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Thai political protests
Thai riot police have fired teargas at protesters trying to prevent political parties from registering for February’s elections at Bangkok’s stadium.
About 500 protesters tried to storm Thai-Japanese stadium where election commission officials were working.
PM Yingluck Shinawatra called the snap elections after weeks of protests that demanded an unelected “people’s council” take power.
Thai riot police have fired teargas at protesters trying to prevent political parties from registering for February’s elections
The demonstrators say political reforms are needed before polls can take place.
On Thursday, the protesters – some of whom were throwing stones – tried to break into the stadium where the electoral commission was registering candidates.
But police responded with tear gas, dispersing the crowd.
There were no reports of serious injuries.
Yingluck Shinawatra dissolved parliament and called an election on December 9th, after more than 150,000 demonstrators took to the streets calling for her government to step down.
Last Sunday, she said elections must take place and urged protesters to express their views at the ballot box.
“If we don’t hold on to the democratic system, what should we hold on to?”
Her Pheu Thai Party won the last election in 2011, and has a majority in parliament.
However, protesters say Yingluck Shinawatra’s brother – ousted former leader Thaksin Shinawatra – remains in charge.
Thaksin Shinawatra is currently in self-imposed exile after he was overthrown in a military army coup in 2006 and convicted of corruption.
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Thailand’s opposition is to hold a mass rally in the capital Bangkok as its campaign to bring down the government of Yingluck Shinawatra continues.
Protest leaders say they expect a turnout of hundreds of thousands of people.
On Saturday the main opposition Democrat Party said it will boycott elections called for February 2nd.
PM Yingluck Shinawatra called the election earlier this month in a bid to end weeks of protests.
Yingluck Shinawatra won the last elections in 2011, but protesters say her brother – the controversial ousted former leader Thaksin Shinawatra – remains in charge.
Thai opposition is holding a mass rally in Bangkok as its campaign to bring down the government of Yingluck Shinawatra continues
Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban said he hoped Sunday’s rally will raise the pressure on Yingluck Shinawatra and her government, the Bangkok Post reported.
The protesters have set up stages at five main intersections and will be attempting to shut down the traffic in the commercial heart of the capital.
The head of the Thai army has warned the country’s political divisions could “trigger a civil war”.
The opposition-backed protests in Bangkok have caused Thailand’s most serious political turmoil since 2010, with four people killed in clashes in recent weeks.
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In his address to the nation on his birthday, King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand has urged people to support each other for the sake of the country.
Thailand is marking the 86th birthday of King Bhumibol Adulyadej amid a truce after days of violent protests in Bangkok.
Speaking at his palace in the coastal resort of Hua Hin, King Bhumibol Adulyadej said that Thailand had been peaceful because of the unity of the people.
There were violent clashes earlier in the week between police and protesters.
The demonstrators, who are demanding that the current government resign, began protesting on November 24.
They agreed to stop their attacks on government buildings for the birthday celebrations, but have said they will be back right after them.
King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand has urged people to support each other for the sake of the country
On Thursday, thousands of people had headed to the town of Hua Hin, near the king’s Klai Kangwon palace, in the hope of seeing him, the Bangkok Post reports.
Special bus and train services had been laid on by the transport ministry to bring people to the town, the paper says.
The kings traditionally deliver a speech to the nation on his birthday – an audience keenly anticipated for any hints of his thinking on events in Thailand.
He called on people to do their duty to support each other for the sake of the country.
“All Thais should realize this point a lot and behave and perform our duties accordingly, our duty for the sake of the public, for stability, security for our nation of Thailand,” the king said.
The current wave of protests began in Bangkok relatively peacefully, but things took a violent turn over the weekend and on Monday.
Protesters tried to topple police barricades and storm the prime minister’s office, Government House. Clashes broke as police used tear gas and water cannon to repel them.
The situation calmed down on Tuesday after security forces stepped back from protesters.
Some anti-government protesters headed to the police headquarters in Bangkok on Wednesday. A few hundred of the protesters were allowed inside the compound by the police and then withdrew.
The protesters say there is more to come.
“After the king’s birthday, we will start fighting again until we achieve our goal,” former deputy prime minister and protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban told AFP on Tuesday.
The protesters want the current government under PM Yingluck Shinawatra to step down and be replaced by an unelected “People’s Council”.
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Thailand’s PM Yingluck Shinawatra has rejected protesters’ demands that she step down, amid ongoing clashes in Bangkok.
