government, but insisted the surprise intervention was not a military coup.
    Troops initially stopped some traffic from entering Bangkok, took up positions at some intersections and secured television stations but life went on as normal in most of the city.
    The caretaker government led by supporters of self-exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra said it was still running the country.
    Both pro- and anti-government protesters remained in their encampment at different places in the capital and, to prevent clashes, the army told them they had to stay put and could not march.
    The army also called on media not to broadcast material that would affect national security and ordered 14 satellite TV channels, including both pro- and anti-government stations, to stop broadcasting.
    Anti-government protesters want a "neutral" prime minister appointed to oversee electoral reforms aimed at ending Thaksin's influence. The government views an early general election it would likely win as the best way forward.
    The leader of Thaksin's pro-government "red shirt" loyalists, who are rallying in Bangkok's western outskirts, appealed for calm but warned of trouble if the government was ousted.
    Anti-government protesters said they too had not changed their demands for the caretaker government to go.
    "I think that we have to win this fight because a lot of our supporters have come out, while the government is no longer a government. We need a new set of rules and regulations," said 68-year-old Jinda Pumphothong.
    The army chief has urged rival political groups to engage in dialogue and break the deadlock.
    The crisis is the latest installment of a near-decade-long power struggle between former telecoms tycoon Thaksin and the royalist establishment that has brought the country to the brink of recession and even raised fears of civil war.
    Twenty-eight people have been killed and 700 injured since the anti-government protests began in November last year.
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