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yingluck shinawatra
Thailand’s PM Yingluck Shinawatra has survived a no-confidence vote in parliament, amid major street protests in Bangkok.
The motion was brought by the opposition Democrat Party, but Yingluck Shinawatra’s Pheu Thai party dominate the chamber and voted it down.
Yingluck Shinawatra’s government is facing the biggest demonstrations to hit Thailand since the violence of 2010.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon has voiced concern over the tensions and urged restraint.
Protests began in Bangkok on Sunday. Since then, demonstrators calling on the government to step down have marched on ministries and government bodies in an attempt to shut them down.
The demonstrators, who are led by a former opposition party lawmaker, say Yingluck Shinawatra’s government is controlled by her brother – the ousted former leader Thaksin Shinawatra.
Yingluck Shinawatra has invoked special powers allowing curfews and road closures and police have also ordered the arrest of the protest leader – but so far no move has been made to detain him.
The protests have been largely peaceful and correspondents have described the mood of the rallies as friendly.
PM Yingluck Shinawatra has survived a no-confidence vote in parliament, amid major street protests in Bangkok
On Wednesday, hundreds of protesters surrounded Thailand’s top crime-fighting agency, forcing its evacuation.
Ban Ki-moon has urged all sides to “to exercise the utmost restraint, refrain from the use of violence and to show full respect for the rule of law and human rights”.
Yingluck Shinawatra won 297 votes, easily surviving the lower house censure motion, while 134 voted against her.
So far protesters have succeeded only in disrupting the business of government for a few days, and the authorities have been careful not to risk violence by confronting them.
Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted in a military coup in 2006 that left the country bitterly divided.
In 2010, thousands of “red-shirt” Thaksin Shinawatra supporters occupied key parts of the capital. More than 90 people, mostly civilian protesters, died over the course of the two-month sit-in.
Yingluck Shinawatra and the Pheu Thai Party were subsequently voted into office, and Thailand’s political landscape has remained largely stable since then.
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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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Thai protesters have surrounded several more ministries, as street demonstrations continue in Bangkok.
The protesters want Yingluck Shinawatra’s government to resign, saying it is controlled by her brother – ousted former PM Thaksin Shinawatra.
After a huge rally on Sunday, they marched to several Bangkok locations.
Late on Monday, Yingluck Shinawatra invoked special powers allowing officials to impose curfews and seal roads.
The protests have been triggered by a controversial political amnesty bill.
The demonstrators say the legislation – which failed in the Senate – would have allowed Thaksin Shinawatra to return to Thailand without serving a jail sentence for corruption.
Thailand has been bitterly divided since Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted in a military coup in 2006 and the proposal re-ignited simmering political tensions.
Groups of protesters, who are being led by former opposition Democratic Party lawmaker Suthep Thaugsuban, camped out at the foreign and finance ministries overnight.
On Tuesday, they surrounded the interior, tourism, transport and agriculture ministries.
There were around 1,000 protesters gathered outside both the finance and interior ministries, blowing whistles and chanting “get out!”, reports said.
“We have to leave because they [the protesters] will cut the utilities,” Tourism and Sports Minister Somsak Pureesrisak told AFP news agency.
Thai protesters have surrounded several more ministries, as street demonstrations continue in Bangkok
Akanat Promphan, a protest spokesman, said: “We are occupying the finance ministry in a non-violent and peaceful way, so our supporters around the country can do the same and occupy all government offices.”
“Tomorrow there will be a nationwide movement,” he added.
However, Thida Thavornseth, a leader of the “red shirts”, who support Thaksin Shinawatra, told AFP news agency: “Suthep [Thaugsuban] is not trying to throw out the government… he wants to throw out democracy and replace it with an ultra-royalist administration.”
The opposition Democrat Party has also started a censure motion in parliament against the government, over its alleged misuse of the budget.
The motion highlights an expensive rice subsidy scheme launched by the government after it took office.
Under the scheme, the government bought rice directly from farmers, paying more than the market rate. India and Vietnam increased their share of global rice exports as a result, overtaking Thailand as the world’s largest rice exporter.
The government is expected to defeat the censure motion, since the ruling Pheu Thai party has a majority in parliament.
The protests are the biggest to hit Thailand since the violence of 2010, when “red-shirt” opponents of the then Democratic Party government occupied key parts of the capital.
More than 90 people, mostly civilian protesters, died over the course of the two-month sit-in.
A government led by Yingluck Shinawatra and the ruling Pheu Thai Party was subsequently elected and since then Thailand has remained relatively politically stable.
But the opposition accuses Thaksin Shinawatra of running the government from self-imposed exile overseas, and the now-shelved amnesty bill has served as a spark for renewed protests.
Yingluck Shinawatra invoked the Internal Security Act late on Monday. But she said on Tuesday the government would not use violence to end the protests.
“Everybody must obey the law and not use mob rule to upstage the rule of law,” she told reporters.
“If we can talk, I believe the country will return to normal,” she added.
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Tens of thousands of protesters marched on Bangkok streets for a second day of anti-government demonstrations in Thailand, forcing their way into the finance ministry.
The protesters, who began their action over the weekend, want the government of PM Yingluck Shinawatra to step down.
After a huge rally on Sunday, crowds marched on Monday to several different locations in the city.
The protests have been triggered by a controversial political amnesty bill.
The legislation, which the opposition say would have allowed ousted leader Thaksin Shinawatra – the current prime minister’s brother – to return to Thailand without serving a jail sentence for corruption, failed to pass in the Senate earlier this month.
But the proposed legislation led to a fresh outbreak of street protests, reigniting simmering political divisions and raising the specter of renewed political turmoil in the South East Asian nation.
