Post by Deleted on Oct 16, 2013 13:16:55 GMT 7
DEMONSTRATION
Protesters stay put despite plea
TANATPONG KONGSAI,
PHATHINYA IAMTAN
THE NATION October 16, 2013 1:00 am
Protesters clean up their site after unidentified assailants threw ma mui- an itchy plant- into their sleeping tents early yesterday.
POLICE YESTERDAY tried in vain to convince protesters who have camped out at the Urupong Intersection for days to move to the National Stadium on Rama I Road.
The relocation will ease road snarls and police can assure protesters improved safety for them," Metropolitan Police spokesman Maj-General Adul Narongsak said.
Police had reopened 14 closed roads after assessing a reduced threat from the demonstrators, he said.
Rally leader Nitithorn Lamlua said police had neglected their duty to ensure peace as some people had thrown ma mui (itchy plants) into the tent where the protesters were sleeping in the early hours.
Nitithorn called for the crowds to surge to 10,000 to show retaliation against poor police performance and to demand the removal of Metropolitan Police commissioner, Lt-General Camronwit Toopgrajank.
Leaders were drafting a petition for a probe into suspected foul play related to the prosecutors' dropping of a terrorism charge against former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, he said.
The Student Federation of Thailand and the Ramkhamhaeng University Student Council issued a statement condemning the citing of the university's name as a supporter of the Urupong rally.
Some Ramkhamhaeng students defected from the People's Army to Overthrow the Thaksin Regime and organised a rally under the banner of the Students and People's Network for Thailand Reform.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has instructed police to submit a security assessment by tomorrow before deciding whether to lift the Internal Security Act, one of her aides said.
The Cabinet resolved to keep the October 18 date for the end of the ISA, pending a review of the latest situation, Paradorn Pattanatabut, secretary-general of the National Security Council, said.
Security measures were necessary to prevent the protests from spiralling out of control, he said.
Organisers of the rally led by the People's Army against the Thaksin Regime at Lumpini Park decided to name Preecha Iamsuphan as spokesman to replace former spokesman Thaikorn Polsuwan.