Yingluck Shinawatra said the demands were not possible under the constitution, but that she remained open to talks.
More clashes broke out on Monday as protesters tried to storm the prime minister’s office, Government House.
Four people have died in Thailand’s worst political turmoil since the 2010 rallies that ended in violence.
PM Yingluck Shinawatra has rejected protesters’ demands that she step down, amid ongoing clashes in Bangkok
“Anything I can do to make people happy, I am willing to do… but as prime minister, what I can do must be under the constitution,” Yingluck Shinawatra said in a televised address.
Anti-government demonstrators have been calling on Yingluck Shinawatra to step down, with protest leader and former opposition politician Suthep Thaugsuban saying on Sunday that Yingluck Shinawatra should resign within the next “two days”.
The protesters want to replace the government with an unelected “People’s Council”, alleging Yingluck Shinawatra’s government is controlled by her brother, ousted leader Thaksin Shinawatra.
The protests, which began on November 24, had been largely peaceful until Saturday, when they became violent.
Over the weekend demonstrators tried to break apart police barricades and storm the prime minister’s office, with police using tear gas and water cannons to repel them.
On Monday, protesters returned to the streets again and more clashes occurred, although correspondents said that demonstrator numbers appeared lower than before.
Yingluck Shinawatra has said that she would not authorize the use of force against protesters.
“The military has positioned itself as neutral and it wants to see a peaceful way out,” Yingluck Shinawatra added in Monday’s address.
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Thailand’s government has decided to deploy troops in Bangkok to support riot police shielding official buildings from anti-government protesters.
Tear gas and water cannon were fired as protesters tried to breach barricades outside Government House.
Activists have threatened to enter key government buildings, including the headquarters of PM Yingluck Shinawatra.
Sunday is the eighth day of protests aimed at unseating Yingluck Shinawatra.
Protest leaders had said it would be the decisive day. They declared it “V-Day” of what they are calling a “people’s coup”.
Two people were killed and dozens more wounded on Saturday as pro- and anti-government groups clashed.
Troops have been deployed in Bangkok to support riot police shielding official buildings from anti-government protesters
The anti-government Civil Movement for Democracy has announced an all-out assault on the heart of the government, with the aim of replacing it with a “People’s Council”.
It says Yingluck Shinawatra’s administration is controlled by her brother, exiled ex-leader Thaksin Shinawatra.
The Bangkok Post reported that a group of anti-government protesters had taken control of the Thai PBS television station. They told PBS officials to televise speeches made by the protest leaders, the report said.
Police drove back another set of demonstrators at the police headquarters.
Officials denied rumors Yingluck Shinawatra had left the country, but her whereabouts are unknown.
Yingluck Shinawatra had earlier said the government would use minimum force to hold back the protesters.
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Thai protesters have forced the evacuation of the government’s top crime-fighting agency, on the fourth day of street demonstrations in Bangkok.
The protesters, who want Yingluck Shinawatra’s government to step down, marched to a complex of government offices outside the city.
The anti-government protest leader said they wanted to shut down government ministries in a bid to cause disruption.
They accuse the government of being controlled by the prime minister’s brother, Thaksin Shinawatra.
The protests are being led by former opposition Democrat Party lawmaker Suthep Thaugsuban, for whom police have issued an arrest warrant.
They began on Sunday and so far have targeted the finance, foreign and interior ministries, among others.
Thai protesters have forced the evacuation of the government’s top crime-fighting agency, on the fourth day of street demonstrations in Bangkok
“Let the people go to every ministry that remains to make civil servants stop serving the Thaksin regime,” the Associated Press news agency quoted Suthep Thaugsuban as saying.
“Once you take over, civil servants can no longer serve the Thaksin regime. Brothers and sisters, go seize the city hall.”
Despite the arrest warrant, police made no attempt to detain him as he led protesters to government offices.
On Wednesday afternoon, hundreds of protesters surrounded the Department of Special Investigations (DSI), which is Thailand’s equivalent of the FBI.
The DSI is a particular target for the demonstrators – they accuse its chief of conducting partisan investigations against opponents of the government.
The DSI chief ordered his staff to leave as protesters surrounded the building, Reuters news agency said.
PM Yingluck Shinawatra – who on Monday invoked special powers allowing officials to impose curfews – said that the government would not use force against protesters.
“This is not the <<Thaksin regime>>, this is a democratically elected government,” Yingluck Shinawatra told media outside parliament.
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