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Bangkok PostMonday November 24, 2008 09:59
(BangkokPost.com) - Anti-government demonstrators led by People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) leaders Sondhi Limthongkul, Piphob Thongchai and Somkiat Pongpaiboon surrounded the parliament on Monday morning, and electricity to the state building was cut off.
During the march to the parliament, thousands of the PAD supporters, including women and children, together with vehicles with loud speakers travelled through the steel fences set up by the police at ease. Elder supporters of the group were on standby at Government House ...
PAD leader Chamlong Srimuang told the demonstrators to march without carrying weapons and assured them that the PAD will come up victorious. He said the key members will decide whether the protesters will be divided into groups to rally in other places later during the day ...
“We have to stop the parliamentary meeting aimed at amending the constitution, especially the draft proposed by Md Weng Tochirakarn. We have to stop them,” said Mr Piphob.
Read more:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=132251
Nov 24, 2008
Parliament session postponed
BANGKOK <AFP> - ... Parliament had been due to convene at 9.30 am (10.30am Singapore time), but early on Monday thousands of supporters of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protest movement blocked all the entrances to the building, witnesses said ...
PAD leaders have called on supporters to join them in a 'final battle' on Monday in their six-month campaign to topple the government, which they accuse of being a corrupt puppet of ousted and exiled Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra ...
The PAD says government plans to amend the charter are aimed at helping Thaksin escape corruption charges, but parliament officials had insisted that amendments to the constitution were not on Monday's agenda.
Lawmakers had instead planned on deliberating 25 international agreements that the government may have to sign at the summit of regional bloc Asean in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai next month.
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/SE%2BAsia/Story/STIStory_306193.htmlThailand
Thousands join anti-government protest in Thailand
Agencies
Published: November 24, 2008, 07:59
... At least 10,000 demonstrators from the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) joined the protest as hundreds of riot police stood by.
Speaker Chai Chidchob said a new session to debate legislation for a regional summit would be rescheduled "once the situation returns to normal".
The PAD said they planned to lay siege to other government offices, the stock exchange and the homes of leaders of the ruling government coalition.
Public sector unions have called a nationwide strike for Tuesday unless Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat steps down.
http://www.gulfnews.com/world/Thailand/10262226.htmlThousands of Thai protesters besiege parliament
Mon Nov 24, 2008 8:10am IST
By Ed Cropley
BANGKOK (Reuters) - ... In October, two people were killed and hundreds wounded, including scores of police, in fighting that erupted when police fired tear gas to remove protesters trying to stop Somchai's maiden speech to parliament.
Public sector unions have called a nationwide strike for Tuesday unless Somchai stands aside ...
A PAD security guard died on Sunday after another grenade attack a day earlier ...
The PAD enjoy the backing of Bangkok's urban middle classes and elite, including Queen Sirikit, while Thaksin and the government claim their support from the rural voters that returned the PPP in a December election.
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-36655320081124?sp=trueThai protesters surround parliament for 'final battle'
2 hours ago
BANGKOK (AFP) — ... A Metropolitan Police spokesman said about 18,000 protesters from the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) had taken to the streets, and managed to block all three roads leading to parliament by about 7:40 am (0040 GMT).
"Today they discuss constitution amendments. Can we let it happen? Can we let the parliament meet?" cried a protest leader on a truck as thousands of supporters cheered "No!" and waved noisy plastic clappers ...
Government spokesman Nattawut Saikuar said on Sunday that about 2,000 police are deployed in Bangkok to deal with the protests and 2,000 soldiers are also on stand-by, but vowed authorities would not use force ...
Thaksin fled the country in August this year but a power battle is raging between those who support the former leader and the old power elite in the military, palace and bureaucracy who want to purge Thailand of his influence.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gMsfxPj6StxQRuV3OodfE_NpBgZAThai lawmakers postpone session amid protests
By AMBIKA AHUJA – 1 hour ago
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — ... Protesters have occupied the grounds of the prime minister's office for three months in their effort to topple the government, which they allege is the puppet of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
They accuse Thaksin, who was ousted by a 2006 military coup, of corruption and abuse of power, and claim that the proposed constitutional amendment would help him stage a comeback ...
The alliance's supporters are largely middle-class citizens who say Thailand's electoral system is susceptible to vote-buying and argue the rural majority — the Thaksin camp's power base — is not sophisticated enough to cast ballots responsibly.
They propose replacing an elected Parliament with one that is mostly appointed, a move critics charge is meant to keep power in the hands of the educated, urban elite.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gXtkIJGFlHXR5qT3LIG2olEVZyFQD94L2CLO0Thai protesters surround parliament
By Thomas Fuller and Mark McDonald
Published: November 24, 2008
... The alliance protesters - who represent a mix of royalists, academics, the urban elite and the middle class - have occupied the grounds of Government House since August. The prime minister, Somchai Wongsawat, has been forced to work out of the former VIP lounge at Bangkok's mothballed international airport ...
The alliance also is calling for changes to Thailand's voting process. It wants to do away with direct elections, instead apportioning blocs of parliamentary seats to various professions and social organizations ...
Thaksin, a billionaire businessman, is beloved by the mostly rural poor, who carry tremendous political weight in Thailand. He was ousted as prime minister by a military coup in 2006 and later relocated to London to avoid corruption charges against him and his wife in Thailand.
But his British visa was revoked this month after he was convicted, in absentia, by a Thai court on charges of abuse of power. He has since been seen in Hong Kong and Dubai ...
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/24/asia/24thai.phpProtesters Surround Thai Parliament, Vow to Topple Government
By Rattaphol Onsanit
Nov. 24 (Bloomberg)
... Eight anti-government protesters were injured in a pre-dawn bomb attack at a checkpoint near Government House on Nov. 22, leaving one in critical condition. It was the second incident in three days, after a Nov. 20 grenade blast at the compound, occupied by protesters since Aug. 26, killed one activist and injured 23 ...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=aky8.rTFP5qg&refer=indiaThree small blasts hit near Thai protest leader's office
Mon, Nov 24, 2008
AFP
BANGKOK - Three small blasts went off near the offices of a key Thai anti-government protest leader early Monday, police said, but no one was injured in the latest in a string of small-scale explosions in Bangkok.
All three blasts hit Bangkok's Banglampoo area, near the offices of ASTV, which is headed by Sondhi Limthongkul, a co-founder of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which is trying to topple the government ...
Protesters blamed the government for the casualties, but Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat has denied any involvement and vowed to investigate.
http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20081124-102887.html
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