On Monday the anti-government protesters, who are led by a former opposition Democratic Party lawmaker, marched to state offices, military headquarters and television stations.
Campaign leader Suthep Thaugsuban had said the protest would be peaceful, with crowds “blowing whistles and handing out flowers”.
But at the finance ministry, a group of around 40 people swarmed into the compound.
Tens of thousands of protesters marched on Bangkok streets for a second day of anti-government demonstrations in Thailand
“Tomorrow [Tuesday] we will seize all ministries to show to the Thaksin system that they have no legitimacy to run the country,” AFP news agency quoted Suthep Thaugsuban as saying.
Sunday’s demonstration drew an estimated 100,000 people, who called on the government to step down.
“We have stood by silently while her [PM Yingluck Shinawatra’s] brother calls the shots and she runs the country into the ground with loss-making policies,” Reuters news agency quoted protester Suwang Ruangchai, 54, as saying.
About 40,000 government supporters held a separate rally in another part of the capital on Sunday.
Thailand has been bitterly divided since Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted in a military coup in 2006.
Groups opposed to him occupied Bangkok’s main airport in 2008, shutting it down. Then in 2010, those who backed him and his allies held two months of street protests that paralyzed Bangkok.
Those demonstrations ended in a military crackdown. More than 90 people – mostly civilian protesters – died over the course of the two-month sit-in.
A government led by Thaksin Shinawatra’s sister was subsequently elected and since then Thailand has remained relatively politically stable.
But the opposition accuses Thaksin Shinawatra of running the government from self-imposed exile overseas, and the now-shelved amnesty bill has served as a spark for renewed protests.
The bill applied to offences committed during the upheaval after Thaksin Shinawatra was removed from office. Yingluck Shinawatra’s government had argued that the legislation was a necessary step towards reconciliation.
But critics said it would allow human rights abuses – such as the killing of civilian protesters – to go unpunished.
And the opposition viewed it as a way of overturning the jail sentence given to Thaksin Shinawatra, paving the way for his return.
Thaksin Shinawatra is a deeply polarizing figure in Thai politics. He drew huge support from Thailand’s rural poor but strong opposition from other sectors in society, and the divisions dating from the 2006 coup continue to dominate the political landscape.
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Thai police have used tear gas against thousands of protesters calling for the overthrow of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in Bangkok.
At least 10,000 protesters gathered, demonstrating against the government of Yingluck Shinawatra, the sister of the deposed former prime minister.
The rally was organized by a group who accuse Yingluck Shinawatra of being a puppet of her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra.
At least seven police officers were reported wounded in clashes.
Anti-riot police carrying plastic shields fired tear gas at protesters who tried to climb over concrete and barbed wire barriers blocking entry to the rally site, Bangkok’s Royal Plaza, near the parliament.
The rally was not banned but police blocked demonstrators from accessing some streets near government buildings.
“We used tear gas because protesters were blocking police and did not comply with the security measures we put in place,” police spokesman Piya Uthaya told a local TV station, according to Reuters.
Police said they had seized various weapons, including knives and bullets, as protesters arrived.
Thai police have used tear gas against thousands of protesters calling for the overthrow of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in Bangkok
The demonstration was organized by a new group calling itself Pitak Siam – or Protect Thailand.
Led by a retired army general, the group accuses Yingluck Shinawatra’s administration of corruption and ignoring insults to the revered monarchy.
“I promise that Pitak Siam will succeed in driving this government out,” former General Boonlert Kaewprasit said in his address to the rally.
“The world will see this corrupted and cruel government. The world can see the government under a puppet,” he said later.
The group has attracted the support of various royalist groups including “yellow shirt” members of the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) who helped destabilize governments either led or backed by Thaksin Shinawatra in 2006 and 2008.
He remains a deeply divisive figure in Thailand. Ousted in a 2006 military-backed coup, he fled the country in 2008 shortly before being found guilty of abuse of power.
Earlier this week, Yingluck Shinawatra, who was democratically elected in 2011 with a large majority, ordered nearly 17,000 police to be deployed during the rally and invoked a special security law.
“They [the government] like to claim they got 15 million votes. I’m here to show I was not one of them. So don’t count me in. I didn’t choose you,” one unnamed protester told the Associated Press.
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Barack Obama is practicing a new brand of foreign relations, appearing to flirt with Thailand’s attractive Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on his first stop of his three-day tour of Southeast Asia.
President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra could be seen laughing together and exchanging playful glances throughout a state dinner at the Government House in Bangkok on Sunday night.
They were joined by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who toasted to the U.S.-Thailand friendship with Yingluck Shinawatra.
Barack Obama is now visiting Myanmar – also known as Burma – followed by Cambodia this week.
He said it is “no accident” that he planned his first foreign trip to Asia after winning re-election.
Barack Obama is practicing a new brand of foreign relations, appearing to flirt with Thai PM Yingluck Shinawatra
Speaking at a news conference on Sunday in Bangkok, Barack Obama emphasized that the U.S. is a “Pacific nation”.
Barack Obama said the Asia-Pacific region will be crucial for creating jobs in the U.S. and shaping its security and prosperity.
Barack Obama’s praised Thailand for being a supporter of democracy in Myanmar, the once-pariah state that is rapidly reforming.
He said he appreciated the Thai prime minister’s insights into Myanmar during their meetings on Sunday.
Barack Obama’s visit made quite an impression on Thailand, and adoring crowds gathered around him and chanted “Obama, Obama” as he visited the Temple of Reclining Buddha just after arriving in Bangkok.
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