Thai leader warns he could declare emergency

Thailand’s prime minister vowed today to declare an emergency if anti-government protesters in the capital turned violent, as tens of thousands massed near his office demanding he resign over corruption allegations.

The crowd outside Government House, however, remained peaceful despite fiery speeches urging them to help force Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra from office.

A member of the Thai Senate, Maleerat Kaewka, urged the crowd to adopt civil disobedience, a tactic that leaders of the anti-Thaksin movement have begun promoting after their large demonstrations failed to budge the Thai leader.

She suggested that civil servants take extended leave and that people not pay their taxes until Thaksin resigns.

Thaksin was in north-eastern Thailand on a campaign stop as the protesters marched to Government House in Bangkok, pledging to continue peaceful protests until he steps down.

“I am ready to sign the decree if the situation becomes violent,” Thaksin told reporters before convening a cabinet meeting via teleconference from the city of Ubon. He said a decree declaring a state of emergency was “in his hands” but that it was not necessary to use it at the moment.

The marchers made their way early this morning from Bangkok’s Grand Palace down a broad boulevard toward Government House, several miles away, carrying placards reading “Change Through Peace” and “No Violence”.

“Thaksin, Get Out!” they shouted, some of them tearing down pro-government banners near the compound.

“I’m one of the 19 million people who voted for the wrong person. I have to correct what I did wrong,” said Ratanaporn Rattanawongsarot, a 39-year-old housewife among the marchers. “I can’t stand Thaksin cheating the country.”

Cabinet members meeting inside the ornate seat of government approved a 5% pay hike for employees of state enterprises, some of whom have joined the anti-Thaksin drive.

In light of the protests, the cabinet also designated Chitchai Wannasathit, deputy prime minister overseeing security matters, as first deputy prime minister, replacing Somkid Jatusripitak as Thaksin’s top cabinet colleague. Somkid remains in charge of economic affairs.

An accurate estimate of the crowd numbers was difficult to make. Metropolitan police spokesman Colonel Pinit Maneerat gave the number as 30,000 to 40,000, while organisers said more than 200,000 were taking part. They said more people were expected later after finishing work for the day.

Tens of thousands of protesters have demanded Thaksin’s resignation in regular weekend rallies, accusing the tycoon-turned-politician of corruption, mishandling a Muslim insurgency in southern Thailand, stifling the media and allowing cronies to reap gains from state policies.

Protesters have come mainly from the urban middle class in Bangkok, while Thaksin still enjoys strong support from the rural majority, who have benefited from his populist polices and who re-elected his party in a landslide last year.

However, Tuesday’s rally drew a broader mix of Thai society. Labour unions representing state-owned utilities and rail workers mobilised their members to protest Thaksin’s privatisation plans.

The anti-Thaksin campaign swelled last month after the prime minister’s family sold its controlling stake in telecom giant Shin Corporation to a Singapore state-owned investment company for $1.9bn (€1.6bn).

Critics allege the sale involved insider trading and tax dodges and complain that a key national asset is now in the hands of a foreign government.

“Wanted dead or alive. Reward: 73 billion baht,” read one poster that pictured Thaksin with a swastika on his forehead (73bn baht=€1.6bn).

One protester stepped on the effigy of a lizard with a face like Thaksin’s. Thais regard lizards as the vilest of animals, and touching a person with the foot is considered a great insult.

Thaksin, who has vowed not bow to the protesters, dissolved parliament last month and called early elections on April 2 in hopes of renewing his mandate and defusing the protests. The opposition is boycotting those polls.

As yesterday’s march first got under way, members of the Santi Asoke Buddhist sect, in blue shirts and some in bare feet, linked hands to form human chains to block traffic from side streets. But as the march swelled, traffic came to a standstill and this was no longer necessary.

Protest leader Chamlong Srimuang said protesters would stage a sit-in at Government House until Thaksin resigned, but that they would wait patiently and shun violence. “If we use violence, it is our fellow Thais who will die,” he said.

Police put 20,000 officers on standby in Bangkok and stationed about 2,000 officers at the protest site.

But the chief of the National Intelligence Agency, police General Chumpol Manmai, said he didn’t expect violence, especially since an earlier planned rival rally by pro-Thaksin groups had been cancelled.

Thaksin said that cameras and other high-tech equipment around Government House would monitor the protests for any violations of the law.