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Alan Raybould
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Sat May 22, 2010 3:28am EDT
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BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's government stressed national reconciliation on Saturday after the worst riots in the country's modern history but it would not commit itself to the early election demanded by "red shirt" protesters.
World | Thailand
Troops continued their search for explosives and firefighters and doused the embers of a torched luxury mall as Bangkok tried to pick up the pieces after the rioting and arson that followed Wednesday's dispersal of thousands of "red shirts" by the military.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva highlighted a reconciliation plan in an address to the nation on Friday but made no mention of a November election, which he had proposed in early May as a way of ending the protests peacefully. Elections are not due to be called until the end of 2011.
"The reconciliation plan itself, it will still proceed as indicated by the prime minister, although the election date is up to his discretion," government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn told reporters on Saturday.
"Losses suffered by the public this week will be thoroughly investigated as it is a policy under national reconciliation."
Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij said on Friday he still expected an early poll, adding it was highly unlikely the government would stay in office for its full term.
A 6 sq-km (2.3 sq-mile) area extending out from Bangkok's ritzy shopping district that the anti-government protesters had occupied was still under military control but government spokesman Panitan said traffic would be allowed back from Sunday. He also held out the prospect of an overnight curfew being lifted from Saturday.
Financial markets, which were closed on Thursday and Friday, are likely to open on Monday, although a final decision is yet to be taken on the stock market. A fire broke out in the Thai Stock Exchange building during the protests and damage was still being assessed.
STREETS CLOGGED
Schools outside the central zone ringed off by soldiers will begin the new term on Monday, a week late. Those inside will have to wait another week.
The elevated Skytrain and underground railway system were still closed and traffic was clogged in downtown areas as drivers tried to find a way round the area cordoned off by the security forces.
The military crackdown began before dawn on Wednesday, killing at least 15 people and wounding nearly 100. Erawan Emergency Medical Center said 53 people had died and 415 were wounded in the flare-up of violence from May 14.
During the protests, security forces discovered four cars with explosives near the main protest camp site.
"The most lethal vehicle that we found with a car bomb on the 19th (of May) was the one near the Saensaeb bridge at Chidlom. It had explosives that, if triggered, would have a destruction radius of up to 500 meters (yards)," government forensic expert Pornthip Rojanasunant said on Saturday.
The orgy of rioting and arson that followed the break-up of the rally left Central World, the second-biggest shopping mall in Southeast Asia, in ruins.
Firefighters were still active at the site on Saturday as troops secured the surrounding area, including the shopping district that had been effectively closed since April 3 when thousands of "red shirts" took it over.
At least a dozen bank branches suffered arson attacks in the rioting. The top banks said they would reopen branches in shopping centers on Saturday after a two-day holiday declared by the central bank for security reasons.
The protests have decimated tourism, which accounts for 6 percent of GDP and employs at least 15 percent of the workforce.
The bars along Khao San Road in Bangkok are virtually empty, the throngs of backpackers that normally make this strip a bustling tourist center having deserted the Thai capital after the protests.
Bangkok's night curfew has meant even the city's notorious girly bars are boarded up at night, their neon lights dead.
"It is tragic. I really didn't dream that we would ever have a situation like we just experienced. It will take some time before we build back confidence," said Richard Chapman, general manager of the 420-room Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit Hotel, which has seen its occupancy fall to 30 percent.
The "red shirt" protesters who rioted in Bangkok come mainly from the rural and urban poor. They want new elections, saying they are disenfranchised by an urban elite that wields all the power and holds a disproportionate share of the country's wealth.
They say Abhisit lacks a popular mandate after coming to power in a controversial parliamentary vote in 2008 with tacit military support.
The government says the protesters were manipulated by the movement's figurehead, ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a coup in 2006 and now lives in self-imposed exile to escape a prison term for abuse of power.
(Additional reporting by Vithoon Amorn and Satit Sanyawoot; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
World
Thailand
Comments
See All Comments (3) | Post Comment
May 21, 2010 11:36pm EDT
Now, anybody please tell me whose performance is more disastrous for Thailand, between:
1. Government’s action in using the whole army and police force to disperse and stop the red shirts, causing altogether more than 80 deaths and over 1,700 casualties/wounded people, mostly bare-handed, and
2. Red shirts’ action, after hopeful negotiation failed, in causing fires over 20 crucial spots in BKK resulting in somewhat we can call the ‘Great Fire of Bangkok’ with billions of $ damages.
I’m always impressed with Suze Orman, the financial guru of our time, who keeps emphasizing and reminding us, when it comes to decision making, the following priority between the 3 important things:
Remember: People first, then Money, then Things!
Chaiya
Report As Abusive
May 22, 2010 1:14am EDT
Unless the government follows through with it’s previous agreement for National reconciliation and early elections. This issue is only on the back burner until some other day when the pot boils over again. If the PM and Government are serious, than the Thai courts need to step in and hold all those responsible accountable. Red shirts for using violence, current Government for violence and disproportional use of force, Yellow shirts for the 2008 airport sit in and inciting a coup, and the Army including any renegade elements involved in sniper activity, or firing live rounds into a public gathering illegal or not, and involving it’s self in purely political matters.
The PM only has a small window of time in which to operate before more radical element’s voices grow louder than those in Bangkok. Remember nothing motivates one anger more than a stinging defeat at the hands of your perceived enemy.
oldsailor61
Report As Abusive
May 22, 2010 2:21am EDT
If someone is talking about the discrepency of wealth in Thailand then one should consider the obscene wealth of the reigning King, this individual has a reported and comfirmed $35,000,000,000 definately the richest person in the world
in addition to vast realestate holding in
prime locations of Bangkok and the northern provinces.
This individual is on the death watch yet he has made no effort to quell the recent unrest in Bangkok, or offered to distribute his enourmouse wealth among the very poor and uneducated of Thailand.
He remained mute for the many weeks of unrest whereas the population holds and family in great respest.
The question is what is his legacy, what he accomplished 50 years ago or at the present time,simply I would be prefered to have my legacy for the good of the fellow citizens of Thailand,show your love and distribute your obscene holding to the citizens of Thailand a population of 66 milion including wildlife, this would hardly deplete his holdings 0f $35
billion,this sum is difficult to imagine, it would take many milleniums for anyone to spemd this ammount.Remembeer there are but 24 hours per day ragardless of anyones wealth.
Show your love and generosity to those who grovel at you and your familys feet.
Thank you
Donald duck
Playball1926
Report As Abusive
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