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Anti-government protesters sweep streets in front of the Democracy Monument in Bangkok (Image: Vincent Thian/AP/PA).
THAILAND’S ANTI-GOVERNMENT protesters and security forces today observed a temporary truce as the nation prepared to mark the birthday of the revered king, after police stepped back in a dramatic move to calm violent clashes.
In the day’s only significant demonstration, hundreds of protesters descended on the national police headquarters in Bangkok’s glitzy downtown shopping district, where police allowed them to cut barbed wire and pull away sections of a concrete barrier. The demonstrators withdrew shortly afterwards.
(Image: Vincent Thian/AP/PA)
The overwhelming mood was calm in the capital, as demonstrators joined Bangkok authorities to clean up the area around Democracy Monument, where tens of thousands have camped out in more than a month of rallies against the embattled government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
The area is a focus for the celebrations tomorrow for the 86th birthday of King Bhumibol Adulyadej – a date normally observed in a spirit of calm and reverence for the ageing monarch.
(Image: Vincent Thian/AP/PA)
Some debris has been cleared at battle-scarred areas around key government buildings which saw ugly clashes with police earlier in the week.
The several days of street battles abruptly paused yesterday as protesters in the Thai capital gave police flowers after security forces said they would no longer use force against demonstrators trying to storm Yingluck’s offices as well as the city police headquarters.
The unexpected about-turn in tactics followed two days of violent clashes between stone-throwing mobs and police firing tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets.
Protest leaders say they have not abandoned their campaign to overthrow Yingluck’s administration and curb the political influence of her billionaire brother Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed by royalist generals in a coup seven years ago.
Authorities were not worried about the gathering at the police headquarters, said Paradorn Pattanatabut, head of Thailand’s National Security Council today.
“Their movement today is merely to display their power and show that the protests are still continuing,” he added.
(Image: Vincent Thian/AP/PA)
King Bhumibol, the world’s longest-serving monarch, is treated as a near-deity by many in Thailand and any violence on his birthday would be viewed as a serious sign of disrespect.
The elderly monarch has suffered from a range of ailments in recent years. In August, he left the Bangkok hospital where he had lived for several years and moved to his coastal palace in the seaside town of Hua Hin with Queen Sirikit.
A man looks at goods near a portrait of Thai Bhumibol Adulyadej on display, in Bangkok (Image: Vincent Thian/AP/PA).
At the main rally site today, protesters began to sweep up rubbish in preparation for the royal festivities.
“We’re helping to clean up for the King as it is nearly his birthday,” said Palita Nutchoei, 37, wielding a wooden broom at Democracy Monument.
But “we will keep protesting because we feel that we haven’t won yet”, she added.
Thailand’s long-running political conflict broadly pits a Bangkok-based elite backed by the military and the palace against rural and working-class voters loyal to Thaksin, a billionaire businessman-turned-populist politician.
The demonstrations, aimed at toppling Yingluck’s government and replacing it with an unelected “people’s council”, are the biggest and most violent since dozens of people were killed in a crackdown on mass pro-Thaksin rallies in Bangkok three years ago.
(Image: Vincent Thian/AP/PA)
The rallies were triggered by an amnesty bill, since abandoned by the ruling party, which opponents feared would have allowed Thaksin to return to his home country. He fled in 2008 to avoid jail for a corruption conviction he contends is politically motivated.
Police raised the death toll in the clashes so far to five people today, confirming the remains of a young man were found on a bus set ablaze during political unrest in a Bangkok suburb over the weekend.
Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban, a former deputy premier, late Tuesday said the fight to unseat the government was not over.
“After the king’s birthday, we will start fighting again until we achieve our goal,” he told AFP, explaining that victory would only be secured when “Thailand is rid of the Thaksin regime”.
- © AFP 2013.
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Thais are nice folks but you never ever disrespect their royals. Just not done.
Thais are nice folks except when you’re involved in a disagreement with them- then you’ll see them turn nasty very quickly and how they always see the foreigner is to blame, even if they are in the right. If you have a road traffic accident in Thailand that wasn’t your fault you’ll still end up paying for it because you’re not Thai, that’s the way things work over there.
Thais might be friendly but I’d never trust one.
Yeah remember crossing the border from Malaysia and the immigration officers had to be paid off to let us in.
Your right, Thai people are fiercely proud people, they love their king and country and will just about always back their own! A word of advice, get insurance and a dashcam if you intend to drive in Thailand in the future.
Your storey is not credible.There is no fee at immigration.So if you paid,then more fool you.
Who are you to question the veracity and start name calling. Were you travelling there in 2001? Why don’t you pick on the commenter who says that not a single Thai person can be trusted – is that a fair comment?
Hmmm where did you cross the border? I find that hard to believe, I have crossed the border many times both by land and sea and never had a problem
@ MGrey,Yes I was travelling there in 2001 and 15 years before that date too.Ive never heard of any monies being demanded unless someone has overstayed the period that a visa has been issued for.Which is a fine and not a bribe.
Im not bringing into question the correctness or accuracy of your comment,thats for you to establish.
And after almost 30 years living and working in The Kingdom I do trust my Thai friends.Maybe Inanimate Carbon Rod needs to become more animated.
Dont dictate what my opinion should be whether it pleases you or not,or to whom it be directed.
I haven’t dictated anything to anyone and your snotty response and basically calling me a liar is unacceptable. Your naive attitude to corruption is also embarrassing.
Many thanks for the compliment MGrey.I find it comical that you consider me to be naive,which must be an embarrassment.I dont remember calling you a liar,I merely said that I found your comment not to be credible.
Read the link I posted and stop embarrassing yourself even more!
I read it but unlike you I dont believe everything I read.Id hardly associate comments from trolls that have been hard done by on a forum such as tripavdisor to be gospel.
I forgive you.
Bit of generalization on that one mate. 65 million Thais and none to be trusted? Ignorant narrow minded thoughts. I’m married to a Thai and working in Thailand 6 years and find the people to be trustworthy. I suppose all Irish are drunken street brawlers?
I’ve known Thailand for very many years. I spend the winters in Hua Hin. I have many Thai friends.
I find the Thais very honest and trustworthy. They are lovely people and very hospitable. One can
find good and bad in all societies.
Cash is King in Thailand, it’s all about money, deceit and corruption. At least it’s not about religion, thankfully.
King Bhumibol Adulyadej celebrates his 86th birthday tomorrow December 5th.Though his is not now in Bangkok but was moved to the quiet coastal town of Hua Hin.Many happy returns your Majesty.
Thanks Abinger, I attended The Birthday celebrations up at the palace in Hua Hin among the thousands of well
wishers. The H.M. The King is a wonderful person and has devoted his life to helping the poor as the rest of his
family also have.. I’m very fond of the Royal family. LONG LIVE THE KING!
@Pat: The demonstrations had nothing to do with HRH King Bhumibol Adulyadej. They were part of ongoing dissatisfaction with the current regime and the PM’s stupid attempt at trying to pass an amnesty bill that would allow her brother to return to the country and not face charges of corruption. How she honestly thought that was going to happen I’ll never know.
Stupid stupid people. Some day they might wake up and realise instead of having a revolution every two years they should kick out the fella on top.
Try saying that in Thailand and see how it goes down. To your statement makes nonsense, it’s like saying that overthrowing the queen of England would make a difference to how politicans operate.
What a stupid stupid statement! They are demonstrating against the government not the king. Just because you don’t like the idea of a king, leave them be.
I always find the gentle ways of the Thai lovely when I visit and I think that the demonstrators efforts to clean up for the king show an incredible maturity. What a lovely gesture.
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