BANGKOK, Thailand (28 Nov 2008) — Thai anti-government demonstrators occupying Bangkok's airports will "fight to the death" if police try to disperse them, one of the protest's leaders says. "We are not afraid. We will fight to the death, we will not surrender and we are ready," Somsak Kosaisuk told a crowd of supporters at the domestic Don Mueang airport. "If they crack down on us we will come back with more protesters," he vowed. Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat has declared a state of emergency at Don Mueang and the larger Suvarnabhumi international airport, authorising police to move in. But police said they would negotiate with protesters before trying to evict them, fearing a bloody end to the siege, which has left thousands of tourists stranded and paralysed the government. "We will use the gentle way first. The priority is to negotiate and not crack down immediately - we are all Thais," said regional deputy police commander Major General Piya Sorntrakoon. Razor wire cordon Anti-government activists braced for an assault overnight, extending razor wire cordons to about three kilometres around the flagship Suvarnabhumi international airport and blocking access roads, witnesses said. Police say around 4,000 protesters from the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) - a movement backed by elements of the palace, the army and Thailand's Bangkok-based elite - have set up camp at Suvarnabhumi. Another 2,500 more are at Don Mueang, where the cabinet's temporary offices have been located since protesters seized their headquarters at Government House in Bangkok in August. The PAD have pledged not to abandon their campaign until Somchai resigns, claiming he is running a 'puppet government' on behalf of their arch-foe, exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. Thaksin, a telecoms tycoon, was ousted in a military coup in 2006 after similar protests led by the PAD. He remains in exile to avoid a jail term for corruption. PM stuck in Chiang Mai Police said there was a small blast at a PAD television station in Bangkok overnight but that it caused no casualties. Reports said some gunshots were fired at Don Mueang on Friday. Somchai, who has been stuck in the northern city of Chiang Mai since returning from a foreign trip on Wednesday, said in a televised address that the navy and air force would back the police operations. But tensions are running high between the government and the military in a nation that has seen 18 coups since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932. The army has already said it is opposed to the use of force against the protesters. | | Thai anti-government protesters who have shut down two international airports say they will "fight to the death". Clashes between police and demonstrators in Bangkok on October 7 left two people dead and around 500 wounded in the deadliest such incident in Thailand for 16 years. Coup rumours denied The military denied rumours on Thursday that it was planning to launch a coup, following reports that Somchai was about to sack the powerful army chief for calling for the dissolution of the government. Yet in a further sign of the civilian-military rift, government spokesman Suparat Nakbunnam said Somchai would remain in Chiang Mai "indefinitely". "As there are still uncertainties in the tensions between the government and army, for his safety the prime minister will stay in Chiang Mai," Suparat said. With the crisis affecting Thailand's ties with the rest of the world, the Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN said its secretary general would travel to Thailand to assess whether a summit scheduled for December in Chiang Mai can proceed. All flights to Bangkok remained cancelled, leaving tourists scrambling to fly out of the country from other airports or heading for train stations to travel down to Thailand's southern white sand beaches. In a sign of growing public frustration with the protesters, Bangkok Post newspaper, which has often criticised Thaksin and his allies, said the PAD's occupation of the airports "can hardly be justified." |
