Thai Protest Leaders Threaten to Detain Yingluck
Mass Rallies Continue to Paralyze Bangkok
Updated Jan. 14, 2014 10:48 a.m. ET
Antigovernment protesters hold Thai national flags
during a protest outside the Custom Department office in Bangkok on
Tuesday.
Reuters
BANGKOK—Thailand's protest leaders are thinking up new ways to force Prime Minister
Yingluck Shinawatra
from power, even threatening Tuesday to detain her as the
political crisis playing out in one of Asia's boom cities rumbles on.
It
is unlikely that the protest's burly, 64-year-old leader,
Suthep Thaugsuban,
would be able to get near the prime minister with the security
surrounding her. Ms. Yingluck, the sister of former leader
Thaksin Shinawatra,
who was overthrown in a military coup in 2006, has abandoned her
home in a ritzy Bangkok suburb and is rotating through a series of
secret locations.
But the opposition's
threat to detain Ms. Yingluck and other government officials if they
don't resign by the end of the week shows how street protesters are
attempting to intensify their campaign to reshape this pivotal Asian
economy in unpredictable and potentially damaging ways.
Protesters rest on the street in downtown Bangkok on Tuesday amid a push to oust the prime minister.
Getty Images
Demonstrators led by Mr. Suthep on
Monday launched what they've called their final push to drive Ms.
Yingluck from office, blocking off a series of intersections around
Bangkok's commercial hub. It quickly turned into a carnival-like street
party, complete with DJs, rappers and other artists. Tens of thousands
of people joined the protest, many wearing the red, white and blue of
Thailand's national flag and blowing whistles, the symbol of the
monthslong campaign.
Many joined the
rallies again Tuesday, with some saying they were concerned about the
perceived influence of Mr. Thaksin, a billionaire businessman who ran
the country until Thailand's army ousted him in a bloodless coup in
2006.
Some Thais believe he still pulls
the strings in the country despite being overthrown. They want to
install an unelected interim government to break the patronage networks
that they say have enabled the Shinawatra family to flourish.
"We've
had enough. We don't like the way he and his sister promise poor people
lots of money in subsidies in return for their votes. It's corruption,"
said 47-year-old Warunee Srithaisong, reflecting a common complaint
among the protesters and their leaders.
Key Players
Read more about some key Thai political figures.
Photos: Capital Shutdown
Dario Pignatelli/Bloomberg News
Timeline: Legacy of Turmoil
A decade and a half after Thaksin Shinawatra founded his 'Thais Love Thais' party, antagonism prevails.
Bangkok Shutdown
Ms. Yingluck, 46 years old, denies
that Mr. Thaksin is using her as his proxy. She argues that her
government's spending policies are designed to increase consumer
spending across Thailand to reduce its dependence on exports. She also
aims to push ahead with plans to hold an election Feb. 2 that opinion
polls indicate she is likely to win thanks to strong support for her
Pheu Thai Party in the north and northeast of Thailand, underscoring the
gulf between public opinion in Bangkok and much of the rest of the
country.
"I'm not clinging onto power
to maintain the political status quo," Ms. Yingluck told reporters
Tuesday. "It's because I'm trying to up hold democracy, which belongs to
all Thais."
Political-risk
consultancies such as New York-based Eurasia Group warn that the
protests could escalate quickly in the coming days, "increasing the risk
that violent clashes erupt between antigovernment protesters and other
groups, most likely the police of pro-government supporters."
Already,
splinter groups from Mr. Suthep's People's Democratic Reform Committee
are planning to ramp up the intensity of the protests in their bid to
delay the vote and force Ms. Yingluck's government to collapse.
Nitithorn Lamlua
and other leaders of groups composed of students and trade
unionists say they sometimes operate independently from Mr. Suthep and
have given Ms. Yingluck until Wednesday to resign.
If
she doesn't, they say, they may attempt to shut down facilities such as
the headquarters of Thailand's stock exchange and the offices of a
company that handles the communications systems for Thailand's
air-traffic controllers.
The main protest group says it won't march on those buildings.
Stock-exchange
officials Tuesday said they are prepared for potential protests and
trades can be transacted off-site, while brokers and traders appeared
upbeat about the bourse's ability to keep operating because it has
backup servers in other locations.
"As
long as there's a power supply to the servers of the stock exchange,
trading should be able to go ahead normally," said Pattera
Dilokrungthirapop, director of the Association of Thai Securities
Companies.
Government officials and
company executives at the air-traffic-communications firm, Aeronautical
Radio Thailand, or Aerothai, in contrast, are asking the protesters to
leave the company's facilities alone or else all flights within, to or
passing over Thailand could be affected.
In
2008, a similar antigovernment protest movement blockaded Bangkok's two
international airports for more than a week. That resulted in the
collapse of the government and dented Thailand's reputation as a safe
and reliable destination for tourism and business.
"We're responsible for international passengers, not just Thais," Aerothai's president,
Prajak Sajjasophon,
said during a government-arranged television address Tuesday.
—Warangkana Chomchuen contributed to this article.
ไม่มีความคิดเห็น:
แสดงความคิดเห็น