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| Southeast Asia |
| Thailand plays down coup talk ahead of city 'shutdown' by protesters |
| 2014-01-11 |
| [Al Ahram] Thailand on Friday played down talk of a military coup ahead of a planned "shutdown" of the capital next week by protesters trying to overthrow Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and said life would go on much as normal. Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul said it was alarmist of the U.S. embassy to advise its citizens on Friday to stock up on two weeks' supply of food and water ahead of what protest leaders say will be a prolonged siege of Bangkok. "Maybe they worry too much ... People will live their normal life. Don't be afraid of things that will happen because we try to control the situation," he said. Demonstrators led by former opposition politician Suthep Thaugsuban aim to paralyse the capital for between 15 and 20 days by blocking seven main intersections, causing gridlock in a city clogged with traffic at the best of times. The turmoil is the latest episode in an eight-year conflict that pits Bangkok's middle class and royalist establishment against the mostly poorer, rural supporters of Yingluck and her brother, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. The protesters want to suspend what they say is a fragile democracy destabilised by Thaksin, whom they accuse of nepotism and corruption. They want to eradicate the political influence of his family by altering electoral arrangements in ways they have not spelt out, along with other political reforms. Thaksin was ousted by the military in 2006 and sentenced to jail in absentia for abuse of power in 2008 but he still looms large over Thai politics, the dominant force behind his sister's administration from his self-exile in Dubai. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Wife and I are in Bangers finishing a 3 week vaykay. I think things will get ugly on Monday. The opposition is itching for fight and really want the military to step in. This place is one ass@&$? with a .45 or a Molotov away from coupville. |
| Posted by: Bangkok Billy 2014-01-11 04:46 |